The second annual Ludlow Spring Festival kicks off this weekend at Ludlow Castle; Hobsons Brewery will be involved in the new “Meet the Brewer” preview event as well as competing in the SIBA Wales and West Regional beer competition.
The event celebrates beer, bangers, bread and music from the region; the Spring Festival also coincides with the Marches Transport Festival held at the same venue.
Hobsons Brewery have been working closely with the organisers acting as one of the three hubs compiling the 140 real ales expected at the event which will be judged by industry experts for the SIBA annual competition. Hobsons Brewery will be entering the following cask ales including Hobsons Mild, Best Bitter, Town Crier and Twisted Spire, bottled beers being judged include Manor Ale, Old Henry, Twisted Spire and Postman’s Knock.
Head along to the beer tent over the weekend to sample a huge range of beers from the region including Hobsons award winning real ales.
2010 OPENING TIMES:
Friday 7th May – Meet the Brewer Preview night – 5.00 pm to 9.00 pm
Saturday 8th May – 10.00 am to 9.00 pm
Sunday 9th May – 10.00 am to 5.00 pm
Hobsons Community
A Selection of posts from the Hobsons Community
Ludlow Spring Festival
• 4th May 2010 •
This is a “mega” month.. so no time to lose!
• 4th May 2010 •
If you have propagated seeds into young plants, continue to “harden off” as described in our March pages, ready to plant out once the threat of frost has gone. These tend to be runner broad and french beans, cabbages, cauliflowers, sprouts, kohlrabi, spring onions and all salad leaves.
Towards the end of the month you can think about planting out outdoor tomatoes, squashes, pumpkins, courgettes, marrows, celeriac and celery. If you have not brought on any seedlings into plants but would like the option (its bit like buying turf rather than seeding a lawn) you can either visit a garden centre like Webbs of Wychbold or go online and have them delivered. Either way, they will have been hardened off and you can plant them out immediately. The benefits of this is that you don’t have to go through the process of “thinning out” and your produce will come more quickly. The downside is cost, plants are much more expensive, though much less time consuming.
If you prefer to sow seeds directly, think about watercress, turnip , chard, sweetcorn, swedes, spinach, salad leaves, rocket, radishes, mangetout peas, snap peas, spring onions, lettuce, endive, leeks, kohlrabi, carrots, cauliflowers, calabrese, cabbage, broccoli, beetroots and all beans.
Fresh herbs are great asset to any chef and to have them readily available is a real treat. Most can be grown either directly into the ground or in pots and are easy to cultivate. Those ready for sowing outdoors include parsley, fennel, dill, coriander, chervil and borage, whilst plants would include thyme, tarragon, sage, rosemary, mint, marjoram, oregano, lovage, chives and bay.
Top Tip
- For those who have little time to spend weeding out, why not try covering an area of soil with weed repellent sheeting, cut a cross in it to plant your herb and once completed cover the whole area with wood chip or pea gravel to decorate.
- Most fruit can be planted out now though be careful to avoid old or wet mornings.
- Blueberries have become very popular and expensive so this is an ideal choice. They love lots of time and are extremely attractive to birds, so a fruit cage for protection is recommended.
• 12th April 2010 •
Finally the weather is on the change and the ground is warming up so it’s time to get moving!!
First sow all those seeds, which have a particular sensitivity to frost, into containers which can either be housed indoors on windowsills or in the greenhouse propagator. I’m talking runner beans, French beans, courgetts, and pumpkins.The key thing here is not to get ahead of yourself!! A good friend of mine,who will remain nameless other than ‘Bigboy’ of Hereford proudly put his beautiful runner beans out 3 weeks ago and lost the lot to frost damage so remember the story of the tortoise and the hare! The key is to be sure that all risk of frost has gone and if you have planted out and there is a frost warning, get some agricultural fleece, wrap them round your plants and pray!!
I have only just planted out my onion sets , broad beans , potatoes and peas and although they are all a tad late i hope that they will catch up with this lovely weather.You can also start to plant out your salad leaves but remember, only a little at a time, say half a row, and then repeat 3 /4 weeks later…if you don’t you will have a glut of produce and then nothing.
Towards the end of the month, you can start to ‘harden off’! This isn’t some kind of ‘Rambo’ affair, rather it’s when plants such as tomatoes which are intended to be planted outside, are moved outdoors during the day and then brought back in for the night, thus aclimatising them over a 2 to 3 week period.
Fruit trees and canes can be fed and don’t forget to set your slug traps..Do that now and you will negate the ‘second generation’ which is bound to follow.
Hoe and weed as much as you can.The more you do now, the easier it will be in the comming months.
Top tip
Bird scaring tape…..This is coloured silver on one side and red on the other.If you tie it to two sticks either end of a row of produce, the birds will not come near.The theory is that the tape gives the impression of fire and keeps them away. Whatever the reason, I know it works and having experienced the disapointment of pidgeon damage I can recommend it.
Gardening and nature links
• 25th February 2010 •You may find some of the below links useful for getting you started in the garden this Spring.
Congratulations to the Guardians top pubs
• 23rd February 2010 •
We would like to say a big congratulations to the Nag’s head and Bartons arms who have been named as two of the countries best pubs in the Guardian newspaper. In a feature called ’10 of the best’ Guardian journalist Anne Tims selected the Nag’s head in Worcestershire and the Bartons Arms in Birmingham as two of Britain’s top 10 pubs. Anne said of the Nag’s Head ‘It is the beers that seduce – 16 of them on tap’ and when commenting on the Bartons Arms Anne said ‘ Saved from dereliction in 2002 it now offers the best range of bottled beers in the city, a menu of host and guest beers and a complement of Thai chefs’.
