Got a glut of new potatoes, lettuce or gooseberries? Finding it hard to come up with new ways of cooking all those courgettes? Roseland Inn Farm Shop is inviting green-fingered locals to help keep the shop stocked with fresh, local produce.
Amanda Harley, who has taken over the shop in Philleigh from Debbie Heslip, is maintaining the shop’s ethos of buying in products from Cornwall. Everything from the milk to the chocolate and crafts are sourced from across the county.As well as ordering from regular suppliers, Amanda also takes stock from small local farmers and visits Truro market twice a week for fresh fruit and vegetables.
To cut down even further on food miles, and make the most of what’s grown right here on the doorstep, Amanda is encouraging local gardeners who grown their own to bring in any surplus from gardens or allotments.
“I’m hoping that people, who might have a glut of lettuce or spinach in their garden, will bag it up and bring it into the shop to sell, or exchange for something else such as a jar of jam, a bunch of fresh cut flowers or some strawberries.”
Amanda hopes to buy fruit or vegetables suitable for sale in the shop at a set price per kilo, bunch or bundle and sell on everything a set price. She was inspired to try selling surplus fruit and vegetables from local producers after reading about a venture called Local Rootsand Wellie Boots in Eastbourne, Sussex.
Surplus crops and cut flowers will be paid for in cash (if it’s from a private garden) or with tokens for allotment holders (who are not allowed to profit from their allotments. These can then be exchanged for other fruit and veg, or jams and other produce.
She hopes that the informal arrangement will help keep the shop stocked up with fresh, affordable, locally-grown fruit and vegetables.
Local producers of jam, pickles, chutneys as well as arts and crafts are also invited to get in touch if they would like to sell their products.
As well as running the farm shop, Amanda plans to set up a holiday hamper delivery service, both for holiday makers to order ahead, but also for cottage and home owner who provide their guests with welcome packs. For more information about the farm shop, or to order a hamper, visit; www.roselandfarmshop.co.uk, or call Amanda on 07703 312 294.