Scotland is really bonnie at harvest time, with bountiful supplies of local fruits and vegetables. Tractors – even a few heavy horses – are bringing in grain, hay and silage, and tattie howkers are at work. Our countryside is a national treasure and a joy to behold, albeit we have to navigate lethal potholes to Middle Earth as we drive through the rural landscape.
Across the country you will find marvellous farm shops, many of whom were life-savers for communities during covid; providing essentials, deliveries, hot meals and more. Residents discovered their local farm shops for the first time; a significant number have remained loyal whilst others need reminded of the key role such enterprises play in our food security.
Avoiding supermarkets guarantees your money remains in the community, benefits producers and enhances the local economy. Your ethical shopping will be small on food miles and big on flavour. As the seasons go by, check out the Seasonal Offers page for fun events such as Craigie’s Pumpkin Fest or market days at Brand Family Larder.
Some farm shops like Loch Arthur cover every aspect of your organic weekly shop; others concentrate solely on what they grow or rear themselves but whether you are after a celebration meal or a weeknight supper, there will always be great seasonal food and often tips on what to cook, should you need a helping hand.
Macbeths Butcher & Game of Forres has a cute Wee Shed Shop on their farm at Edinvale, whilst The Orkney Dairy chalet is a pretty picture postcard in a coastal hue. Others go techno, with vending machines at Elchies and Connage offering fabulous produce via out-of-hours automation.
There are game specialists: Winston Churchill Venison, Carmichael & Rothiemurchus Estates, Craigadam, and across the landscape animals can be seen grazing Slowly, producing healthy food for us to eat. Some Farm Shop characters are for entertainment and education – not the dinner table – such Peel Farm’s miniature donkeys and pygmy goats, Woodlea’s alpacas and peacocks, and Errichel’s Shetland Ponies, where Becky and her husband, Slow Food Cooks Alliance Member, Paul also have a bistro on their working farm.
Auchentullich Farm Shop specialises in Highland beef and beautiful ice creams. At Hardiesmill you can see Native Aberdeen Angus in the fields, stars of the movie Look Back in Angus. Ardross grow their own vegetables alongside their Pasture Fed cattle and sheep.
At Ardross, Bosse is bringing in Hebridean rye, an ancient Dalarna wheat varietal, and Shetland Black oat. Scything by hand, threshing in our kitchen garden and milling on the borrowed mill. These grains were all but extinct and Bosse (unfunded) is seed saving and growing with a view to eventually seed sharing to restore this valuable biodiversity of food and flavours to its native heath. These resurrected seeds will be submitted to Slow Food’s Ark of Taste soon, and some hopefully re-established.
Biodiversity is apparent across Scottish Food Guide and is vital to Scotland’s food security and sovereignty, working with nature, not against it. Slow Food International is hosting #TerraMadre2024 soon, where Slow Food Farms will be centre stage, “Highlighting the critical role of these farms in transforming our food systems, bringing together farmers, activists, chefs, and conscious consumers to drive real change.” The launch is next week so watch this space.
Many of these farm shops also have cafés or food-to-go. Ardardan to the west and Gloagburn to the east are both popular lunch haunts, with the new Errington Barn open in Lanarkshire, the Ayrshire Food Hub by Mauchline, and the newly refurbished Glass House at Isle of Mull Cheese. In fact a number of farm shops also feature on Scottish Cheese Trail as artisan cheese producers, including St Andrews Cheese Company in Fife, Galloway Farmhouse Cheese, Dunlop Dairy and The Ethical Dairy.
I hope this virtual whistle-stop tour round Scottish Farm Shops has whetted your appetite for buying local produce, with transparent provenance, from fabulous families who provide us year-round with such great wholesome food. Many of them have been farming for generations, others are new on the scene, and some produce foods recognised on Slow Food International’s Ark of Taste. There is so much to see and do for all ages, so many lovely people with passion to meet, and such healthy, delicious, ethical food to enjoy: good for you, good for the environment and good for the economy, so do please click on the links to discover their specialities.
Scottish Food Guide is Scotland’s ethical independent award-winning guide to the best places to eat and our finest produce – and the only guide with its own Charter.
On a personal note… It is said, “Never underestimate a small wound or a poor friend.” In Bosse’s case it has been a rollercoaster month when a wheat straw lodged in his thumb. Fair to say, it was ignored for a week or so on the common assumption a minor splinter would ‘grow out.’ Well it didn’t, and as it grew in discomfort, the Swedish Farmer was herded to the village pharmacist who recommended the local surgery. We secured an appointment – no mean feat these days – but he wasn’t seen by a doctor and was sent home. Within hours I was calling the out-of-hours number, and before concluding, I excused myself and we jumped in the Mini. Driving through the night, red lines were visibly moving up his arm by which time there was no feeling in the adjacent finger! Thanks to the very prompt action of the doctors at Victoria Hospital, Kircaldy, and two and a half weeks hospitalisation on strong intravenous antibiotics, Bosse’s sepsis was treated successfully – although it is still painful, he is now convalescing at home. It was pretty serious and agonising … so I tell this tale as a warning to all, young and old: NEVER underestimate a splinter!
And now for something completely different…You may recall we visited Peberholm one misty summer evening and the full account of this groundbreaking wilding and engineering project is now published here.
