We always like to take our show on the road, and this week is no exception. Right now we’re at the Spirit of Summer Fair at Olympia where we’ve met loads of gorgeous Godminster lovers who have been so kind about our cheeses – the new bries are so popular we can only just keep up with demand.  Everyone is loving our show special of a 400g vintage cheddar, 200g oak-smoked truckle and a brie – all for £15.00, so if you’re planning on coming to the show, do pop by. On Saturday we’ll be slightly closer to home at the Hazlegrove Prep School Summer Fair in Somerset – and it doesn’t stop there, our Godminster ambassadors will be popping up all over the place for the next few weeks at farmers’ markets and foodie fairs ….. how does that saying go? – coming to a town near you!!  Hopefully..

Jess

It may sound like a classic case of selling coals to Newcastle but we have just returned from a trip to France where we were selling cheese to the French! Actually we already sell our vintage organic to a couple of French wholesalers so this isn’t entirely unchartered waters, but the idea was to go and meet some more wholesalers and show them just how special Godminster cheese is! After meeting up with a wholesaler called Alain and a delicious supper, we had a very early start the next day to visit Rungis Market just outside Paris, which is the largest wholesale market for fresh produce in the world, selling everything from meat and dairy to fruit and even flowers. It’s where all the top French chefs go to source their ingredients and is so huge you need a car to drive to from one warehouse to the next – a true Mecca for gourmands. There are two enormous warehouses just for cheese, which you can image was totally awe-inspiring, and interestingly touching is allowed and even encouraged at Rungis because the buyers want to check the ripeness of the cheese. All in all, a fascinating trip – and the good news is the French want to sample our new organic brie. Oooh la la!

Jess

So it looks as though for the first time in ages, the weather is going to be nice for the May bank holiday weekend. I know, we can hardly believe it either! Usually it’s non-stop bucketing it down and traffic queues the length of the country. But this time it looks as though we’re in for a dry long weekend. Perfect time to pack up a picnic, pile in the car, and get down to the coast. We’re thinking blue skies and sand between our white winter toes, the screech of seagulls and the sharp, salty tang of the sea in our nostrils – and a picnic hamper with a nice chunky cheese and beetroot and apple chutney doorstep in it for lunch – both Godminster, naturally! We might even venture along the coast for the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, which is great if you want something a little different to entertain the nippers and it’s been known to bring out the Mary Anning in bigger kids too. Whatever you’ve got planned for the bank holiday, enjoy!

Jess

Have you noticed there’s something in the air? The weather’s warmer, the hedgerows are bursting into leaf before our eyes and work down on the farm is in full swing as it’s one of the busiest times of year. What’s more, we can’t help noticing that the blue tits are out in force, investigating our nestbox outside the bathroom window, which is giving the children a real thrill. It’s lovely to watch the birds twittering around, eyeing up their new home and giving it serious consideration. They’ve been pecking round the entrance hole to assess whether it will be good enough to raise a family in, and seeing if there are any tasty insects they can feed on. A bit like Location, Location, Location, only for potential home owners of the feathered variety!

We’re all hoping the good weather will hold out for the weekend when Doug will be at Yapps for a bin end event. Come along and say hello and try some of our delicious cheeses – we promise, you’ll never have been to a cheese and wine tasting quite like it!

Jess

It never rains but it pours (well, at least that’s how it felt last Saturday when we took a stall at Bossington Estate, near Stockbridge in Hampshire, for a fun-filled day of fishing, shooting and a host of other country activities from ferret racing to falconry and dog training in aid of Wessex Haven Appeal). In spite of the wind and the rain there was a great crowd atmosphere and the weather didn’t seem to put people off at all – in fact, the stall was inundated with people buying and sampling cheeses – and very well received they were too. To round it all off, Richard challenged his nephew to the ultimate fishing precision test (put simply, the idea was to get your fishing fly through a hoop). I won’t reveal the winner – let’s just say on this occasion, experience was no match for youth! And finally, thanks to Richard and all his family mucking in, we had the  fastest pack-down in Godminster history – all in all, the perfect end to a (almost) perfect day!

