Honey and Veg The Farmers' Country Showdown

Across the country,

thousands of farming families work tirelessly round-the-clock.

Bring them up, Isabel. Well done.

Here they come.

Shake it, baby, shake it.

But there's one day each year

where they get to leave the daily routine behind.

Yahoo!

These are show days...

Welcome to the Pembrokeshire County Show.

..when they come together as a community...

Salute.

..to showcase the fruits of their labour...

Had a quick look at the competition. I'm in with a chance.

..and try to win prizes for their breed champions...

Well done. Wahey.

It's show business, folks!

..and award-winning produce.

I got first.

You have the last two jars.

There will be highs...

..and lows...

No, no.

..for the dedicated farmers who give everything to walk away a champion.

No way!

Farmers work all year to grow food for their customers.

However, before farmers' markets were established 20 years ago,

they rarely got the chance to meet them.

I've never had raw spinach, but...

-It's very nice.

-OK, I'll try.

Today, there are more than 750 of these markets across the country,

forging a direct relationship between the people who grow

and the people who buy.

Somebody like me who prefers not to go to the supermarket,

it's a lifeline.

Nigel Dyer...

Look, there's one of our friendly spiders there.

Arachnophobes beware.

..and Curtis Thompson...

Yes, I can feel that there's a lot of honey on it.

Shake it, shake it, baby, shake it.

..are two farmers who are working towards a sell-out day

at one of London's oldest markets.

If I have a secret, it's so secret I don't know what it is.

Ten miles north of Cambridge, on the outskirts of the village of Willingham,

is one of the best kept secret gardens in England.

Here, we have mainly tomatoes in this house.

It's the life's work of Nigel Dyer, who lives here with his wife, Rosie,

and his 21-year-old son, Jamie.

Here we have the sweetcorn plot.

Market gardening is the best overall description for what I do.

I see it as another jungle where I can get lost.

I garden and I market, it's self-explanatory.

These are sweetcorn, very popular at this season.

We grow pretty much everything except root vegetables.

We grow a wide range of vegetables.

There you are, ready wrapped.

All you have to do is peel it and boil it.

And eat it, of course, with butter and paprika.

Nigel's been farming this two-acre field

since his father bought it in 1970.

Despite its size,

his green fingers have enabled the family to make a good living

out of it for over four decades.

Nobody believes how long I've been doing it, do they?

No, no, no-one would ever know you were 150.

No.

On this tiny patch, there are five poly tunnels and two glasshouses,

growing rows of chillies, beans, peppers, tomatoes and leaf vegetables,

all destined for the tables of hungry Londoners.

I always seemed to have an affinity for sowing and growing things.

Right.

There we go.

The crops I do grow,

I think I'm fairly comprehensively experienced in them.

Every year presents a new challenge.

And you are always trying to improve your techniques.

I like to beat nature at its own game, if I can.

Right, here we go.

Nigel has no farm hands

apart from the most important person in his life.

OK, do we want to go and add that to the stock?

I will, of course, thanks.

His wife, Rosie.

I went to school with Nigel's sister.

That's how we met.

Yep. I repaired your bike.

He repaired my bike and that was it.

It was love from that point on, wasn't it?

-Something like that.

-Something like that!

It's lasted all this time, anyway.

And you were interested in what I did, which was a bonus.

Well, this is this it.

Coming from the countryside myself, I like plants.

After Nigel's dad retired,

Rosie threw herself into the growing business

but it hasn't always been plain sailing.

Working as a commercial grower, I just wasn't earning enough money.

An unexpected invitation changed everything.

They were offered the chance to cut out the middleman

and sell directly to the public.

We were invited to attend the very first Islington farmers' market,

that was in June 1999, and they've gone on fairly well since then,

and that's nearly 20 years.

Farmers' markets are essential.

I think it has been the making of us as a business.

We would not still be here if we weren't doing farmers' markets.

If we'd stayed with commercial things that Nigel's father was doing,

then we'd have gone under years ago.

That's the truth.

The farmers' market might have become their lifeline,

but feeding it demands a constant, unforgiving workload.

We've worked very long hours for quite a long number of years.

A weekend off is not really an option from February to Christmas.

