HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM HIGHER HACKNELL FARM

There’s something refreshing about starting a new year, once the Christmas tree has gone and the decorations have come down, it’s good to get back to ‘normal’! Though it was lovely to have the family around and lots of festive meals, I’m keen to put this new year energy to use! I don’t know about you, but every year I think if I could be better organised, I’d have more time to enjoy myself!

This month I’ll be making plans for the coming year. We are booked to go to the Exeter Food Festival at the end of April, then Crediton Food Festival in June and the forms for the North Devon Show have just arrived. Our butchery is devising more seasonal meat boxes, starting the year with a fantastic Bargain Beef Box just available for January.

We are offering 1kg of diced casserole steak, 1kg of beef mince, 1kg chuck steak and 1 kg of steak mince all for £39.50 saving 15%. These are all great cuts to try some of the recipes from the Higher Hacknell website, using the chuck steak for beef carbonade or beef provencal and the diced casserole steak makes a great beef and coconut curry. And if you are looking for a good supplier of organic veg to go with our meat, check out our friends at Linscombe Farm who also deliver to your door. I’d really enjoy sharing your recipes too, so please send them to me with pictures for our Facebook page or tweet to @HigherHacknell .

As well as getting organised for the year ahead, it’s helpful to find ways of saving money, so if you’d like a regular monthly order from Higher Hacknell Farm and want to get an extra 10% free meat or you’d rather have free delivery, get in contact with me about the loyalty scheme.

And I haven’t forgotten about having time to enjoy life! I went out in the January sunshine yesterday to take a few pictures of what’s going on around the farm, Tim is hedgelaying in the Leachland fields (when not making hurdles and gates in his workshop) and and I think the ewes must be used to me taking photos by now, as they line up and pose! There are lots of winter birds around: lapwings, starlings and redwings, even skylarks can be heard. All the ‘black’ birds, the rooks, crows and jackdaws are enjoying a feast of worms on the fields which have recently been spread with dung. It’s so mild here in Devon at the moment that we’ve still got a lot of cattle outside grazing. As the grass gets less, Tim will put the lambs to graze on the leafy kale and turnips, which we call the root crops, but they need a bit of training to keep them from breaking through the electric fence.

We are also looking forward to having our after Christmas celebration lunch with our hardworking Higher Hacknell team this week at the River Cottage Park Farm. It will be nice to visit in style, rather than when I’m delivering meat there in the van!

Live well, eat well and enjoy life in 2015.

With very best wishes

from Jo, Tim and all at Higher Hacknell Farm

Follow @HigherHacknell