| NEWS ITEMS 2009|

Carbon Neutral Expedition called off due to bad weather and damage

Unfortunately the expedition ended on 1 May when they were rescued by an oil tanker, the Overseas Yellowstone. See the BBC News report of the start of the expedition, from Plymouth See the BBC news report of the rescue We will post any further news here and we hope to stay involved and to support any future expeditions in some way - watch this space.

Nether Stowey Street Fair - Saturday 2nd May

A very pleasant day in the lovely village of Nether Stowey. Weather was kind and after a slowish start we saw a good number of people at our stall, both local and visitors. A nice event which we will certainly try and attend again, circumstances permitting.

A few photos:

Lorna, set up and waiting for the rush	We were lucky enough to be next to our favourite bread maker!	Bread serving
Diana Piercey - local charcuterie, bacon, sausages and home made pies	Our other neighbours, Brendon Hill Crafts. Ruth here explaining their range to an interested visitor.	Bread samples, going fast!

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF TAUNTON FARMERS MARKET

The market on the23rd of April marked the 10th anniversary! A number of "guest" producers were invited to attend which made the market about half as big again as normal. Highlight of the day for most was Hugh Fearnley-Whittingtsall's River Cottage stall. Hugh was filming for his TV series and the theme for the day was the virtues of English Veal.

Hugh is pictured below, from an an unusual (and perhaps not best-flattering!) angle, cooking veal escalopes and chatting to punters about their views on eating veal. Hovering close by, to Hugh's right, is Jean-Christophe, patron and chef of award winning "cottage hotel" No 7 West Street, in Dunster. J-C is a Nutcombe Chocolates fan and always on the lookout for good food ideas!

SAVE THE EARTH – IT’S THE ONLY PLANET WITH CHOCOLATE!

On Easter Sunday we met up with explorer Richard Spink from Bristol at the Exmoor Producers Association (EPA) Shop in Friday Street, Minehead to handover 70 handmade bars of chocolate for Richard to take with him on his forthcoming expedition to Greenland.

On April 19th 2009, Carbon Neutral Expeditions (Richard and his fellow explorer Raoul Surcouf) will set sail for a 10 week journey across the Greenland ice cap.

It has four objectives:

• To make the first carbon neutral, double crossing of Greenland by sailing across the North Atlantic and then completing a return ski traverse of the ice cap. (over 550 miles)
• To carry out climate change research for the Bristol Glaciology Centre
• To raise awareness of climate change to over 15,000 pupils in partner schools around the UK and in Jersey.
• To raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust.

Richard’s father Martin, who lives in Minehead, spotted us at one of the Friday Minehead Farmers Markets and asked if we would be interested in sponsoring the expedition. When we looked at the web site and saw what they were doing we were happy to help. It is important that we are all aware of what climate change is doing to our planet and this sort of research is so valuable.

More information here: www.carbonneutralexpeditions.com

Nutcombe Chocolates at Hestercombe Gardens

At the end of March we made our first delivery to the Gift Shop at Hestercombe Gardens, near Taunton. We have been to several events at Hestrcombe over the past few years (Chocolate Festivals and, most recently, a Wedding Fair) but have never had the chance to visit the gardens. Since it was a lovely Spring day, we took the opportunity to have a look around and what a revelation!

The pictures below show what we saw - bearing in mind how early in the season it was, we're really looking forward to visiting later in the year to see the changes!

		Find out all about the history and development of Hestercombe Gardens by visiting the web site

Delivery to new outlet in Burnham on Sea - March 2009

Contninuing our 2009 seaside theme (see below) we recently made another delivery to a relatively new customer, Truckles Farm Shop in Burnham on Sea.

The shop only opened in December 2008 but appears to have quicky become established with the Burnham shoppers. They stock cheeses, meat, veg, wines, juices, ciders & beers, and many other treats. You really need to visit the shop to appreaciate their range!

Oh we do like to be beside the seaside!

Saturday 14th February, Valentines Day, saw us at Weston super Mare Farmers Market for the first time.

We were invited to try it by a member of the market committee. In 2009 the market has moved (not very far) to a more prominent position in the pedestrianised High Street, next to Argos. It runs from 0900 to 1230 and we certainly saw a lot of people pass by! It was nice to have the opportunity to introduce ourselves to a new town. We're now on the lookout for a shop to stock our chocolates for the rest of the month! Watch this space.

You can see which other Farmers Markets we attend by looking at our Google map - click here and look for the Yellow markers.

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