July 31, 2008

Scrumptious berries win award!

We always knew that Berry Scrumptious grow and create the most divine of fresh chocolate covered strawberries, now the Great Taste Awards has given them a prestigious Gold Award to prove it!

Claire Rennie, founder and director of Berry Scrumptious told us: “We are delighted with this award. Winning a Great Taste Award recognizes the craft and dedication that goes into making superb food and drink. All our products are hand made and take a great deal of time and skill to prepare but the resulting taste and WOW factor our berries create makes that all worthwhile.”

Berry Scrumptious is a small, innovative company based on husband Ross’s family farm in Aberdeenshire. As well as running the soft fruit enterprise on the farm, Ross grows premium quality strawberries especially for Berry Scrumptious. Claire is the creative side of the partnership and together they provide the highest quality of product and service possible.

They say they are very lucky to live and work in a beautiful part of the British Isles. Their commute to work is all of two minutes and the view from the farm office window is of trees and fields – quite different from their earlier careers where Claire worked in marketing and Ross was a Chartered Accountant!

They're both passionate about growing fresh, natural produce and taking that from field to fork in as few steps as possible. That’s why they always prefer to use their own strawberries, where they can. As all their berries are picked and dipped to order, you can be sure they're freshest chocolate dipped strawberries, prepared especially for you.

Go on be a devil - try some!!

Posted in Green Wedding Gifts & Favours , News

July 30, 2008

From little acorns...

The debate continues. How beneficial is carbon offsetting? We're still a teeny bit cynical about the process and are always looking for alternative ways to personalise the activity of carbon offsetting, especially when there's a green wedding involved.

We definitely believe that planting trees is a truly legitimate way of putting something back into our environment since there are more benefits in the life of a tree than just capturing carbon. During its long life a tree will nurture hundreds of living creatures within its own micro habitat. An Oak, for instance, will support the insect life that feeds on its leaves. Butterfly and moth caterpillars, beetles, bugs and green fly and they, in turn, provide food for predatory beasts including birds like chifchafs, long tailed tits and tree creepers and these little birds (sadly) will be food for predatory birds like sparrowhawks. Apart from the obvious, there are numerous gall that grow on the leaves and in the acorns, which are caused by different types of wasps laying their eggs there. There's also fungi that grows on the tree or amongst its roots and the bark hosts numerous epiphytes (plants that live on the outside of another plant like lichens and mosses, liverworts and algae).

tree2mydoor.com, an award winning sustainable gift company offers UK grown tree and wild flower gifts, all beautifully packaged in hessian bags and recycled boxes make perfect eco friendly wedding gifts and favours. The range of trees include rowan, hazel, hawthorn, holly and crab apple - they even offer a whole grove of oak trees with truffles included. Give your guests each a Love in a Bag and sow the seeds of love with red Field Poppies and Corn Cockle.

tree2mydoor.com also offers a unique gift service, Dedicate a Tree, that has been set up to directly support conservation projects in the UK and around the world with 10% of profits going directly towards chosen projects. So you can also choose to support conservation with your purchase as well and reduce your carbon footprint.

Posted in Green Wedding Gifts & Favours , Wedding Lists

Are you planning an unusual green wedding?

Are you planning an unusual green or eco friendly wedding?

The BBC It's Not Easy Being Green are looking for a couple who would like to tell them all about their ethical wedding plans and feature in their new series to be aired early next year. We will be working with them so you will also benefit from all of GreenUnion's expertise and knowhow too.

If you are interested please get in touch with Rosie@GreenUnion.co.uk for more details.

Posted in Green Wedding Natural Nuptials , News , Press