Growing delicate vegetables is a combination of skill and luck.

Whatever the crop needs,

you have to complete the work at the right time,

otherwise you mess up and you lose your crop,

which has wasted all the time you've put into it.

When you grow 50 different crops,

the biggest challenge is to schedule when to plant and when to harvest.

A puzzle worthy of a mathematician.

Most of it is in Nigel's head and...

-Or diary.

-Or diary, and most of it, he does most of the hard work.

Thankfully, their son Jamie is on hand and happy to help out.

Right, Jamie, I have got a little job for you here.

You can put this tray of lettuce in.

-One per cell.

-Yeah.

There's always jobs I can't get done and Rosie can't get done,

so he's making himself useful and learning some stuff in the process.

I love seeing Nigel and Jamie work together.

They are both easy going, they're both hard-working.

They're really amazing and they work well together,

despite the age gap.

You'd think they wouldn't have anything in common

but they have so much in common.

One thing is for sure, it's a labour of love.

Yeah, it's all been driven by my mania.

Well, that's one word for it, your madness, your love of the place.

There are three in the relationship, there is,

there's him, me and the land.

The glasshouse.

The glasshouses!

60 miles away in the heart of London lives 32-year-old Curtis Thompson.

As one of the growing number of urban farmers,

Curtis leases small plots of land all over the city to house his bees,

over 30 million of them.

So, I'm lighting this smoker.

This helps me control the bees,

keeps the bees a bit more calm and docile.

Over seven years,

he's built up a business that now turns over an average five tonnes of honey a year.

This apiary site that we're at now has a special significance for me,

because this is where it all started.

Hmm, the girls are working hard.

My uncle, he's a master beekeeper.

He came over from Jamaica when I was just a boy,

and he really introduced me to the world of bees.

This is where we used to come down on a Sunday morning,

spend some time with my uncle, spend some time with the bees.

You know, it's got a really sort of sentimental value,

this apiary site.

Curtis's uncle had a very natural approach to beekeeping.

Never seen bees or been exposed to bees before,

he hadn't given me any protective clothing,

he doesn't wear any protective gear,

so naturally he wanted his nephew not to wear any protective gear.

I put my hand into the hive, my heart was beating out of my chest.

I'll never forget feeling the heat,

the amount of warmth that a beehive generates.

And from that day, I was hooked.

Curtis found his calling

but it would be a decade before he returned to it.

When I was 15, I was very good with numbers.

I went and done an economics degree and went into investment banking

in Canary Wharf. But it was a very cold industry,

it wasn't what I thought it was going to be.

Unhappy in his job,

Curtis plucked up the courage to change direction

and returned to his beloved bees.

Is that for me?

Oh, thank you, son.

-Croissant!

-No, you have that, baby.

When he told us that he wanted to be a beekeeper,

he was working at a leading bank in Canary Wharf at the time,

so we thought, "OK, yeah..."

They couldn't fathom why I would leave a stable career.

I had to just keep following my vision,

because I knew what I was trying to create and what it would become.

It was a gamble that paid off.

I originally bought three beehives from my uncle.

I'm proud to say that we now operate over 250 hives across London and Essex.

The company's going from strength to strength.

Next year, we should be operating and running 400 to 500 hives.

Despite his entrepreneurial success, and a staff of 30,

he still looks after his bees the way his uncle taught him.

Not wearing any protective gear when you're bee farming,

it helps you have more of a connection with the bees,

it helps you be at one with the bees in their environment,

because you're sort of taking away the barrier between you and the bees.

It also gives you a pretty good adrenaline rush, to be honest,

because you never know if you're going to get stung,

where you're going to get stung.

I think for me, the worst place I got stung was in my armpit once

and I think I never want that to happen again.

It was very, very sore, I can tell you.

His traditional methods may have given him the edge.

Curtis is now the largest raw honey producer in London.

It's good to see him doing something that he's passionate about.

I remember when he used to be in the shed in the garden for hours,

for hours making frames and picking up those boxes.

It was so heavy, it was hard work, really.

He really, really worked hard, yes, seven days a week he was working,

so yes. He's done well.

60 miles north in Cambridgeshire,

Nigel's getting ready for tomorrow's farmers' market.

