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Glamorgan - Sally JosephVice Chairman: Helen Thomas
Open Farm Sunday at Lakeside Farm Park - 1st June 2008 April Meeting The April meeting opened with a taster session of Nordic walking by one of our members, Claire Harris. This has become a very popular way of exercising. We all picked our poles and stretched our muscles mostly our laughing ones! Everyone enjoyed Claire's tuition and the taster walk, although I must admit my arms were aching a little after and perhaps we should have done this last month after the dessert tasting! Following the walk we re stretched our muscles not forgetting Claire's favorite stretch!! If anyone is interested in Nordic Walking please contact Claire:
Business meeting and Nordic Walking Taster April 9th 2008 at Whitehills Golf Club ring Sally - 01656 783149 or email Eira - eira@lakesidefarmpark.co.uk March Visit 8 Glamorgan WFU members visited the Serious Food Co dessert unit in Llantrisant. We were greeted by Phillip Dimmock and Julia O Connell, signed in and taken to a meeting room, sampled their juices and given an insight into the structure of the whole business and the background to the Dessert products. They are well known for high quality desserts and have won many awards. The company originated from a co operative of banana farmers in 1929. In 1986 the company in the UK were the first to supply freshly squeezed orange juice onto the shelves of the supermarkets. Since then they have added a distribution business, soups and Desserts. The company have won regional, national and international awards over the years.
We all left with samples of the desserts to take home and share with our families. We thank Phill, Julia and the Serious Food Co for their support for our national WFU conference in April. We are planning a morning visit for next year to observe the unit in full swing and perhaps see the soup production as well. Use the link www.seriousfood.co.uk/ for more details and recipes. Julie Thomas has hit the Farmers Guardian - 22nd February 2008
Visit to Senedd - 7th February 2008 Welsh Assembly Breakfast - January 2008 Invitation to the Senedd 6.00pm February 6th 2008 Visit the Serious Food Company 1.00pm March 5th 2008 Glamorgan WFU AGM - January 9th 2008
WFI invite you to An Evening with Rory O Sullivan - 7th November 2007 WFU had an interesting talk in our October meeting by Mike Pett from the Bridgend Farmers Market. He makes superb Glamorgan honey and furniture polish. Open Farm Sunday - 10th June 2007
Food for Thought - 8th June 2007
Hourly tractor and trailer rides
Farming in the Classroom Training - 9th May 2005
On 9th May, members enjoyed a very informative training session on how to talk to children about farming delivered by WFU education specialist, Maureen Friday. Visit to R.F.Brookes Food Processing Plant, Rogerstone, Newport 12th January, 2005 On January, 12th Branch members visited R.F.Brookes Food Processing Plant, near Newport, Gwent, and had a most enjoyable and informative evening. The visit started with a Presentation and a Tour of the Factory. We were able to see the raw product going in at one end and taste the finished product at the other. Members were most impressed with the size of the premises, the organ- isation and the strict hygiene standards on the factory floor. We had to wear protective clothing and wash our hands four times before we were allowed into the Factory area. The traceability of all raw material was most notable from the potato to the coriander. A great variety of ready made meals are produced, many of which are supplied to a major blue chip retailer. At the end of our tour, we were fortunate in being able to sample a variety of these delicious meals. ... Branch members kitted out in "WFU visiting gear"!! Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2005 On January 25th Lynette Thomas and Dilwen Phillips from Glamorgan WFU visited St Athan nursery to celebrate Farmhouse Breakfast Week. The children listened attentively to how wheat is grown on Lynette's farm and how it is processed into flour whilst watching dough being mixed and kneaded. They then shaped rolls into various animal shapes,hedgehogs, sleeping cats, slugs and snails - four legged animals were too difficult for Lynette and Dilwen! Whilst the rolls were baking they enjoyed a breakfast of weetabix, two in some cases and a milk shake.
Parents joined us for a chat and the importance of eating breakfast was explained. There was plenty of questions from parents and amazement from some when told their offspring had eaten weetabix, the favoured cereal was cocoa pops. The children took their animal rolls home with pride and later on in the year they will visit the farm to see the wheat grow and hopefully harvested. Mrs Harries head of the nursery will offer weetabix as an occasional snack in the future. ........... we understand none of the rolls got as far as home. They were eaten before they got there! Who said children do not like wholemeal bread?
Strawberry Day 2003
Programme for 2003:
Farmhouse Breakfast Week On the 21st January WFU joined the FUW in presenting breakfast at the Welsh Assembly. WFU also served breakfast to pupils in Cardoxton Primary, Colwinston Primary and St Athan Primary Schools. Activities 2002 Strawberry day this year, Glamorgan will be at Fonmon Castle Marks and Spencers have agreed to do a fashion show and we are doing a poster competition, with all the schools in the area from primary to secondary. The venue is fantastic and just ideal ffor the Jubilee. During this event we will be promoting the cookery book. If any members from Pembroke and Ceredigin would like to come the tickets are £10 each and the evening starts at 7.30pm we also have a harpist in the entrance hall to welcome guests. September the 18th we hope to organise a visit to a cheese plant and try and do a workshop have got any suggestions to where we could go as I believe that there are a few cheese making plants attached to farms in your area. Perhaps we can go together as a welsh group. Please Charlotte Edwards know if you wish to attend. Activities 2001 In January, Mick Bates, AM for Montgomeryshire spoke to branch members about his work in the Welsh Assembly. He has helped to promote the reintroduction of free milk into schools. He was impressed by members' promotion of breakfast and has invited them to do a breakfast for members of the Welsh Assembly. Mr Bates also told members about the grants that are available for individual farmers who wish to diversify. Press officer, Dilwen Philips, has promoted the Farmhouse Breakfast on the local radio station and other members are keen to visit schools to talk about breakfast. They have a regular feature in their local paper on local foods such as apples, beef and lamb as well as breakfast. There are three Farmers' Markets in Glamorgan each month and several members are involved. www.wfu.org.uk |
We marched up and down the car park trying to get technique and not assault each other as the poles were attached to our hands.
We then knuckled down to get the hang of it and did a 10 to 15 minute walk in the nearby wood. Julie got the hang of the technique but was excused the walk as she had just had a knee op, she retired to the golf club to look after the minute book.
After the talk we donned our protective clothing and entered the factory we were all impressed with the level of hygiene and had to change protective clothing to enter the higher risk area of the factory where we observed some desserts being packaged. Phill and Julia were very informative and answered every question we threw at them.
They have a top quality Chef Charlotte Marriott that makes the original dessert and they then manufacture the same product for us to share at home a lot of work goes into this as there is little automation, most desserts are hand finished and all are hand packaged.
