eat
Autumn Harvest
There is a reason we celebrate the harvest at this time of the year – it is when our British, local produce is at its best. Late summer fruit and vegetables are bursting with sun-filled goodness while the hedgerows and orchards are full of juicy autumn fruit and the ground is teeming with all the goodness of root vegetables and hardy greens. Here’s where to get your autumn harvest this year…
Local harvest hotspots
Stroud Farmer’s Market
This multi award-winning market is held every Saturday until 2pm and showcases a range of produce from local farms and small-holders. This autumn you can expect a colourful selection of ruby, golden, and candied beetroots from Paget’s, sun-ripened tomatoes from Coleshill Organic, freshly-picked plums from Court Farm and a mind-boggling variety of apples and pears from Day’s Cottage.
Don’t miss: visit Day’s Cottage to try a slice of Adams’ Pearmain – a beautiful, rich flavoured apple, Pitmaston Pineapple, a sweet little yellow apple with an unusual pineapple flavor, and Ashmead’s Kernel, a russet bred in Gloucestershire in 1700 – full of flavor, crisp and juicy and a great storer.
Hayles Fruit Farm
The PYO season runs throughout the whole of September and October at this 100-acre fruit farm. Apples, pears and plums are ripe for the picking, all on branches that are easily reachable. There are around 12 varieties of apple to choose from, comice and conference pears while plums are either Victoria or Marjorie seedlings. The pear crop in particular is looking really promising this year.
Don’t miss: Hayles does a fantastic range of single variety apple juices, using apples freshly picked by hand from the farm. See Meet the Producer for more information.
