If like me you are a lover of chilli but hate having your head ‘blown off’ by a rogue pod or seed read on.

Our featured producers are Jason and Steve, founders of the South Devon Chilli Farm. They been growing chillies since 2003 and now grow over 10,000 chilli plants every year, harvesting tonnes of fresh chillies. They are sold fresh or used in their range of chilli sauces, preserves and chilli chocolate. The business now has up to 8 ‘hot’ staff kept busy all year.

You can visit the farm and shop all year and wander among the fruiting chilli plants, sample all of the sauces, preserves and chocolate made on the farm and take away fresh chillies, chilli seedlings, plants and seeds (during the growing season).

Or you can buy fresh chillis and sauces from Jason and Steve in our MarketPlace or, next year, buy some seeds, also in MarketPlace, and grow your own, as I have.

Some of my lucky friends have been given chilli plants and I will be using my crop, together with a pack of a hotter variety, to make up chilli oil, filling some arty bottles with dried chillis, herbs and rape seed oil from the 5 litre can I always have in stock. Great Christmas presents!

Fresh English apples, fantastic food! One a day to keep the doctor away!

English apples are now in season but none are on the supermarket shelves. According to our calls to the big 3, they will not have them for 3 weeks. So please try your local farm shop and tell them to email us to join our apple map.

We have over two thousand varieties of apple in the UK but only 15 are grown commercially. Most, like the delicious Cox’s Orange Pippin, have been de-listed by supermarkets and as a result most of the trees have been destroyed by growers, also with the help of EEC grant aid!

Different varieties of apple are ripening on their trees between now and October and some are best stored for a few months to get the best flavour.

Many are now in season and should be available to us all. Most fruit and veg is most nutritious and tasty when it is fresh and ripe. Far too much of what we eat has been picked early to satisfy the needs of distribution and shelf life. As always to get the best, grow it, or buy direct.

To find your nearest fresh apple try your local farm shop and wouldn’t it be great if the local farm shop had an apple press so local people could take in their apples to make juice or cider. So start now and plant some trees this autumn and buy your fruit trees in MarketPlace.

All very exciting, to find your local apples try the BigBarn map and ask if them about their favourite varieties. Or ask your local farm shop about getting get a press so that next year you and the community can make apple juice or cider. And have a party.

Did you know that we have more varieties of cheese than the French?

Traditionally cheese was made by mixed farmers unable to get their fresh milk to the populous, giving us famous cheese ‘names’ like Gloucester, Stilton, Cheshire or Cheddar.

With the low milk price farmers in the home counties are fighting back with some great new cheeses.

It is a shame to see so much imports when we have so many fantastic cheeses. Especially seeing products like, cream cheeses made in Germany from English powdered milk.

So find and support your local cheese and watch out for entrepreneurial dairy farmers developing a cheese for your county, perhaps you can help create a new variety.

So all you have to do is use our map to find your local cheese, or for a delivery check our MarketPlace for cheese or see if there are any deals in our Deal of the Day page, and don’t be afraid to phone first and get a recommendation. And for inspiration try our recipes.

The Hook family are passionate about their milk, and cows that produce it. They hate the way the food industry has turned milk in to a commodity and ruined the end product. As such they sell their milk RAW and direct and are the first to offer national delivery.

The story of raw milk may sum up the food industry. The Food standards agency say it is dangerous, whilst many others, like the Hook family and including some scientist, say it is the only milk to drink.

Raw milk is fresh from the cow, cooled and has a shelf life of about a week. All of the milk in the shops is pasteurised and or homogenised and lasts for about 3 weeks.

Raw milk is said to cure many allergies, including eczema, and can be made in to cheese or yoghurt as it sours naturally. Other milk last for 3 weeks and if not consumed, turns putrid.

Pasteurising means heating the milk to kill any bugs and homogenised means passing the milk through tiny holes at pressure to emulsify the fat in to tiny bubbles. This means the fat stays in the liquid and does not separate as the cream rising to the top.

