Clarkson’s farm shop shows power of local food

Hinterland Homesteading with Racheal Pascoe

On the way to the Diddly Squat Farm Shop, I thought we would pop in and maybe find Jeremy or Lisa re-stocking the shelves in the shop or maybe run into them in the village. I might have been able to swap notes and ideas on homesteading with them. Or at least let them know their show is terrific, although I am suspecting they already know this. 

Let me tell you how it actually happened! Ha. 

Just this past week, we were driving back to London from Blackpool and found ourselves driving through the Cotswolds (ie posh, very cutesy English village looking area of the countryside) and thought we would do a slight detour to check out the Diddly Squat Farm Shop. Now for anyone who has enjoyed Clarkson’s Farm on the telly, you will understand I was a bit excited to see this. 

The Show on the telly

Clarkson’s Farm is a fun show where Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame, buys a farm in country England and becomes a farmer. The funny part is that he knows not a lot about farming at the start. That part makes it hilarious and him look silly all the time, but very quickly he discovers farming is bloody hard work in all weathers and is really a very difficult life to live. So inadvertently, over that first 5 seasons of the show, Jeremy and his farming team have become advocates for British Farming by shining the spotlight on so many of the issues farmers face. Okay, you are now up to date with the show. 

NB: I hadn’t ever watched an episode of Top Gear, but I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Jeremy as a farmer!   

It was only 5 degrees outside, breezy and threatening to rain. But there wasn’t anything that could dampen my spirits when it came to visiting a place which is all homesteading and fresh produce.  

As we drove into the carpark, we saw heaps of cars and the parking attendants were filling the overflow carpark. So much for being part of only a handful of people in horrible weather. 

We parked up and then noticed the line to enter the shop was about 100 people long! There were still so many people eager to check out this farming revolution Jeremy and his team have started. Very interesting.  

We joined the queue and froze in the cold for over an hour before it was our turn to shop in the tiny store. In we went and it was like speed shopping, knowing that so many others were still outside in the freezing cold. 

Good wholesome foods 

Each shelf was filled with fabulous local goods, made from fresh local produce and they were so blinkin’ proud about all of it. The signage was simple, the message was clear – support their farm shop and you will be supporting local farmers. 

We bought all sorts of goodies … blackcurrant jam, relish, mustard, chips made from the farm potatoes, cider and so much more. They had cold goods that we could only look at, knowing we were soon catching a flight home. 

Each item was beautifully labelled and you could tell from the description of the goods that they are no-nonsense about it all. It seems that the mission is to support the local farmers by providing another terrific outlet for their produce, but also to label and present the goods in a plain fashion. No need to check for preservative numbers or colours. Just good old-fashioned food. How wonderful! 

Well, the people just love it. Jeremy wasn’t even there that day, but it didn’t stop simply hundreds and hundreds of people shopping at the farm shop and taking some homemade goodies home.  

So maybe it is less about Jeremy and his fame and more about the message of making conscious decisions to include good wholesome food in your diet, support local producers and keep the food miles low. Whatever their motivation for coming, the people were loving it all.  

Now I know it would help being a gazillionaire when starting a set up like Diddly Squat and having incredible contacts to make things happen ... but Jeremy and his team haven’t re-invented the wheel, they have simply put the spotlight on something a lot of people have forgotten about or overlooked for a long time. Good wholesome food and remembering where it comes from. Diddly Squat reminds people to get back to basics and choose wisely when it comes to our food.  

Now, we might not have a super trendy Farm Shop here in Nambour, but we do have farmers in our area who would certainly love our support. 

How can you help this week?

Do your best to buy your fresh produce each week from our very own local markets! We have several local markets each week in our area. Or you can take the back roads this weekend and support the roadside stalls. Buy fruit, vegies, honey and preserves from the roadside. 

Chances are you will be supporting a family who are working the land to grow food. Buy flowers from local farm shops. 

Our very own Yandina Markets on Saturday mornings is a terrific place for fresh produce and the second best farm stall I have ever seen is right here, 10 mins from Nambour, opposite Flaxton Gardens up the Range (Jeremy’s Farm shop is the best of course).

Jokes aside, we can certainly make a difference to our local farmers with the choices we make. What I buy and what you buy each week let’s our farmers know we value what they do. 

Happy Homesteading everyone!