OK, that'll probably do for that punnet.

The pressure is on because it's autumn,

the season where crops produce their biggest yield.

You can guarantee there's two days of picking at this time of year.

But a big range of veg will keep the income flowing.

I don't think we can squeeze any more out of the place, to be honest.

-No.

-Every inch is planted with something.

In here, we have a late crop of tomatoes.

Beans. Also my parsley bed.

Early courgettes, there's onions, salad leaves, rocket, pak choi.

And here are the chillies.

Now, family tradition, the kids have all been nicknamed bucketeers.

Mum and me were picking and they were hauling it out into the baskets.

And it still works quite effectively.

At the London markets,

they're very broad-minded in their tastes

and they welcome a new product or a different colour in the product.

Right, here we go.

Here's a nice plant full of purple peppers.

I've been growing purple peppers for quite a few years

and people still come to the stall and say,

"Oh, I've never seen a purple pepper before."

A very artistic salad out of these, if you are so inclined.

You don't like hot stuff at all, do you?

No, I can't stand spicy food.

He doesn't even like his cup of tea hot.

The art of growing is knowing the right time to pick

and this is where Nigel's real skill lies.

In the industry generally,

a tomato is picked at a quite under-ripe stage.

In fact, if it blushes, it's off the plant and into the packaging system,

mainly because it has to last for a while.

That would be the colour it was picked.

A lot of bigger people,

the tomatoes would be graded on a computer line

where they actually sense the colour of the fruit.

But that's high-tech. We tend to be low-tech.

Hand-picking rather than using a computer to select

also produces another challenge.

Ah, there we go. First spider web.

Spiders, they really love us,

because we put up all these ready-made anchors for their webs,

so it's not for the faint hearted.

Arachnophobes beware.

Look, there's one of our friendly spiders there.

We regard them as beneficial, because those webs will catch flies

and aphids and all sorts of things we don't want around.

They are good guys.

With the spiders on guard,

Nigel can keep his crops chemical-free,

something that gives them extra value at the London farmers' market.

There we go.

Chuck chuck chuck chuck chuck!

There is one thing on the farm that Nigel doesn't have a say on,

Rosie's brood of chickens.

Come on, Willow, you'll never get a look in otherwise.

We have always had chickens.

That's my finger!

Rosie adopts ex-battery hens to give them an easier life.

Stop fighting, you two.

Chuck chuck chuck chuck!

Come on, girls. It's a good way of doing something good.

Come on, you four.

And being totally selfish at the same time.

They just don't want to go to bed, do you?

Come on. There you go.

I think the world of them.

They all have personalities.

They're amazing, aren't you?

Yes, you are. Come on.

Out in the vegetable patches, picking for tomorrow is done,

leaving just enough time for a few hours of planting before sunset.

Sowing, planting, picking, it's all hand done.

OK.

And when it comes to weeding, nothing beats this man-made contraption.

It's called a single wheel push hoe.

You set your row width according to the blade and there you go.

It's a very efficient way of cutting off weeds.

Because it's old, doesn't mean it doesn't work any more.

I'm sure customers would be tickled, I think,

to see that things are still done in old-fashioned ways.

Sticking to tradition may be the secret of Nigel's success.

I feel that in some respect,

I've become a personal provider to people.

Some people say, we won't actually buy this particular product

until yours appear because we love them so much

and nothing else tastes as good.

The flavours in my products, I don't know how I do it,

-I have no secret.

-Seasonality?

Probably because I let them ripen well on the plant.

Unfortunately for Nigel's customers, his market days ahead are numbered.

It's fairly obvious that when I get too old to do it,

it will have to cease, because none of the family want to take it on.

It's just too much.

We still enjoy ourselves far too much, don't we?

But I can still do the work, so I shall still do the work.

All right, shall we go and see some bees, yeah?

Yeah?

Back in London,

Curtis also believes farming relies on the next generation.

What does the bees make?

-Honey!

-Yeah, do you like honey?

-Yeah.

His children, Nazarly and Zianna,

come here regularly to get a taste of the beekeeper's life.

Look, can you see all the bees?

They are flying.

Yeah, there's quite a lot of them flying, isn't it?

-Yeah, I want to go and see them.