Pasteurisation ALSO; destroys enzymes, denatures anti-microbial and immune stimulating components, diminishes nutrient availability, denatures fragile milk proteins, destroys vitamins C, B6 and B12, kills beneficial bacteria, promotes pathogens and is associated with allergies, increased tooth decay, colic in infants, growth and behavior problems in children, osteoporosis, arthritis and heart disease. www.realmilk.com

So why is raw milk banned in Scotland and only available in this country direct from the farmer? A dairy farmer is not even allowed to sell his raw milk to a local farm shop!

This a classic UK ‘food industry’ fix for the milk industry. Ignore the positive effects of raw milk and enforce pasteurisation.

This means that small dairy farmers cannot poison anyone, increase shelf life of all milk to allow a longer supply chain and make milk a commodity to reduce price, and stop people making their own cheese and yoghurt.

All very interesting, to find your local dairy try the BigBarn map and ask if you can buy raw milk direct from them. Or ask your local farm shop about installing a vending machine owned by the dairy farmer. Or buy now from Hook & Son in the MarketPlace.

Artisan producer Sympathy Teas have joined BigBarn and offer our discerning readers a special introductory discount on their FORLIFE range of teapots and fabulous fine teas, many using local ingredients.

This decade has seen the growing popularity of many types of tea. Not to just drink at breakfast and 4pm but all kinds of flavours and potions with medicinal qualities.

Many of my friends have 5 or 6 types of teas for all occasions and seem very proud to offer some new fancy infusion.

According to Wikipedia; Herbal teas can be made with fresh or dried flowers, leaves, seeds or roots, generally by pouring boiling water over the plant parts and letting them steep for a few minutes. Seeds and roots can also be boiled on a stove. The tisane is then strained, sweetened if so desired, and served. Many companies produce herbal tea bags for such infusions.

Sympathy Teas have a huge range of naturally made teas with ingredients sourced locally wherever possible. The teas have no added flavours like many ‘off the shelf’ and are carefully mixed and blended for purpose. From blends for ‘Love Infusion’ to ‘Metabolism boost’ to ‘beddibyes’.

If you would like to be the first to get great new teas from Sympathy Tea and have a say in how some of the flavours and blends develop you can join their Tasting Club.

To get a special introductory discount with Sympathy Teas click to see their MarketPlace Shop and use discount code ‘ST3′ to get £5 off a £20 spend.

Or click to find other tea producers in MarketPlace tea producers or see if there are any deals in or Deal of the Day page, and don’t be afraid to phone first and get a recommendation.

What a great and versatile meat even for this time of the year. Cold roast beef salad or steaks and burgers for the BBQ.

Beef is a prime example of the difference between buying a quality local product and a mediocre supermarket commodity.

The trouble is, Beef is complicated, breed, time and type of hanging/maturing, age, different cuts, butchery method, type of feed, are all factors influencing taste and tenderness. And why so many people often opt for the wrong cut and pay far too much.

A great example is my cousin who bought the finest ‘fillet’ of beef from a supermarket only to throw most of it away because it was so tough. A piece of well-hung ‘topside’ would probably have been half the price and twice as good. Likewise the ‘chopped shin’ of a well-hung rare breed animal could be better and cheaper for stewing, than the more expensive ‘best stewing steak’ from the supermarket.

The great news is you don’t have to go to college or even buy a book, simply ask. Go and see your local butcher or better still, local beef farmer, and ask, how long the beef has been hung, what they recommend as well as how to cook it.

You can get great “minute’ steaks seam butchered from fore quarters at half the price of a usual sirloin or rump and make your own burgers from lean mince that has been well hung.

It is in the butcher’s and farmer’s interest to look after you, as they want you to buy again and tell your friends where you got the great meat.

So all you have to do is use our map to find your local beef, or for a delivery check our MarketPlace for beef or see if there are any deals in or Deal of the Day page, and don’t be afraid to phone first and get a recommendation. And for inspiration try our recipes.

Filberts Bees have been on BigBarn for 3 years and produce wonderful natural products. I was very popular buying some for valentines day, but no need to wait that long. Here is more from Philada at Filberts.

‘After a harsh winter and a late spring, bee colonies on the farm increased quickly in size and look reasonably strong. An abundance of wild forage appeared in April, notably blackthorn, willow, dandelions and red campion. The bees then moved on to farm crops – oilseed rape, followed in late May by sainfoin, clover and phacelia. Swarms have been a feature this year, making regular inspections a necessity. We sold our first new season honey at Bridport Food Festival in June.’

‘We use our Dorset beeswax, honey and propolis to make Filberts skin care and home care ranges. New this year we have Lime & Coconut Lip Balm and Rose & Bergamot Cuticle Butter. Both of these contain farm-pressed sunflower oil from Fussels Fine Foods in Somerset.’

‘Two further natural beeswax salves will come out later this summer (Propolis Salve and Unscented Vitamin E Salve). Our illustrator Holly Clifton-Brown from Bristol will be working her magic to come up with lovely labels for these.’

‘In response to requests, we now offer Make Your Own Kits for people who want to have fun making their own natural beeswax balms, or who need to avoid certain ingredients, like nut oils.’

To buy Filberts products click for their shop in MarketPlace or to see and read more about filberts visit their website

To help more people find local food, our map and MarketPlace, we have teamed up with Archant and their 43 Life Magazines. As a friendly introduction all BigBarn registered members can enter their latest competition to win a fantastic BBQ or Patio Heater.

Archant have a ‘Life’ magazine for nearly every county and a website and newsletter for each. As local food is so popular having our map and MarketPlace is a natural fit.

We will be sending Archant features on local producers and running coupon promotions to encourage more people to try out their local shops.

So please keep an eye open for BigBarn features in your local Archant Life, and offers like the competition (click now to enter) And please tell your local producer or farm shop to call us if they would like to be featured, perhaps you could be part of the feature?

Our map is also being added to many other partners websites over the next few weeks bringing our readers more offers and interesting opportunities, like opening your house as a restaurant with Openfordinner, or a menu planner, wots4supper. Find out more in the next newsletter!

I did not expect Globe Artichokes to be in such demand through our MarketPlace and neither did the Clive, the farmer.

Clive is a traditional vegetable farmer growing potatoes, onions and sugar beet on the Cambridgeshire fens. Like many other farmers, with imports driving down prices and the very small percentage of retail prices paid to the grower, Clive made the decision to diversify.

So for the last 4 years he has converted 500 acres into the production of organic fruit and vegetables including a 14-acre field of blueberries. The organic production specialises in field vegetables, mainly asparagus, although also including Globe Artichokes, French Dwarf Beans, Rhubarb, Swiss Chard, Edamame beans and Pimento peppers

Clive set up a shop in our MarketPlace to sell some of his fresh produce online and was expecting the Asparagus to be the best seller. It seems however that, so far, there are a large number of people with a taste for Artichokes and especially organic. Perhaps they have medicinal qualities or your foodies love the ritual of peeling dipping and eating the fleshy leaves. Your feedback as always welcome.

If you would like to buy Clive’s produce online click to visit his online shop in MarketPlace or click here for an Artichoke recipe

Following my first effort at chicken keeping I have finally done the right thing and rescued some hens with excellent results so far.

Last time I had chucks I bought them at ‘point of lay’ for £6 each and allowed them roam truly free range. This unfortunately upset some on my neighbours as they raided bird tables and veg patches.

They did however make either, Mr Fox, Mrs mink, or a local dog or cat, happy as they disappeared one by one leaving a pile of feathers.

So now Mildred and friends have a pen beside the BigBarn office and a home 4 feet above the ground accessed from a chicken ladder too flimsy (I hope) for a fox, mink, dog or cat.

The ‘ladies’ have come from our local rescue centre who collect from local battery farmers who normally kill their stock when production declines when the birds are only 18 months old. Unsurprisingly, many farmers now give stock away rather than incur the cost of slaughter.

As you can see from the photo Mildred and Gertrude are a little pale and have lost a few feathers but who wouldn’t be after living in such hell. They were pretty nervous when I first opened the hutch door but are now clucking happily and laying more eggs than we can eat. And I hope continue to do so for another 3-5 years.

For more on keeping chickens try this site and to find your local rescue centre type ‘rescue hens and your county in to Google.

Or for you advice and thoughts please feedback below.