Happy New Year! I hope you had a very festive Christmas and enjoyed all the feasting - I know we did, although I never got around to making a turkey and ham pie with the left overs, which is one of my favourite meals after Christmas. There are still a few turkeys available if you missed out, or if you would like to put a turkey by for Easter

Looking back over the last year, the weather has been pretty memorable! Somehow we got through OK with Tim managing to make the silage and hay in one incredibly long week, which was the only week of sunshine we had last summer! We also ‘crimp’ the barley which means it is stored by ‘pickling’ it rather than drying, so the moisture level can be higher when we harvest it. The future will be much more about using farming methods which are adaptable to our very wet climate, I think. But who knows what it will do?

Today Tim has brought the ewes inside the barn, where they will remain until lambing. It is a huge relief to get them off our muddy pastures into a dry shed. They have had rain on their backs every day for I don’t know how long and they need a break! It is a struggle for them outside and they don’t ‘do’, as farmers say. Most of the cattle are inside now as well, so there are a lot of mouths to feed everyday with hay or silage and sheds to bed down with straw. Outside it is a depressing picture with the fields gone beyond saturation point! Every footstep and you sink down through water! Hopefully they will get a chance to grow and recover before spring now the animals are mostly in. It’s mild and the birds are singing, so we’re hopeful!

The butchery is back to our normal routines after the Christmas rush. Now is a great time to stock up the freezer and our winter warmer slow cooking boxes are perfect for making big batches of tasty and economical meals. The latest evidence on dieting seems to be that fad diets don’t do any long term good and cooking from raw ingredients as opposed to using processed foods is the best way to keep the pounds off! January is a good time to be planning for the year ahead and budgeting to make some savings, so do check out our customer loyalty scheme which offers either 10% extra free meat or free delivery on orders of £100 per month. It also saves you time and hassle as we keep a record of your preferences and contact you when your monthly order is due.

We wish you a very happy and healthy year ahead.

Best wishes
Tim and Jo and all at Higher Hacknell Farm

[email protected]
www.higherhacknell.co.uk
Phone 01769 560909