Exciting news! We’re planning to open a new farm shop at Stansted Park, near the Garden Centre and wonderful Pavilion Tearooms. It will be in an old stable block that used to be the premises for Le Salon Du Chocolat before they moved to Chichester. We’re hoping to be in … Read More

It is rare these days to eat a slice of bread with nothing else – primarily because most bread is bland, flavourless and lacking in texture. Not so a walnut loaf from the Hungry Guest which can be greedily consumed slice after slice. Their other breads are equally delicious. Rosemary … Read More

The king of wild mushrooms are the ceps (in French), porcini (in Italian) or Penny Bun (good old blighty). They can be found in the UK as early as July until the first frost and are one of the tastiest and satisfying of all foraged foods. They normally start popping … Read More

I’ve just finished reading Four Fish – A journey from the ocean to your plate by Paul Greenberg and would recommend it to anyone interested in the future of our fisheries. It’s amusing, brilliantly written and clearly gets the point across without lecturing the reader or getting you depressed. It’s … Read More

A lovely ring of horse mushrooms have appeared on my parents lawn, they are similar to field mushrooms, but grow much larger. They often appear in grass fields and are definitely worth eating. They can be confused with the poisonous yellow staining mushroom, the difference being that the stem of … Read More

It was a day for large, white round things yesterday as the forces of nature combined with a harvest moon and a puffball. We sliced the puffball into lovely slabs of pure white, and dipped them into beer batter (1/2 self raising flour, 1/2 water and a good glug of … Read More

Native oysters are now back in season (September to April) and it’s worth dredging up a bit more information. We source our Natives from Rossmore oysters who manage the oyster fishery in Loch Ryan on the East Coast of Scotland. This is Scotland’s only wild fishery, having remained in the … Read More

A good friend called up this weekend and invited himself and his girlfriend for tea. I asked where they were coming from – and he replied ‘Rye’. I asked if he had had any scallops, he hadn’t. When they turned up at the door, he was holding a large bag … Read More

If you happen to pass an oak tree in the next week or two, take a moment to look at the acorn crop – it should be pretty impressive. Our oak trees are festooned with beautiful green acorns and a heavy crop is guaranteed this year. Why does this make … Read More

There is a fantastic walk from here to a local pub that involves several steep hills with incredible views down to Chichester harbour and the Isle of Wight. In one of the fields where it is particularly steep, the ground has been left fallow and is covered in wild marjoram. … Read More

We’ve just returned from visiting my wife’s family in the US, and on our first day back – rather jetlagged, we went for a walk in the woods. At this time of year, there is a sense of anticipation: when are the mushrooms going to appear? In particular we are … Read More

This isn’t exactly local food, but wherever you go, especially on holiday, it’s always fun to forage or catch something edible, especially as the efforts involved are often as much fun as the eating. With two small children in tow, it’s difficult to do the hunter gatherer thing particularly effectively, … Read More

Join the conversation on the behind-the-scenes view of our produce and producers, read about foraging forays and try out or contribute a favourite recipe with the new Foodsplace blog. I wanted to have a blog in order to give a bit more information about our produce so that you know … Read More