No of items: 0

Your basket is empty

Mail Order

We can ship a range of products, including Isle of Wight Cheeses, to non-Island addresses. We'll be launching a new online mail order system soon, but in the meantime we're happy to arrange deliveries by phone or email. If you would like any products sent to a mainland address, please call us on 01983 731778 or email hello@realislandfood.co.uk and we'll be very happy to arrange it for you.

Island Seasons

May 2008

What’s in Season?

Vegetables: asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes, new potatoes, aubergines, cucumbers, elephant garlic shoots
Fruit: rhubarb, strawberries
Fish: crab, lobster, skate, plaice

Come and Say Hello!

We’re going to be at the Big Green Picnic www.biggreenpicnic.org on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th May, 10am-6pm in the County Hall car park, Newport. Come and say “hello” and find out why buying local food is a greener option! Lots of other things to do and see, and there are even discounted bus fares!

Get Out and About

Foxglove, Purple Orchid and Blackthorn Sunday June 1st is Open Farm Sunday www.farmsunday.org organised by LEAF (Linking Farming And Environment). It’s a great chance to visit a farm and see what happens. Wight Salads will be opening their greenhouses, so you can see how the tomatoes are grown. 10.30am-4pm Main Road, Arreton - follow the signs! Free parking, £2 per adult, £1 per child.

May is a wonderful time to see wildflowers, and some of the best spots are on the edge of woodland, along bridleways and even on the roadside. Pull on your walking shoes and enjoy the flowers as they only have a short life.

In the Fields and Hedgerows

Spring has definitely sprung, and the wet weather followed by sunshine means that trees, wild flowers and crops are all growing fast. In the hedgerows at the moment are the last of the primroses and bluebells, plus cowslips, red campion, stichwort, bugle, foxgloves and early purple orchids. The May (hawthorn) is still in bloom and elderflowers are also coming out – time to make elderflower cordial, champagne or fritters!

The wet weather and warmth has also brought out giant puffballs – there were some huge ones on Tennyson Down last weekend. Finding giant puffballs is often a surprise – they can get very big indeed! These are edible, but the ones we found had been in the sun too long.