September Farmers’ Markets and Introducing Rough Stuff Oak

Welcome to autumn! If you’re like me, the change to cooler weather is very welcome. As you’ll read from Luke’s notes below, this summer has been particularly challenging for many of our producers. Your continued support is very much appreciated by all the stallholders at our markets.

Saturday is looking like it will be sunny and in the low 20s. Perfect for a visit to Haslemere market. There’s a full lineup in Haslemere and Milford, and it’s pleasing to see Southsea gaining more producers for you.

We’re also welcoming Rough Stuff Oak to Haslemere for the first time. You can find out more about them below. See you at one of our markets soon.

Haslemere Farmers’ Market

• Date: Saturday, 5th September
• Time: 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM
• Location: High Street, Haslemere
• Producers in Attendance: Click Here

Milford Farmers’ Market

• Date: Sunday, 20th September
• Time: 10:00 AM – 1:30 PM
• Location: Secretts Farm Shop, Milford
• Producers in Attendance: Click Here

Southsea Farmers’ Market

• Date: Sunday, 20th September
• Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
• Location: Palmerston Road, Southsea
• Producers in Attendance: Click Here

October Markets

Here are the October dates for your diary:

• Haslemere, Saturday 3rd October
• Milford, Sunday, 18th October
• Southsea, Sunday, 18th October

Chairmans Note

Last week as I was driving down the A31, I couldn’t help noticing that the landscape resembled something from autumn, A blend of yellows and golds with the greens of those trees still holding on to their leaves through the drought. It’s been tough, but summer is technically over and welcome Autumn!

Primary producers have had a really tough summer extra work. Keeping animals and plants hydrated. Yields are down and certainly we have never spent so much money keeping the sheep healthy.

Our winter hay supply tells are very scary story, we are already halfway through it. Still the fields are greening up and we might just have enough grass to see us through to the winter….

Seasonal challenges are tough on small businesses from changes in footfall to conditions imposed on us by the weather. However, we need to ride out these blips and come back stronger at home.

Anything we plant now will be more for a warmer climate and also considering drought resistance. We’re going to be lambing most of the sheep earlier so hopefully they will benefit from better grass. So instead of doing the bulk of our lambing in April we will shift it forward to February and march. Hoping that we don’t have a really horrible wet winter..

As I was walking the dogs yesterday, it was obvious how quickly the nights are drawing in, the geese have started assembling and noisily crossing the skies. The hedgerows are full of a glut of wild food that nature is making the most of.

I’ve dusted off our slow cooker. It’s that time of year again when you come back into the house in the evening and it smells amazing.

Enjoy what your producers have to offer and just like nature, forage around and see what seasonal traits are out there

Looking forward to seeing you at one of our markets.

Luke
SWSFM Chairman, Owner, The Hairy Pig Company

Welcome Rough Stuff Oak

We are delighted to welcome Rough Stuff Oak to Haslemere this month. They’ll be bringing a fantastic selection of butcher’s blocks, charcuterie boards, cheese boards, oak doorstops, and much more. How about pairing some of the great food on sale at the markets with one of their boards?

From Matt, the founder of Rough Stuff Oak:

We make artisanal chopping boards crafted from a single piece of oak. Our wooden chopping boards are handmade in our workshops in prisons across the South of England.

We’ve worked with prisons for over 10 years, empowering inmates and ex-offenders with the skills, confidence, and discipline to make a positive impact in their community. It’s because of this relationship that we say there’s purpose in every board.