The Missing bits from 2012 (Part One)

Lambing

Because we dont have access to suitable buildings we plan to start lambing when the weather improves at the beginning of April which also usually co-incides with the school Easter holidays. This year our first lambs were born the day after drought had been declared and the weather was horrific. After a relatively warm and dry period the temperature plummeted at the same time as a belt of torrential rain hit Norfolk.

On the first morning we lost 3 lambs and spent several hours reviving the surviving four in front of the wood burner. It was clear that our mentor Nick Emmett would have enough on his hands lambing his flock of 400 ewes so we called on our great friend Sarah Mills who fortunately came out of retirement and to the rescue. 

Things gradually improved although we could not have coped without Sarah's years of experience behind us. 

The antics of our first two pet lambs, now shearlings did not help. You have heard of women who are too posh to push, well Jessica Josephine was a sheep requiring a full time nanny. Unfortunately one was not available so Mrs Pigman fed her lambs whilst our trusty terrier Alfie babysat them. The other darling O2 unfortunately lost both her lambs during the dreadful first night but was very proud of the little one that she adopted. She would be yelling at the gate each time we opened it for us to have a look at her lamb, only to find when she looked round that she had lost it ......again....and again....and again ..... The entire spring was filled with her calling for the lamb she then promptly lost. I have a feeling that if these two sheep belonged to anyone else they would have gone up the ramp to pastures new - however  they are still happily with us.

Fortunately Sarah Mills enjoyed getting her hands dirty again and has agreed to take charge of lambing in 2013. Since retiring as a shepherd Sarah has retrained as a teacher and a highlight of the Summer Term for her class was when 'Miss Mills' took a couple of our pet lambs to school for the day. 

Until this summer our flock were predominately Jacobs which we crossed last winter with a Texel tup so the resulting lambs were relatively fast growing. The appeal of a Jacob Ewe is their ability to rear lambs off grass. In addition they are extremely hardy and very good mothers. In the summer we bought a few more Jacobs and 16 Romney ewes, this year the tup is a Texel/Charolais cross.

As well as making a lot of extra work for the pigs this year's weather has had a detrimental effect on the growth of  the later lambs. One piece of good news though is that we did sell some of earlier lambs commercially for the first time this year.

Although still very small our flock now stands 40 head and so weather and time permitting we will start marketing Wissey Valley Lamb later in the summer when it becomes available.

Scotts Field Pork nominated for The Countryside Alliance Awards

 

Many thanks to everyone who nominated Scotts Field Pork for the prestigous Countryside Alliance Awards. Known as the 'Rural Oscars' these awards celebrate rural communities, enterprise and all that is good about rural life.

Fingers crossed our girls make the regional finals - watch this space.

STOP PRESS :

 SCOTTS FIELD PORK AVAILABLE ONLINE!

At Scotts Field Pork we take great pride in the relationship that we have with our butchers all of whom are either in Norfolk or Suffolk which proves somewhat problematic for those who have read about the meat from large black pigs and are not lucky enough to live in one of God's own Counties!

The good news is I have just offended more Suffolkians and Norfolkians by mentioning them in the same breath as I might have upset those living outside the two counties, the better news is that one of our butcher's Goddards of Norfolk have just launched an internet mail order business so where ever you are in the UK you can now taste Scotts Field Pork - just follow this link for more informaion 

The Brecks Food Festival

Started with a bang at the Harvest Festival in the beautiful church of St Peter and St Pauls which is in the heart of the market town of Swaffham. It was organised by the staff and pupils of The Sacred Heart Convent which is also situated in the town. All the baskets of fruit and vegetables that had been donated by pupils and parents were auctioned off over the rest of the weekend to raise money for the home hospice and the church maintenence fund.

The festival was officially opened that evening by Dr Pixie Mckenna of 'Embarassing Bodies' fame and our local MP Liz Truss both of whom were guests at the The Porkers Pop Up Restaurant that followed as were The Simonds Family. George, Paddy, Sarah and I were lucky enough to spend the evening with the guests of honour as well as Sr Francis and other members of staff from Sacred Heart.

The theme of the 'pop up' was 'A taste of the Brecks' and featured Scotts Field belly of pork and Heygates potatoes as well as Tim Kinnairds special Brecks Macarons, an amazing crayfish soup and Brecks English wines.

