There are so many wonderful things about staying in Norfolk (especially at West Lexham!) in September. These kinds of stays are a well-kept secret, but it’s definitely time to spill the beans and let you all know what you’re missing out on, while you can still snap a space up! Throughout September, we’ll be posting a series of blogs all about what makes it such a special month.
Let’s start with the best part about September: all the amazing produce that comes into season! Lucy Birnie, our head grower has been excitedly planning new crops and planting away, all ready for our Autumn harvests, and everything sounds incredible. She shared some of the produce we can expect to see making an appearance in The West Lexham Garden Kitchen’s dishes. We’ll be seeing a range of tomatoes, aubergine, peppers and tromboncino and patty pan squashes. Along with courgettes, lettuce, kale, purple sprouting broccoli, French beans, baby leeks, carrots, Malabar spinach, apple marigold and a wide selection of herbs. The team will also be focusing on successional sowing to replace the polytunnel crops over winter. This will include mange tout, fennel and early carrots. Sounds delicious, right?
Our biodynamic gardens have absolutely flourished (thank you, growing team!) so we’ve been harvesting an abundance of beautiful, organic produce. This means our guests are getting EXTRA lucky as, not only is our produce making its way into our incredible restaurant dishes, but we’ve been able to set up a mini farm shop for guests to purchase delicious veggies and herbs from! That means you can take a bag of West Lexham grown goodness home with you and continue the healing atmosphere of your stay, in your own kitchen.
With this in mind, we thought we’d recommend some great ideas you could try your hand at, using some of our produce! Our Head Grower, Lucy Birnie, recommends trying apple marigold, fresh in a salad, or in ice-cream or sorbet for a fun flavour.
She also offered her top tip: Have a runny soup or curry? Larger Malabar spinach leaves can be used to thicken it!
This is just a tiny amount of why stays with us at West Lexham are extra special in September, so keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks for more info!