Hobsons have been supplying both pubs for some time now and each has their favourite brew. The Bartons Arms is a fan of Hobsons Mild while the Nag’s Head favours Hobsons Best. However other familiar Hobsons names can be found on the menu from time to time including Town Crier and Twisted Spire. Nick Davis head brewer at Hobsons said “We are delighted that these two fantastic pubs have been recognised on a national level for the excellent service, atmosphere and beer they provide and we wish them all the best for the future”.
Hearty farmers markets
• 17th February 2010 •Farmers markets are a great place to discover delicious local fresh food and drink. We have a stall at Ludlow Farmers Market on the second Thursday of every month and we love the atmosphere and buzz the market creates. We occasionally attend other markets so keep your eyes peeled for us. We have listed many of the local farmers markets below, if you attend any of the markets let us know what you thought.
Read the rest of this entry »
Historic ‘parlour pub’ saved by regulars
• 16th February 2010 •
Britain’s only grade 2-listed pub was run by the countries longest serving landlady Flossie Lane until her death at the age of 94 in June 2009. The Sun Inn is one of the last surviving ‘parlour pubs’ and it has attracted national interest over the years as a result of its historic value. There is no bar or serving hatch in the pub, beer was brought from stillage in the kitchen by Flossie herself and regulars enjoyed their drink with a chat in what was in affect Flossie’s sitting room. The pub is listed on CAMRA’s national inventory of historic pub interiors and it is considered by many to be the best example of an unspoiled UK pub.
The Sun Inn never pretended to offer its visitors any frills, its charm was always its simplicity and timelessness, something its regulars are keen to preserve. The pub was so loved by the locals who frequented it that following Flossie’s death a Save the Sun Inn campaign was launched and the pub continued to open each evening thanks to the dedicated volunteers. The campaign was backed by CAMRA and ourselves and when rumours began to circulate that the pub may be purchased for development Nick Davis, head brewer at Hobsons and Gary Seymour, Sun Inn regular and Leintwardine business man decided to buy the pub in a bid to secure its history and Flossie’s legacy. Read the rest of this entry »
Introducing Hobsons flagship pub the KA
• 16th February 2010 •
Set directly opposite St Mary’s Church (famous for its twisted spire) in the centre of Cleobury Mortimer – gateway to the Shropshire Hills the Kings Arms or KA as it is known is a welcoming 15th century inn. Part owned by Nick Davis, head brewer at Hobsons, the KA is run as a Hobsons pub and so stocks all of our cask and bottle beers. Fully refurbished only a couple of years ago the KA is a cozy and welcoming pub with an open fire, comfortable seating, great beers and delicious food.
When it comes to the KA’s food they work on a philosophy of ‘Fresh where possible, local if we can and good old fashioned home made’ so you can be sure that what you are served is not only delicious but grown or reared just down the road. The veg is from Fred’s Veg Shop, the sausages are from Hems the Butcher and the bread is from Ashley’s Bakery all located in Cleobury Mortimer. The quality of food which is served from 10am – 3pm daily has created a real following in and around the town and the pub is often packed out with people enjoying a relaxing lunch in the rustic bar.
If you want to experience what Hobsons is about then theres no better place to go than the KA. Our beer is served with care and skill to ensure a fantastic pint every time and our philosophies regarding sustainability are embraced 100%.
There’s often events on like live acoustic music and PINK, a yearly event which is a whole month of activities to raise money for breast cancer. 2009′s PINK event raised a fantastic £8700. You can find out more about the KA and PINK by visiting the KA website www.kingsarms-cleobury.co.uk. Alternatively keep popping back her for news and events.
Chuckle Nights hilarious launch
• 10th February 2010 •
Comming Friday 23rd April
TOM CRAINE MC
MATT GRANTHAM
GORDON SOUTHERN
TONY LAW
Click here to see this months flyer Chuckle Nights
Getting started in the garden
• 8th February 2010 •Martin’s patch
Part of loving our environment is embracing sustainability and this doesn’t just mean large scale technologies like our wind turbine, growing your own fruit and veg is also a fantastic way of being more sustainable. We love the satisfaction growing your own food brings and many of Henry’s team have their own veg patches. In fact we are so passionate about the delights of ‘growing your own’ that we are planning to develop a vegetable patch at the Sun Inn, our latest Hobsons pub. The Sun Inn patch will be run by members of the loacl community and not only used to grow food but also inform local school children about the produce we can grow in our own back gardens.
Whether you already have your own veg patch or you’re thinking of delving into the world of home grown fruit and veg for the first time, we would like to share some of our know how. So please take it away Martin.
Why bother?
A question I normally ask myself at least a dozen times throughout the year!
However, after spending an hour in the veg garden weeding, planting or watering, away from the madding crowd, radio on, listening to test match special, I normally answer the question for myself, especially when you taste your ‘first early’ potatoes, cooked with mint and smothered in butter, which have been dug just 30 minutes earlier. And whilst I can’t tell the difference between organic and non organic produce, I know for a fact, that almost everything I have produced in the garden has tasted sweeter, sharper, crunchier and more satisfying .
OK, your still with me, so I’m assuming you want to bother….So what next??
The basics
Guys….Good news…Size (of plot) doesn’t matter…What does matter is sunshine and water.
If at all possible, position your patch running lengthways east to west to take fullest advantage of the days sunshine, and get your water as close to your patch as possible. Believe me, you will soon appreciate distance once you’ve carried your 10th two gallon watering can from A to B.
Don’t panic if you havn’t a tap nearby, there are a plethora of waterbutts available from the garden centres or even better, recycle an old bath, steel drum or similar (I used to use plastic tubs from a jam factory) with which you can catch rain water or run a hose pipe to.