-All right, wait, Son.

Do you want to come with me? You want to go by yourself?

-It's up to you.

-I don't mind.

-You don't mind?

-But he has...

He's going to get stinging with his arm.

Don't go too close, Zarly, yeah?

It tickles when it crawls, doesn't it?

Do you want to hold it, Zizi?

Where don't you touch the bee?

On the bum.

Yeah. Why don't you touch it on its bum?

-Because it will sting you.

-Yeah.

They are very interested in bees.

My kids have actually seen the queen hatching out and starting life

as a queen bee.

Look, see where the bees are coming and going from here.

So you don't want to stand in front of it, because, look,

that's where they have to come and go.

So you always stand to the side, so they can go in and out

of their home without bumping into you.

The kids are being very brave.

They're being very brave, aren't you?

Once upon a time, in order to collect honey,

you had to destroy the whole colony.

Luckily, by the 19th century,

innovations in beekeeping meant the hives

were preserved for another season.

Today, there are approximately 250 different species of bees in the UK,

but they are under threat.

A drastic drop in numbers has been blamed on pesticides

and diminishing wild areas.

This decline in bees is potentially catastrophic,

as they pollinate our food sources.

Everything that we're doing in terms of keeping bees in the city,

teaching people beekeeping, selling bees,

all of that is helping to actually reverse the decline of the honey bee.

Curtis is not the only urban beekeeper helping to conserve the species.

The rise in farmers' markets is a welcome outlet

for a whole generation of honey makers.

Hello, girls!

A lot of people have never had real honey.

I think a lot of the time,

people that grow up in London don't realise the connection

between where the food is actually produced

and how it actually becomes ready to eat on their table.

Farmers' markets play a vital role in bridging that connection.

All right, girls, all right, all right.

Time to find where that honey is hiding.

This frame feels quite heavy.

I can feel that there's a lot of honey on it.

So we'll shake the bees off of this one.

Shake it, shake it, baby, shake it.

Yeah, it's important not to squash any bees,

even though there's millions of them.

They're all living. They're all serving a good purpose.

I'll take off a few more

and we'll take this back to the HQ and we'll do some extracting.

Three miles away, which in London means an hour in the car,

is where Curtis and his team bring it all together.

I like to always get my hands dirty,

so I am processing some honey today

so that we have fresh honey at the markets tomorrow.

Everything's done by hand.

It's really an artisan process, how we produce honey here.

There's a lot of machines that can do this for you,

but I'd rather create employment for people so that we are able

to provide jobs for our local community.

There is one machine.

This spinning extractor will force the honey out of the combs.

There's a good smell, there's a good aroma coming from this.

It's 100% raw, untouched, unprocessed honey.

This process hasn't changed in the seven years since Curtis started.

When we had our first stall and it sold out within two to three hours,

we thought, OK, we are onto something here.

When people taste it,

there's no word to describe the look on their face.

You can see the reaction.

We have a lot of customers that come and see us and they say,

"Oh, I didn't realise this is what real honey actually tastes like."

We've actually converted them to becoming a honey fan.

Both Nigel and Curtis have worked hard to carve out thriving businesses

despite not having acres of land at their disposal.

Righto, Jamie, add the sweetcorn to that one.

The harvest is done, but now comes the bigger challenge,

selling their stock and building up those essential customers.

So hopefully for the market,

we will have a good turnout of people trying honey for the first time.

I'll put a few chillies onto the basket.

The most rewarding thing for me is going to market with a van full

and coming back with an empty van.

You know, I feel I've done something worthwhile

if people have bought and liked what I have grown...

No, Jamie, start on these, actually,

because they're the ones that actually have to go in the van.

Right, pick up the handles.

Oh, well, this is the last of it.

Yeah, hopefully we have a good market.

OK.

Hopefully the weather's nice to us and the sun comes out,

blesses us with its rays.

Chapel Market in North London

is home to the Islington Farmers' Market.

From the late 1800s,

vendors started coming to sell their fruit and vegetables here,

loudly calling out to customers,

much to the annoyance of the local residents.

It's also home to one of the country's oldest pie and mash shops.

Manze's has been here for over 100 years.

