... and we hope you’re feeling good!.

As we open the door to a new year, the winter bites and we focus on keeping well and staying healthy.  The Sicilian citrus fruit is fantastic right now, we have some new delicious breakfast offerings to kick start your day and our colour spread of seasonal produce is here to inspire.

Sowing, planting, nurturing, rearing, harvesting, cooking, preparing, packing, bottling, transporting are the hidden story behind every product that graces our shelves.  And it’s always a story about people, a story that continues when passed to the hands of our Kingfisher family.  That’s not figurative but real with so many of our crew being literal family daughters and sons working alongside their mothers, siblings working together and some growing up with us all… fled the nest and now returned.

And we love to share all this with you.  Whilst filling your baskets with seasonal fayre and perhaps a little treat, you give us conversation, a smile, laughter or a pause for thought. Where there is food, there are people and where there are people, there is community.

Thank you for being part of ours.

A Little Sunshine Within

The cold, dark days of the new year thankfully coincide with the height of citrus season in warmer climes, bringing our immune systems a huge boost of vitamin C when it’s most needed.  We all know that lemon, honey and a slice of ginger makes one of the best cold remedies around, but adding citrus to a winter salad, snacking on a clementine or juicing oranges can all help boost our immunity in a bid to keep us healthy.

The relationships forged with the market traders at New Covent Garden Market is key to the vibrant seasonal  selection of ever changing produce that we pride ourselves in.  One such trader, Alfonse at La Sovrana, made himself known to Marion when he was selling Amalfi lemons and oranges from the back of his van.  Now a fully fledged market trader, he supplies the very best Italian produce to the London scene and to our lucky customers here at Kingfisher.

From the tiny Kumquat to the weighty pomelo, our shelves hold fifteen different citrus fruits over the winter months.  January heralds the arrival of the delicious Italian blood oranges, Black Moro from Calabria and Sicilian Tacco Fire.  If  you haven’t tried them before, we urge you to try one, or ask us to juice them for you as the colour is rich red, the taste is sublime and the season is far too short.

Fill the kitchen with the aroma of oranges...

January brings Seville oranges, and that can only mean one thing - it’s time to get chopping for the 12th Fanny’s Marmalade Competition!

The competition is named after Fanny Maiklem who loved marmalade and created the competition along with her daughter Nellie at their own farm shop. Sadly Fanny passed away 12 years ago, and as there was such a strong following for her marmalade competition, we thought it would be sad to let it go.  We’re delighted that Fanny’s daughter Nellie gave her full support to us holding the event, and she continues to be one of the judges today.

As with previous years, we will be donating £1 per entry to Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care in memory of both Fanny Maiklem and our dear Margaret Arminson.

Pick your class :-

Lady’s Seville and Lady’s Mixed Fruit

Gentleman’s Seville and Gentleman’s Mixed Fruit

Children’s Seville and Children’s Mixed Fruit

Previous Winner Open Class

Entry forms are available from the Farm Shop or you can register online

Closing date for entries - Tuesday 24th February

Judging will take place on Wednesday 25th February from 10:30am

We will salute the champions with a display of winning jars from the 27th Febraury in the Farm Shop, and entries can be collected from Monday 2nd March.   And if you’ve never made marmalade before, we’ve included our recipe in this newsletter.

Good luck!

Kingfisher x Bee Friends Honey

Our New Bees Have Been Busy

After the glorious summer we had last year, we’re delighted to announce that we have been able to produce our own honey in a collaboration with Sergio from Bee Friends.  Our hives are situated in Barrie’s garden and were managed by Sergio, who also harvested and packaged our honey ready for sale.   We have already sold out! 

The next batch will hopefully be available in early Spring

Charge your whisky glass for a toast to Rabbie

Light the candles and gather friends around the table for a Burns Night celebration at the end of January.  Here’s an alternative tatties recipe with a Kingfisher twist.  Watercress Mash.

All You Need is Love

Our small but mighty Flower Shop is waiting to spread the love on the 14th February which this year falls on a SATURDAY.  There’s a selection of beautiful floral options on our website that can be ordered for collection or delivery, or contact our Flower Girls if you’d like to discuss a bespoke order.  We suggest ordering in advance if you’d like to surprise a loved one on the day.

A celebratory glass of bubbles can be found in the Farm Shop courtesy of our fabulous local vineyards.  Pair with a lovingly prepared slow dinner and some indulgent chocolate from local makers Juthan for a memorable Valentine’s evening. 

Love is all you need

Ryeola from SØDT Bakery

SØDT Bakery SODT (pronounced soot) is an independent artisan bakery based in Petworth, West Sussex.  Its founder, Troels Bendix trained as a chef in his native Denmark before teaching himself to make bread.  SODT began in Troel’s English kitchen with friends and neighbours collecting bread from the house.  After a lot of hard work, help from astonishing people and a few small miracles, the bakery is now a short walk away from his home with 17 team members.

Ryeola is an all rye granola with rye flakes, toasted pieces of rye bread, dried cranberries, almonds and seeds developed by the SØDT team. Rye is high in fibre (it contains 42% more fibre than oats) which is essential for digestive health and many other aspects of our well-being. Fibre also helps us feel fuller for longer by slowing digestion, absorbing water and influencing appetite suppressing hormones.