We ate some great food prepared by Head Chef, Sam Bryant of Strattons who was ably assisted by Mary Kemp and Vanessa Scott as well as pupils of The Sacred Heart. We also had a lot of fun with the other guests, chatting about Baltimore & Sherkin Island in South West Ireland, The Dalai Lama , pre-school education ....and food of course!

Saturday evening was spent in the company of a very old friend, Sarah Mills and her husband, Vic again at The Assembly rooms, this time at a talk given by James Parry about the history of The Brecks heathland.

 


We were joined again the following day by Sarah & Vic as they helped us to talk to people at the farmers market about Susan (one of our large black sows) and her litter of piglets who had come to Swaffham Market for the day ....so without more ado let the pictures paint a thousand words ....

 





 

Visit to The Houses of Parliament

On Thursday September 13th Keith Charlish of The Paddocks Butchery and I joined a group of Norfolk Food Producers that had been invited by Norfolk MPs to The Houses of Parliament. The trip was organised by local buying group Anglia Farmers. Click here for details of other producers attending the event.

We had an early start so Team Simonds were left at HQ in charge of pig feeding - not many of the other kids at Methwold High School feed 500 pigs before they go to school!

Meanwhile Keith and I had loaded our booty consisting of The Bunwell Banger  an amazing sausage made by The Paddocks Butchery to a secret recipe from Scotts Field Pork - and probably the only banger with it's own Twitter account which you can follow @Bunwellbanger. We were also taking along some Scotts Field ham cured by Bramfield Meats.

Upon arriving at The House of Commons we were greeted by enthusiastic interns who raved about everything Norfolk but particularily our pork products - the most common question was where can we buy this in London?

At lunchtime they were joined not only by the Norfolk MP's including our own, Liz Truss, but also John Bercow, The Speaker and newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, David Heath. David (himself a pedigree breeder of Tamworths - well you cant get everything right!) was extolling the virtues of rare breed pork. Although very new to the job he appeared to have a  positive view on local food production and farming in general.

Eric Pickles - the well known twitcher, a great fan of Norfolk and it's produce - is now also a fan of Scotts Field Pork, Charlie's ham and The Bunwell Banger!

We had a fantastic day meeting the great and the good as well as other Norfolk Producers - tasting cheese from both Fielding Cottage & Norton's Dairy as well as  pickles from The Elvedon Estate.

The Norfolk Food and Drinks Awards

We are very proud to have recieved this award as part of The 2012 Norfolk Food & Drinks Awards.

The 'Oscars' of the industry took place at The Norfolk Showground Arena on September 10th and were hosted by David Whiteley of Inside Out. As we had been nominated as part of The Food Hero Category our table was hosted by David Clayton, David Webster & Nicki Barnes of Radio Norfolk - our fellow contenders were Vaness Scott of Strattons Hotel   and Mary Kemp who were accompanied by their charming husbands Les & Neville. Sarah and I had a great evening also catching up with Claire of Breckland Orchard ,Chair of the Food Festival Richard Woolliams who is an old mate from Cirencester and Pete Waters former editor of The EDP and the victim of our posh pop disaster (see our waiting wellies blog - August 2012).

The well deserved winner of this award was the very gracious Vanessa Scott with whom we spent the following weekend at The Brecks Festival.

 

The Norfolk Food Hero Awards - a brief update

 

Well we are in the final three!?!

Still slightly bemused by it all but extremely proud of our herd of Large Black Pigs who seem to win the hearts and minds of all who meet them.

We had a flying visit from Helen McDermott of Radio Norfolk today who tried to interview some fat pigs as well as us - the moral of this story as ever is never work with pigs and children. The results should be on a radio near you very soon.

We should find out more about the award on Septemberer 10th when the results are announced. This is a big week for us as Keith Charlish of The Paddocks Butchery (Mulbarton & Bunwell) and I are also taking Scotts Field Pork to The Houses of Parliament on the 13th - the 14th marks the start of The Brecks Food Festival weekend with our pork featuring in the pop up restaurant on Friday night and on Sunday 16th The Large Black Pig returns to Swaffham Market.

Monday will be a day of rest - I wish!