Its food credentials are topped by number 48,

where a Mr John Sainsbury took over a cheesemonger's

and opened his first greengrocers.

The farmers' market continues its food legacy.

It's 8.15, and after a two-hour drive,

Nigel and Jamie are here and ready to go.

The journey was easy.

The roads were empty, it was a beautiful sunrise.

You know, I always know if it's on the left-hand side,

I'm going the right way.

A successful market day is crucial for Nigel's business.

That's why after 20 years of experience,

he doesn't like to leave anything to the last minute.

Set up in a nice relaxed way, you end up, you know,

you're better for the customers.

I have to say, we have kind of our own set jobs.

We're kind of used to our routine now.

I enjoy market day mainly because I get to come out

and I get to socialise with people.

Four hands instead of two,

it makes all the setting up a great deal easier.

Well, it's just good to have some help and some company.

We just do what needs doing and if I see him standing still too long,

I just give him another task.

There is one thing that is absolutely essential

if you want to trade on market day.

What have you lost?

-Scales.

-Well, did you take them out the van?

I think I forgot them.

Right, I'll go round and walk.

You go round and collect them.

I knew I forgot something. There was something in the back of my mind,

I'd forgotten to pick something up.

Autopilot fail.

A few stalls away, where the honey stand will go,

there is no sign of Curtis yet.

He sells honey across several markets, but for Nigel,

this is one of only two markets that he sells at.

Farmers' markets generally have provided a lifeline to small producers like myself.

We are not big enough to compete in the commercial sense,

because of the scale of operation you need,

and it's good from a personal point of view because the feedback

from customers gives you the incentive to keep going.

Today is particularly important

because Nigel needs the takings to be high.

In September, it's the part of the year

that makes your money to go through the winter.

You are paying your way through the rest of the year

and September's the boom time.

So he's hoping to attract more new customers.

We don't do shouting out.

I think just putting a good range of colour and variety on the stall

so that it catches their eye.

It's a case of make a good display, basically,

and that should do the job.

-There we go.

-Is there anything else you need to get out now?

Ready to do, ready to go.

Finally, Curtis arrives.

I am the last person to arrive today, unfortunately.

His sales assistant Emma quickly sets up the stall.

We start at ten,

so we've still got five minutes to go!

Even before she is ready, there's a customer.

Yeah, of course. What sort would you like?

Um, the more liquidy one.

So not solid.

I'm a big honey fan.

I buy most of my groceries here at the farmers' market,

because it's the healthy option.

OK, so that's £7.50, please.

I suppose it's because it's organic

and you're supporting farmers as well.

By giving your money over to them, it helps them to keep going.

Thank you, cheers.

It's officially opening time and the crowds are building.

I've been running farmers' markets since 2000.

Islington was the very first market, set up in 1999.

The biggest highlight of farmers' markets is seeing communities

come together to meet their friends, their neighbours, their family,

to swap recipes and just enjoy shopping.

We love giving customers the opportunity to buy direct

from farmers and have that personal relationship.

This market is really eclectic.

For that reason, you have to sort of suit all budgets and tastes, really,

here. Old ladies who can only afford to spend a few pounds up to people

who are happy to spend 80 quid, 90 quid on a couple of fish.

For somebody like me who prefers not to go to the supermarket,

it's a lifeline.

So if you're running low,

then you wait until Sunday for the market to come round.

Would you like to try some raw honey?

Despite his late arrival, Curtis has thrown himself into selling mode.

Would you like to try our ginger infused?

How is that?

Yeah, it's actually pretty good.

Feel free to have a taste.

Yeah, that's really nice. That's beautiful.

-Beautiful.

-Beautiful, yes, I like that word.

It's a good word to describe it.

And no question will deter him.

Do you ever feel like you're stealing from the bees?

The bees produce so much honey,

they produce more than they could ever use.

-Oh, so what's this?

-This is the borage honey,

so the bees fed predominantly on the borage flower.

That's really good.

And because it's that raw honey,

you can actually taste what the bees have fed on.

Would you like to try ginger?

While Curtis keeps going, just a few yards away,

Nigel is quietly serving his steady flow of regulars.

You might even call them fans.

I go especially for Nigel's stall.

I go every single weekend.

