Things here have been super busy so I can only apologise for the lack of news recently. I’m writing this whilst on a train heading home from a few hours in Liverpool. I’m a big football fan and have been an Everton season ticket holder for over 25 years. This season it has felt like I’ve missed more matches than I’ve made it to so going up for a Monday Night game was really lovely. I don’t often make it to evening matches but I met up with our son and we had a great evening (plus apart from some sad looking cheddar at the hotel breakfast this morning, there was no cheese in sight!)

May Day

But the reason I could get up to the game was that it was on a Bank Holiday. At this time of year they seem to come thick and fast with the next one in just 3 weeks. May Day was traditionally celebrated as the beginning of spring and the renewal of life. The Celtic festival of Beltane is celebrated at the midpoint between the spring and summer equinox. Locals would light bonfires, dance and perform rituals to appease the gods and guarantee a good growing season. This then evolved into more of a spring festival with traditional maypole dancing and the crowning of a “May Queen”. It was a way to celebrate nature and the end of winter. Morris dancing and village fairs take place all over the UK and we get a day off to be able to celebrate.

We had a maypole at my school, I was too tall to be able to weave in and out easily (at least that’s what the teachers always told me – my lack of dance skill might also have been a factor…). I love how ancient traditions have literally been woven into to our lives.

But back to the cheese…

We have the Wildbumenkäse back in the counter. This is a gorgeous looking cheese as it is covered in dried herbs and flower petals. It is usually produced in the warmer months when the cows are grazing on rich, mountain pastures. Their diet includes clover, thyme, and a rather beautiful herb called Gentian. This gives their milk a complex flavour that is reflected in the finished cheese. I eat it all, herbs, flowers, the lot. Every mouthful reveals slightly different flavours as you get different herbs and blooms from the rind. It really is a special cheese (even if it makes a lot of mess whenever we have to cut it!)

Next Thursday I am off to judge at the Artisan Cheese Awards in Melton Mowbray. It’s my first judging of the year and I’m really looking forward to it. The awards are only open to small, British & Irish producers and I often find a couple of gems that I try and source of the shop. It’s one of my favourite days of the year and I can’t wait!

In the meantime we need your help… I am super excited to let you know that we have made it to the Finals of Berkshire’s Muddy Stilettos Awards best Farm/Shop Delicategory. The thing is we now need all you lovely people to vote for us… Simply click on the link and find us in the Farm Shop Category. https://berkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/awards/vote/