CrowdFarming Organic Lemons
One of the ways we’ve lifted our spirits in lockdown is by ordering some treats online – while also supporting struggling farmers and growers whose restaurant business stopped dead in its tracks, and who are in many cases really struggling. We’ve ordered butter and cheese to personally attempt to reduce the milk mountain (try Eversfield Organic for the best organic butter from Ivy House Farm, here, and Neal’s Yard Dairy’s Save British Cheese selection, here.)
And on the fresh front, there have been tomatoes from The Tomato Stall on the Isle of Wight – and most recently, this fabulous Sicilian ‘lemon drop’ from CrowdFarming. Now, these are the sort of lemons we long to fill a basket with when market-shopping on a sun-drenched holiday in Italy, but have trouble tracking down here – and when we do, they’re rarely certified organic.
But as a lemon-lover from way, way back, Jo is thrilling to the idea of turning this six kilo delivery into lemon curd, preserved lemons, some lemon marmalade (slightly hot work at this time of year, but hey), and also a cocktail suggested via Instagram by our friend Alice du Parcq: the Jojito. We think it could become a ‘thing’.
CrowdFarming is a wonderful thing, enabling us to buy direct from the farmer via mail order. As they put it, CrowdFarming ‘is a new, transparent and sustainable way to source your food: adopt a tree, an animal or part of a garden, receive fresh food cultivated just for you straight from the farmers and help fight food waste.’
There are two options: you can either ‘adopt’ a crop – anything from honey to pomegranates, Manchego cheese, mustard and much more. (Jo adopted a beehive for a friend’s present and got four gorgeous jars of honey, in return; sweetly, the adoption comes with a certificate which makes it a fantastic gift for someone.)
Alternatively, you can buy a single, seasonally-changing box – at the moment, there are several different lemon deliveries on offer, all bursting with vitamin C and ready to be used in a dozen different ways. (Including sliced into an all-important Friday night G&T, in just a few hours, for Jo.) The flesh, Jo finds, is delicious – if very tart – when enjoyed straight from the lemon, or squished into a citron pressé.
We believe that after this moment in history, people are going to want to connect more with the farmers and producers who keep food on our plates. Farming’s always a struggle, and we kinda feel that farmers should have bumper stickers which say: ‘We Farm – So You Can Stay Alive’. That penny’s dropped for many, these past few weeks – and we think this is a great way to build on that realisation, in the most delicious way.
Around 31 euros for 6 kilos (price varies depending on supplier) – buy here
