Friday, 18 January 2013

Butchery day on Partridge Farm


Yesterday was an exciting day, here on Partridge farm. Not only did the vet come to do the final results of our TB tests and let us know we PASSED!!! A customer who bought some Rare Breed Large Black weaners from us last year came along for the day to do a butchery course which we are now going to be running throughout the year to offer people who are interested the chance to learn how to prepare the meat they have bred, raised or are planning on raising!!

For this particular customer who doesn't own a trailer, we started the whole process going by delivering his two Large Black weaners to him once he had been up to our farm and chosen the weaners he wanted.  He & his family enjoyed raising them & When they were at the right size we collected them and took them to our local slaughter house where they were hung for a few days. After this we then collected the carcasses and brought them back to our own butchery where we held the course.

Our lovely new butchery room is well equipped and has a fair sized walk in fridge and freezer and a decent sized curing room for hanging all the cured meats. There is easily enough room for 5 to 6 people to comfortably stand and watch demonstrations and have a go at all the things themselves.

We covered everything from jointing the pig & vac packing all the separate joints, curing hams & bacon to dicing the pork and then mincing it up to make sausages and chorizos.  We of course made time for a yummy lunch and ate bacon & sausage sandwiches and drank plenty of hot cups of tea to keep ourselves warm!!

The chorizos and bacon is all hanging up in our curing room and will be delivered to our customer once it is ready but everything else was taken home by our customer who I am sure is now tucking into some porkie treats especially as it is now snowing!!
www.partridgefarmtiverton.com

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

Time for our Winter Warmer stew!!!

Well the past week has been just a bit more than hectic to say the least!! We are now well underway with the lambing which (fingers crossed) is going really well!! Every lamb born so far has been strong and healthy which is very lucky considering & we have had an even number of ewe & ram lambs!!

We start all our Markets next week with Tiverton's Pannier Market on Tuesday, Minehead on Friday & Dartington on Sunday!! So a busy week we will have! You must come & see us at one of the markets and get some of our delicious grass fed Aberdeen Angus beef or rare breed lamb or pork, I will be making fresh sausage rolls for each market too and they are definitely worth a try!!!

I think now the weather is getting colder it is definitely time for Partridge Farm's Winter Warmer stew, delicious if you make it with our grass fed Aberdeen Angus shin of beef!!!www.partridgefarmtiverton.com

THE LARDER: The Harder You Throw a Ball the Stronger it Bounce...

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Friday, 4 January 2013

Hi ho, hi ho, its off to Exeter we go!!!

Friday morning means only one thing, off to Exeter Livestock Market to sell our surplus weaners. Sadly with the price of pig feed rocketing through the roof we cannot afford to keep anymore weaners than we need, so despite the fact weaners are not selling well we have to take them & sell them. Fingers crossed we get a fair price for them.

Its been a busy week here on Partridge Farm this week with Monday seeing the arrival of our very first lamb to see the New Year in. A ewe lamb too and she is doing well considering Mum is a first timer!! 2 of our pedigree Large Black sows also gave birth to two very healthy litters, so lots of new life here which is exciting!!

Tuesday, 1 January 2013