Walk The Pork - The Minister

This year we held ‘Walk The Pork’ as part of The Brecks Food Festival – a three day event that takes place as part of the wider Norfolk Food Festival over the third weekend in September. It is an opportunity for everyone in The Becks to showcase their skills from ‘farm to fork’ and is supported by many local businesses including The Elveden Estate & Heygates  Farms.

We were delighted to welcome The Right Hon Elizabeth Truss who as well as being Secretary of State for  The Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is also our local M.P. Liz has taken a keen interest in The Brecks Food Festival since she was elected in 2010, recognising its significance in promoting both food & tourism in the local economy.

She kindly agreed to speak at Walk The Pork as the opening event of The 2014 Brecks Food Festival.

‘It is fantastic to be here again at Walk The Pork. I remember the first year that I was invited along. It was an incredibly hot day and I was amazed to walk into a field and find as well as some black pigs the most fantastic pork and bacon products on offer.

The pigs that you have here are a very rare breed producing a fatter meat which is I believe is coming back into fashion as tastes change - they certainly produce fantastic meat. Since that first walk I have seen The Black Pig being sold in many local shops, cafes and restaurants. Yours is a great success story and is part of the wider success story of The Brecks.  We have The Brecks Food Festival that Vanessa Scott of Strattons Hotel has been so instrumental in making happen to showcase other great Brecks produce such as The Norfolk Peer potato which anyone can now buy in their local supermarket.  In season we also have fantastic asparagus produced in the Brecks. I think that what the festival is doing is helping people understand the connection with the landscape, it is a incredibly unusual landscape with amazing bio-diversity which co-exists with really fantastic products that people want to enjoy and eat.

I am pretty obsessed with local food. It’s a great movement which is helping people connect with the environment and nature as well as our history.  It is great that the festival is going from strength to strength. It is good for tourism and raising the profile of The Brecks.

As DEFRA Minister I am very open to ideas about what we can do to promote sustainable agriculture,  to make sure in Britain we are eating our indigenous food, our fabulous local food as well as getting the opportunity to export as well.’

They Came, They Talked & Walked Some Pork

In this the prequel to our series of blogs about Walk The Pork 2014 we thought you might be interested in who comes along........This year we welcomed amongst others a government minister, Norfolk chefs & butchers & a couple of salami producers. Our guest list follows:

The Right Honorurable Elizabeth Truss -  Sectretary of State for The Enviroment, Food & Rural                                                                    Affairs
Scott Taylor - Head Chef at Elveden Estates
Charlie Mills - Bramfield Meats
George & Henry Mills  - Mills & Sons
Mark & Mark Allen - Fleetwoods Butchers
Tony Potter - Impsons Butchers
Richard Hughes - The Lavender House
Vanessa Scott - Strattons Hotel
Les Scott - Strattons Hotel
Jackie Kennedy - Marsh Pig Salami
Miles Nicholas - Gog Magog Hills Farm Shop
Charles Bradford - Gog Magog Hills Farm Shop
Rosy Darling- Intwood Farms
Gail Sprake - Chair RBST
Tom Beeston - CEO RBST
Neil Richardson - Barclays Bank
Marcus Bates - BPA
Susie Emmett - Greenshoots Productions
William Gribbon - Heygates Farms
James Walker - Chef
Sarah De Chair - Chair of The Norfolk Food & Drink Festival
Stephen Plume - The Sausage King
James Skelton - NFU
Andy Newman - Andy Newman Assoc
Johann Tasker - Farmers Weekly
Chris Hill - EDP
Stacia Briggs - EDP
James Rudman - NFU
Graham Cormack - Tax Assist
James Parry - CPRE

The focus this year was on local food webs, living, working & growing in The Brecks and 'use them or lose them' the focus on rare breeds.

We will over the next few weeks feature a series of blogs covering our discussions. Please join the conversation .............

There's nowhere quite like Norfolk

We had a lot of fun one day this summer with Visit Norfolk. You can see the results in The Food & Drink video here. In this series of short films you will find many reasons to visit our amazing county - once you arrive you might find one or two to stay .

