Harvest Festival/Folk Festival

On Thursday Sis and I visited Gibbet Oak Farm Shop in order to procure some locally grown fruit and veg for our planned Food Miles display at Harvest Festival.

We ended up with runner beans from West Malling, plums and  Cox apples from Gibbet Oak, and some mixed salad grown in Appledore (which we ended up not using, but no matter).

On Saturday morning we set up our stall bright and early.

We sold some jams and chutneys too, which we had made from locally sourced and/or foraged ingredients.

Inside the church were displays of local produce, organised by Tenterden & District Chamber of Commerce, titled 'Harvest On Our Doorstep'...

On Sunday we set up again in the same place and were joined on the opposite side of the path by the Chamber of Commerce who were providing refreshments, in the shape of teas & coffees, and samples of local fare from places like Old Dairy Brewery, Chapel Down Winery, The Lemon Tree, The Vine Inn and several others.

When the church Harvest service had finished, the congregation were encouraged to get refreshments at their tent, and we were standing outside to hand out copies of our 'local food' map...

..and our homemade chocolate cookies...

..which went down a treat.

Later, after the crowd had dispersed, we decided to pack up around 1 pm as there was little or no foot traffic through the churchyard. It was of course Tenterden Folk Festival weekend and there were several Morris sides and folkies around. 

The Chamber were taking down their tent, having dispensed the bulk of their food samples. However, they needed some assistance getting rid of the remainder of the polypin of Old Dairy Red Top Bitter, which we were more than happy to assist with!

Members of T3 and Tenterden Chamber of Commerce, as well as Rev. Canon Lindsay Hammond, working on the Red Top beer (centre).

Later we were joined by members of a Slovakian dance troupe, and though we had a language barrier, the word 'beer' is pretty much internationally understood.

Chris, myself, Sue, Bill and Justin with three Slovakian dancers