Claire Mortimer is one of the original founders of Fabulous Farm Shops, a comprehensive online directory of farm shops across England. The directory aims to list every farm shop throughout England and has now begun contacting the farm shops across Scotland, Wales and Ireland in the hopes of having those listed soon too, especially as they have a QR code that you can download to your phone and find your nearest farm shop from anywhere in the the UK.
I recently had a chance to catch up with Claire for a little deep delve into what makes her tick and for a little information that people might not know about her!
What does your Monday morning routine look like?
Well, that’s difficult as we don’t really have a Monday morning routine. It’s 7 days a week really but I suppose, if anything, Monday mornings are about the phones. On Mondays everyone wants to get a hold of us, and we don’t get an awful lot else done! Every day is different as we don’t have a set routine and it can be varied. It does involve several cups of coffee and generally an iced bun!
If you could time travel and have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?
The Queen probably. I admire her. Her whole persona, everything about her – she was just such a real person. She had her own life and her own values, but she stood for everything good and respect and loyalty and everything the British should stand for really. And she reminds me of my mum – or my mum reminds me of her! She had similar values – Good old British Values.
If you could visit any place in the world right now, where would you go?
Australia – because it’s warmer there!! Actually, anywhere that is warm. I suppose one of the places I’ve always loved and wanted to visit but haven’t, as I don’t travel that often, is Venice.
Name one thing on your bucket list that you still need to do.
Learn to play the piano. It’s always been on my to-do list. For years and years and years. I did learn a little when I was ten or twelve, but I didn’t get much further than scales and I can play what most people can – chopsticks and things like that. I love the piano. I love to listen to it, and I’d love to be able to play; just sort of take myself off from the everyday work.
Share a quote or motto that inspires you or by which you live your life.
Do what you love. That’s probably my biggest. Do what you love and don’t do the things you don’t love. I think you succeed when you do the things you enjoy. Every sort of business I’ve been in or run, I’ve put my all in and enjoyed, because I think you get more out of it.
What job is the favourite you’ve ever had and what made it so special?
I really love what I currently do but it does come with its challenges and stresses. Other than that, I used to have a bead shop years ago. It was called Doodle Bug and I loved that. There wasn’t a second in the day or in the morning when I got up that I didn’t want to go to work. There were no stresses or anything. It was just such a fun job. It was full of beads, and we made all the jewellery and I suppose the best part of that was that we did children’s bead parties. We’d give them half a dozen tray of beads and they’d choose all their beads, pop it in a pot and then they’d be silent for an hour!
What is your favourite cuisine OR is there a cuisine you’ve never tried but would like to?
I love food but I haven’t got a particular favourite cuisine, I think. I’m happy to try anything if somebody puts it in front of me! Bizarrely, I’m very much into green soups at the moment. I make my own stocks and then I turn that into spinach, rocket and watercress soup and it’s delicious! People might be put off by the green colour, but the flavour is immense!
If you were to write a book, what genre would it be?
Well, I’ve always wanted to write a book and I’ve got several titles in my head of various things. It would probably be a sort of chick flick type of thing because it takes me so far away from all the day-to-day. Life can be so depressing at the moment – from the struggles that farmers are going through all the way through to retailers trying to make it in this economy – so if I wrote a book, it would be so far from the truth! A bit of fantasy, a bit of romantic comedy…
What’s your favourite season and what do you love about it?
Spring. It’s not very spring-like out there at the moment, but a proper spring because you start seeing all the new growth. My father used to grow everything. And when I say everything, I was spoiled as a child with fresh fruit and vegetables – my mom never bought anything other than the meat! I’m just trying to start to grow things myself, but I’m a complete beginner so it’s a real learning curve.. That’s why I like spring; there’s just so many new flowers and vegetables and everything coming up and… sweet peas…!
What are you currently listening to?
I go to sleep listening to a podcast every night. It’s weird actually as it’s one of those podcasts I started in lockdown, and I’ve just got into it – I don’t know why. It’s a political podcast called ‘For the Many’ but they don’t talk too much about politics! It’s more humour and to be honest with you, quite blue in places because they’ll go off on a tangent. They have a special connection and you can’t help but laugh with them. I love to fall asleep to it and then the next night I’ll go back to about 15 minutes of where it stopped, so I don’t miss any of it.
What is your favourite food/drink product on the market right now and why?
I’m loving Sunbird Kitchens. She’s a Bristol producer who makes granolas, overnight oats and things like that. She does one granola which I’m a bit addicted to. Almond and cashew nuts and the amount of nuts is phenomenal! I usually have that with some blueberries from the freezer that I heat up slightly or with strawberries and freshly grated ginger – that’s my favourite breakfast at the moment.
What is your go-to pleasure snack or comfort food?
Mmm. For comfort food I’d have to go for something like a good old fashioned English sausage and mash with a good gravy. And it must be a good old proper sausage as well! It reminds me of my childhood.
What would you do if you weren’t in the food, drink & hospitality industry
One of the things I would love to do is to go into schools and read to children. I love reading story books to children and animating and putting the voices to the characters. I love that sort of thing. Also, if I was a millionaire and I didn’t need to work I would love to go and talk to lonely elderly people. I find them so interesting. They have so many stories to tell – I suppose, like the Queen, it’s going back to that history and respect and how people were brought up then. Loneliness is such a horrible thing and if I had the spare money I would try to combat loneliness, I think.
What is your favourite holiday destination?
What’s a holiday? I haven’t been on one in so long I don’t think I’ve got a favourite destination! I would love to go somewhere warm, but I also have a very good friend and we’ve been saying that we want to travel around Britain and visit all the British Isles. I’d also quite like to be a tourist in London. I grew up in London but moved away when I was 22 and I don’t know anything about it and I’d love to go back and explore, with a camera, and take lots of pictures!
What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten.
I can’t think of anything!! My sister grows and catches everything, and I remember when I was very young I went to her house and had a meal that was really lovely, but then I found out it was rabbit. Really delicious until I knew what it was, and I haven’t had rabbit since because of that!
Contact Claire at theteam@fabulousfarmshops.co.uk or call on 01258 920755.
