A Trip to Riverford
Recently, a few of us went on an outing to Riverford Organic Farm near Buckfastleigh in Devon for a treat.
I am sure you have all heard of Guy Watson and his team, they deliver organic veg boxes to your home. I used to have one in the past but since I have an allotment I can't justify it, but I might still use it for fruits and special produce.
Our first stop was to the Riverford shop, just down the road. We bought some unusual plants for our allotments - yarrow and cardoon, and some produce. Everything was so tempting I wanted to buy the whole shop.
But lets talk about our lunch. This was at the Riverford Field Kitchen. We had to book in advance, you can't just turn up, we had to arrive by 12h30 for 1pm. When you arrive, you can wait outside and order drinks, you are then seated on tables of eight. It is a set menu, but you can have a vegetarian option if you book it in advance.
We started with asparagus on a bed of salad leaves with a very nice lemony dressing, followed by an enormous mesclun of salad leaves. Then it was chicken with a range of different in-season vegetables and mustardy new potatoes. Everything is served on big plates on the table and you all share, there is more than enough for everybody and this gives the opportunity to meet the other people on your table.
For pudding, you have to go the buffet where they offer you a choice of different cakes, fruits, tarts, sticky toffee pudding et j'en passe. The portions are so big that Kim, Jane and me all took a different one and shared.
When we got up we could still move (just) because most of the food was vegetables, they are cooked in a very innovative way and they are delicious.
Riverford have published 2 different cookbooks, I have asked them to translate them into French but I am still waiting.
After lunch, we went for a stroll around the farm and discovered miles and miles of fruit trees, salads, pak choi and artichokes - all very impressive and not many weeds considering everything is organic.
It was very enjoyable day to be repeated maybe with some more people from Plain Pond allotments...
I am sure you have all heard of Guy Watson and his team, they deliver organic veg boxes to your home. I used to have one in the past but since I have an allotment I can't justify it, but I might still use it for fruits and special produce.
Our first stop was to the Riverford shop, just down the road. We bought some unusual plants for our allotments - yarrow and cardoon, and some produce. Everything was so tempting I wanted to buy the whole shop.
But lets talk about our lunch. This was at the Riverford Field Kitchen. We had to book in advance, you can't just turn up, we had to arrive by 12h30 for 1pm. When you arrive, you can wait outside and order drinks, you are then seated on tables of eight. It is a set menu, but you can have a vegetarian option if you book it in advance.
We started with asparagus on a bed of salad leaves with a very nice lemony dressing, followed by an enormous mesclun of salad leaves. Then it was chicken with a range of different in-season vegetables and mustardy new potatoes. Everything is served on big plates on the table and you all share, there is more than enough for everybody and this gives the opportunity to meet the other people on your table.
For pudding, you have to go the buffet where they offer you a choice of different cakes, fruits, tarts, sticky toffee pudding et j'en passe. The portions are so big that Kim, Jane and me all took a different one and shared.
When we got up we could still move (just) because most of the food was vegetables, they are cooked in a very innovative way and they are delicious.
Riverford have published 2 different cookbooks, I have asked them to translate them into French but I am still waiting.
After lunch, we went for a stroll around the farm and discovered miles and miles of fruit trees, salads, pak choi and artichokes - all very impressive and not many weeds considering everything is organic.
It was very enjoyable day to be repeated maybe with some more people from Plain Pond allotments...
Submitted by Isabelle, plot 15
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