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Celebrations and Bank Holidays galore ….We really do need the sun to shine with all the lovely celebrations we have to look forward to this month. The green will be the focal point in the village for the summer, with visitors enjoying the stream and the cricket. Village Day at Abinger Sports Club, Monday 8 May, is a day for local residents. There will be Kids kwick cricket at 11 am, open bar from 12 noon. An afternoon of adults cricket and tennis family fun. We are providing some foodie treats and guaranteed we will sneak in some watercress for you to enjoy! The Coronation will certainly mark a day in history for everyone. We have not one, but two locally distilled Coronation gins for sale and a bounty of picnic style fayre for you all to feast on. Please note, Saturday, 6 May we are open 8am - 12 noon. Last but not least, ‘Surrey Day’, Saturday, 13 May, with our ‘Day out in Surrey’ event. We will be flying the Surrey flag high! We look forward to seeing you all there!
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May…Fresh green shoots, this month has lots of new ingredients for the shopping basket.
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British Grown fresh produce…. Outdoor Rhubarb Strawberries Asparagus Cornish Potatoes Jersey Royals Hispi Cabbage Spring Onions Watercress
May bloom beauties… Ranunculi Lilac Peony Stocks Scilla Blossom
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Picnic ideas for all the bank holidays …
Here is a selection of delicious treats from our Farm Shop perfect for picnics and feast tables, to get you in the celebratory mood! The local gin distillers have excelled themselves. Here’s what they have to say…..
Silent Pool Gin Coronation Limited Edition From local botanicals, plants and flowers favoured by King Charles III. Gentle yet elucidative citrus exudes throughout from bergamot orange, complemented by elegant floral notes from rose petals, lavender and chamomile. Wessex Coronation Gin A special limited edition run to celebrate The Coronation of His Majesty The King. Inspired by the Kings favourite dessert and the emblem of England, lemon & Rose. The bright ping of floral up front, followed by the sweet lemon peel and robust Juniper on the palate.
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Asparagus, Broad Beans & Goats Cheese Tart …SERVES 4-6 PREP TIME: 20 MIN COOKING TIME: 60-77 MINUTES PLUS CHILLING AND RESTING Gill Meller’s asparagus and goat’s cheese tart is a true celebration of Spring produce. If you want to save time, you could use ready made pastry instead - this one’s all about the gorgeous green filling!
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INGREDIENTS for this delicious dish…. Pastry Filling Large handful broad beans 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 12 Asparagus spears, trimmed 6 Spring onions, cut into 1cm pieces 1 Little gem lettuce, halved and sliced into ribbons Small handful fresh tarragon, chopped Small handful flat leaf parsley, chopped Handful fresh lovage, leaves only, roughly chopped 150g Soft goat’s cheese 2 Medium free-range eggs, plus 2 yolks 100ml Whole milk 300ml Double cream
Please view the full detailed method on our website click below….
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Kingfisher Surrey Day Celebrations…When: Saturday 13th May 2023 | Where: Kingfisher Farm & Flower Shop |Time: 10am - 2pm Come along and meet some of our wonderful suppliers from Surrey… Gray’s Gelato, Surrey Hills Coffee, Chalk Hill’s Bakery, Albury Honey, Fieldgoods ready meals. and more….Guaranteed you won’t leave feeling hungry! We are opening up the Watercress Beds for tours… find out how we grow the crop from seed to shelf and learn a little Kingfisher history. The tours will last approximately half an hour and we invite you to our ‘Day Out in Surrey’ celebrations afterwards. 100% of your £5.00 spent on the tour, will be donated to RABI - a national charity that provides local support to the farming community across England and Wales. Another event to add to your diary, to immerse yourself in the wonders of the superfood, Watercress. The Alresfold Watercress Festival on Sunday 21st May. A great family day out. For all the details……www.watercress festival.org
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Favourite things about Surrey…Surrey Day celebrates all the great things that the county has to offer. We thought we would ask one of our oldest and dearest customers and long standing resident of Surrey, Doris, what it was that she loved about the county she has lived in since she left London as an evacuee child. Doris kindly put pen to paper……. “I arrived on the train at Cranleigh station in September 1939. I so well remember the first Spring days the following year, especially the primroses, which grew in profusion in all the woods and fields surrounding the village. I had never seen primroses before and in those days we were allowed to pick them. We learnt to make posies, and took them to the patients in hospital, and to decorate the church, and I loved the smell. Wherever I have found myself in the intervening years, the smell of primroses would always bring me back to these beautiful parts of Surrey. I need hardly say that all the fields are now housing estates, and Cranleigh is now a very different place. We use to pick wild strawberries all along the banks of the railway, as it passed through Johnson’s fields. We were simply told to ‘mind the trains’ - and of course we ate the strawberries! There are things that you watch grow up, places like Watts Gallery and RHS Wisley. When I first visited Wisley, refreshements were served in what became the library. They made you a drink, if there happened to be somebody there! There was no trouble parking either. Everything has got bigger, but not necessarily better. Kingfisher has got bigger and better!!” Doris has made her weekly visits to the farm shop for many, many years. Often she shares her knowledge on plants or in her delight at what is flowering in her garden, as well as a few pearls of wisdom. Thank you Doris.
