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Maggi Dearmer- TOC Aromatherapy

Some of you will remember Maggi and Malcolm Dearmer of TOC Aromatherapy who attended the market for many, many years and retired from the market at the end of 2018. Malcolm rang us last night to give us the sad news that Maggi died at home, just before Christmas. Maggi had struggled with her health for a number of years.

In addition to producing beautiful soaps and creams, Maggi was a director of Hexham Farmers’ Market Ltd for many years. Our thoughts are with Malcolm and their family at this difficult time.

Heading towards the end of the year

Those of you who visit the market regularly will have noticed that we have slowly grown over the past year or so and finding space for new producers is becoming a bit of a challenge at time. As we head towards the end of 2021 and the Christmas period we will also need to accommodate the Hexham Christmas tree and in early December we’ll have the Christmas Market and Abbey Christmas Fair.

The Christmas tree will go on the Beaumont Street side of the Abbey which means there will be fewer stalls on that side of the Abbey. We’ll need to use more of the space on the north side of the Abbey and are likely to squeeze the stalls a bit closer together to be able to accommodate everyone.

It is obviously great that more local prodcuers want to come to Hexham Farmers’ Market and we try to accommodate as many as possible, especially if they offer something the market doesn’t have. Obviously you’d also expect us to continue to maintain our standards and the core ethos of the market: prodcuers from within 50 miles of Hexham, use of home-grown and reared or locally produced ingredients where possible. The person on the stall shopuld be involved in the production process and every producer will have appropriate insurance, training and be registered with and inspected by their Local Authority.

Apple Day at Hexham Farmers’ Market

We’re delighted to tell you that Saturday 9 October will be our apple day. We missed last year (what with the pandemic and all) but thisa year we’ll be back with a great market. In addition to our firneds from Transition Tynedale doing their ever popular apple pressing we’ve managed to persuadeRoz Nichol from Weardale to come back and provde you with an apple ID service. If you want to find out what the variety of that apple at the bottom of your garden is, or even in the garden of your enighbours, bring a few typical examples to the market and let Roz try and determine what it is. Theer are said to be 2000 varieties of apple in the UK most of which you’ll rarely see in a shop, so if you want to see the difference between Mrs Lakeman;’;s Seedling and a Ribston Pippin, this is your chance. Roz will also have a reference collection of a wide variety of apples grown in the North of England for you to have a look at.

And Saturday’s market isn’t just apples; we’re expecting it to be the biggest of the year yet with 25 prodcuers, all from within 50 miles of Hexham bringing you the very best of their products. We’re delighted to have Lee from Stonehouse Smokery back after a few months of doing weddings and we welcome Warwick Bridge Flour Mill for their first appearance as a guest. Of course you’ll also find all the regulars!

Music will be coming from Tanners Yard, a Hexham-based Bluegrass band.

Heading into Autumn

This coming Saturday, 25 September 2021, is our first market after the Autumn Equinox and it is a fabulous time to visit the farmers’ market: the gardens providing lots of food so we have lots of choice from the veg stalls and the choice of jams and chuneys is brilliant. As we are getting to some kind of new normal after the Covid pandemic festivals and events have also started up again, so we do have a few producers who are going off to the Festival of Thrift in Redcar, but we still have a brilliant array of regulars and new producers.

We’re celebrating the last few days of #SourdoughSeptember with Andrew from Bread and Roses providing you with a delicious choice of sourdough breads. Sourdough is a name for a mixture (dough or batter) of water and cereal flour containing a culture of naturally occurring yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. It is often also used to name breads and pancakes made using such a culture.

Yeasts and bacteria are present all around us – for example in the air, soil and water. Those well suited to bread production are found in relatively high populations on the surface of cereal grains, such as wheat. By grinding the grains into flour and providing a suitable environment for these microorganisms to thrive (basically by adding water, maintaining an appropriate temperature, and providing food in the form of more flour) these populations can be increased in size and concentration, where they co-exist in a symbiotic relationship. Like yoghurt and kimchi sourdough bread is a fermented prodcut which your gut microbione will thank you for.

It’s also Organic September which celebrates all organic farming and food prodcution. Organic farming is one of the ways in which farming and nature can live in harmony and we’re delight to have a good spread of organic prodcuers at the market: Bluebell Organics with their vegetables and fruit, Askerton Castle Esate and Middlemay Lamb, both selling organic meat and Slackhouse Farm with organic cheese, milk and yoghurt.

On top of all that we’ll have music from Samantha and Emma from Birness in Upper Redesdale playing fiddle and clog dancing.

You’ll be very welcome between about 9am and 1.30pm on Saturday 25 September 2021!

Bumper September market coming up!

The market on 11 September is shaping up to be one of our biggests of the year yet. It will see the very welcome return of Lee from Stonehouse Smokery and Julie from Pure Plants, together with two producers trying the market for the first time.

Belle & Herbs are based in Tyneside and make fermented vegetables in jars for veg grown on the Rising Sun Farm. They include things like sourkraut in white and red versions, kimchi and unusual food like fermented mooli. Professor Tim Spector, who researches our microbiome (or gut flora) suggests that we should all eat fermented foods at some point in the week and the products made by Belle & Herbs are a welcome addition to market staples like sourdough bread and yoghurt.

Helen from Knitted up North in Ryton will be bring a range of her hand-knit items for the first time too.

We will be having music from Simon Probyn, a sax player with a jazzy repertoire and with it being the weekend of the Heritage Open Days, Transition Tynedale will be launching their Edible Hexham Trail on Saturday. You’ll be able to find out more at their stall at the market too.

Bijou market on 28 August but with two interesting guests

With various festivals and events starting up again, weddings doing a bit of a catch-up and people trying to take a holdiday with their children, we have a slightly bijou market on Saturday 28 August. However, a part of that slightly smallerm but perfectly formed mix we have two interesting guest prodcuers as well as a lot of your favourites.

The Red Welly Food Co is a small batch producer based in the heart of the Eden Valley in Cumbria. They produce some big flavours with their 2 types of bacon jam,their range of unique hot sauces and their natural rubs/seasonings. You can use the products in any way you choose, and they believe you shouldn’t put any product in one box. However, they know that the Cumbrian BBQ rub works really well on chicken, fish, tofu, in dressings and even in vegetables.

The people at The Yolker are North-East based producers of gourmet, flavoured Scotch Eggs with a soft-set yolk.

They are handmade using the finest locally produced ingredients from locally sourced suppliers with eggs from Northumbrian Free Range Eggs at Matfen. They offer 7 different varieties all named after well-known films and film quotes and they include both gluten-free and vegetarian options.

We hope you’ll give them a very warm welcome!

The market will be in its usual place on the Market Place and around Hexham Abbey between 9am and 1.30pm.

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