Barnard Castle - Cross Lanes Organic Farm

I was on holiday in Durham, and got talking to the chef at the hotel restaurant where I was staying.  As the restaurant was keen on sourcing local food, I asked the chef if he could recommend any good farm shops in the area. Without hesitating, he suggested I go to Cross Lanes Organic Farm near Barnard Castle.

Peter Coverdale is a highly respected stone mason, who with his wife Sue, decided to open an organic farm shop, café and horticultural centre.  It has only been open for about a year, but has already won numerous awards.

It's been stylish designed, and with a lot of thought paid to environmental issues. You may notice old pews for seats

and even shelves made from recycled old tractor tyres!

The roof is green - it's a living roof, with sedum and meadow turf and around 25 varieties of wild flower and grasses.  Even the toilets are green - there's an outdoor composting toilet with a Whitby heather thatched roof

The excellent butchers sell grass fed shorthorn beef (and dripping) comes from the farm next door

and other meat also comes from named local farms.   

The organic bread is made on the premises, like this organic beer cob:

which is made with organic ale and molasses and browned off in their wood fired oven.

There's jams and preserves from Just Williams in Richmond (whose bitter and twisted marmalade has won a great taste award).  Organic loose leaf teas from Steenbergs, in Melberby near Ripon:  

There's also a good selection of beers, from local breweries like Allendale Brewery, North Yorkshire Brewery, Wensleydale Brewery, Black Paw and Yorkshire Dales Beer Company.

You can have a meal in the café:

Dishes are prepared using organic seasonal produce, locally sourced where possible.

Last of all, this blog has already told you about shops selling chocolate shoes, but have you ever seen chocolate wellingtons before?

Cross Lanes Organic Farm
Cross Lanes
Barnard Castle
County Durham
DL12 9SL 

Tel: 01833 630619
Butchers: 01833 694395

Web: www.crosslanesorganics.co.uk

email: info@crosslanesorganics.co.uk