All the fun of the fair

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The last bank holiday in May plays host to one of the most popular events in the South Hams, The Prawle Fair.

Held in Devons most southerly village, East Prawle is a short 10 min drive from Beeson Farm. An afternoon spent at the Fair is like stepping back to a bygone age, so put on your sepia tinted spectacles and enjoy all the old family favourite attractions such as swing boats, children’s train ride, test your strength, slippery pole, hoopla, raffles, children’s tug of war, maypole dancing and lots more.

The fair opens at 2pm on the village green outside the Pigs Nose Inn with the traditional raising of the glove (dont ask us why, we aren’t sure!) followed by a children’s fancy dress competition. Later in the afternoon there is an opportunity to exhibit your leggy charms in the knobbly knees and handsomest ankles contests!

There is live music on the green all afternoon and refreshments are available from various stalls around the fair, and of course from the Piglet Cafe and the Pigs Nose Inn.

The Prawle Fair is a great community effort with lots of the villagers involved in one way or the other. It is run annually to raise money for the upkeep of Prawle Community Hall and to support various local good causes.

To round off the day there is always an after party at the Pigs Nose with live music.

Entrance to the Fair is free. Parking is just £2 per car.

Wild Garlic

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The local woods are carpeted in swathes of bluebells and are looking spectacular, it is always lovely to see the slow change in seasons and what wild food nature provides throughout the year.

Pungent wild garlic, otherwise known as Ramsons, are flourishing so this month I have been foraging in order to make Wild Garlic Pesto. Whilst the whole plant is edible, it is the young leaves that have the best flavour (they can even be eaten raw or added to salads).

This year Ive adapted this recipe from Sarah Ravens Garden Cookbook: For every 100g of wild garlic leaves…

200ml olive oil
50 pine nuts or walnuts
50g parmesan
Pepper and salt
Splash of lemon juice or rice wine vinegar

Blanch the leaves in boiling water for 10 seconds then cool and dry them quickly. Then whizz the leaves with the oil, nuts and lemon juice until smooth, then add the parmesan (grated) and season.

Hey presto, it’s pesto.

IF the taste of wild garlic is too strong you could always substitute its cousin, Three Cornered Leeks (also in the allium family) instead, which again are found in abundance in the hedgerows and woods of South Devon.

Slight disclaimer: As always with foraging please be careful that you are picking the right plant to avoid poisoning yourself!

Happy Foraging!

Welcome back to our Swallows

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Every year our courtyard is full of swooping swallows who nest in the old barns around the farm. This year they returned on 8th April and by early May have been busy making nests in the bicycle store!

British swallows spend their winter in South Africa: they travel through western France, across the Pyrenees, down eastern Spain into Morocco, and across the Sahara. Some birds follow the west coast of Africa avoiding the Sahara, and other European swallows travel further east and down the Nile Valley.

Migrating swallows can cover an amazing 200 miles a day at speeds of 17-22 miles per hour.

In their wintering areas swallows feed in small flocks, which join together to form roosting flocks of thousands of birds. Swallows arrive in the UK in April and May, leaving to return to their wintering grounds in September and October.

Our guests are always delighted by the stunning aerial acrobatic display over the courtyard.

We think we are very lucky to have them spend the summer with us every year!