Reflections on a week @buylocalnorfolk

By Mrs Pigman

Our week of not entering a national or multinational retail outlet finished a day early as I had a long established shopping date with my daughter who at fourteen did not want to be restricted by the foibles of her already embarrassing parents - and besides she argued Jack Wills is made in Britain!

So did I cheat?

Only once - Paddy our son had a very sore throat the morning the Food Awards judges were due to visit us - not able to fit in the 20+ mile round trip to our nearest independent pharmacist in Watton I popped into Boots. Oh Ye of little faith, my husband got an identical packet of strepsils from our local garage and paid the same price

Did we Starve?

Not at all although I did miss avocados and crisp lettuce. We are however not a typical supermarket shopper - we produce most of our own meat and neighbours supply us with eggs and veg. Our main supermarket purchases are non consumables, bread and dairy products. As a result of 'Buy Local Norfolk' we have decided that  instead of buying supermarket bread each week for convenience and each week moaning about it's quality we will get organised and support the bakery in Hingham which is near my work. Dairy products and salad are more of a quandary - Where possible I buy organic milk and yogurt (although ironically my scruples do not stretch to butter and cheese!) and I do like fresh, crisp veg even if it has been microwaved!

Was it expensive?

On a like for like basis the food we bought was the same as I would have paid in a supermarket - the additional and considerable added cost came in time and fuel costs.

What are our conclusions?

There was an interesting article on You and Yours today featuring Nigel Harris, the boss of Fresh Direct who has been running a village shop for nearly four years. Despite his buying power and vast experience his shop has still not made a profit. He is convinced that it will and when it does there is a model that could be rolled out. In the meantime we must ensure that the butchers, bakers and candlestick makers that are left in rural England- providing they offer a good product - continue to receive our full support where possible, equally we should not crucify ourselves if we upon occassion take advantage of the convenience and price competitiveness offered by the 'Big Boys'

Waiting Wellies and a Posh Pop disaster!

 

Today was another early start for us all and a few oaths were uttered at 5 am when the alarm went off. This is a bit of a lie in for Rob but for Mrs Pigman still the middle of the night.

The reason for such a bright and early start was the visit to Scotts Field Pork by two judges from The EDP Food Awards - Rob has been nominated  as one of Norfolk's Food Heroes.

 

By 9am the pigs were fed, the gazebo up, The Simonds scrubbed and wellies waiting at the field in case of rain. My next job was to collect some pork for the judges from one of our butchers John Goddard in Downham Market and to get some cold drinks from a local source and supplier. I hotfooted it to Dents at Hilgay secure in the knowledge that they would be able to provide the above and sure enough got six bottles of what I thought was Breckland Orchard Posh Pop. I winced a lot at the price - over £17 pounds but paid my dues and rushed back to Oxborough just in time to collect Mrs Hartley's amazing sausage rolls with which we were to tempt the judges taste buds.

Unfortunately my trip to Dents was a major 'Should have gone to Specsavers - or whatever the Norfolk equivalent is - moment'. It transpired that the pop was so expensive because it was not Posh Pop at all but Posh Squash a full strength ginger based cordial that I offered to our esteemed guests ...undiluted!!! The unlucky victim was obviously very well brought up as he said nothing and indeed sipped a little before politely moving on. Things could only get better ...

The two judges who visited Scotts Field Pork today were Peter Waters Editor of The EDP and Tim Bishop formerly Head of Region for The BBC and recently appointed Chief Executive of The Forum Trust.

They spent about an hour with us talking about The Large Black Pig, the history of the breed, it's former decline and current resurgence. We also spoke about the partnership that we have with our butchers, how we all work hard to support each other and to offer our customers the fantastic product that is Scotts Field Pork. Both Tim and Pete showed a keen interest in what we are doing, a passion for Norfolk food, it's people and the desire to re-establish the link that may be disappearing between the two - hence their commitment both to The Norfolk Food Festival and it's associated awards.

It goes without saying that 'our girls' wowed them both as they have so many before - I hope that Rob and I returned the favour and did our bit for them too.

