Celebrating our first anniversary – we love January!

Celebrating our first year

January can sometimes be seen as a gloomy month, can’t it?  However, it’s a time of celebration here at LCMG, as we’ve reached a milestone – our first anniversary of growing our crops at Sheepscombe!  The time has gone unbelievably fast (as it does, when you’re having fun) and so here’s a few reflections from the last twelve months:

People prefer affordable, fresh, healthy food

Last year saw some big headlines about the possible health problems which may be a result of eating too many processed foods, whether ready meals, snacks, every day convenience foods or takeaways.   Chatting to our fantastic customers, supporters and volunteers, it seems these stories reflect what people feel is important – the preference really is for proper, home cooked food (which can be made and be frozen in advance for those situations).  The interesting question that has been raised is that while we all use convenience foods, why do they have so many chemical ingredients, that we don’t keep in our store cupboards at home?    We’re sticking to the ingredients we can grow in the earth!

Trying something new can be fun and make the food budget go further

We love the feedback from our customers about what they do with their veg.   Curried parsnip soup, a three-veg coleslaw with a lovely, fruity dressing or shredded, roasted turnips as a topping for stews and casseroles are just a few ideas we’ve tried.  Customers are also asking us for different types of veg – last year, we grew those lovely, sweet, white onions so common in Mediterranean markets.  One customer made a soup just of those, with masses of garlic and herbs.  

We’ve planted an orchard

Last year, we planted 40 fruit trees on our site, a mixture of apple, pear, plum and mulberry varieties.  The trees will create new habitat for insects and birds and it’s our way of preserving the eco-system, supporting it, doing everything we can to keep it and the soil, robust and healthy.

More classes and events to come in 2025!

Keep in touch via our website www.lcmgstroud.co.uk as we’re holding a lot more events this year and we hope to welcome you soon!