Welcome to Elham Farmers' Market in Kent

**************************************************************************
Next market: Sunday June 14th, 10.30 to 12.30 at the Rose & Crown
**************************************************************************

One year already

Happy birthday Elham Farmers’ Market! We are one year old this month. And we hope many shoppers from Elham and further afield in Kent will come and help us celebrate at our anniversary market on Sunday 14 June. There will be cake from Gatehouse Farm, North Elham, for everyone, and balloons and apple bobbing for the children.

New fish stall
We will also welcome our newest trader, Fish from Rye and Hastings, with a tempting selection of locally-caught wet and smoked fish.

Local and seasonal
The trend for local seasonal food has caught on in Elham over the past 12 months as shoppers can buy fresh, local, seasonal produce in the village on the second and fourth Sunday of the month. The market is also a social place where neighbours and friends meet up.

The market celebrates all things local: our farmers, growers or producers come from a defined local area. They or someone directly involved in the production have to be present to sell their own produce directly to the public. Priority is given to the most local producers.

Some traders have been regular attendees since the beginning, others come less frequently, and we are always on the look out for new producers and traders. But come rain or shine, the market has not missed a single date.

Harringe Nursery's stall

Thank yous
Our anniversary is a fitting time to thank a few people: Shepherd Neame and Jay Chamberlain of the Rose and Crown for our new permanent venue in the pub courtyard; most importantly you, our shoppers, for supporting your local market; thirdly our traders for turning up and working on Sundays; the Kent AONB and the Kent Farmers’ Market Association for their support and advice;; village organisations for running BBQs last summer; Elham Newsletter for publishing our monthly report; local businesses and Kent County Council who sponsored some of our start up costs; Elham Village Hall Committee for allowing us to use the Triangle last year; Elham School for the temporary use of its car park.

Friends of Elham Market
The market is run by a management committee of volunteers representing different village organisations. They and other volunteers help with a number of tasks on market days, but we always need more Friends of Elham Market to take a turn at putting up the bunting and help set up and take down the market. Even if you’ve only got one Sunday morning free in the year, we would love to hear from you. Contact Anne Leva, Market Manager, 01303 840144, for more details.

Date of next markets
Come to our next market on Sunday 14 June and help us celebrate our first year with a piece of cake, locally-made of course. The second June market is on 28 June – 10.30 to 12.30.

Elham Farmers’ Market – a taste for all seasons

Folkestone-born celebrity chef Phil Vickery has been a supporter of Elham Farmers’ Market from the start, not only because of his local connection when he worked at the Rose and Crown in Elham, but also because he is passionate about English cooking, seasonality and regional food.

In his latest message of support, Phil said: "I am delighted that the market has been such a success so far and will now become a permanent feature in Elham. Congratulations to the local producers for providing such a range of high quality goods, and to your shoppers for recognising and appreciating the value of good seasonal local food, produced by people who care."