For several months the excitement mounted as the structure of Foxbury Farm’s new farmshop began to take shape.

I remember the enthusiasm with which farmers Di and Colin Dawes first showed me the large muddy space that had been dug out in their farmyard in preparation for the foundations. All I could see was mud. What they saw, however, was a dream coming true.

Then came the steel supports and the roof – and their excitement blossomed into sheer joy. They were particularly enthusiastic about the way they would heat the shop using a Farm 2000 boiler, which produces low-cost heat from wood chips, large straw bales and some untreated waste.

Di explained that by using waste products as energy, they were reducing landfill substantially. The lighting they are using is low-energy, too, and rainwater will be collected from the gutters in 400-gallon recycled orange juice containers and used to water their flowers and plants.

Asked why they needed a new shop, given the success they have had with their old one, their answer was simple – they ran out of space. Di said: “After eight years and an ever-growing customer base it was only natural that we would at some stage outgrow the original farm shop. Quite a few customers were asking for food products that we did not sell because of restricted space.”

This does not mean that they will simply stuff the shop with food you will find in the supermarkets. Right from the start, when Di and Colin arrived at the farm in Brize Norton in 1992 with two young children who were not yet old enough to go to school, their aim has been to sell produce from the farm or food produced locally. Since opening their first shop, the couple have spent hours travelling the county checking out food producers, as they are not just looking for local products, but quality local products. Nothing they have not tasted and enjoyed themselves is given shelf space.

That said, when setting up the new shop, they have finally conceded that as Oxfordshire is about as far away from the sea as you can get, they either stick to just selling locally-caught trout, or compromise and buy fresh fish and shellfish from New Wave Seafoods, in Cirencester. As New Wave buys the pick of the catch from the top fishing ports on British coasts, such as Newlyn, Looe, Brixham, Plymouth and Milford Haven, which is delivered to the Cotswolds overnight, their products really are about as fresh as they can be. Colin and Di have decided to give fresh fish a try.

One of Di’s ambitions, once things settle down, is to create their own range of fishcakes and include fish in their range of ready meals. As the fish will be delivered daily, customers can request special cuts and be sure they will arrive within a day.

Naturally, half the shop is devoted to their meat counter, where qualified butchers are ready to cut meat to order. To cope with the extra meat orders, the entire farm has been put down to grass and the cow numbers have been increased from 60 to 120 breeding females. Sheep numbers have risen from 500 ewes to 800 and they now have 70 breeding Gloucester Old Spot sows.

To keep all these creatures fed, Colin has prepared grass silage for the winter, which he is topping up with quality straw bought from nearby farms.

Game is shot locally, and as there is excellent pheasant around at the moment, considerable space in the chiller cabinet is devoted to these, as well as to partridge and venison. There is a lot of space for bacon products, too. This is necessary as their dry-cured bacon and ham, which is prepared on the premises, is particularly popular. When you grill or fry Foxbury Farm bacon, there’s no sticky white residue seeping out of the bacon as it cooks. Dry cured means just that – crisp, dry bacon with no added water.

When the new shop opened last weekend, visitors were impressed to see three generations of the Dawes family working together to ensure the day was a success.

Colin’s mother Una was there with her spinning wheel, demonstrating the art of spinning wool from Foxbury sheep, and Rebecca their daughter, who recently graduated with first-class honours degree in events management, was there greeting customers, stacking shelves and generally helping things run smoothly. Colin and Di simply filled in where they were needed.

Last week, after discussing people’s enthusiasm for local food with Sandy Hellig from Eynsham’s deli Cornucopia, I reported that as far as she was concerned, the quest for all things local was on the wane. The increased number of customers flocking to Foxbury Farm’s new shop seem to say otherwise, which is impressive, particularly as the shop is off the beaten track and very little passing traffic comes their way.