 Mrs Hartley's Famous Sausage Rolls

Buy Local Norfolk

A bit more than a list of places to shop

Having spent a couple of days holiday in Sunny Suffolk I have had time to think a bit more about buying locally. The reason for the visit to my parents was to have some photos taken of my mum and dad with our children at a fantastic photographers in Felixstowe called Studio Bushfire. Upon reflection I think that Rob and I are a lot better at supporting local businesses than we give ourselves credit for - for most service items for both Scotts Field Pork and Artichoke we always chose a local supplier over a national one where possible and at home, food apart, the majority of our family spend whether it be meals out or new shoes is spent at local restaurants and shops.

The one big exception to this is I am the Amazon Queen! Trying to be a full time mum, running my own business as well as helping with Scotts Field Pork means that I have very little free time and the little I have I would prefer not to be pounding the streets looking for new computers, kids books or shop fittings...so I reach for my little helper - Amazon and it works every time!

My resolution is to wean myself away - I am sure I can find plenty of web based businesses that support the local economy if I look a little harder. This was proven to me last night when I was researching EPOS systems for Artichoke  - there is a business less than five miles away from our house that sells them online - something I would not have bothered to find out about if I had not signed up to @buylocalNorfolk.

A bit about Food

On the way back from boating on Thorpeness Mere this afternoon we stopped at Stuston Farm Shop near Diss for supplies - I have a sneaking suspicion they are in Suffolk rather than Norfolk but as they stock Scotts Field Pork they cant be all bad!

Jeremy has just won a local sausage making competition using  our pork with his pepper and mace sausage which we will be having for tea tomorrow. Also grabbed some beautiful locally grown strawberries & veg, locally made bread, and locally produced milk and cream spending no more than you would in a mid range supermarket. Although not on a main road the farm shop at Stuston is always busy and the fact that they offer great food at a reasonable price is probably why. 

....and convenience

We get most of our fuel at our local Whittington Garage which is situated on the A134 between Thetford and Kings Lynn. Whilst many local garages struggle this one is always busy so I thought I would have a quick chat with the owner Derick to find out the secret of his success which he says is convenience. Unlike many other garages he keeps the price of his fuel roughly in line with the supermarkets which means that locals like us are not tempted to drive the 20 or so miles to refuel at one and whilst we are at his garage buying fuel it is convenient for us to buy our lottery tickets, milk, beer etc. This local business is successful because it does what it says on the tin - it is a convenience store that also offers great service with a friendly smile.

Buy Local Norfolk

Day One......

has been easier than I thought it would be. Last night I was panicking slightly that I had not been able to find a reasonably priced gazebo locally and thought that the judges we are expecting for The EDP Food Awards on Wednesday might be sheltering from the rain in our stock trailer! On the way to Artichoke this morning I had a brainwave - I could pop into Norwich Camping & Leisure at Blofield to get the gazebo and get supper from Blofield Farm Shop thus killing two birds with one stone. We have just finished our roast chicken which was delicous.

Tomorrow Georgie, Paddy & I are off to stay with my parents in Suffolk overnight coming back to Norfolk via The Mere at Thorpeness so will be looking for butchers, bakers and candlestick makers near Diss (if my geography is right).

One thought if you are looking for electrical items and white goods and want to support a local supplier  have a look at BB Adams Direct - a web based company operated from Hockering.

Enjoy your Shop Local Norfolk week - we will be back with an update on Wednesday.

Buy Local Norfolk 

Following on from the visit to parliament in March The Buy Local Norfolk Team are asking us all to get involved with their project this month by spending one week avoiding all national retailers and buying everything that we need from our local shopkeepers. Something that we all applaud and I am sure a lot of us kid ourselves that we already do!

Until a couple of years ago both Rob and I both made sure that we supported local food businesses for everything that we did not rear or grow ourselves however like many others recent cost and time pressures have meant that slowly we have drifted away from this principle and now a lot of the time we echo Ruth and David of Archer fame in that we produce great food whilst living on supermarket pizza. We are not quite that bad but I  am sure you get the drift!!!!

Since reading about the challenge on Twitter I have been looking forward to this week as I am sure that with just a little re-tweaking of the way as a family we work and shop we can get back to supporting our local retailers. Something that as Norfolk food producers we obviously should do. We will be in good  company as I think all the Norfolk MPs including our own Elizabeth Truss are taking up the challenge too.

If you would like to get involved have a look at @buylocalnorfolk on Twitter.

The Simonds Family Buy Local Norfolk week starts tomorrow, Sunday 29th July  - as I usually shop on a Sunday my cupboards are truly bare - the only thing I have cheated on is a stash of our usual washing powder!

