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Petersfield or thereabouts

  • Rowan's Delicatessen, Lavant Street, Petersfield. Top quality fine foods emporium with a real emphasis on great local produce. Goes from strength to strength with a broad range of cheeses, hams, pates, delicatessen and those difficult-to-find ingredients, and now, following a welcome rebuild, a nice bright cafe offering good tea and coffee and the best of their excellent stock of sweet and savoury items.  Everything you would look for in a good deli and a few surprises too. Particularly good range of locally produced bread, honey and champion pies and pastries. Excellent choice of regularly rotating cheeses (as we write this, Rowan's is one of only two outlets nationally for Isle of Wight Blue, England's Champion Cheese 2007). Nice selection of wines and cigars and Hampshire beers and ciders. Now stocking over twenty loose teas and coffee beans (ground to order). Knowledgeable and friendly staff. Great place at Christmas for stocking fillers, sweetmeats and fancy stuff. And if all of this isn't enough, ask nicely and Peter Rowan will knock you up a hand-built guitar. 4, Lavant Street, Petersfield 01730 262600.

  • Bran Tub, Health foods and natural remedies, but also a great selection of well-priced dried fruits, nuts, cereals, mueslis, rice, pulses and all that good stuff... not fussy or fancy, no worse for that. Lavant Street, Petersfield. 01730 267043.

  • Petersfield Market Shaming really that we've been so lax in drawing your attention to Petersfield's twice-weekly market. Regular favourites include Organick for your organic fruit, vegetables, fruit juices, eggs and honey, Bryants for as good a range of quality fruit and vegetables as you'll find in any of the supermarkets and, uh, those South African folks who set up camp every Saturday and cook up something delicious for you to try (and buy) - big spicy sausages, marinaded meats, biltong and a selection of other South African produce for all you Home from the Hill types. Other stuff more hit and miss and irregular, but Jones the butcher draws a loyal queue, the fish stall is occasionally there and there's an ever changing display of clothes, jewellery, ethnic stuff... we recommend it as a regular port of call before you visit the supermarket. Here's the thing though; wouldn't it be great if the market offered really good meat, bread, cheese and delicatessen every Saturday? So that your local market provided a genuine alternative to the supermarkets for virtually all of your fresh produce? And wouldn't this be a great thing for a local council to focus on - providing and encouraging a platform for local farmers and producers and really working to keep the heart in Petersfield? Why should a great local market be just a monthly thing? It's just a thought....

  • Hampshire Farmers' Markets. The flagship outlet for Hampshire farmers and independent producers, with all produce strictly locally produced. First Sunday in every month in the square in Petersfield, 2nd and 4th Sundays in Winchester, third Saturday in every month Alton. Meat, vegetables, preserves, breads, honey, specialists in tomatoes, chillies, mushrooms, honeys... Too many to individually list, but always on myPetersfield's visiting list is

    • Ashmore Farmhouse Cheese

    • Bookham Cheese and Pasta (fantastic British 'parmesan'')

    • Bowtell's Farm Shop, meat and game

    • Dorset Blueberry Company

    • Secrett's, amazing vegetables and salad leaves from Milford www.secretts.co.uk

    • Isle of Wight Tomatoes... and chillies, and aubergines, and tomato products...

    • Long Crichel Bakery, traditional breads and cakes...

    • Itchen Valley Brewery

    • Loosehanger Farmhouse Cheeses, medal-winning Ayrshire cowsmilk and goatsmilk cheeses... their garlic and nettle is seriously addictive...

    • Peter Mushrooms, fresh mushrooms + soups, pates, ketchups, and a hot mushroom roll as an alternative to the hog roast for all you vegetarians...

    • Pollen Organics, sauces, pestos, mayonnaises

    • The Garlic Farm, brilliant range of fresh, smoked and preserved garlic and garlic products.

     

    This barely scratches the surface. Every month there are new stalls, all the Petersfield local farm shops and many from further afield are represented, so this is really unmissable for anyone interested in fresh, local and genuinely interesting food. ... at least one or two roasts are usually ongoing, so skip breakfast and get here early.... more about the farmers' markets here: http://www.hampshirefarmersmarkets.co.uk and at 01420 588671.

