A few months ago on a Thursday in early June, after a brief thunderstorm in the morning which thankfully cleared up as we approached our destination, we parked up at the end of a track that led to a cluster of sheds, polytunnels and compost boxes. The hub of Cinderwood Market Garden. The downpour had lifted the petrichor of earth and hedgerow into the air and as we walked along the track we noticed it had raised the worms in the field to our right, which the blackbirds and robins were delighted with, going by the excited calls and frantic flights to and from their nests amongst the hawthorn.

Our aim for the day was to investigate potential ingredients that we could incorporate into a beer for Higher Ground, Flawd and Bar Shrimp. One that could be enjoyed on it's own and complement a range of dishes. We were thinking particularly of utilising waste or end of season produce that otherwise would be composted to feed next years crops.

We were greeted at the entrance to one of the polytunnels by growers Oliver and Mike as well as chef Chris, who were in the middle of a vast number of seed trays that were to be transplanted that day. The vibrant foliage of young beetroot, chives, basil, squash and many more were vying for attention and we were keen to get stuck in and help with some planting.                                                                                Before the planting we had a tour around the gardens and an introduction to the focus, crops, processes and future of the market garden as well as a few choice samples freshly cut or picked. The celtuce bed was a particularly fascinating stop on the tour. A leafy green that we haven't come across before, it's usually used in eastern cooking and can be referred to as stem lettuce or Chinese lettuce. It has a crunchy stem which tasted nutty and savoury with a wonderful subtle smokiness that really enhanced the umami of this unassuming chunky lettuce.

As we were walking through the tomato polytunnel we were hit with a wave of intense, beautiful aroma. It came from the apple marigold planted under the tomatoes, used to deter unwanted pests. At the time we were discussing the possibility of using end of season tomatoes to create a beer to celebrate the end of the growing season and to utilise an otherwise composted product. Little did we know that the companion plant to the tomatoes, the unassuming marigold would become the star of the show...We spent the rest of the afternoon getting to grips with the best way to use the hori-horis, a multi-purpose Japanese gardening knife, we'd been given. As Oliver set to pulling back earth, popping in squash plugs and deftly repacking the soil around the young plants, we were still getting to grips with our tools and fell quickly behind. Next we moved onto French beans, planting off-set double rows along a 15m drill before moving onto beetroot and finally some rainbow chard that we squeezed into a spare row end that had just been cleared of another crop. We left feeling fulfilled, full of ideas and with a few plants as a gift for our allotment. A day well spent.Fast forward to July and a phone call from Richard and Joe at Higher Ground. The apple marigold planted under the tomatoes was getting a bit unruly and the plan was to cut it back that day. As the first plants were being cut back, the aroma was overwhelming and Joe had a bit of a light bulb moment - the apple aarigold had to be used in a beer! At the brewery we scurried to clear a blending tank and find a suitable blend of barrel beers to compliment and marry with the marigold and by the end of the day the beer was steeping on the cuttings that had been cleared that very morning!

We let the beer sit on the whole plants for five days until we felt the character of both the beer and marigold were cohesive and integrated. We packaged the beer with British beet sugar and champagne yeast before laying it down for a two month bottle re-fermentation, bringing spritzy effervescence and lifting the intense aromas of the beer within.                                                                                                                           What we've attempted is to capture that unique aroma of the Cinderwood polytunnel in our collaboration beer to keep a little bit of summer bottled just for you. Upfront there's intense floral apple on the nose, with rose and pink grapefruit. Lively acidity melds with pineapple on the palate before woody tannins round the beer out and lead into crisp, zingy white wine notes. The finish is floral, pithy orange with the lingering aroma of apple marigold. Close your eyes and you'd be convinced you'd just walked into the tomato polytunnel at the market garden.