Local Shops for Local People

Paradise Earth, the partly wholefood shop in Northfield Avenue, was short-lived and has now morphed into a cafe and a nail bar. Farm W5 on Ealing Green is closed at present, following owner Tom Beeston's decision to take up a job with Sustain (the alliance for better food and farming). The shop is undergoing refurbishment and it remains to be seen what form it will take when it re-opens later this month. (Tom was featured in the Guardian's “Good Lives” series a few weeks ago – you can read the article at http://environment.guardian.co.uk/whatcanido/story/0,,1875894,00.html

There has been some correspondence in the Ealing Gazette about the effect of the farmers' market on local businesses – it has been claimed that the market is responsible for falling trade at a nearby butcher shop. Whatever the truth is in this particular case, generally farmers' markets have been good for local shops: according to Farma, the National Farmers' Retail & Markets Association, 80% of neighbouring businesses have seen trade grow following the establishment of farmers' markets in the UK nine years ago.

What's in season now? ,Apples (lots of great varieties), pears, late strawberries, autumn raspberries, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, marrow, onions, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins, squash (lots of great varieties), cobnuts, walnuts

(from Farmers Market website http://www.farmersmarkets.net/