September is full of Surprises!

September arrives with a distinctive touch of autumn.  The golden sunshine we have enjoyed over the summer is giving us a generous bounty of plums to enjoy and Ringden Farm apple harvest has commenced offering a variety of delicious early varieties. We have also learnt that we have been included in a prestigious list of Farm Shops recommended by Country Living magazine.  We feel very proud!

Our Kingfisher Kids have impressed us with their creativity.  Our summer holiday competition ‘Box Clever’ inspired some wonderful creations from a cardboard box.  Congratulations to all the Little Kingfishers who took part, you excelled!

We have a host of workshops available as we step into autumn, starting off with our Autumn Wreath workshop.  For all details take a look on our website on our events page, or the Dates for your Diary page in this newsletter.

An apple a day!

The results are in...

Over the school summer holidays we challenged the Kingfisher kids to create anything they liked from a cardboard box, and  WOW! - the entries were amazing! Their models range from robots to robins and are exhibited in the Farm Shop for all our customers to enjoy.

We have awarded joint first place to Aki & Emi for their ingenious automated Kingfisher, and Evelyn for her imaginative castle complete with interior furnishings.

Second place has gone to Elsa for her cosy robin’s nest with tiny blue eggs, and third place to Emi for her fascinating axolotl.

Highly Commended was awarded to Lily for her clever 3D pizza and chips.

Kingfisher kids, you never cease to amaze us!

Congratulations and thank you to all those who took part.

A fond farewell...

At the end of August we said goodbye to Jo as she sets off to train for a new career that doesn’t require thermals.  Jo joined us in 2017 with ten years floristry experience under her secateur belt, drawn to the natural creativity of The Flower Shop at Kingfisher.

Many of you will know Jo for her inspirational bouquets or perhaps through attending one of our flower workshops, her enthusiasm for all things floral utterly infectious.  The Flower Shop just won’t be the same without her.

We’re delighted to say that a little bit of Jo will always be with us in the form of a bright & bubbly hand tie that can be ordered from the Flower Girls.  We’ve called it ‘Joyful Jo’ and it’s available to order online or through The Flower Shop.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

A fascinating account of a recent visit to Kingfisher as told by Fiona Thompson after visiting Abinger Hammer for the first time.

This story starts with a journey to a watercress farm and ends with an unexpected bottle of gin.  That’s what happens when you follow a thread of curiosity to see where it leads you.  I travelled to Surrey with my dad to see his cousin, Barrie as they hadn’t met up for a while.  For me, though, there was an added fascination: seeing the area where my grandmother grew up.  My grandma spent her early years in a village called Peaslake, a tiny place in the Surrey Hills that’s now a mecca for bike riders on a sunny day.  My dad showed me her childhood home as well as the church where she’d been married.  The roads to and from the village are out of a storybook, trees arching to meet across single track.

Then we headed off to Abinger Hammer, a couple of miles away, where Barrie lives. Families were having picnics by the stream, kids were splashing in the water, a cricket match was taking place in the background.  Abinger Hammer has a famous clock that pays tribute to the village’s history as a forge, with a figure of a blacksmith who strikes the clock every hour with his hammer.

My grandmother’s family, the Coes, started the watercress farm in Abinger Hammer, which Barrie still looks after.  He showed me and my dad a wonderful display of memorabilia relating to the watercress farm, dating back to its earliest days.  A timeline showed that two Coe brothers paid five shillings a year to rent the plot from the local Wotton Estate in 1854.  In 1888, the farm was growing around 400 tons of watercress a year.  In 1900, my dad’s grandfather, Edward Francis Coe, took over and started trading as R Coe and Sons.

Watercress was cut in the early hours, starting at 4.30am.  It travelled to London on the 6.30am, 7.27am, 8.05am and 8.40am trains from Gomshall to be distributed to shops on the same day it was harvested.  I love the idea of watercress rushing to catch the early morning trains into the city.  By the 1950s, Good Friday had become the busiest trading day of the year, with the farm workers harvesting at least 3 tons of watercress.  Due to the Bank Holiday train service, the railway had to put on an extra coach especially for the watercress so it could reach London Bridge in time for the wholesale markets.

Barrie started as a watercress grower in Abinger Hammer in 1957, under the guidance of his father and grandfather, and has stayed there ever since.  He might not have his wellies deep in the watercress beds every day, but he still keeps a keen eye on everything that’s going on.  The watercress relies on the source of fresh spring water, and Barrie took us to the far end of the farm where we could see and hear water gushing through channels in every direction, expertly funnelled into the growing beds and an adjacent stream.  In those days much greater area was given over to watercress beds.  Now, some of the beds have been reduced as the family has downsized the watercress business and expanded its farm shop.

