Lately, I have appreciated more why people become vegetarians and vegans and although I don’t feel ready to completely exclude meat or animal products from my diet, I have been trying to buy from producers that care about animal’s welfare.
It was while studying the last chapter of OU’s DD205 module that my partner and I googled and found Craigie’s Farm; and so on a typically quiet Sunday morning we rode to South Queensferry and visited this little gem.
We didn’t really know what to expect, except the fact that they would have a butcher from where we could buy some fresh and local meat, and so we got some cash just in case. However, what we found was an incredibly-organised ‘attraction’ comprised of a spacious car parking, a signed ‘farm track’, a very resourceful food shop and a family-friendly cafe with indoor and outdoor tables.
The outdoors’ cafe looks over wide yellow fields and the Firth of Forth,from where I could also spot Inchcolm Island in the middle of it. To say that we were impressed is an understatement. The quality of the food and the set up of the shop is genius. I would confidently say that you would expect to find a shop of this sort in a big and modern city but not in a small village in the countryside.
What we bought
1 kg of chicken for £9 and half a kg of mince for £6. The meat looks completely different from what you would buy at any supermarket. I guess because it’s free of the antibiotics that normally go into the highly intense market processes for farming.
We also bought a big red onion and a bag of small tomatoes which were deliciously and naturally sweet.
I would have bought the yoghurts and the scotch eggs, which looked delicious and were homemade. The selection of cheeses was British and so where the honeys. I would have bought everything at that shop and deli. You need to visit to believe me.
The animals
I didn’t expect you could visit the animals and even less that they had Shetland ponies! I mean, people go all the way to the Highlands to see them and then there you have them, 20 minutes away from Edinburgh, very looked after and very friendly. The little pony came all the way to the fence for attentions.
The chickens’ ground was definitely the highlight of this visit. Their indoor space, where they lay eggs, is connected to the outdoor space where they are moving happily and freely. Ah, and they also have a radio, with Radio Forth tuned! I didnt know chickens liked music. And then, when you enter the stable, you can pick up the eggs the hens lay in the boxes, still warm, and bring them to the till for 40 p each. Just awesome! We bought a normal pack of 6 free range eggs instead. But if you have some time to spare, of course you can wait for the hens and get that lovely fresh ‘frittata’ for dinner 😋
Tales from a Red Suitcase 