Both Rob and I are working tomorrow and as we live in rural West Norfolk most of the High Street shops will be shut so our first day's efforts may well be supporting the local Chinese takeout in Stoke Ferry - watch this space!





 

Bit of a Scotts Field Pork Story on page 14 of this week's local paper
http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=other&refresh=j06MP3w10sN7&PBID=12117187-7437-4ff6-a447-bab74609f2a2&skip=

'The'

Farm Walk

 

went incredibly well. Lots of thanks to go to those who got involved with the organisation of it all, to the butchers who turned up on the day, to Ms Truss and  her aide Fiona and the members of the press - plus photos, chat and facts.  All this to follow very soon, but as a quick taster follow this link to The EDP Website.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/farming-news/mp_elizabeth_truss_praises_food_network_for_rare_breed_pork_near_oxburgh_1_1389997



Celebrating Britains Beautiful Butchers

Scotts Field Pork

Farm Walk with Elizabeth Truss MP & guests of Scotts Field Pork

Friday May 25th

 

We promised to keep you up to date with our preperations for The Farm Walk and visit to Browns Kitchen. Below you will find a bit about everyone that is getting involved, including yours truely.

Scotts Field Pork

Rob Simonds

‘Black is back!’

Scotts Field Pork is based in West Norfolk on 20 acres of rented land next to Oxburgh Hall. This is where we keep our herd of rare breed Large Black Pigs. Although at beginning of the 20^th century incredibly prolific, The Large Black is now the rarest pig breed in the UK. There is a long history of pig keeping in my family started by my Great Grandfather, a Norfolk GP, who kept Large Blacks in his orchard at Blakeney. Today we cross The Large Black Pig with a commercial Duroc boar to produce a product that is more suited to the modern palate. In these days of doom and gloom I am very proud to be part of a success story.  The free range meat from our animals is sold to some of the finest butchers in East Anglia and we are in the enviable position of not being able to keep up with demand so have plans to double the size of the herd over the next 18 months taking numbers up to 120 breeding sows.  

To celebrate our success and to say thank you to the people who have supported us along the way we are hosting the farm walk on May 25^th when we are to be joined by our local MP Elizabeth Truss.

The focus of the day is on the three businesses in Ms Truss’ constituency who work together to produce a unique product that people in West Norfolk and beyond can literally have a piece of. The three businesses are an example of how hard work and a passion for what you do can means you can be successful, create employment for others and be part of a small but thriving business community.

Goddards of Norfolk

John Goddard

‘Exciting new internet business being launched’

John's Quality Butchers was started by John Goddard in September1992. John has been in butchering for 40 years, starting out in Leeds with the national company Dewhurst in 1969 - over time he moved up the ranks and became District Manager of the Peterborough District, then moved to take over the Norwich District.

In 1992 Dewhurst started a restructuring programme and he was given the opportunity to buy one of their shops in Downham Market. So in September 1992 John's Quality Butchers was opened. Since John took over the shop it has gone from strength to strength.  Initially run by John and a part timer within six months he had four members of staff – there are now eight on the team.

Where ever possible we source local meat and produce including Scotts Field Pork. We dry cure bacon and make sausages from the meat which is then sold to Browns Kitchen in Mundford. John is about to launch his latest venture, an online butchery.

Goddards of Norfolk

Downham Market

John Goddard

01366 388377

john@johnsqualitybutchers.co.uk

Browns Kitchen

Mark Clayton

'Making West Norfolk a Food destination'

 

Mark Clayton is passionate about food.  All kinds of food - English, Italian, Scandinavian, Indian, Thai - the list goes on. But most importantly, he's passionate about real home-cooked food made with fresh local ingredients.

 

The menu at Browns is not fusion but celebration - a celebration of modern British Cooking with all it's international influences, using the freshest local English produce.

 

With his team of talented young chefs headed by Jake Wetherill (a name to watch), Mark is working hard to make Browns a food destination.  Devotees would say he is already there.

 

Looking to the future, Browns are planning a series of cookery demonstrations with Jake and the help of a few guest chefs - again celebrating all that is diverse in today's national British Cuisine.

