In the local news

The Orchard Tea Room & Farm Shop is featured in Lorena Hodgson's Hidden Gems column in the this week's Fenland Citizen.

Click the above image to read the article.

Chip Week 2015

So it's chip week!

And we have the perfect potatoes for you to make your own chips. Fat chips, french fries, potatoes wedges, fried chips, homemade oven chips they will all turn out perfect with our potatoes.

Here at The Orchard Farm Shop we sell a brilliant "all rounder" potato that actually makes wonderful chips. In fact it's sometimes marketed as the "Chippie's Chip Potato".

Our Sagitta potatoes are great for roasties, jackets, mash as well as chips and they are locally grown in the Fens only 6 miles from our farm shop.

Here's what TV chef Glynn Christain has to say about Sagitta potatoes:

"Saggitta are wonderful potatoes in every way, flavourful and just what I like for texture.Their added advantage is the smooth even shape, which makes them perfect for attractive baked potatoes but also a cook's best friend when you want to make good looking, even-shaped chips, sauteed potatoes or potato salad, to slice for a topping or to make Pommes de Terres Anna and other old favourites. I've still not mashed them but they must be as great mashed as they are roasted, which is VERY good. More please..."

We sell them by the sack, half sack and 2 kilo bag.

The Orchard Tea Room & Farm Shop
Redmoor Lane
Wisbech
Cambs
PE14 0RN

Telephone: 07527 046184

 Website: theorchardtearoom.co.uk Twitter: @OrchardTeaRoom Facebook: The Orchard Tea Room

Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) ~ 5 Things

Why pancakes?

Legend tells us that the day before Lent a housewife heard the church bells calling her to mass as she was using up her eggs and milk. Rather than put her cooking aside and potentially waste the ingredients she ran to church, complete with pan, tossing the "pancake" along the way!

5 more things about Shrove Tuseday

1. Shrove Tuseday is the day before Lent.

2. Shrove Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day, Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras.

3. It's the last day of being able to eat whatever you like before the ritual Lent fast.

4. Shrove Tuesday is 47 days before Easter Sunday.

5. Shrove comes from the word shrive which means to confess. Traditionally people would go to church on Shrove Tuesday to confess their sins.

Need extra eggs for all those pancakes? Our farm shop is open until 4pm today and our customers tell us that our free range eggs are the best ever!

The Orchard Tea Room & Farm Shop
Redmoor Lane
Wisbech
Cambs
PE14 0RN

Telephone: 07527 046184

 Website: theorchardtearoom.co.uk Twitter: @OrchardTeaRoom Facebook: The Orchard Tea Room

Happy Valentine's

Wishing all our friends a lovely Valentine's weekend. Both the Orchard Farm Shop and Tea Room will be open as usual 10am - 4pm.

Might we suggest that tea and cake would make a nice Valentine's treat?

And don't forget the canine in your life. For a doggy Valentine's treat bring your dog for a walk in our Wisbech orchard, the dog walk is open 10-4 daily to farm shop and tea room customers. We're very dog friendly and well behaved dogs are allowed in the tea room.

The Orchard Tea Room & Farm Shop
Redmoor Lane
Wisbech
Cambs
PE140RN

Telephone enquiries: 07527 046184

8 things about Snowdrops that you might not know

8 things about Snowdrops:

1. The botanical name for the Snowdrop is Galanthus, this comes from the Greek "Gala" meaning milk and "Anthos" meaning flower.

2. The Snowdrop is part of the daffodil family.

3. Snowdrops should never be eaten, they are poisonous.

4. Snowdrops are highly scented on sunny days they have a honey like fragrance.

5. Snowdrops contain their own anti-freeze, during the First World War they were harvested to make anti-freeze for the tanks.

6. An active ingredient in the Snowdrop bulb, Galantamine, has been used in the early treatment of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia.

7. The most expensive Snowdrop bulb sold too date was in 2012 when a single bulb of Galanthus woronwii "Elizabeth Harrison" sold for £725.

8. Snowdrops are flowering earlier in the year, in the 1950's they started to appear at the end of February but since the 1990's they have started to emerge as early as January.

We now have Snowdrops "in the green" for sale in the farm shop, they won't be around for long so come and buy some while you can.

The Orchard Tea Room & Farm Shop
Redmoor Lane
Wisbech
Cambs
PE14 0RN

Open daily 10-4