I did.

Great British Food Producers

We delighted to have been nominated by LandLove Magazine as one of their Great British Food Producers. We now need lots & lots of people to vote for us. You can do this by following the link to Landlove Awards.

All voters will be entered into a draw to win a fantastic three night break at The Kings Head Inn in Yorkshire so it is a win win situation.

Good Luck to us all!

Goan Pork Vindaloo made with The Bhaji Man spices & Scotts Field Pork

Rain stopped us going to The Aylsham Show today so it seemed like the perfect day to use the spices that The Bhaji Man sent us with shoulder of Scotts Field Pork. No recipe for this just follow his link to get a Bhaji Man Goan Vindaloo spice kit.

A Bhaji Man spice mix ensures that you have all the flavour of a meal made from scratch with the convenience of using pre-selected spices.

This is not fat - it's flavour! Can you see that our pork is slightly darker in colour than commercial pork.

Once ground the spices are added to white wine & sugar to make a marinade for the pork

 Onions are then caramelised and the pork and further spices are added

 45 minutes later and hey presto! Goan Pork Vindaloo to be served with rice and cucumber raita

The first taste of Summer - Norfolk Peer New Potatoes

"Everybody raves about Jersey royals which are lovely, but these Norfolk potatoes are really special"

James Barber - Head chef at the Brudenell hotel in Aldeburgh

A couple of weeks ago we were privileged to be invited to see the first of this season’s Norfolk Peer new Potatoes lifted at Cockley Cley here in The Brecks.

Preparation for this season’s crop began last winter when the land was de-stoned to ensure the crop is not bruised. The seed potatoes are then planted systematically in furrows to ensure consistent tubor size at harvest.

In a recent blog we discussed the impact of irrigation upon cropping in The Brecks when it was introduced in the 1970’s. Mervyn Gribbon brought irrigation to Heygates farm in Swaffham and was instrumental in ensuring that growing potatoes became not only possible but profitable. His son William is continuing the family tradition on the same farm and is responsible for developing The Norfolk Peer brand.

What makes Norfolk Peer stand apart from the crowd? It is it’s freshness. The potatoes are lifted daily and available to the consumer within 24 hours. To ensure continuity of supply potatoes are planted from the end of February until early June and to ensure traceability consumers are able via The Heygates website to track the field that the potatoes they are eating were grown in!

For more information about where you can get your hands on these little treasures please follow this link

Later in the year The Peer is followed by The Norfolk Keeper – but that is another story 

When a group of farmers in this part of the world meet up food always plays an important part of the proceedings and lunch at Heygates was no exception. Norfolk Peer Potatoes, our own Scotts Field Pork and the last of the seasons asparagus from Beachamwell all beautifully prepared and cooked by the team at Strattons Hotel & Cafe in Swaffham

The Norfolk Show 2014

At this Year's Royal Norfolk Show Scotts Field Pork was showcased in The Cookery Theatre by Norfolk Food Festival Patron Vanessa Scott. She was joined on stage by my wife who talked about two of her favourite subjects - Large Black Pigs & The Great British Butcher - both endangered species!

Whilst Vanessa cooked loin of Scotts Field Pork in coconut milk with tomatoes and spinach Sarah spoke to the audience about our herd of pigs, the origins of The Large Black Pig and why their incredible gene pool needs to be preserved. With Mary Kemp (who each year runs The Cookery Theatre at The Norfolk Show) she discussed the importance of our butchers in Norfolk and again why their incredible gene pool needs to be preserved!

So What is so special about The Large Black Pig?

Apart from the fact that they are incredibly beautiful they are prolific and very good mothers. They are the UK's only black pig which means that with the onset of global warming they will be better able to cope with longer hotter summers. The meat that they produce is succulent and moist with a great flavour as it is marbled with intramuscular fat. Whatever cut you chose it really will be the best pork you ever have.

