Well, Summer is here... yes, the usual six days of rain followed by one of sun. Actually, we can't complain at the moment. We can see blue sky and white fluffy clouds across the fields and Aimee has hung her washing out so it can't be bad (thanks for the weather prediction, Mick!). A few of the boys are busy playing in their combines and cracking on with harvesting whilst the weather is good and the rest of us are busy in the office doing all sorts from trying new recipes, to shipping out your orders and getting ready for various events.

We have lost one regular face at The Seed Company - Paul has moved further up the country to do other exciting things so we waved goodbye to him last week. On a positive note, it gave us another excuse for some cake...

Brett, our lovely cheffy friend at The Eastbury, is still working on new recipe ideas with us so we will be planning when to launch the next range of oily goodies with him. - Is cheffy a word?! Something else new for us is the world of Twitter. We have signed up to this ever popular networking site so if you want to follow what we're up to, visit http://twitter.com/TheSeedCo

Very brief, but that's us for now - we're off to take more advantage of this sunny weather. No, we're not off to the beach (we wish!) but we are heading out to do some lovely photography.

Well, here we are in June so apologies for not writing sooner! We have been a bit busy with various shows and the general production of our rapeseed oil. We've just had a cracking weekend with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his team at their farm. They had their Summer Strawberry Fair which was good fun. There was plenty to eat and drink, and lots of tastings and cookery demonstrations. They also hosted games and live music to keep everybody entertained. You can catch up on all things Summery at River Cottage on Wednesdays at 8pm on Channel 4.

Ken has been keeping an eye on our fantastically yellow rape fields the last few months. He has given them lots of TLC so that we can keep giving you amazing oil. And another busy bee is Brett Sutton, Head Executive Chef at The Eastbury Hotel in Sherborne. He has been locked away in his kitchen, rustling up lots of fabulous things involving rapeseed oil which we've been trying. There are lots of promising products that will end up in our range over the next year or so so do keep an eye out. He also made THE best Vanilla Panna Cotta at the weekend with a gorgeous fresh strawberry salsa (made with rapeseed oil of course) which we served up at River Cottage - I did promise to pop the recipe on here so will chase up Brett and see if he'll reveal his secrets!

The weather man is forecasting a gorgeous weekend again so if you are looking for a nice way to spend this Saturday in the sun, do pop along to Montacute House in Somerset to look around the gorgeous National Trust house and gardens. We will be in the courtyard with other great producers with lots for you to try and buy.

Here at our own very sunny HQ, we have a new picnic bench so that we can enjoy our lunch in the sun and we have discovered a fantastic local sandwich company called Rural Foods. They do various sarnies with decent fillings (nothing dodgy and nothing artificial) as well as salads and homemade cakes which they can deliver to businesses and offices within a certain area. They also offer a fresh, seasonal fruit and veg box scheme which our Liz and Linda are keen on! For more info, visit their website, www.ruralfoods.org.uk - we have heard they do fantastic dressings made with rapeseed oil on their salads too...

Our latest news is that Aimee is one of five founding members of a brand spanking new organistaion that will look at the cold pressed oil sector. As of yet, a name for the organisation still needs finalising, but we are looking at issues such as quality control for cold pressed producers, legal requirements, and marketing to help grow the sector in this exciting area of the quality edible oils. The Seed Co have been discussing the idea of joining a trade organisation for some time among fellow producers to increase the awareness of what we are doing in the British cold pressed oils sector. And now it is finally happening! The organisation is part of NEODA, an organisation representing the wider edible oils industry. For more information on NEODA visit their website - www.neoda.org.uk

We had a lovely mention from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in The Guardian on the 7th March. He wrote some amazing recipes including a seasonal Watercress Soup using our rapeseed oil and talked about the benefits of this wonderful British culinary oil. Paul is making the soup tonight so we'll be having that for lunch tomorrow along with some gorgeous freshly baked bread from our friends at Leakers Bakery in Bridport.

If you happen to be in Sherborne this Friday, 20th March, do pop by the Dorset Farmers Market in the town centre and say hello to Aimee. She'll be there bright and early with our very first stand and will be able to tell you all about the benefits of rapeseed oil - you'll also be able to try our amazing dressings and marinades as well as the oil!

Our new look bottle will be unveiled at the Taste of The West Trade Show at the end of March and consumers will be able to see it (and taste it!) at Northernhay Gardens in Exeter, 17th - 19th April for the Festival of South West Food & Drink.

Today's good news is that you get to hear the lovely Pauls voice on BBC Radio Solent on Sunday 1^st March. Whilst you’re cooking your roast dinner, do tune in to BBC Radio Solent and you’ll hear Paul telling you exactly how we do what we do! He is due on air at about 12 noon so whilst you’re shaking your spuds in our rapeseed oil, you can find out all about the benefits of this culinary oil. It’s a bit like having Paul in your kitchen to entertain you which is great but this way you don’t have to make him copious amounts of tea or cake..!