  

Browns Kitchen

Mundford

Mark Clayton

01842 879888

Twitter: @BrownsKitchen

OTHER GUESTS

Bramfield Meats

Charlie Mills

‘The formidable food campaigner’s hero’

Bramfield Meats supplies many butchers and farm shops in Norfolk and Suffolk with locally sourced lamb, beef and pork including Scotts Field. They work closely with small livestock producers as well as large scale farmers helping them to market their product successfully by coping with the ever changing demands in consumer demand and behaviour.  Charlie Mills is a particular hero of Lady Cranbrook, the formidable food campaigner .  – see the following link for more details http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/6126422/Aldeburgh-Food-and-Drink-Festival-slow-movement.html

Bramfield Meats

Halesworth

Wholesale Butchers – suppliers in Suffolk of Scotts Field Pork

01986 784222

charlie@brammeats.co.uk

D F Impson

Tony Potter

‘ Everything comes from within 5 miles of the shop – including the staff!’

D F Impsons Butchers was established in Swaffham over 80 years ago. Tony the current proprietor believes passionately in supporting small local farmers and over 90% of the meat he sells is sourced from within 5 miles of his shop. Lamb from Swaffham, beef from Necton and Pork from Scotts Field which he is dry curing. He and his team of master butchers have a wealth of experience between them.

D F Impson

Swaffham

Retail & catering butcher

01760 721791

anthony.potter@virgin.net

Suffolk Food Hall

Gerard King

Winner of The countryside Alliance Best Local Food Award 2011 - ‘A business run with a zeal for produce, the surrounding community and the future of farming …set up by farmers for farmers’

Retailer of the year – Farming and Food Awards 2011, Best on Farm Butcher – National Farm Shop Awards 2010, UK Top 50 Best Farm Shops – The independent 2011.

The awards say it all.  Broxtead Butchery at The Suffolk Food Hall is an award winning traditional butchery specialising in the very best quality meat, hand-picked from local farms, properly hung and expertly butchered.

Suffolk Food Hall

Wherstead, Ipswich

Retail Butchers

01473 786610

meat@suffolkfoodhall.co.uk

www.suffolkfoodhall.co.uk

Twitter: @GerardtheButcher

Fleetwoods Butchers

Mark Allen

The art of cooking extraordinary food starts with using extraordinary ingredients’ 

Mark Allen – Fleetwoods Butchers, Gorleston, Norfolk

Mark Allen has a passion for Food.  This is obvious from the moment you walk into his butchers shop on Gorleston High Street.  His fantastic counter beautifully presents some of the best meat that Suffolk and Norfolk has to offer including our own Scotts Field Pork.

Fleetwoods was established in 1958 and over the past half a century has built a very loyal and wide ranging customer base, one which crosses all age groups and extends out in a 25 mile radius from the shop. The

Fleetwoods have recently started to run evening butchery workshops. These give their customers the opportunity of watching the butchers breaking down a carcase into the different muscle groups whilst Mark talks about the different breeds of animal, the ageing process and how to select the various cuts. The evening finishes with a cookery demonstration and light supper.

Fleetwoods Butchers

Gorleston

Retail Butchers

01493 662824

mark@fleetwoodsbutchers.co.uk

www.fleetwoodsbutchers.co.uk

The Paddocks Butchery

Keith Charlish

‘Probably The best bangers in Norfolk’

Supermarkets may be the first port of call for convenience shopping, but an increasing number of discerning shoppers have turned back to the independent butcher. Trust, quality, personal service, a caring attitude and fully traceable meats are some of the reasons. That's why Keith Charlish owner of The Paddocks Butchery believes that farm shops have emerged as the place to buy locally produced and sourced goods. As well as being a very wise man his Scotts Field Pork sausages are probably the best bangers in Norfolk.

The Paddocks Butchery

Mulbarton, Norwich

Retail Butchers

01508 578259

sales@thepaddocksbutchery.co.uk

www.thepaddocksbutchery.co.uk

The Fruit Pig Company Ltd

Matt Cockin

‘Thumbs up from Morston Hall, Strattons & Lavender House’

We are East Anglia's only rare breed butchers supported by the RBST and the BPA. 
We make all our own produce and hand mix our spices.  Being rather traditional, many of our sausages are allergen free and unique.  We serve most of the well known foody establishments including Morston Hall, Dabbling Duck, Strattons, The Pigs and The Lavender House. We also, lecture at the UK's only Artisan Food School http://www.schoolofartisanfood.org/about-us/our-teachers/matthew-cockin

While our web site is being rebuilt our Facebook pages give an up-to-date flavour of what we're doing.

