Cotswold Chatterblog

Sunday 20th April 12.30 for 13.00 Ebrington Village Hall,Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire

St. George is the patron saint of England and St. Georges Day is April 23rd but Ebrington are celebrating the Day on the nearest Sunday with a traditional Sunday Family Lunch. Dress is an optional English Theme but it is certainly the day for having a red rose in your button hole whatever you wear.

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Tags: chipping campden | ebrington | cotswolds | food | gloucestershire | shakespeare

Friday 18th April 19.15 for 19.30 - Edward Sheldon Ltd at Shipston-on-Stour are holding another of their very successful Wine and Dine Evenings. This time they are featuring wines from Tamar Ridge, Tasmania. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: drink | shipston on stour | wine

Cooked and uncooked food waste was collected for composting for the first time by Cotswold District Council’s contractor SITA today (Tuesday, 11th March).

Householders who live in and around the villages of Birdlip, Cowley and Coberley were the first in the Cotswold District to have their waste collected under the Council’s new waste service today. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: cotswolds | recycling | cirencester | food

Cotswolds MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown demonstrated his support yesterday for the country’s pig farmers at an event organised in Westminster by the National Pig Association. Mr Clifton-Brown met with James Hart, who owns a pig farm in Bibury, to discuss the current crisis in British pig farming. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: animals | cotswolds | farming

Thursday 24th January 18.30 The Annual General Meeting will be held at their HQ Bisley House

The Gloucestershire Root, Fruit and Grain Society (GRFGS) was established in 1863 and its aim is to encourage the improvement of all forms of agricultural practices and products. Its Patron is The Prince of Wales.

Annual Report 2007 - President’s Report

“Possibly the strangest year on record for agriculture with the confusion of Foot & Mouth and Blue Tongue restriction zones compounded by flooding in July!

Bearing in mind that many people had their houses flooded and their summer totally disrupted, the cancellation of the Tillage Event cannot be viewed as a disaster but this certainly dampened the spirits of members this year.

Throughout these trials and tribulations however, our members have remained buoyant and resilient and this has paid off to some extent with increased optimism in the arable and dairy sectors.”

Annual Report 2007 - Competitions Officer’s Report

“This year we reciprocated the Championship Judging with the Banbury Agricultural Society; another area of which few of us had any great knowledge or experience. As in past years the opportunity to visit and examine the farming in a new territory was much enjoyed by the judges from both Societies.

The flooding on 10th July had disasterous consequences on many farms whether stock or arable, and disrupted our judging schedule somewhat as can be imagined. The only casualty for the Competitions was the Arable Championship which was not finally judged, a big disappointment for those who had entered some excellent crops.”

However, after prolonged scrutiny of the results the Premier Award for the most points won in the Competitions was a tie between Springhill Estate, Seven Wells, Moreton-in-Marsh and Ponsonby Farms, Lechlade.

Boddington Estates, Boddington, Cheltenham won The Farm Championship and for the second year running Springhill Estate won the The Livestock Championship. A new class this year, Oilseed Rape Establishment, was won by Ponsonby Farms and the Kingston brothers from South Farm, Wootton-under-Edge and Tresham Farm, Tresham won The Best Dairy Herd, Best Managed Grassland and Clamped Silage Classes between them.

A full list of 2007 Trophy Winners is included in the Annual Report but our local farm (local to this website) R & J Baldwyn, High Crest, Hidcote Boyce, Chipping Campden had a good year getting equal 5th place for most points scored in the Competitions with the following results;

Arable Championship - Cotswolds Region - 3rd Place (with a 1st Place in the Barley section), Profitable Wheat Class - 4th Place, Malting Barley Class - 2nd Place, Bagged Silage Class -4th Place, Fodder Beet Class - 2nd Place and Best Managed Grassland - 2nd Place. Well done.

Gloucestershire Root, Fruit and Grain Society
BK
Bisley House
Green Farm Business Park
Bristol Road
Gloucester
GL2 4LY
Telephone 01452 880101
www.grfgs.com

Tags: animals | banbury | chipping campden | competition | cotswolds | countryside | farming | floods | gloucestershire | hidcote | moreton

Friday 15th February 2008 at 7.30pm

Edward Sheldon Limited are independent Wine Merchants who have been trading in Shipston-on-Stour since 1842. They have a range of over 700 wines and, although they specialize in French wines, their list incorporates a wide and diverse range from around the world.

On Friday 15th February at 7.30pm they are holding a Wine and Dine evening with Wine Maker Philippe Germain.

The Germain family own five estates in Bordeaux and three in the Loire Valley and Philippe will be taking guests through wines from prime sites in these regions.

The ticket price is £30.00 per person to include a 4/5 course meal and wines.

Put the date in your diary and go along and learn about the wines, drink the wines, have a good meal and support your local Wine Merchant all at the same time.

Edward Sheldon Limited
6 New Street
Shipston-on-Stour
Warwickshire
CV36 4FA

Telephone 01608 661409
Email: finewine@edward-sheldon.co.uk
Web: www.edward-sheldon.co.uk

Tags: food | shipston on stour | wine

Sprouts are nice to eat! Sprouts are good for you! Who says?

William Haines, whose family have been farming sprouts for three generations in Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds is persuading children that sprouts are nice to eat.

Sprouts are like Marmite - you either love them or hate them - there is no in between. The sprout was voted Britain’s least liked vegetable in 2002 but William believes that people always say that they don’t like sprouts but that is because they only have them once a year at Christmas and then they don’t know how to cook them. The old varieties were bitter but new types are much sweeter and therefore more appealing to all.

He tempts the children by serving recipes with hidden sprouts- sprout fritters, sprout cake and battered sprouts - and has a 80% success rate in converting them over to the benefits of the sprout.

The sprout is one of the few fresh vegetables on our plates in the depths of winter and they are a nutritious treat when properly prepared. They are very low in fat and sodium and high in dietary fibre and vitamin C. Weight for weight sprouts have three times the level of vitamin C of an orange and just four to six sprouts contain the adult daily dose of vitamin C. They are also a good source of vitamin D and folic acid during pregnancy and have specific health-promoting compounds called glucosinolates which may help to prevent cancer.

All in all they have a lot going for them so get some in for Christmas and also get all the family to eat them throughout the winter months.

Sprouts are part of the cabbage family and British farmers produce more than £30 million worth of sprouts a year. Sprout tops, once a poor man’s food, are now one of the most fashionable vegetables around and can be found on the menu of many top-class restaurants throughout the UK.

Tags: food | christmas