North

  • The General Wine Company, Liphook and Midhurst. Simply, myPetersfield rarely buys wine elsewhere. The online wine club subscriptions have withered and died and Waitrose and Sainsbury's are now for emergency purchases only. Alan Snudden's enterprise offers a fantastic selection of Old and New World wines right across the price spectrum, sold with real expertise (some great stuff from Corsica this year). Not fussy or fancy, but always classy, the advice is equally friendly and informative whether you spend £4.99 or £49 on a bottle.  Good range of spirits, cigars and beers too. Shipper's Club offers regulars  worthwhile perks and discounts and information about tastings and dinners. Annual Wine Fair in Liphook's Millenium Hall absolutely not to be missed. The General Wine Company is a real treasure, and there can be no excuse for buying at supermarkets or online - GWC offers a better range, keen keen prices and a stack more engagement and enjoyment.  Main branch: 25, Station Road, Liphook. 01428 727744. Junior branch, High Street, Midhurst (just as good but half the size and stock).

  • OrgaNick, Wyld's Farm, Liss. Nick and Sophia Rook-Blackstone's organic farm out west of Liss supplies great fruit, vegetables and other produce through their farm shop (9-5, Thursday and Friday), the Petersfield Saturday Market, the monthly Farmer's Market in Petersfield square and their home-delivery organic box scheme. Warren Road, Liss. 01730 891490 or nick@organick.org.uk.

  • Hammer Trout Farm and Smokery, Liphook. One of the oldest fisheries and smokehouses in England, producing not just smoked trout but meat, poultry, game, pates and more. Also at the Farmers' Markets. Hewshott Lane, Liphook, Hants. GU30 7SU. 01428 727508.

East

  • Rother Valley Organics wholly organic farmers and butchers near Nyewood, off the A272 south of Rogate. Beef, pork, lamb and mutton, chicken, duck and goose... fully traceable meats from grazing through butchery to plate. Online shopping and home delivery or you can visit, buy and collect during normal butcher's hours (9 to 4 or thereabouts during the week, 9 till 1 on Saturdays).  More detail follows. Sandilands Farm, Rogate, Petersfield, Hants, GU31 5HU 01730 821062 GMAP.

  • Jeffersons, Midhurst (West Street). Organic butcher, and fishmonger too. Good range of sauces and pickles.  Details follow. 01730 813135

  • Harveys' brewery shop, next to the Bottle and Jug in Lion Street, Midhurst. Outlet for the excellent Harveys brewery in Lewes, East Sussex. Fantastic range of bottled beers, from low-alcohol to 8 and 9° winter specials. Draught beers to take away, good range of wines and ports, including a a great range of English wines.  Glasses, gifts and Harveys 'breweryana'. Recommended. 01730 810709,

  • Durleighmarsh Farm, fruit, veg, meat and more. Fantastic range of fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers (including an amazing 30 acres of asparagus) to pick yourself or buy in the shop. Environmentally sympathetic farming methods. Good range of Christmas stuff (not before December 1, which merits praise in itself)) including poultry, holly, mistletoe... lovely place. Find it between Petersfield and Rogate on the A272. 01730 821626.

  • Chichester District Farmers' Markets Nice small markets selling food and produce from a thirty mile radius of the markets. Alternates between Midhurst and Petworth on the fourth Saturday in every month which seems confusing to myPetersfield. A regular monthly date in one location might help to fix it in the public memory. It's always a pleasant surprise when we happen upon it...  01243 785166 for details.

grange farmWest

  • Grange Farm, Grange Farm, Lovely farm shop at Empshott, signposted about four miles west of Liss on the Selborne road (B3006).  Free range pork, lamb, chicken, geese, Aberdeen Angus beef, own products and local bread, fruit, vegetables and deli. Great at Christmas. Open Tuesday - Saturday 8.30am to 5.30pm, Sunday 10am to 1pm. 01420 538104. More here.

 

  • Mr Whitehead CiderMr Whiteheads Cider Company. Real traditional cider, scrumpy and perry without additives or preservatives. Range of strengths and flavours including interesting single varietal ciders. Sold in many local shops, pubs and markets but also direct from source, here, in bottles, barrels or polypins. Also local bottled beers and English wines. The Old Granary, Hartley Park Farm, Selborne, Alton, Hampshire GU34 3HS. Half way between Selborne and Alton. 01420 511733.

 

South