Westlands Amaranth Update

We are delighted, but still cautious, about how well the Westlands Amaranth crop is developing, due to the extra work we detailed in our previous blog Westlands Seasonal Update - Amaranth.

This week we have seen the benches producing the crop at the size we expect, but in lower quantities.  Westlands have been able to send out small volumes to our supply base this week and we are expecting to do the same, in the same small quantities for most of next week.

How can our Customers help us?

Please only order what you actually need, as this means we only harvest what is needed and will ensure that we can keep up with your orders.  By not over ordering now, will mean more crop at the most important later stage of Christmas!

We are expecting the volumes to increase, steadily, over the next 10 days.  Thank you so much to all of our Customers who have born with us, thank you to those who shared and Tweeted our Seasonal Update.  Using the knowledge we have gained this year will allow us to improve the position for all of our customers next year.

Please be assured that we are working hard to ensure full supply of Westlands Amaranth for your important Christmas menu weeks, but, as ever in the wonderful world of Fresh Produce, we are not promising anything!

Many thanks on behalf of the whole team at WestlandsWow.

Westlands Inspired by Seasons

We, like many other Growers of fresh produce, experience all sorts of challenges in the growing year, but in particular trying to predict when one season comes to a close and when another is about to start is one of the toughest.  The other constant, in a fresh produce growers life, is the delight and obsessive weather watching, and how it will affect our different types of crops.

Certainly the relatively mild winter of last year coupled with the unseasonably warm March, the combination of almost constant rain, warm to hot weather this summer has increased humidity levels. The effect has meant that some wild crops, like traditional Blackberries for example, have produced less fruit and the fruit has ripened earlier than usual (in the case of Blackberries some 1-2 months early).

As many of you know a lot of the innovative fresh produce that the growing team at Westlands grow is trail work, that combined with the unpredictability of the British weather means that sometimes, just sometimes, the results we expect don't always materialise.

Thankfully, with the skill of not only the growing and operations team but the variety and depth of ranges that we grow, Westlands are able to recommend alternative items from our collections via our knowledgeable and experienced technical and marketing team.

Unless there is a dramatic change in the weather we will bidding a fond farewell, in the next week or so, to one of our Inspired products, the delightful Westlands Butterfly Sorrel Flowers.  Don't worry they are a firm favourite in our Westlands Inspired collection and will reappear around May/June time 2013 (weather dependent of course).

Westlands Inspired - Butterfly Sorrel Flowers

What we would really like to know, just before Butterfly Sorrel Flowers take a bow and we say our goodbyes, is how have you used Westlands Butterfly Sorrel Flowers?  Please do share any photo's and recipes on Facebook WestlandsWow or Tweet us @WestlandsWow

We can't wait to see this growing next year:

Westlands Inspired - Butterfly Sorrel Flowers, growing