Surrey's online food market
The pandemic has changed the way shop dramatically; the queue outside my local farmers market can be offputtingly long on a Saturday morning, and for some time the market wasn’t even allowed to open, but the traders – mostly small, independent businesses – still desperately need the footfall.
When the ‘new normal’ face of shopping has become more challenging, enter Plough - Surrey’s first online farmers’ market.
Based in Guildford, Plough is made up of a small team of retailers who have spent lockdown sourcing restaurant-grade seasonal produce and delivering it directly to people’s homes; they’ve made it their mission to find small independent businesses who offer high quality, fresh, sustainable produce made with love, and connect them directly to people efficiently.
My recent Plough delivery was a well packed, wonderfully varied and completely mouth-watering selection of goods; the first thing to catch my eye was a 4 pack of sticky, swirly cinnamon buns, made by the Rise and Shine Bakehouse in Farnham.
Nestled behind them I found a beautiful golden loaf – cheese and Marmite no less! Which I discovered, when thickly sliced, lightly toasted and covered in butter, is just divine.
Just behind that, I found a highly acclaimed ingredient of chefs and a favourite of gourmands across the country – a very smart, rectangular-shaped box of 6 CackleBean free-range eggs. Cackleberry Farm is located just outside Stow-on-the-Wold.
Run by Paddy and Steph Bourns, their rare breed flocks live in traditional chicken houses on 12 acres of land. Their ‘exquisite’ eggs, complete with posh box, have to be the tastiest in town.
I delved further and discovered a tempting box of smoked chilli sourdough flatbreads made by Peter’s Yard in Gloucestershire, using organic flour, British rapeseed oil, naturally smoked jalapeño chilli and real sourdough.
These special crackers are then seasoned with hand-harvested Halen Môn sea salt and hand-baked until golden, and they are just perfect with a glass of wine.
Next, I found some colourful jars of Great Taste Award-winning chilli jam and raspberry jam from Jam Packed in Epsom and a wonderful looking jar of green tomato chutney with turmeric.
As a massive honey lover, I was delighted to also find a pot of The London Honey Co’s pure honey - a lively and complex little number, with zingy citrus notes thanks to the diverse flora of the capital's trees, parks and gardens.
This pure honey comes straight from The London Honey Co’s own beehives on London’s rooftops and in wild urban corners.
And the treats didn’t end there; digging further still I found a striking and impressively designed bottle of black lemonade, made with activated coconut charcoal, lemon, lime, water and agave, by trendy cold-pressed juice company Daily Dose.
This sat alongside a beautiful looking bottle of elderflower cordial made by Urban Cordials, whose low sugar range is made using British ingredients and surplus fruit that would otherwise be wasted.
Finally, at the bottom of the box, I found two more tasty treats to finish – a colourful can of Parody IPA from Horsham’s Firebird Brewery, and the most heavenly, fudgy, salted caramel brownie from Godalming’s Butter and Cream.
As you can tell, the produce is largely from the Surrey area; other suppliers include micro-greens from Woking’s Eden Greens Urban Farm, ice cream from Shere Delights, wine from Albury Vineyard, Indian meals from Mandira’s Kitchen and more, but the whole delicious offering is heightened further by additional produce from other UK-based independent suppliers, such as Tempus Charcuterie, Neal’s Yard Dairy and more.
It’s a wonderful platform to pick up some trusted, local favourites, and to also experiment and discover some new ones. And everything really is delicious.
Plough says that it only wants high quality, fresh, sustainable produce made with love – and that’s exactly how it tastes. Plus, unpacking the bountiful box felt like Christmas morning!
All items can be bought individually, and Plough also offers curated boxes, such as a truly mouth-watering cheeseboard box (from £18.99), and a brilliant breakfast box which - considering it includes 4 cinnamon buns, a wholemeal farmhouse loaf, a glass bottle of milk, 6 free-range eggs, Daily Dose orange juice, a small jar of Jampacked jam and two Teapigs’ teabags - is exceptional value at £15.99.
A stroll around the farmers market - if that’s something that’s available to you - can, of course, be a pleasure, but when you are able to support the traders from the comfort of your own home, and pick up the same fabulous produce whilst perhaps even discovering some more, and at the click of a button get it delivered to your door, well, it would be rude not to.
Order at plough.market. Delivery to Surrey only at the moment, but more postcodes and counties will be added as soon as possible. Minimum order £30 and a flat fee of £5.95 for delivery. You can also find @plough_produce on Instagram and Facebook.