The Fruit Pig Company Ltd

Wisbech, Cambs

East Anglia’s only Rare Breed Butcher, wholesalers

07734 768645

mattcockin@hotmail.co.uk

www.facebook.com/fruitpigcompany

Twitter: @fruitpigcompany

K W Clarke

Charlie Mills

01986 784222

‘Butchers to the discerning’

Charlie Mills is also representing K W Clarke who have been supplying discerning homes and catering establishments with a range of meat,game poultry and home produced sausages since the 1920s. Today’s customers travel considerable distances to visit the shop particularly for K W Clarke’s famous home cured hams. The shop has also become the village store and post office thus offering a vital service to it’s rural community.

K W Clarke

Halesworth

Retail Butchers

Charlie Mills

01986 784222

charlie@brammeats.co.uk

Stuston Farm Shop

Jeremy Laurie

‘Farmyard fun and seriously good local produce’

is to be found at this lovely farm shop on the outskirts of Diss. As well as stocking a wide range of locally produced food in the farm shop, there is also a café in which to relax and a petting area for children. Fridays are a bit manic for Jeremy but he has promised to be with us if he can.

Stuston Farm Shop

Stuston, Diss

Farm Shop & Café

Jeremy Laurie

01379 741268

Jeremy.laurie@live.co.uk

www.stustonfarmshop.co.uk

Oak Tree Farm Rare Breed Hog Roast

Brian & Jane Parkin

‘There is hog roast and there is Rare Breed Large Black Pig Hog Roast'

Brian & Jane Parkin send their apologies – they have a farmers market on the day of the farm walk. From their smallholding in South Norfolk they rear rare breed pigs and sheep. As well as operating the hog roast business they sell meat and vegetables at Farmers Markets throughout East Anglia. They buy Large Black weaners from Scotts Field Pork.

Oak Tree Farm Rare Breed Hog Roast

Shelton, Norfolk

01508 536549

sales@sheltonfarms.co.uk

www.sheltonfarms.co.uk

Twitter: @OaktreeFarmNews

Fen Farm

Robert & Debbie Hartley

‘Our fantastic landlords’

The Hartleys farm 150 acres of sandy Breckland soil. Robert’s parents came to Norfolk from Lincolnshire in the 1950s and originally ran the farm as a mixed dairy farm, milking 40 cows and growing cereals and sugarbeet.

Today Robert runs a specialist haulage business from the farm and is well known & respected throughout East Anglian pig industry as a supplier and transporter of outdoor pig equipment. He also grows cereals & sugarbeet.  Scotts Field Pork rents 20 acres as part of the farm’s rotation.  The Hartley family are a big part of the Scotts Field Pork success story, without their support we would not be here today. Debbie Hartley (West Norfolk’s secret masterchef) has very kindly agreed to take charge of lunch today.

Looking forward to a big day ....



Over the past year Scotts Field Pork has gone from strength to strength - so much so that we are in the enviable position of not having enough pigs to meet demand. This means that we are putting in place plans to increase the size of the herd over the next 18 months to 120 breeding sows.  This is the maximum number we can accomodate at Fen Farm.

To celebrate the success of the past 12 months we are hosting a farm walk on Friday 25th May when we will be joined not only by our customers, all well established East Anglian butchers but also our local MP Elizabeth Truss.

We will over the next three weeks keep you up to date with how preperations for the big day are going giving details of who will be joining us, looking at subjects we would like to discuss on the day and having a little bit of fun with our top ten black-i-facts.

Watch this space!

 



The Mrs Beeton Blog

I was sitting down just before Easter preparing to write on locally produced food when a copy of Mrs Beeton’s book of Household Management was thrust under my nose. It had occurred to ‘Mrs Pigman’ that if she were busy helping to deliver lambs on Easter Sunday she would not be able to provide the traditional roast to visiting relatives and had asked Charlie of Bramfield Meats to let us have one of his Scotts Field Pork gammons. She was not expecting half a haunch to be delivered so was a little thrown when it arrived – every cookbook in the house was consulted including a facsimileof Mrs Beeton’s 1859 edition which as well as useful recipes contains plenty of ‘hog’ hints and information.

