March 2021 | Issue 9

Our doors have reopened!

From Thursday 25th of February the Farm Shop welcomed 4 customers back inside the shop. We ask all customers to wear a mask, sanitise your hands and respect all social distancing inside the shop. For those of you who prefer to have a personal shopper, we are more than happy to continue providing this service.

If you wish to shop from home we have just refreshed our Greengrocers Boxes on our website ready for our delivery and collection service. As well as beginning to add a few more extras and Easter treats! If that doesn’t tick the boxes then you are still able to order your personal shopping via email.

All of this is explained fully on our Covid-19 Page

Opening Hours: 9am - 5pm Monday to Saturday.

Unfortunately the Flower Shops doors will remain shut for now. The flower girls are still accepting online & telephone orders!

We recommend regularly checking our website to keep up with the latest guidelines.

And finally… Hurrah for daffodils, Spring has finally sprung!

Simple Spring ingredients…

As we say goodbye to winter veg, let’s remind you of what’s to come…

• Purple Sprouting Broccoli

• Jersey Royal Potatoes

• Spring Greens

• Isle of Wight Tomatoes

• Radicchio family

• Globe Artichoke

• Leeks

• Sicilian Citrus

• Forced Rhubarb

• Ringden Farm Apples

We’ve had some very welcome sunshine recently which is good news for our blooms! The flower girls are on hand to help you pick out the best stems, but here’s a few of our favourites…

• Blossom

• Anemones

• Narcissi

• Mimosa

• Tulips

• Hyacinths

Mothering Sunday Approaches

We would be delighted to help you send a ‘hug’ to your Mum on 14th March.

We are offering a delivery and collection service on Mothering Sunday. We ask you to place orders sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment.

You can browse our range of bouquets and hampers on our Online Shop or take a little look below for a taster of what we have available.

A Souperfood Sensation!

Watercress is back in the shop after a few very cold weeks in February.

Did you know… That gram for gram Watercress has more Vitamin C than an orange! What’s more, Vitamin C helps your body to absorb more iron which is also found in watercress.

We are really pleased to welcome back our very own Watercress soup to the chiller. Made locally by Well Seasoned Kitchen using Kingfisher Watercress it is the perfect bowl of instant goodness!

If you do prefer to make it yourself, please take a look at our classic Watercress Soup recipe on the website. Of course, all the ingredients can be bought from the Farm Shop.

At Kingfisher

The Easter bunny is out of isolation! We remain hopeful that you all will be able to spend Easter Sunday with loved ones outdoors.

Celebrate with The Local Breakfast Box, an Easter treat for the family including all the breakfast essentials. There’s a lovely selection of Easter chocolate treats that you can pop in your shopping basket too!

Enter your jars before 23rd March!

Now that our doors are open, pop along for some seville oranges and an entry form for Fanny’s Marmalade Competition. Our form is also available online below. We donate £1 for every entry to the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice.

Here’s is a reminder of the important dates:

Closing date: Tuesday 23rd March 2021

Judging day: Wednesday 24th March 2021.

All entries will be on display over the weekend: 25th - 27th March 2021.

Entries can be collected from: Monday 29th March 2021.

Meet Jo…

Wow! I have been here for four and a half years now and I am so fortunate to have found the Kingfisher team. I feel truly at home, the team and all of our local, regular customers have become my much loved extended family, helping each other through life’s many highs and lows, where would I be without you all!

As a City and Guilds level 3 florist, with over 10 years experience, I felt very drawn to the natural creativity of The Flower Shop at Kingfisher. My back ground working for 9 years in 5 star hotel receptions and a degree in Psychology has enabled me to perfectly use my skills and experience to fit into the roles of working in both the Flower and Farm shop. I happily divide my week between the two and generally go where ever I am best needed to help the team. There is never a dull moment with Jo around!!

As for my favourite things at Kingfisher... I’m a bit of an ice cream connoisseur, my fave being Grays Gelato - especially the Ginger. As a bread pro, my favourite would have to be the very elusive Soda bread. Now both Celebration and Chalk Hill bakery do a Soda bread (Yay!).

Fran my new pony gets treated to the finest fresh Farm Shop carrots and Braeburn crispy apples, lucky girl! But of course my heart is always with the flowers and my favourite thing is to create a bespoke bouquet using our gorgeous fresh English flowers that Marion sources from both New Covent Garden Market and local growers. Making the recipient smile makes me smile, hopefully I shall be doing lots of this over Mothers Day!

Jo is well known here for bringing a smile to people’s faces, especially with her artwork… we love it!

Photography Credit: @chloe.hardwick