The shop has its origins in the 1970s, when local people asked Barrie to bring back the occasional cauliflower or lettuce from Covent Garden.  As small shops declined and large supermarkets sprang up, Barrie and his wife, Margaret, filled a gap in demand, sourcing and selling local produce.  More recently, they added a Flower Shop, with an emphasis on seasonal British-grown blooms.  It grew from there and today the farm shop is thriving, run by Barrie’s daughter, Marion.

I have a weakness for farm shops, and this one is beautiful.  Local eggs stacked on a wooden table, framed by a backdrop of daisies in a duck-egg blue tin pitcher. Jersey royal potatoes, outdoor-grown rhubarb and, of course, Kingfisher Watercress grown on the farm.

My eye was drawn to two items in the shop.  First, a chopping board made from locally sourced tulip wood, with the name R Coe and Sons branded on the side.  This was created to celebrate 170 years of watercress growing on the farm.  The name is burnt into the wood using a pre-1950s branding iron originally used to mark tools and wooden planks at the watercress beds.  One of these chopping boards is now at home in my dad’s kitchen.  The other thing I immediately noticed was a display of bottles of Kingfisher Watercress Gin, one of which made it home with me.

Ringden Farm...     

Our fruitful relationship with Ringden Farm started over 25 years ago.

Every year we delight in their first delivery of apples, and from that day we observe the changing apple varieties that arrive throughout the autumn and winter months, so many that we do not stock apples imported from abroad during winter.  Last year we had 24 varieties listed on our stock sheet, and we provide tasting notes for each to help you with selection.  In addition to the apple harvest we also receive Ringden pears, plums and juicy cherries from the farm.

Based in the Kent & Sussex Weald, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the current farm was purchased in 1963 to plant as an orchard for apples, pears, plums and cherries with an additional six acres from an adjoining farm being acquired to extend the orchard at a later date.  New cold stores were built and the pack house was extended to handle larger quantities of fruit, not only for the farm, but for their local growers cooperative.

In 1990 a violent hailstorm swept through Kent and Sussex damaging the fruit crop and leaving very little saleable fruit.  This event proved a tipping point for the business as it led to the first pressing of the damaged fruit by a local vineyard, and the resulting apple juice was offered to their wholesale fruit customers and proved extremely popular.  Now, as then, Ringden Farm produce their own juices and blends with no added sugar, water, artificial colourings or preservatives.  We stock 14 varieties of their single apple, pear and blended juices, as well as a smaller apple juice that’s always in the chiller.

If our wonderful summer has left you with a glut of apples and pears, these can be taken to Ringden for pressing, filtering, pasteurising and bottling in 1 litre bottles for you to collect at the end of the process.  If however you aren’t lucky enough to have your own orchard, fresh Ringden apples and delicious bottled juices are here now.

John Murray, Butcher and Game Dealer

We’re delighted to welcome John Murray, Butcher and Game Dealer, as a key supplier to Kingfisher Farm Shop.

Based in Loxwood, West Sussex, John started his business in 1986 having risen through the ranks of a number of local butchers.  His ethos has always been to source quality produce from local farms where he can observe livestock on the hoof, seeing good grass fed beef and lamb maturing naturally.

The main focus of the business is as a retail butcher, but there are now a number of catering outlets that John supplies as well as local village shops.  This keeps his team of 10 very busy indeed.

Please let us know in advance if you require meat for a special occasion and we will order it in.  Alternatively, this can also been done via our online shop, collected from us or delivered to your door.

Japanese Kokedama Workshop

Create Your Own Moss Ball Plants...

We’re delighted to introduce two autumn workshops taking place in the Old Bunching Shed with Lisa Duncan - hinokiforestbathing.co.uk/sessions/japanese-culture.

Tickets are £45.00 and can be booked through her website

Book your place 22 October or 14 November

Join Lisa for a hands-on Kokedama workshop, where you’ll learn the beautiful Japanese art of creating moss ball plants.  In this calming, creative session, you’ll make two kokedama plants to take home perfect for hanging or displaying in your living space.

Lisa will guide you step-by-step through the process of shaping the soil, wrapping the roots, applying moss, and securing your plants using traditional techniques. You’ll also learn how to care for your kokedama to keep them healthy and thriving.

During the workshop, we’ll also take time to enjoy and explore a variety of Japanese teas, adding to the peaceful and cultural experience.

This workshop is a lovely way to slow down, connect with nature, and experience a beautiful piece of Japanese culture.  All materials provided - just bring your curiosity and a sense of calm!

Photography Credit: @chloe.hardwick & @henrycatling & @stuartovendencreative