Co-founders
The Green Bowl is run by Tessa and Helen, who manage Elphin Larder and Middleton Croft, respectively. One a long time crofter, and one a recent entrant into crofting, they are both passionate about their animals and the quality of the food they produce. They are both committed to providing quality, affordable food to their community, and are proud that The Green Bowl is more than just a business – it’s a part of that community.
“We know most of our customers by name and have real connections with many of them. We’re part of their lives, they are part of our business and we’re really proud of that sense of connection.”
Helen deals with most of the admin and crazy ideas while Tessa provides a lot of knowledge, infrastructure and sensible decision making.
Delivery Driver
Ann is the public face that most people know of The Green Bowl. She does most of the deliveries, knows most of the gossip and always loves a chat (and she takes great care to ensure you get what you ordered, and to make sure it’s left safely for you, and that if you have any special requests, they get passed on).
Our Suppliers
Elphin Larder
A local crofter, also turned butcher and baker, now with butchery unit and game dealers licence…
We breed and raise traditional breed cows and pigs in a natural outdoor environment, focussing on high animal welfare and low artificial inputs. We believe this produces happy, healthy animals and ethical, low impact meat.
We also run a flock of free ranging hens and ducks, producing delicious, nutritious eggs.
Middleton Croft
We are a small croft striving to produce quality local food while maintaining exceptional animal welfare standards and improving the health of our land and the surrounding ecosystems.
We breed Shetland sheep for both their wool and meat. These sheep are small and hardy, living on the heather and limestone grassland surrounding us, with very little external input. We keep sheep until they are at least 2 years old and then take them directly to slaughter ourselves, ensuring the least amount of stress on them. We sell the meat directly to customers because we believe it’s important to know where your meat is coming from, and what kind of life it has lived.
We are developing the fruit and vegetable side of the croft. We have a small orchard, small outdoor vegetable garden and a large polytunnel allowing us to grow a wide range of crops, and to grow for an extended period in spring and autumn, and hopefully even over the winter. We’re still starting out and it’s not at full production yet, but we’re getting there.
We believe in farming in sympathy with nature, and accepting lower returns in exchange for healthy, better tasting produce. We are not certified organic, but try to avoid chemical sprays and additives, artificial fertilisers and other heavy-handed approaches. We aim for traditional or heritage varieties where possible, rather than commercial strains, as we believe these almost always have superior flavour.
Cùl Mòr Gardens
I am Brian Davidson of Cul Mor Gardens and I have been living in Elphin since 2007. In all that time I have been growing vegetables organically, in raised beds, using only seaweed, kitchen compost and manure for fertiliser. No pesticides are used. I also have a poly tunnel which allows me to produce First Early potatoes ahead of the normal season. Once they are dug up, I plant courgettes and tomatoes in their place.
Outdoors, I grow the normal range of vegetables – maincrop tatties, kale, lettuce, swede, leeks, onions, celery, beetroot and many more. There is also rhubarb, soft fruit alongside plum and apple trees which are now producing a decent crop.
All produce is seasonal, with most being available in late summer, autumn and early winter.
My partner Jan is an artist who occasionally offers small gifts and cards through The Green Bowl. More details about her work can be found at www.jankilpatrick.co.uk.
Shed Veg
We have teamed up to try and grow veg sustainably on 3 different sites. We are growing on a limestone croft field in Elphin and raised beds in Inchnadamph, as well as the more peat-based garden behind the shed in Elphin – hence the name, “Shed Veg!”
We use home-made garden compost and cow manure to enrich the soil and steer clear of chemical weed killers or fertilizers. This ensures the best taste and quality our Scottish weather will allow. Without poly tunnels we have already noticed the difference between climate in Elphin and Inchnadamph, the latter being at least 2 weeks in front growth wise. Growing veg is unpredictable and always a learning curve!
Andy Venters & Jane Matheson
Rosie’s Herbs N Veg
I’m an artist who gardens. Gardening and growing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers is part of my family history. My grandfather, who worked on a farm, had a cottage garden at the back of his ground floor flat in Putney (south London), and my dad had two flourishing allotments, both some miles from where we lived in suburban Surrey.
I believe in sustainability, part of which is access to good food for everyone. I grow everything by organic methods, without the use of any herbicide or pesticide. I try and encourage others to take up this way of growing through monthly articles in the Ullapool News.
Growing and eating our own food is a real privilege, and being able to share our surplus produce through this outlet is a real joy.
The Red Steading
The Red Steading is the Elphin home to 3 hives of honey bees. We sell our cut comb and jars of honey from here as well as our larger apiary at Inverbroom.
We also have a small mixed flock of backyard hens and a modest poly tunnel for a range of seasonal vegetables and fruit.
Sunshine Bunches
On limestone, moraine gravel and peat beds the garden at Kirkton, Inchnadamph continues to expand every year. It has evolved gradually over the last 22 years from simply grass to a mixture of raised vegetable beds, pond and bog, perennial borders and tubs of annuals to rolling native woodland planting. It has always been a dream to grow and share flowers with people and I hope to do this with “Sunshine Bunches”.