It's a good cross-country drive from Banbury to Charlbury and the countryside is glorious, still lush and green, quiet and empty at many points, which is really great. As Charlbury meet only quarterly their event is very special and always well-attended which is such a relief for the stallholders as they put such huge effort into their markets, get up early to be there in time and then sell well all day. I know all this only too well for we used to sell my range of homemade foods, preserves, bread, fudge and cakes - which I simply adored doing but, OMG it really is an enormous task getting everything perfect for sales, with wrapping and packaging, labels and stall props and so on. Great fun but......
I arrived and, blissfully discovered, there was free parking in the car park opposite the village centre field where the market is held. People were buzzing around everywhere, getting their weekly shopping while the market was crowded with happy shopping folk and everywhere looked really attractive and welcoming.
I went straight to the Charlbury hub stall for I'd borrowed the book - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver - all about American food, markets and buying power etc. which is brilliant. It's a bit "preachy"so my book club friends say but I didn't really think so and well, she does know an awful lot about food and farming etc, so she does have a great deal of background knowledge to draw on and that of her husband too, and their elder daughter wrote up family recipes and things and the younger daughter kept chickens and supplied the family with eggs and they sold eggs too. It's a text book to devour and I really enjoyed it even though my summer was full with gardening, gardening and more gardening and then chutney making!
Then I met up with Jo Thompson of Once Bitten standing by her stall offering a wide range of lovely foods and find her via - www.oncebittenltd.co.uk...........
Next two new stallholders with Tanya Bainbridge and her Stonesfield Soap Company contact via - info@stonesfieldsoap.com - for "Artisan Soap & Aromatherapy Skincare Products" from Witney, Oxfordshire....
and David for Rollright Cheese of King Stone Dairy, Little Rollright, Oxfordshire, contact via - www.facebook.com/KingStoneDairy - in business just three weeks with luscious cheese made using "cows milk rennet for our cheese" with the cows milking shed just across the yard from their dairy, making everything with freshest of fresh ingredients for their excellent cheese which I have to admit to munching as we chatted while l took my photos........
I bought viola plants from UGM Nurseries and sadly I can give no email contact address but they are to be found at Deddington and Banbury..........
Next to find cartons of redcurrants and raspberries by Sotwell Manor Fruit Farm of - contact via - https://www.bigbarn.co.uk -.....
the redcurrants made a very tasty addition to a crab apple jelly.
Then I met up with Simon Weaver of Cotswold Organic cheese and bought one of his Cotswold Small Brie
which was practically eaten in one sitting by Him indoors.......
Well that's all for now...so catch up with my second half tomorrow when I'll show the other stalls at Charlbury, then Wykham Park Farm shop and an Adderbury Garden Party......after which I had new plants for our local WI wild seed flower garden...
Bye for now...
