Hackney City Farm - 31/03/2011

For several weeks I have been selling my chutney on Wednesday evenings at Hackney City Farm while people come and collect their fruit and vegetable boxes from Growing Communities. You can also buy delicious bread from E5 Bakehouse. It has been a lot of fun and has also made me realise what an amazing resource Hackney City Farm is and how lucky I am that it is right on my doorstop. I knew that they had a lovely, functional and informative farm and I knew that the Frizzante Cafe was amazing. What I didn't know was that they offer courses in pottery, beekeeping, as well as courses on gardening and garden restoration courses to name a few. Everyone who works and volunteers there are exceptional as well so I really recommend that you go visit the animals, the cafe or......their brand new Farm Shop!

Last Sunday Hackney City Farm opened their shop for the first time. There are toys that you may remember from your childhood...

...and more children's learning tools, books, gifts, t-shirts, cards and chocolates.


You can buy plants or seedlings:



You can also buy chicken or duck eggs from the farm, lots of vegetables from the farm and oh yeah:
Smy Chutney can be bought from the Hackney City Farm Shop! We are really excited about this! We stopped by today and bought some eggs to make our lemon curd and lemon curd cupcakes. And just look at that cabbage - it's in season, picked from the farm and begging to be bought, boiled, steamed, served with your Sunday Roast Beef Dinner or bubbled and squeaked. I once couldn't eat a cabbage as it was just too beautiful, so I ended up making prints from it and made a painting out of it. I recommend the above vegetables and Smy Chutney for eating though...I don't think this world is ready for mixed-media vegetable and chutney art.

Hackney City Farm is a community project that for over 20 years has offered free access all year round so that children, adults and the whole community can experience farming, learn about animals and where food comes from. Being from the countryside, my earliest memories are of picking strawberries and potatoes and seeing newly born piglets. Commitment to local, seasonal and quality ingredients are natural elements of country living, “sustainability” isn’t a trendy buzz-word, it’s just what you do. Connecting with animal and plant life within London is really important, inspiring and a valuable life skill. It is a total win-win to visit and support Hackney City Farm and the work that they do.

and remember...
it's not your chutney...
it's Smy Chutney.