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Moni’s Meringues… Truly homemade by Moni, these meringues don’t get much better. Perfect for a Tea Party Celebration with a generous helping of Strawberries and Cream or even ice cream! |
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Elegant & English Raspberries & Dark Chocolate… These delicious all butter biscuits are a balance of tart, sweet & rich flavours that dance on the plate. Handmade in England using high quality & natural ingredients. Those who are following a gluten - free diet can also indulge in this classic & stylish biscuit, made with gluten free cereals and a touch of refinement! |
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Bee Friends…We are delighted to have the opportunity to delve a little deeper into the world of Bee Keeping with Sergio from Bee Friends. Sergio has been looking after bee colonies for 18 years. He started ‘Bee Friends’ about 7 years ago, here in the Surrey Hills.
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“I have some memories from when I was very little, maybe 4 years old, of my dad having a beehive in Italy. We then moved house and I was told he could not keep it. About 25 years ago I started keeping chickens, ex-battery hens and then developed an interest in growing vegetables and fruit. Keeping bees came as the next natural step and I got myself two beehives in 2005. These days I look after over 220 colonies of honeybees and still very much enjoy it.” |
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Sergio has 38 apiaries of which two are on Albury Estate. This means he can supply very local honey to customers of Kingfisher Farm Shop. Bee Friendly honey and products are supplied to many individuals and businesses who appreciate good quality local produce and to those who are interested in the wellbeing of the native honeybees. |
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They attend various Farmers Markets in Surrey and directly from their website, as well as local farm shops, food shops, estates, hotels, tea shops restaurants and golf clubs. In the last few years, the health of our bees has hit the headlines on numerous occasions. Weather patterns have brought a change to the character of our seasons. |
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“At times, very late Spring and very hot Summers or very late Autumns with warm Winters. Honeybees will always be looking for forage, but they can be severely challenged by the weather which will dictate the availability and abundance of forage.”
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Beekeeping certainly comes with many challenges. “Bad weather can aversively affect the breeding of new queens and overwintering of colonies with much higher winter losses. Bees will always adapt as they have been around for millions of years, but it will take time and at a cost.” |
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The business has organically grown in the last 7 years. To begin with the focus was solely on producing local natural honey. Then they started making pure beeswax candles as a way of recycling the wax cappings from extracting honey. Further diversification to the business, a natural skin care range with honey and beeswax as the main ingredients, because of their beneficial properties. The list doesn’t end there. Food graded beeswax wraps and a range of traditional beeswax polishing products to recondition wood, leather and furniture are also made. |
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“In terms of services, we offer talks and demos on honeybees to individuals and businesses. We also run Bee Clubs to those who want to try handling honeybees and we train future beekeepers. We supply colonies for pollination purposes or to private customers and we are always happy to safely recover swarms of honeybees.” The world of bee keeping certainly keeps Sergio very busy... |
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“This Spring we will open our Bee Farm for guided tours so that people can learn more about honeybees and see them up close! Instead of me visiting local schools, we will have youth groups coming to us where we have so much more to show and explain about the fascinating lives of honeybees. We feel this is extremely important for young generations.” One plan that is guaranteed, they plan to remain as a small local family business. |
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