..... and The Great British Butcher

One of our local butchers Tony Potter of Impsons was asked a couple of years ago to add up the combined experience in years of his butchers. It came to 265 years. 265 years worth of advice and expertise that once it is lost cannot be replaced. As a family we are not rabid anti-supermarketeers and accept that they have a place in our society there is a big BUT though. The long threatened Tescos has finally opened it's doors in Swaffham and is having a profoundly negative effect on the town as we all predicted. The lads on the butchery counter there will not be able to look after the elderly or  give advice on cheap cuts or indeed have the time to have a joke with their customers in the same way that the 'young' men at Impsons do.  Beware Great British Public - if you dont use our Great British Butchers - you will lose them

Loin of Scotts Field Pork in Coconut milk with tomatoes & spinach

About 1.2kg boned pork loin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

3 tbsp olive oil 

10-12 garlic cloves, peeled

100g fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 large hot green chilli, chopped (remove the seed if you like)

12-13 curry leaves (optional but make huge difference)

2 tsp ground cumin

1 bay leaf

Seeds from 10 cardamom pods

150g creamed coconut dissolved in 10-11tbsp boiling water or two cans coconut milk

Squeeze or two of lime juice, to taste

10 tomatoes, cored and spilt in two widthways and slow roasted for 2 hours

Fresh spinach

Fresh coriander, chopped, to garnish

• Cut the rind from the pork, leaving a thin layer of fat (use the rind to make crackling – score it, scatter it with salt, and bake at 220C/425F/gas mark 7 until puffed up, crisp and golden). Score the fat and season the meat well all over, rubbing it into the surface. Tie the meat in a couple of places with kitchen string, so it will hold its shape, and set aside.

• Warm the oil in a large casserole over a low heat and poach the garlic cloves until they just begin to take on a light golden colour.  Scoop out the garlic with a slotted spoon and raise the heat under the pan to medium-high. Brown the pork on all sides, then set aside. 

• Take the pan off the heat and let the oil become cooler. Add the ginger, chilli, cardamom, cumin and bay, and sauté gently for a minute. Return the pork to the pan, turn it over in the seasoned oil, then pour over the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.

• Cook the meat at a very gentle simmer on a low heat, covered, until cooked through and tender, turning it occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pan. This should take about one and a half hours, by which time much of the liquid will have evaporated. In the last 30 minutes of cooking add the roasted tomatoes to the pan and remove the lid of the pan.

• Remove the meat and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile add the spinach to the tomatoes and cover for i minute and continue to cook. Season to taste. Remove from the heat and arrange on four plates. Squeeze over the lime juice, grind on the pepper and sprinkle with coriander.

• Serve the pork on the bed of tomatoes & spinach with minted new potatoes or rice. Serve the crackling on the side.

Sarah,Teacher, Shepherd & General Superstar

Every year Sarah spends her Easter holidays helping us with lambing ( see our previous post) and when she goes back to school takes some of our orphan lambs into the primary school where she teaches. This year she took it one step further and took her reception class to visit Whitehouse Farm in Oxborough (see #OFS14 blog for more about owners Nick & Susie Emmett). Below she has jotted some thoughts about how she has used her shepherding experience to teach her class this spring.

'And now on to children …

Who was it said that, no one should ever work with children or animals? …  well I’ve done both.  And the best recipe is to mix them up together! 

Oh, this sounds like my great grandfather who mixed baking and farming. 

I’ve always taken lambs into school, yet I don’t think I’ve ever had a reception class so captivated as this year's have been.

The lamb visit to school motivated the children to write, paint, role-play, sing and be very curious.  One boy went to the shops and bought a book about sheep, another girl scraped the bark outside our classroom with her feet saying  “I’m digging the ground like the sheep”.  I was really surprised by this, we’d not talked about this behaviour and her reaction was entirely based on her observations at Whitehouse Farm. For this particular girl it represented some significant language development. 

One day we made a sheep pen in the classroom.  It was full of noisy children pretending to be sheep trying to find their muddled up lambs.  It was a lot of fun and pretty amazing when you think that a lot of the children in my class, live in challenging social conditions, and rarely go anywhere. A trip to the farm was a big deal for them.