Food miles abandoned until next month, with thanks to Mrs B please find below some

' GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMMON HOG   

Though the hoof in the hog is, as a general rule, cloven there are several remarkable exceptions as in the species native to Norway, Illyria, Sardinia and formerly to the Berkshire variety of the British Domesticated pig, in which the hoof is entire and uncleft.'

A new one on me – as you can see from her photo our token Berkshire pig, Lady Bev definitely has a cloven hoof. The next item shows that in 1859 the oink truely was the only part of the pig that was not used:

'Though destitute of the hide, horns and hoofs, constituting the offal of most domestic animals, the pig is not behind the other mammalia in its usefulness to man.  Its skin, especially that of the boar, from its extreme closeness of texture when tanned, is employed for the seats of saddles, to cover powder, shot, and drinking-flasks; and the hair, according to its colour, flexibility and stubbornness, is manufactured into tooth, nail and hairbrushes, - others into hat, clothes and shoe brushes; while the longer and finer qualities are made into short brooms and painters brushes…….the fat (from the carcass) is rendered …and under the name of lard it becomes an article of extensive trade and value.'

Exactly how much you can see below

'The Estimated Number of Pigs in Great Britain is supposed to exceed 20 millions; and considering the third of the number as worth £2 apiece, and the remaining two-thirds as of the relative value of 10s each, would give a marketable estimate of over £20,000,000 for this animal alone.'

This would compare to a national herd size today of 4.5 million at an estimated value of £5,000,000 – in real terms a fraction of the value 150 years ago.

And finally proving that black has always been best

'….the black pig is regarded by breeders as the best and most eligible animal, not only from the fineness and delicacy of the skin, but because it is less affected by the heat in summer, and far less subject to cuticular disease than either the white or the brindled hog, but more particularly from its kindlier nature and greater aptitude to fatten.'

What more is there to say?

Scotts Field Pork @ Fleetwoods Butchers, Gorleston

‘The art of cooking extraordinary food starts with using extraordinary ingredients’ 

Mark Allen – Fleetwoods Butchers, Gorleston, Norfolk

Mark Allen has a passion for Food.  This is obvious from the moment you walk into his butchers shop on Gorleston High Street.  His fantastic counter beautifully presents some of the best meat that Suffolk and Norfolk has to offer including our own Scotts Field Pork.

Fleetwoods was established in 1958 and over the past half a century has built a very loyal and wide ranging customer base, one which crosses all age groups and extends out in a 25 mile radius from the shop. The thing that brings them all to this fantastic butchers is a love of good food. The current owner Mark Allen  has worked at Fleetwoods since he left school in the eighties  and took the business over from the founder’s son when he retired a couple of years ago.

Mark is one of Scotts Field Pork’s greatest supporters currently selling 3 to 4 pigs a week. As well as the usual pork joints his range of ‘posh’ sausages, some gluten free, all in natural skins are big sellers especially in the summer months. Large Black bacon is also available here.  

We did some sums and calculated that there are just over 100 food miles involved between our pigs leaving Scotts Field Pork and arriving at Fleetwoods Butchers as pork. Mark sources both his beef and lamb from farms in Suffolk.

Fleetwoods have recently started to run evening butchery workshops. These give their customers the opportunity of watching the butchers breaking down a carcase into the different muscle groups whilst Mark talks about the different breeds of animal, the ageing process and how to select the various cuts. The evening finishes with a cookery demonstration and light supper. The winter workshops have been looking at beef, as we move into spring and summer the focus will be on sausage making, lamb and of course pork. This will take place sometime during May or June and we are very excited about Scotts Field Pork getting involved – not only will we be able to learn a something about butchery but it will also give us the opportunity to talk to people about our passion – The Large Black Pig.

Just in case my photos do not paint a thousand words  …. this butchery is a foodie paradise run with passion and great skill by Mark and his team.  I strongly recommend that you visit it very soon.

For more information about http://www.fleetwoodsbutchers.co.uk/ and their butchery workshops please follow this link , email mark@fleetwoodsbutchers.co.uk or call 01493 662824.