We're also close to finishing off our new look. We're just polishing the final details and then we'll be able to unveil the new bottle to you! Aimee is busy working with a fabulous, local chef trying out new recipe ideas for marinades – she’s keeping very hush hush about them all but we hear they’ll definitely be worth waiting for!

BBC Radio Solent: 96.1 FM / 103.8 FM

When we hear of snow coming to the UK, we always assume that it’ll miss us in Dorset because it usually does. However, we did wake up on Monday to find the snow still falling and the ground totally covered. The majority of us have not had an easy drive in (including Aimee who couldn't even get in!) but sat here now looking across the fields, we have to admit, it is very pretty and this morning’s skidding and sliding seems a distant memory.  We’re not convinced it’ll hang around for long so we’ll have to make the most out of it.

The great thing is, it’s the perfect weather for crispy roast potatoes. Just what you need after a day of fun and games in the snow with the kids! Peel and cut enough potatoes into even sizes, add them to boiling water with a pinch of salt and simmer for about 10 minutes, part cooking them. Drain and then pop a lid on the saucepan. Shake the pan about to roughen the edges of the potatoes (making them floury which gives them a crisper surface when roasted). Heat some rapeseed oil up in a roasting tin at 220ºC in your oven. With the oil being very hot, when the potatoes are added, the outsides of the potatoes are seared on contact with the oil giving them a wonderful crispy texture. Make sure that the potatoes are lightly coated and then pop the tin back in the oven to roast. These will take about 50 minutes to roast and ideally need turning over half way through cooking.

And now a bit of gossip for you... We’re currently planning a new look for The Seed Company which is all very exciting and we’re also keeping busy with the idea of some new dressings. We have a fantastic selection of edible fruits and flowers available to the farm so we’ll be trying out all sorts to see what we can come up with. If we need help with tasting all our new fabulous recipes, we'll shout.

A big welcome to 2009 - here's to another great year of farming and fabulous food. Dorset, like the rest of the UK, has been taken over by the big freeze but, if we're honest, we can't complain about the blue skies and clear views across the farm... it's simply gorgeous as long as you're wrapped up in a scarf or in the office with a mug of tea (and a slice of Cass's Mums cake - made with our rapeseed oil of course!).

We've just taken a look at our show calendar for 2009 and planning where to go. Visit our events page for info on where we'll be popping up in and around the UK. If we are near you, please do drop by to say hello and try our fabulous rapeseed oil and dressings. We've had a busy few months and have been looking into development of new products too, using our rapeseed oil as an alternative to other oils or fats. This year we should come up with some other gorgeous goodies to compliment the Dorset Thick & Thins and Dorset Cove Dressings... so watch this space.

We also have a new face at The Seed Company.... Aimee Rose joined us at the beginning of January and will be helping with sales and development. She has been working within the food industry for almost 4 years now so has lots of ideas and foodie knowledge (she also drives a bright Beetle cabriolet but we don't hold that against her!). Any questions you want to throw her way, please do or if you just fancy a natter, you can buzz her on the usual number.

Intentions to write a regular blog have been overtaken by all the great things that have been happening at Seed Co. HQ since the beginning of the year.  We've just finished around six weeks of being on the road attending various trade events and consumer shows, so thanks to all of you who came along to support us.  In particular, we had a fantastic response at the Exeter Festival of Food & Drink and the Shaftesbury Food Festival where visitors really got behind their local rapeseed oil!

We got very dusty and tired at the Real Food Festival in Earl's Court - it was a really good show to visit with hundreds of interesting small companies to see but the floors were covered in sawdust which seemed to find its way into every nook and cranny (well nearly). While we were in London we ate in a great gastropub called The Butcher's Hook (www.thebutchershook.co.uk) and bemoaned why there's not more places like it nearer home. Unpretentious but really good, fresh ingredients - not only that but brilliant service and just the place to restore your sense of humour after standing in sawdust all day!

We've had a busy few months of development of new products too, using our rapeseed oil as an alternative to other oils or fats.  We've launched Dorset Thick & Thins (a delicious new 100% Dorset biscuit) with the help of Olives Et Al and three other Dorset producers, two new Dorset Cove Dressings (Beetroot & Thyme and Lemon & Dill) and one or two other products in the pipeline ... so watch this space.

Back at The Seed Co. and Pearce Seeds, our boxes of wheat that we're growing for the Dorset Cereals garden at Hampton Court is coming along very nicely.  All a bit strange growing wheat in great big boxes rather than in open fields, and we've had to nurture it by putting it in and out of greenhouses, but it's outside at the moment and enjoying a bit of spring sunshine and showers!