I come here before ten

to be the first one to get the best of his produce.

I mean, if I have a secret, it's so secret I don't know what it is.

Perhaps it's his continuous attention to detail.

I am just going over the cherry trays to pick out,

because they're all fairly ripe and they love to split.

The market is now in full swing

and the pub that's stood here for over 200 years is open for business.

Being on Chapel Market, there's no way that you can't be

part of the market. It's the lifeblood of the street, really.

Even in our sort of weekly menu,

we try and use as much Chapel Market as we can.

We use the local butchers,

we use all the local veg shops, greengrocers, market stalls.

It's important that we have that local aspect to it.

What better drink to start the day

than a local version of a Bloody Mary?

I like mine quite spicy.

A good pinch of celery salt.

Also, Worcester sauce.

Um, we also are using ancho chilli flakes,

just to give it a nice little kick.

So I have celery bitters to go with my celery salt.

One half of a lemon squeezed in there.

We also have tomato juice from the tomato man in the farmers' market.

Apply liberally.

I think it's very important to use good quality ingredients,

especially from places like farmers' markets.

And when you use second-rate ingredients,

it really does show through your end products,

whether that be food or cocktails.

Final flourish, just add a little black pepper,

a touch of celery salt,

and then,

boom, Bloody Mary.

Back at the honey stall...

I'll have a jar of that, please.

..the farmers' market gives Curtis the chance to talk

to his customers face-to-face.

Lime honey - that's lime tree, not the citrus tree.

There's a lot of customers interacting with us,

a lot of customers are trying honey.

-Do you mind if I try this as well?

-Yep, try that as well.

Turn it to the other side, please. No double dipping.

Worst case scenario for me is not necessarily about

if anybody comes to buy or not,

worst case is if we don't talk to anyone,

if we don't connect with any new customers.

Wow, that's really good as well.

But connecting isn't always easy.

Would you like to try some honey, sir?

What sort have you got?

We've got our golden honey here.

Sounds like hype to me, man.

What's the next one?

OK, this is our ginger infused honey.

You put ginger in it? I like plain stuff.

-What's the next one?

-OK, this is turmeric infused.

This is black seed infused.

I just want plain and simple things.

OK, the plain one would be the golden honey and the borage honey.

OK, let's try the borage, please.

OK.

It tastes like honey. They're made with love.

Do the bees love you or do you love the bees?

We love the bees.

Yeah, do they bite you?

-Very rarely.

-It's not unconditional love.

Yeah, yeah, very true, sir.

-I'm not going to buy it anyway, so...

-OK.

Anyway, it's been very nice talking to you.

You're well-informed.

OK, cheers, thank you.

A job well done.

I like customers that are prepared to give you a bit of banter

and are prepared to engage with you about the different types of honeys.

While both men keep selling,

the market is filling with the delicious smell of food,

especially the fish baps.

The mackerel we're going to cook on the grill, so it goes nice and crispy,

and we're going to serve it in some rolls that we'll get

from one of the bakers, with some baby spinach that I'll get

from one of the other farmers, and a home-made tartare sauce.

I like the fact that what I'm doing is providing people

with a sort of pleasure, really.

Do you want everything in it, spinach, tartare sauce?

I've never had raw spinach, but...

-It's very nice.

-OK, I'll try.

When people come back and say to you, "Oh, my God,

"that fish was amazing, I really enjoyed it," that's a real buzz.

-OK. That's yours.

-Thank you very much.

This is the first time we're trying it, so, yeah.

Local mackerel with some home-made tartare sauce and some spinach and maybe some lemon mixed in.

So we're trying to support local vendors

and enjoy some good seafood at the same time.

Thank you very much. Have a good day.

The morning is passing quickly

and Nigel's steady stream of customers keep coming

for their weekly supply from Cambridgeshire.

We do come to this stall every week.

We tend to come here to buy tomatoes, paprika and salad.

We literally take three steps out of our door and we're on the market,

so it's brilliant for us. We really love it.

Are they like shallots?

They are, yes.

But today needs to provide him with enough to get through the winter,

so he is relying on those new customers.

This is actually our first time at the farmers' market.

It's amazing, I love it.

I was walking and I saw the tomatoes and they look beautiful.

