Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2007 | Page 98
life
FOOD & DRINK
From pasture
to plate
By: Mark Young - The St Helens Restaurant
[email protected]
Heading into the autumn is
an exciting time for those of
us that cook for a living. We
find ourselves inundated with
some of the best fruit and
vegetables of the year. The
lamb starts to take on a maturity
of flavour and the promise of
flavoursome game begins with
the first partridges. It is also a
time of year when we seem to
have the most visits from our
generous locals. They pop into
the restaurant with baskets
groaning with home grown
produce, most of which is of
the fruit variety. Apples, plums,
damsons and quinces keep
us busy with crumbles, jellies,
pies and chutneys. Sometimes
I struggle to keep up with
the various arrivals and I ask
myself – just how many apples
can one person deal with?
I found the answer to this
when I visited Sharon and
Joe of Sharon Orchard. I am
sure you know who I mean,
if you have been to Chale
show, farmers markets, Old
Gaffers or Farmer Jacks. You
98
would have seen one of their
green bottles of IOW apple
juice. There’s a chance you
may have seen Sharon or Joe
themselves busily explaining
the difference between
Discovery or Spartan to an ever
growing queues of customers
who demand local food.
Mark: how long have
you had th e orchard?
Joe: We bought the 10-acre
site in 1995. Originally just
as a hobby it was once
part of Rosemary Vineyard.
We had to clear it before
planting our first 1200 trees.
Sharon: In our second year
we planted a further 1800 and
as the years have passed we
have grown to over 4000.
Mark: How many types
of apple do you grow?
Joe: We grow over a dozen
different types of apple but
only press 10 into juice.
Sharon: The others we
sell through the markets as
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