Jess

It may not be the start to spring that we’d hoped for – remember last April, when everyone was out wearing shorts and T-shirts and enjoying the sunshine as if it were the height of summer? – but down on the farm there are little signs that things are poised for it to kick in properly.  The wind has dried out the fields, enabling all the work to be finally completed, and all we need now is some proper warmth and lots of sunshine (and a bit of rain mixed in too – although you probably don’t want to hear that!).

Like all farmers, we’re desperate for the grass to start growing, because we’re getting short of feed. Last year’s poor summer meant that the winter feed stock was lower than expected and with spring starting so late the feed position for the animals has become really worrying. With no insects around just yet and all the hedgerow berries gone, the poor old birds are having a tough time of it too, with very little around to eat, so make sure you keep those bird feeders stocked up with nuts – they’d thank you for it if they could!

Jess

Last month we took our new 1kg oak-smoked cheddar to London to a show that attracts food and drink buyers from around the world.  The response was really positive and as with anything in life, it’s always nice to know when you’re doing something right! Anyway, it seems it’s a case of once tasted, never forgotten and we’ve had lots of delis and farm shops ringing us to get the new cheese for their counters.  The new oak-smoked cheddar uses the same vintage cheddar as our ruby waxed truckles, but to give it its intense flavour and aroma, it’s been cold-smoked over oak chippings from sustainable woodlands for eight long hours at the Wiltshire Smokehouse in Warminster. We think it tastes delicious with our digestive biscuits but you could also try using it in a smoked cheese risotto or a leek and smoked cheese tart. Either way, you’ve got a treat in store!

Easter eggs, spiced hot cross buns, marzipan-topped Simnel cake – is there any other time of year, apart from Christmas, that is so celebratory foodie? Of course, we don’t mean to forget the true meaning of Easter, but you have to admit that if you’re in the tiniest bit sweet-toothed (and especially if you’re a child), Easter is amazing. And if you’re not, there’s always spring lamb on Easter Sunday – delicious studded with rosemary and garlic, and lashings of redcurrant jelly and mint sauce.

What makes it even nicer is that many of the recipes are rooted in tradition. Did you know that hotcross buns, which are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, are thought to have been invented by the Christians in ancient Rome? Or that the Simnel Cake, which is rich with fruits, spices and marzipan, signifies the end of fasting and the period of Lent? Or that exchanging Easter eggs symbolises new life and fertility? Turns out it’s not all about Thornton’s after all!

Happy Easter!

Jess

There’s something fresh and a little bit “spring-like” about brie – perhaps it has something to do with the whiteness of the rind, who knows? – but put a nice wheel of pale, creamy organic Godminster  brie on a cheese board, a fat bunch of juicy grapes, a couple of Godminster’s hand-made biscuits and a dollop of chutney and you’ve got a delicious springtime lunch. It’s also the perfect size to bake, camembert-style, and serve as a sharing starter. We’ve just come back from IFE at ExCel in London, where we had a stand and we can safely say both the Godminster brie and the smoked cheese went down a storm!

If you’ve never tried the brie before you’re in for a treat – it’s available in three flavours: plain, with peppercorns or with garlic and chives, and is produced over seven days to a traditional method, using Jersey milk ‘set’ using vegetarian rennet. The curds are hand-cut before being scooped into individual moulds, hand-turned, and moved into a series of drying rooms for five days to allow the flavours and creaminess to develop. If you’d like to try some, why not enter this month’s competition on our website to win a Godminster cheese collection to share with your family and friends this Easter. Good luck!

Jess

Here’s a nice thing to do this Sunday: head down to Longleat and cheer on the plucky cyclists taking part in The Lionheart cycling challenge - and while you’re there, come and say hello and try some delicious Godminster cheese and Yapp Brothers wine, which we’re giving away at one of the fuelling stops. The Longleat Estate is the start and finish point of the 100KM Endura Trek Lionheart Cyclosportive, which wends its way through this beautiful, virtually traffic-free corner of the South West, and has plenty of hills for riders to stretch their winter legs. You might even hear the morning yawn on a big cat if you’re lucky.

I don’t know about with you, but after a bit of a nippy start spring seems to have arrived in Somerset. The sun’s out and down on the farm, you can hear the sound of tractors whirling and almost see the hedges bursting into leaf, and they’ve been able to start drilling on the farm after all the frosts. It’s been a long time coming but spring is finally on the wing!

Jess