I never thought I would find myself writing this blog without Steve, my husband, soul mate and co-owner of Croots by my side, but six weeks on from his sudden passing, I find myself trying to cope and create a new future for our children, myself and of course for Croots Farm Shop. We are lucky enough to have been surrounded by wonderful family, friends and of course the amazing team at Croots who have kept us going and help us find some hope in these dark times. Walking the fields with the dogs, standing and admiring the views across the Ecclesbourne Valley that we all love so much, talking with family members about how we can keep the sheep and the lambing going in a way that we can cope with over that busy Easter period, taking our horses to local shows….all of these things and more have kept us going and given us some sense of normality and comfort.
Nicole, Jamie and I are totally committed to the future of Croots and to delivering farm fresh family foods for all. To that end we have been in touch with Bob Pitchfork, a long term local supplier of pickles and chutneys to help us with producing the flavoured oils that Steve started with all those years ago. We are looking to take more team members on to help with the production side to bring back some of the products Steve helped create and make like the veggie sausages and burgers, flavoured oils etc. Unfortunately these things cant happen over night and will take a bit of time to get right. The pumpkins that Steve has been growing at the farm are looking really good and should be on sale soon, so that will give us a lovely Autumnal feel. Also something to look forward to.. Bunty’s Flower Truck run by Lou at the Greenery and Deb from Fabulous Places will be back on Sat 9th October.
Looking forward to Christmas, we have also spoken with our long term Staffordshire turkey farmer Robert Scraggs and our other local farmers who supply us with fresh meat, all of whom have assured us that supplies will continue as normal. We are busy working on our Christmas order form and we hope to have that available on Mon 11th October at the latest. We are also planning Afternoon Tea with Santa and more details will be released about that soon.
I’m now back working part time at the farm shop & café and the other day I drove up on one of those beautifully sunny, but slightly cooler mornings to see two wonderful herons flying across one of our fields, it was a spectacular sight and one that I know Steve would have really enjoyed.
Hope to see you in the shop or café soon
Best wishes
Kay