The Farmers Mart Feb/Mar 2014 - Issue 32 | Page 33

CARR HOUSE FARM Pleased to support Tim & Caroline at Carr House Farm “My mother always said ‘don’t take money from friends’ and six croissants a week was hardly going to be a business - but it was a start.” Today muesli, granola, bread and croissants are produced every day in their three metre deep and two metre wide woodburning oven, with granola being the largest production. The oven comfortably holds 30 bread loaves and is at around 300 degrees when the bread goes in. They started making muesli to use up the heat. Other products that have evolved because of the oven are Christmas puddings and cereal bars. Granola is supplied to Planet Organic in London. Some 200 packs of muesli and granola leave the bakery every week. Side Oven Bakery was socalled because of the old side oven in the farmhouse that is still there today and was responsible for the first loaves. “Tim spent a week inside the chimney cleaning it out,” Caroline said. Once he had sorted it out we could get eight loaves in but one side was hotter than the other so within six months we knew we had to expand. The Growing Routes scheme run by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society was a major help to us at the time.” Caroline and Tim spent many days at farmers markets and food fairs when they started trading their wares from the bakery. As their network has grown they have cut down on farmers markets and now just visit Driffield Farmers Market To read more, visit www.farmers-mart.co.uk www.hbfuels.com Tel: [phone] or 01904 608554 By Email: [email protected] each month, as well as several food festivals and Christmas Fairs. “We try to ensure that pretty well everything we make has either been grown or sourced on the farm. The raisins are a bit of a problem as we struggle to grow the grapes, but most of the rest is grown here. We also have our own mill that we purchased from Germany. “The great thing about what we have done is that the farm has come back to life. When Tim was a boy the farm employed six people. We now regularly have four or five around the kitchen table for coffee or lunch and have another farmer’s wife, Josie here too.” The Sellers also have a strong tie-up with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. They host regular open days and own woodland where they have the only heronry in East Yorkshire. They have recently also replaced owl boxes from 20 years ago following the local parish council securing funding from the local windfarm trust. One of the features of their involvement with the HLS scheme is educational access and that has led to a number of school visits to the farm and bread-making courses run by Caroline. “If someone had told us 10 years ago that we would have achieved what we have, we probably wouldn’t have believed it ourselves, but we have taken opportunities as they have come up and we have gambled – and it’s worked,” she said. Caroline and Tim have three children: Jessica, Hester and Barnaby. Jessica is due to return home to live and work in the Spring. FarmersMart Feb/Mar 2014 33