Dear Customer,

Well the rain seems to have lightened a little now. We'd called Howard Wass during the week, he was on his mobile phone dragging a dead sheep across the field as we spoke. There was some consolation that it had been raining hard "….she's slipping over the grass much more easily …a help since it's uphill..". He called the 'knackerman' and had to pay £30 to have the sheep taken away. "…you've no idea how crude things are on the ground…". Since a year last May farmers are no longer allowed to bury animals and have to pay for their disposal. The torrential rain, as feared, has sent blight into the tubers of some of the potatoes and reduced his yield. Today he is trying to harvest his, now grey, barley. He usually sells 3 or 4 tons to a mill for barley flour but the colour and leaness leave it only fit for cattle consumption.

There are figs from Languedoc in the South of France in the Luxury Fruit Bags this week. I'll include a recipe idea that our customer Mary Rauchenberger has kindly offered to share which I'll certainly be trying. I love fresh figs and don't know why so many people find them disturbing.

"Mix together some Ricotta Cheese and some Cream Cheese ( the amounts aren't too important; I tend to use one package of each ). Quarter the figs and spoon some of the cheesy mixture into the middle. Then drizzle with honey and sprinkle with mint. It's very good."

We'll try and get some fresh figs into all of the fruit bags over the coming weeks so do keep the recipe. It's nice to be finally into the English apple season. We have had the earlies - Discovery then Katy and are this week moving on to Worcesters from Dennis Goatham's organic orchards in Kent.

Cinnamon Toast with Honeyed Apples

2 or 3 sweet eating apples ( also works well with pears )
2tbls honey
2-4 slices of white bread
2-4 tbls demerera sugar
ground cinnamon

Peel the apples, cut them into quarters, remove the cores, then cut each quarter into thin slices. Heat a little butter in a saucepan and add the apples and honey. Cook, uncovered, over a gentle heat, until the apple slices have softened, about 3-4 minutes, stirring gently from time to time.
Meanwhile make the cinnamon toast: toast the bread on both sides - don't let it get too brown and crisp. Remove the crusts if you like, then butter the toast. Cover each slice evenly with demerera sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon. Put the toast under the grill for 1-2 minutes until the sugar has melted a bit to make a crisp coating. Cut into fingers or triangles. Spoon the apple slices on to a small plate and arrange the cinnamon toast around them. Some chilled thick yoghurt or pouring cream makes a good accompaniment.

All best wishes,

Isobel Davies