Another day we visited a pop-up art gallery in our classroom created with pictures borrowed from my walls at home.  We’ve looked at what crooks are made of, made lamb shaped biscuits and are shortly to explore meat and wool.  The children were so enthralled with all their newly gained language that they told Nick & Susie on a subsequent visit to Whitehouse Farm that the big sheep are called ewes, not mummy sheep! 

A huge belated thanks to Rob and Sarah for allowing me to spend an idyllic Easter holidays helping out; even entrusting me to the care of the orphans – all hand picked to be of special interest so that the children could discuss a variety of sizes and colours, and mixed parentage.

My Head Teacher couldn’t believe I was brave enough to back my van up to the gates and just let 6 lambs go across the playground and through a funnel made up of lines of children into a temporary pen.  Each child had to weigh and make up their own milk powder to feed a lamb.  An exercise in logistics enabling 30 children to do this.  Normally noisy children learned to be gentle and careful. '

The logistics of getting photos to accompany this amazing story have proven a little too difficult to do. I am sure however that you can get the gist  without them. I hope that the children at Sarah's school in future years will look back at these few weeks and realise how privileged they were to have her as a teacher.

Lambing 2014 - Guest post by Sarah Francis

Sarah in the lambing field one very wet morning

We said it would be weekly - but we were lying! A broken computer has extended the wait but this is well worth it! Sarah's impressions of Lambing 2014.

Sarah has been a good mate for many years and has taken over from Nick Emmett as our mentor, helping us to build our flock of sheep here in The Brecks.

 

How long have you lived in The Brecks and what brought you here?

I have lived in the Brecks since 1987 when work with a national pig breeding company brought me here. I remember complaining to my Aunt that I thought it would be flat and boring, but I loved it from the start.

What made you stay? 

I stayed as my farming career evolved and as my experience widened from indoor pigs to outdoor pigs; I ended up being the second female in the UK to manage a large outdoor breeding herd. Over time I grew to love the Brecklands for its wildlife and landscape.

Your day job is as a teacher in Kings Lynn – so where did you gain your shepherding experience? 

My shepherding experience began as a child when I yearned and dreamt of working on farms:  my father taught agriculture and I would accompany him on visits to farmers at every opportunity I could. As a teenager I learnt to lamb by working on large flock ,at Penshurst Place Kent, in my holidays.  About 15 years ago I spent a period being self-employed and worked largely as a shepherd in East Anglia, expanding my experience. In addition I worked in Yorkshire, Northumberland and Devon, lambing large flocks.

What made you give up working with livestock? 

I always enjoyed teaching others livestock husbandry whilst I worked on the farms and I was seeking new challenges where I could inspire the next generation of farmers. I remember talking about the lambing yard and the classroom, at my teaching interview, where the similarities of rapidly changing priorities are present in both situations.

How have you enjoyed working with a small flock?

Yes certainly a change for me and not one I would have thought I would have enjoyed. However there is nothing small about your flock and the outlook you have for local food production. It’s a pleasure being involved in a small family business where animal welfare is of the highest standards and where sensible commercial decisions are made.  It’s been great to know every sheep and remember the origin of all the lambs…oh yes that’s the, ‘fir tree lamb’…(who was born next to the fir tree.) .... something that when you are working on large flocks just doesn't happen.

Mother Love

What do you think about our New Zealand Romneys?

I must admit I have always worked with clean faced sheep so originally I thought they were ugly! I am now a convert watching their amazing mothering ability, their huge characters, ease of lambing/milking ability. I can see why they fit your system so very well and with the imported NZ genes believe they are the perfect choice for a low input/ outdoor lambing system to fit in with the pigs and the clothes business!

These quads were scanned as a single - delivered by Sarah they prove she hasn't lost her touch 

What has been the highlight this spring?

Realising I had not forgotten my instincts as a stockman and a shepherd. Passing on my experiences to others, including my class at school. Seeing a difficult lamb survive after a few days support in the field. 