There is all sorts of colours and things,

so Mary makes amazing watercolour paintings,

so she kind of picks by colour.

She goes like, "Oh, that one would look amazing on the painting."

Yeah, these are beautiful!

Who knew... I've never seen a pepper in this colour before.

The food grown with so much love and care is slowly disappearing.

Today is going quite well, I think.

We've sold out of the yellow and the purple French beans.

The borlotto are nearly down to their last few.

Everything else is going down nicely.

You can see one or two empty trays here.

Curtis is also selling well and his stamina is impressive.

Three hours in, and still talking.

When you say local, where exactly is it coming from?

So, we are London's biggest bee farmers.

We've got hives across London and across Essex.

Would you like to try some? If you take one of these.

Dip, swirl, let your taste buds do the rest.

That is nice, actually.

I had no idea they had honey that was made in London.

That's £9.80, please, sir.

There you go.

I decided to have a taste

and we bought the most expensive jar of honey ever.

And she's into her super foods.

Oh, yeah.

But not everyone is new to honey.

The Romans knew a lot about medicine

and they were keen on honey.

Can I have one of the turmeric, please?

We are all sold out of the turmeric.

We've only got the golden and the black seed left.

Well, I'll take the golden, then.

What's good enough for the Romans is good enough for me.

-Thanks very much.

-Cheers, thank you.

Curtis and Emma are on the way to shifting all that honey.

We've sold out of three types.

We've just got the black seed and the golden honey left.

Can I interest you in a jar?

To actually have kind of the founder here is obviously really good.

He's pretty good at sales, as well.

Aw, thank you, Emma! Thank you.

For Nigel, a short lull in the flow of shoppers

is a good chance to take stock.

We've sold out of virtually all the beans.

The bunched chard has all gone.

Most of the tomatoes have gone.

-The peppers are going down.

-The peppers are much reduced.

If you remember the heap at the beginning.

It's just been so busy today that stuff has gone a lot faster

than it normally does.

I wish I had more stuff.

-All right, we're down to our last two jars.

-Two left.

Over at the honey stall, there are only two jars left

and Emma is getting close to celebrating a personal milestone.

I haven't sold out before, so this might be the first time,

which would be very good.

Would you like to try some raw local honey, sir?

-OK, no problem.

-Thank you.

It's completely raw, unpasteurised local honey.

Can I interest you in a jar today?

I'll come back.

No problem, thank you.

It's not long before the market shuts.

What do you think?

Time for a new sales strategy.

It is normally two for 15.

It's normally two for 15,

but if you'd like to take our last two today,

we could do two for 14.

-OK, all right.

-Yes? Great stuff.

And they've done it. Sold out.

So, congratulations.

You've had the last two jars.

-Cheers.

-Bye.

Thank you.

High five.

Yes!

-You've done well today.

-All right then.

So, we may as well pack up.

Cool.

Things have slowed down a lot now.

It's coming to the end of the market.

So, actually after the rush of the morning,

it's nice to just lean on the table for a little while.

He does a lot more work on that place than I do.

Without him, it wouldn't be running.

No.

You know every bit of that place.

I do, yeah.

The market is coming to an end for another week.

Time for our farmers to stand back and take stock.

Every now and again, I have to pinch myself,

just to really appreciate what I've been able to achieve thus far,

where the company has gone.

Sometimes it can become quite surreal,

every day, and you're in it.

Sometimes you have to take a step back and just take note

of what you've achieved and where you are at, where you are today.

Do you want to hold it, Zizi?

Where don't you touch the bee?

-On the bum.

-Because it stings you.

It's been a day of challenges

and rewards.

I'm pleased with the way the day's gone.

We've sold virtually all the stock.

There we go.

To do this job, if you're not careful,

you end up with no social life at all.

It's a good idea if you love what you're doing,

because it makes it bearable.

Nigel works too hard, I think.

But I understand why he does it.

Ah, now that looks nice.

I hope it's more than nice.

Even though we spend virtually every single day together,

I actually miss him when he goes to the markets on the weekend.

Cake always makes it better.

Especially chocolate cake.

True, true.

After 40 years, I couldn't think of another human being

I'd want to spend the rest of my life with.