I couldn't resist these Nar Valley grown tomatoes from Swaffham High Street greengrocers. All shapes and colours with a kilo for £4.
Terry Rayner came home from work one day in 2003 and announced to his wife Win that he was quitting work. Win asked Terry what he was planning to do, "Start up a seed business." "Where?" asked Win. "In the garden shed" replied Terry, and so Terwin Seeds was formed. (Yes. Terry and Win, Terwin!) Win told me she was a little nervous when several tons of seed potatoes arrived on their doorstep, but the business has grown and now they have an online shop and a small unit in Cockfield, Suffolk. I met them at last weeks Edible Garden Show. As I have predicted Buckwheat to trend I picked up a pack of the sprouting seeds to try.
http://microsoft.suffolkfoodie.co.uk/itemlist/category/31-suffolk-fruit-and-veg.html#sigProIdcd72e154f7
Never mind the eye of the beef looking at me ...how about the aubergine with a message from God?
Found out that we can buy fresh local blueberries right on our doostep here in West Suffolk. Jo Garden grows them at Hepworth www.gardenberries.co.uk and makes the best blueberry jam there too. She also sells the bushes ( currently on a special offer) if you want one in your garden to sprinkly a few on your cereal every day. Of course you can buy blueberries cheaper in supermarkets but it's a bit like blackberries - why would you buy them from a supermarket when you can get them from a farm or a hedge near you?
Aka a pumpkin (or squash) I bought from a side of the road, kindly labelled by the grower as I wouldn't have known what a Blue Hubbard was. A tiny bit under-ripe I thought, but very tasty as a roast vegetable, cooked and mashed into a fritter or made into a slightly curried soup.
So wot if you can't spell
When I worked in a Suffolk restaurant the thought of a food critic discovering us, writing amazing things and launching us into celebrity-land was always tempered by the fact that they might not get it, would write something rude and send us in a nosedive into even greater obscurity. Like a Michelin star it's as much a blessing as a curse. And although the critics still have some influence, now that anyone can have an opinion I'm sure it keeps them on their toes. Tracey MacLeod, food critic of the Independent, ventured out not too long ago to review The British Larder, a Suffolk country pub that has a food blog of the same name.