Shop Local – supporting Cornish businesses whilst on holiday!

Trevaskis Farm operates a very honest system in their acres of farm land.  You are invited to collect your own basket and visit all the crops to pick your very own supply (you will also find a money pot ‘sin bin’ for any treats that may have made it straight in to your mouth and not to the weigh in!). You are able to check their website to see what is in season for picking. This ranges from all sorts of berry delights in the spring and summer, to show stopping pumpkins just in time for Halloween.

The ‘pick your own’ shopping here often proves to be more economical as you are simply purchasing the amount you need, reducing plastic packaging waste and any extensive food transport costs, plus – it is good fun to pick it yourself!

You’ll find even more groceries in their on-site farm shop. They supply a great range of local produce, making it a good place to stock up on all the essentials you’ll need for your holiday – such as milk, eggs, bread and bacon (bacon from their very own butchery!).

Situated in Morvah, just a half an hour drive from St Ives (and even less if you’re staying in Old Boswednack, our property near Zennor), Chypraze is a great place to source locally reared meat.

The farm produces ‘Conservation Grade Saddleback pigs’ and ‘Highland Cattle’ as they work tirelessly to improve the quality of their meat and the diversity of their environment on their cliff top fields. …How?
They have ample grazing space and the highest quality care so there is no need for the animals to be pumped with antibiotics – assuring the best quality of meat.

The ‘holy grail’ of their conservation effort is their work with the Cornish Chough. The waste from their Highlands provide the ideal environment for the bugs that Choughs survive on and after 5 years of work, Chypraze Farm have happily noted regular sightings of a small flock feeding on their farm!

Chypraze sell beef, pork, bacon, gammon and ham all from their very own farm shop, and if you are unable to make the journey over there, no worries – they deliver! Or even better, you can go and visit them at St Ives Farmers Market, in the Guildhall every Thursday, 9.30 am – 2pm.

They wish to continue working towards being a ‘self-financing, community-led, initiative to benefit the wider community of St Just and West Penwith in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable way’.  Sustainable living is very much the future and Bosavern is working its hardest to make this possible for the Cornish community.

You are able to visit their on-site farm shop in St Just to have a browse through all their seasonal fruit and vegetables available. Or, if you wished to have one delivered to you property to use throughout your stay, you are able to order one of their ‘not-for-profit veg boxes’ (delivery is just £1). Better yet, you could pre-order a veg box ready for you to collect on the day of your arrival, from Café Art St Ives.

You are guaranteed to have some of the freshest produce as it is picked within 24 hours of going into your box, and more often than not – less than 12 hours!

Trink Dairy is open to the public, ready for you to collect your milk, whilst also being able to freely observe all the work in action! From milking to pasteurising to bottling, ready for you to take home.

The farm is mindful of the environmental impacts that some farming methods can bring. So, similar to many of our local producers, they have devised a system that helps to reduce this. If you visit the farm yourself, you will see solar panels on their dairy roofs. These panels produce the power to ‘heat hot water (for cleaning), provide ice water (to cool the milk), and to power all the electrical equipment required to run a modern dairy set up’.

The milk is straight from ‘grass to bottle’ and it is full of natural vitamins, proteins and minerals. Perfect for pretty much anything you need milk for! To buy the milk onsite you simply use their self-service vending machine and you can purchase a variety of bottle sizes (all of which are 100% recyclable!). If you are unable to get to the farm yourself, checkout their website to see which local shops stock Trink Dairy.

If you wish to buy and cook some of your very own freshly caught fish, you must try and get to Newlyn fish market.

It all ‘comes to life‘ at approximately 4am every morning (this is also very close to the arrival time of they buyers too!). You will be able to find some of the freshest Mackerel, Turbot, Hake and much more – all perfect for home cooking!

If you are not able to make it to Newlyn, especially that early in the morning, you can have fresh fish from the market delivered to the property you are staying at, through ‘Fresh Cornish Fish‘. They are a family run company who visit Newlyn Fish Market every morning to purchase their haul. They then distribute all throughout Cornwall and nationwide.

Their artisan bread is in great demand throughout Cornwall as they supply to many successful restaurants.

Their bakers work to traditional methods throughout the night, ensuring that all the bread you will be purchasing on the day is as fresh as it can be! If you are heading over to Penzance, it is most definitely worth visiting the Baker Tom’s shop to have a browse at what they have to offer on the day, and to simply just to experience the comforting smell of the freshly baked goods!

If not, they supply to Ayr Stores, just at the top of Porthemor hill, so fear not, Baker Tom’s is always close by!