Normally as time moves on into Autumn, we’re very busy finalising all the plans for Christmas and also typically we would have enjoyed a well–earned break at the end of October before the busy rush. This Autumn has felt very different for obvious reasons and for us, it’s meant time to slow down, take a breath and spend quality time with family and friends who have been supporting us during these difficult times. In particular I just want to say a massive thanks to my parents, Jim & Sue Yates, who have just been there every time and moment that we’ve struggled. I continue to be amazed by the generosity of everyone and the support we have received as a family. I’m pleased to confirm that the defibrillators have now arrived and will be installed very soon together with training for our teams. Also, we’ve been able to give £3300 to the Derbyshire Children’s Holiday Centre for disadvantaged children in the area and a further smaller donation to Bridge the Gap Children’s Mental Health charity that have been supporting Nicole and Jamie.
On the farm, I’ve sadly made the decision to sell a lot of the ewes to limit our workload over the Winter and with lambing, so whilst we will have some of our own lamb, we will be supplementing this with lamb from local farms for the next year. I’ve also started a search for someone to take over the market garden area at the farm, so that we can continue to grow vegetables for the shop and the café, so if you know anyone who might be interested in doing this, please let me know.
I’m glad to say that all of Steve’s homegrown pumpkins sold really quickly and we could have done with more. Plans for our new homegrown botanicals London gin that Steve developed are progressing well. The labels are being printed and it should be on sale very soon and his flavoured oils are back in stock too! The Christmas ranges are all now in store, and although we haven’t got the decorations up yet, it’s definitely starting to feel a bit festive.
We’re all looking forward to our Taste of Christmas event returning on Thursday 18th November, starting at 5.30pm. Many of our favourite local suppliers will be there so you can enjoy tasting their Christmas ranges alongside the new Croots savoury and cake ranges too. We were so proud to win national awards on our Lemon Drizzle cake and the mince pies and I’m really excited to show you the new ranges soon. With complimentary mulled wine and mince pies, festive music and a number of special offers on the night, I really hope you’ll join us. You can book your free tickets here. Best wishes – Kay