And the lowest point? 

Going back to school when I wanted to carry on in the field! However this soon changed when my class were inspired to learn all about sheep following a visit to school by the orphan lambs.

What is special about keeping sheep in the Brecks? Why does it differ from other parts of the UK? 

Traditionally sheep were grazed the heathland of The Brecks with very hardy breeds like The Norfolk Horn. With the advent of irrigation things changed. A ready water supply meant that now high value crops could be grown so sheep were replaced by carrots & spuds. A change of government policy which encourages farmers to ensure that at least some of their farm reverts to grass means that there is currently a bit of a stock renaissance here in The Brecks. We still need hardy native breeds though!

Vic Francis feeding orphan lambs

I understand that shepherding is a new skill for your husband Vic – how has he taken to it?  

Actually not bad! I was impressed when walking through the field when he decided to walk around a bunch so he didn’t disturb them. He has adored rearing the orphans and the opportunity to watch them grow and develop. And he has been spotted galloping in the garden with the lambs…oh how embarrassing!

Will we see you in 2015?  

You would have to lock me up to prevent this! I have farming in my blood and you have given me a wonderful opportunity to indulge one of my lifelong passions.

Rob & Vic

Sarah will definitely be back with us in the lambing field in 2015. She is however returning to the blogisphere slightly sooner as she has done a follow up blog which talks about using lambing as a way to teach and inspire her class.

.... And a little bit more from #OFS14

Black is back at The Royal Norfolk Show

With only two weeks to go until The Royal Norfolk Show takes place on Wednesday & Thursday 25th & 26th June things are hotting up at Scotts Field Pork.

Because of the need to maintain a high health status we do not show our pigs as unfortunately at the moment we don't have space for a quarantine area once they return home - there is also the issue of time as well!

The Large Black Pig will however be well represented at the show by other breeders and it is well worth getting to the ring early to watch judging on the first day.

Our big news about this years show is that Vanessa Scott is very kindly showcasing our pork in her cookery demonstration which takes place in The Cookery Theatre at 3.30 pm on the Wednesday.

'Mrs Pigman' will be on stage with her talking about our herd of Large Black Pigs and why it is so important that the gene pool from these fabulous animals survives.

Please come along to the cookery theatre and support Sarah & Vanessa - lets see if two Norfolk gels can get more bums on seats than a celebrity chef!

(If by any chance  you would like to see James Martin Cooking as well pop along an hour or so earlier)

#OFS14

Open Farm Sunday was hosted yet again by The Emmett Family at their family farm in Oxborough. This year however it was Nick & Susie’s daughter Liza who took charge of organizing the event.  A young woman of many talents – when she is not helping her father with lambing or teaching tourists in The Med how to sail she can be found at local boutique hotel Strattons in Swffham where she is a member of the front of house team.

As always we took one of our sows, this year it was Gloria’s turn, with her piglets for children to guess the name of her piglets.

There were also lots of sheep related activities such as Joe Emmett shearing the families flock of mules

and local shepherd Emma weighing lambs with the help of her son, James.

Team Cake as always did a a cracking job.

The sun shone and fun was had by all.

There is however a more serious side to all this and that is Education, Education, Education.

As well as the expected chorus of how they could never eat anything so cute as our piglets this afternoon I spent time with a local lady who thought I was joking when I told her that the majority of pigs in this country are born and live indoors then are slaughtered having never been outside. It is a system of farming that although I chose not to follow does not horrify me as much as it did her, which once again proves the huge disconnect in this country between the food that people consume and where it comes from.

We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to not only to The Emmett Family but also to the 400+ other famers here in The UK today who have tried today to help consumers make that connection with the food that they eat – whether it be on a Brookfield or Mega Dairy scale farm.

Lambing Live #NorfolkStyle

If you would like to keep up with what is happening in the lambing field on a daily basis please either follow us on Twitter or Like us on Facebook.

We will be posting a weekly blog as well.

