Interested to find out more about selling food direct to customers? Want to find out more on what other crofters produce, what they sell, and how they do it?
Join us on Tuesday 17th May, 7-8.30pm when we will hear from members in various locations that sell food directly to their customers. Come find out the who, what, where, and how people work their crofts selling a variety of foods through various means to their consumers.
The event will be hosted by SCF Director Russell Smith and there will be an opportunity to ask questions to the panel at the end of the session.
Jake Butcher:
Kate and Jake run Cosaig Growers, a small market garden in Glenelg, growing fruit and veg which they sell locally through veg boxes and direct sales to a few businesses in the village. They also grow flowers to sell fresh and dried and have planted a variety of fruit trees and bushes which are now coming into maturity which they will sell further afield in the coming years. Their focus is on small scale, sustainable farming using no chemicals, very limited plastics and employing no-dig principles.
Beth Rose:
Tim and Beth run Birchwood Croft in Strathnairn, south of Inverness where they sell a variety of food locally. Although they specialise in beef, throughout the year you can find a variety of cattle, chickens, pigs, sheep, and bees. They also manage a polytunnel, a vegetable garden plus an orchard from which they sell seasonal fruit and veg boxes and a selection of chutneys, relishes and jellies.
Anna and Hanno:
Anna Wright and Hanno Hodgkin run West Coast Organics on their croft on North West Skye. They focus mainly on growing organic vegetables for their organic veg box scheme with surplus supplying their honesty shop. They also have an organic fruit orchard, keep goats, sheep and hens on their croft and cut hay as well as planting hedgerows and some forestry.
Jo Hunt:
Knockfarrel Produce is a small family run organic croft near Dingwall run by Jo and Lorna supplying a wide range of fresh vegetables, fruit, eggs and and free range pork direct to local people. Former economist turned farmer, Jo has spent many years food campaigning and small producer cooperation, and enjoys sharing his knowledge with others.
Donald Macsween:
Donald runs Air An Lot, a crofting business based in Ness, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides. Several breeds of sheep, Highland Cattle, Gloucester Old Spot pigs and a 350 bird flock of laying hens are the main activities on the croft. In recent years, high-end products have been created from materials that would otherwise have been by-products of the traditional raising livestock for meat methods
To book, please e-mail hq@crofting.org to request the zoom registration link.
