High on the list of FAQs at the museum where I work must surely be ‘What
do you do with all the vegetables from the cottage gardens?’ Ever since I have been there we have sold the produce on an ad hoc
basis to visitors and staff, but the imbalance between quantity produced
(small) and visitor numbers (high), means that we fail to address
the public perception that we aren’t ‘doing anything with it’. On a busy day in high summer 30 people might go home delighted with their bag of peas/punnet of gooseberries while the other 5,870 go home thinking it's a shame we don't sell the produce. Also I can categorically state that nobody has come for a family day out at the museum wanting to carry a 2 kilo cabbage around in the pushchair!
Earlier in the year a chance remark from the director of the museum, that the chef would like some herbs to use in the restaurant, set me thinking that maybe the time was right to try a Plot to Plate project where the produce gets used in the on-site restaurant. I realise this is not a fantastically original idea - lots of places do it already. But their visitor numbers are mostly small compared to ours, and a lot of them shut in the winter. So after a bit of gentle pushing and shoving on my part, we're running it as a pilot scheme this year.
I had a very productive walk around with the chef, good for both sides to think about the practicalities. The great news is that he's very interested in the things that have always been impossible challenging to sell, like cabbages, turnips and prickly skinned cucumbers. Conversely, not so bothered about the peas and broad beans - too much prep so they buy frozen. He also made excited faces when I said things like 'quince', 'cooking pears' and 'kale', which was extremely gratifying.
It's been a gentle start, with a few kilos of rhubarb a week and some trays of mixed herbs
I've even got some new scales
and down on the farm our new chooky girls have started laying
so it's time to get organised and start sending the eggs to the shop
the financial return on these items isn't huge
but it's part of a bigger story
and it feels like the right thing to do
and that feels good…
Hello:
ReplyDeleteWhat a splendid idea and we are so pleased for you that the chef has warmed to this way of using the home grown produce. In all our years of living in Herefordshire we never visited St. Fagan's Museum which is a dreadful admission of a terrible omission!
Well Jane and Lance you can be sure of a warm welcome if you do decide to pay us a visit!
DeleteIt sounds like a great idea to me, and you are right, not many people are going to want to lug a giant cabbage around all day, but small things like a punnet of strawberries they will, but then there are not so many to be seen as going round. A very tricky thing to balance really. I hope that the new idea - of yours! - works really well. xx
ReplyDeleteYes - it' a bit of a balancing act, and as the old saying goes 'You can't please all of the people all of the time...'
DeleteYes of course it's the right thing to do - it's a brilliant idea! Like most good ideas, it takes some planning and thinking to make it work in practice, but it's good to know the chef is excited about it too. Good for you for sticking with the idea, Bernice. Rhubarb crumble, mmmm! xxx
ReplyDeletePS. Thanks for effing voting! xxx
ReplyDelete'No wucking furries' as they say in Oz (charmingly shortened to No Wuckers!)
DeleteThe right thing to do indeed! And good for you for pushing this in such a fantastic direction! The big picture is what it's all about and I love the crops that you all will be using! Keep us posted and a job well done!!!!! Nicole xo
ReplyDeleteThere'll definitely be updates! Have a lovely week Nicole x
DeleteReally cool! Bet the chef loves those duck eggs! I recognize them from when we kept some ducks - they have such a distinct look.
ReplyDeleteThey're beautiful aren't they - and always slightly more poopy than the chook eggs!
DeleteThat's fabulous, and makes so much sense. Nothing wrong with an idea not being original when its good.
ReplyDeleteI also get excited by the term 'cooking pear'...
It's a variey called Catillac from 1650 - never softens up unless you poach very slowly. Have promised myself I'll try them this year. Feel I should road test stuff on myself if I'm sending it to the kitchens. Or maybe I should just get the chef to do a trial? That sounds like a better idea...
DeleteHere , in Holland , little iron-hard cooking pears are very slowly stewed whole , in just enough water to cover , with cloves . After 90 minutes or so , sugar is added and they're poached for a while longer till the syrup goes wine red and the kitchen smells gorgeous .
DeleteMmm - that sounds fab. Because they do start off looking extremely unpromising!
DeleteThe produce looks amazing. I really want to grow rhubarb, I'm not sure why I haven't yet. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDelete