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Latest news from Big Barn and our producers.

Grow your own Week

With Covid and possible Brexit shortages there has never been a better time to Grow your Own. Getting our hands dirty in the garden is more than just about saving money, it’s about the satisfaction of watching your seed grow until you have a beaming plant that is brimming with goodness. Being able to harvest your own food is not only exciting but encourages us to eat healthier food and enjoy fresher produce.

At this time of year as the days get warmer and longer we have asparagus the god of fresh vegetables to look forward to and the perfect example of how quickly a food can spoil as time passes after picking. Sweetcorn is the same, my friend Nick insists that his wife has the water boiling before picking his corn, and removing the husk as he runs back to the kitchen!

Really fresh sweet corn

Really fresh sweet corn

This is the kind of passion and enthusiasm we Brits need to feel about our food, and I am sure that growing food helps. Certainly the project we ran with a primary school proved this, with kids who said they hated vegetables munching on raw carrots they had grown.

At BigBarn we are keen for everyone to have a go at growing food and even start trading it locally with our Crop for the shop scheme. All part of our mission to build a social, LOCAL, food industry, as an alternative to the anti-social national one, that gives neither producers, or consumers, a good deal.

Your Local Food Map, with Crop for the shop Carrot flag

There is no doubt that by cooking and eating fresh fruit and veg, half this country’s population would become more healthy, and save money. Seasonal vegetables are normally very reasonably priced compared to a ready meal, or imported food, especially if sourced locally.

A home baked potato could cost around 10p compared to a McCane ready made one, in a box, for 70p. Likewise a soup made from chopped mixed veg and some stock cubes will be a fraction of the cost of tinned or carton of soup, and much more nutritious.

Did you know that some soups on the supermarket shelves are saltier than sea water!

So there are now lots reasons to grow your own; save money, get healthy, get enthused and, make money by selling your veg through local shops

To find these shops look for icons marked with a carrot flag on BigBarn, if your local food shop is not flagged with a carrot, or not on BigBarn, please tell them about us.

Join the BigBarn Local Food Community

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