For our first event of 2012, on Sat 25th Feb some members of Food4MaccDirect went on a trip to visit E.Oldroyd & Sons Rhubarb farm in Carlton near Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

They are the largest grower in the infamous 'Rhubarb Triangle' region selling both the early forced varieties, which are grown in candle-lit sheds, and then in Spring the outdoor main crop.


The tour included a history of Rhubarb, its origins, medicinal qualities and cultivation.

There was also the opportunity to purchase it as well as various rhubarb products such as jams, chutneys and vinegar. As you can see from the photos we didn't go away empty-handed!

Visit their website .

Heritage Walk Site Work

A HUGE thank you to all members of Food4Macc who have helped prepare the site at Heritage Walk and the Triangle on Churchhill Way.

This very special area in town has become a haven of peace and beauty since begun by energetic, inspired visionaries of the Macclesfield Guild and the Parks Department.

On Saturday morning the work was much enhanced by the Wildlife Explorer groups of our local RSPB group.
It was wonderful to see the youngsters so engaged in the many tasks completed by them with such enthusiasm under the equally enthusiastic leaders and volunteers.

Thank you very much RSPB Wildlife Explorers for your hard work!!! And thank you every one who supplied donations of plants and items for the insect hotels.
You can see more pictures of this work on the RSPB Wildlife Explorers website

We are also grateful to The Woodland Trust for providing trees for planting, and to Topps Tiles for supplying pallets and offering safe storage of our equipment.

Snow Goose starts Local Lunches

The Snow Goose on Sunderland Street is starting doing meals at lunchtimes from this Friday and Food4MaccDirect has been helping with the food. Lunch will comprise a plate of 3 Cheshire cheeses (Golden Brie, Burt’s Blue and Mature Cheshire), Cheshire sourdough, pumpkin bread or herb scone and pear chutney, all supplied by Food4MaccDirect, together with soup provided by the Snow Goose, including seasonal Cheshire vegetables.

Lunch is £6.95 and will be available from noon this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Local Cafe starts using Food4Macc Direct Produce

Julia Marshall's café and brasserie “Amuse” has just started using Food4Macc Direct local vegetables and sourdough bread in her lunchtime and evening menu.
An example of this week’s menu is below.

· Soup of the week - Spiced parsnip & carrot soup

· Lunchtime menu – chicken & roast pumpkin curry

· Evening menu - Hearty winter root vegetable stew served in a roasted pumpkin

If you’re in Macclesfield, check out Amuse on the pedestrianised part of Chestergate!

Macclesfield Apple Juicing a Big Success

Despite the wind and rain, friday's apple pressing day outside the town hall was deemed a big success with lots of takers for free juice, freshly pressed from Macclesfield apples.

If you missed it, you will have another chance at the Treacle Market on Sunday 30th October

Our first National Radio Coverage

Dawn MacDonald and Nancy Benson of Food4Macc's Garden Share were invited to take part in an 11 minute feature on Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme on Friday 30th September.

If you missed it, you can listen to it on the BBC’s iPlayer by following this link.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b0151w30

Make sure your speakers are turned on!

You can fast forward to the start of the feature by dragging the slider bar to 33mins 45 secs into the 45 minute long programme.

Local Trout Meal

On Friday 23rd September Food4Macc Direct organised a trout meal and cooking demonstration at “Belong” care home on Kennedy Avenue, Macclesfield in conjunction with Phil Shaw from Fork-2-Plate.

Phil is a fully trained and experienced chef and showed us how to cook fresh Wincle trout in 3 different ways.

Everyone got to try their hand at preparation- and eating. All the ingredients, where possible, were sourced locally, of course!