Bookham Cheese

Welcome to the BCP online newsletter for March. From time to time, we will be featuring a farmshop, deli or supplier, with whom we plan to run a special promotion, available to the likes of your good selves only. Simply print off the voucher at the end of the letter and present it instore when redeeming the offer. And should there be a particular shop you would like us to feature, let us know on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

This month we went along to meet the owners of Park Farm Shop in Falmer, East Sussex. Peter and Veronica Lenihan are two of the most hard-working and genuine people imaginable running a business. Their shop is open seven days a week, selling superfresh, local fruit and vegetables, along with speciality foods from local producers like ourselves. No wonder ninety percent of their custom is from “regulars”. To find out more about this well-kept secret, located just off the A27 between Brighton and Lewes, read on!

If you shop at Farmers’ Markets because the fruit and veg look like they’ve been picked and dug up that morning, then you need to get down to Park Farm. We went along on a wet February morning and were uplifted to find a barn, in a field, selling some of the freshest produce we’ve ever seen.

Peter and Veronica have been farming vegetables and rearing chickens for twenty-five years. They started out selling their produce from the fields surrounding their barn with nothing more than a big set of scales. The scales are still in the barn today but the barn is now a shop and the central focus of the business.

Peter and Veronica are both from farming backgrounds and it is their deep understanding of farming that makes Park Farm something of a reality check; they know what’s good, what’s in season and where it comes from. They grow what they can, buy locally whenever possible and only look further afield for bananas and suchlike. They don’t use chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides, realising long ago that these weren’t necessary and finding natural alternatives instead. Like us, they have a passion for simple, honest food.

Peter starts his day at 3.30am and may still be putting the chickens to bed at 10pm. He lives by the seasons, just as his grandfather did, and loves farming life. Veronica skips around the barn, taking great pride in her shop. She knows her fruit and vegetables are truly fresh and she knows where they come from. She also understands her customers and looks after them in an unassuming way. She and Peter are modest people with solid business values. Their priority is to provide a good service to their customers, whilst remaining as close to the land as they can, something to be recognised and valued by us all.

As I say, there’s nothing pretentious about Park Farm. It’s a real shop for real people who want to buy squeaky fresh greens, eggs with chicken fluff on and collect a bag of logs on their way out. Visit www.parkfarmshop.co.uk for directions and opening hours.

Take care and see you next month for another feature!

Rob & Claire Bookham

MAD AS A MARCH HARE - LUDICROUS SPECIAL OFFER

We're so excited that Spring is on it's way, that we've gone slightly mad ; throughout the month of March, we'll be offering our online newsletter readers 3 PACKS OF MRS.B's FRESH RAVIOLI FOR £5 PLUS A FREE PACK OF UNFILLED PASTA. Ludicrous, really. Simply present this voucher when shopping at Park Farm Shop.