Wissey Valley Lamb

The River Wissey February 2014

As we are about to start this year's lambing we thought it might be an idea to give you some background to Wissey Valley Lamb - where & how the lambs are reared as well as the breed that we use. 

The Wissey Valley

The River Wissey rises close to Bradenham Hall in Norfolk which co-incidentally was the inspiration for L.P.Hartley’s novel, The Go-Between. The river then flows for just over 30 miles through the heart of The Brecks before joining The Great Ouse south of Downham Market. It is in the villages on the banks of The River Wissey that we graze our sheep.

A description of our stretch of the river is to be found in John Cowper Powys' novel A Glastonbury Romance .

Ruby the Dog & Garry The Lamb 2013

'Past deep, muddy estuaries the boat shot forward, where the marigolds grew so thick as to resemble heaps of scattered gold, flung out for largesse from some royal barge, past groups of tall lombardy poplars, their proud tops bowing gently away from the wind, past long-maned and long-tailed horses who rushed to look at them as they shot by, their liquid eyes filled with entranced curiosity, past little farm-houses with great, sloping red roofs, past massive cattle-sheds tiled with those large, curved, brick tiles so characteristic of East Anglia, past sunlit gaps in majestic woods through whose clearings tall, flint church towers could be seen in the far distance past huge black windmills, their great arms glittering in the sun as they turned, grinding white flour for the people of Norfolk.....'

First mentioned in The Doomsday book in 1086, The Wissey was navigable from ‘Oxenburgh to King’s Lynn & Cambridge. By the 1750’s there were wharfs at Oxborough Hithe and boathouses further up river at Northwold and this stretch of the river remained busy until the arrival of the railway in 1882. It seems then that it gradually fell into decline and became the sleepy backwater that it is today.

Me & my sheep in The Brecks

 

Lambs born in the frost 2013

Although the sandy Breckland soils are perfect for the out wintering of livestock, the light land becomes a problem in the summer particularly as we are in a low rain fall area, consequently the grass simply does not grow.

Traditionally farmers would have moved their livestock to graze along the banks of the river where there would be plenty of grass during the summer months and it is this natural method of farming that we are trying to replicate. This is why we lamb outside in April, ensuring lamb growth coincides with the grass growing season.

Although my grandfather ran sheep on his farm near here, next to the sugar beet factory at Wissington my first real experience working with them was when I spent a year in at his cousin’s sheep station in New Zealand, a country where all stock are reared extensively on a

The Mills Brothers meeting Jessica

grass based system.

When I returned to the UK I moved into pigs and had no real contact with sheep until we needed to replace our lawnmower about 4 years ago. At the time buying a few ewes seemed the cheaper option!

Since then, with the help of shepherd friends Nick Emmett and Sarah Mills, we have gradually started to increase the size of the flock. We now have 60 ewes which we hope to expand into a commercial flock over the next couple of years.

Romney Sheep

We started with Jacobs but are gradually moving over to Romneys so called after the flat marshland in Kent where they come from and a breed that will easily cope with conditions in The Brecks .

One of this year's tups

We have been very influenced by Chris & Caroline Hodgkins , winners of the ‘Farmers Weekly’  Sheep Farmer of the year in 2009. They too farm extensively and over the years have worked hard to build their flock of Romneys to over 3000 ewes. 

They chose this particular breed because of it’s ‘Easy lambing and good mothering ability, producing sheep with a strong constitution, high fecundity (number of lambs born), high growth rates (early maturing), good muscularity and structural correctness Longevity.’

All of which sounds pretty good to me……

Chris continues ‘We work with the ewe’s natural behaviour and operate a minimal shepherding strategy……’

To find out more about this breed and the way that Chris and Caroline farm on The South Downs you can follow the link above to their website.

By buying breeding stock from The Hodgkins and following their low input way of farming we intend to increase our flock to about 300 thus securing a home for The Romney in The Brecks.

We will continue to market Wissey Valley Lamb through the group of local butchers that sell Scotts Field Pork.

Slow roast shoulder of Wissey Valley Lamb