July 30, 2008
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New piglets!
Down in West Devon we enjoyed a hot and sunny weekend, but the wind and rain has returned on Monday and it seemed as though the rest of the country was suffering a heat wave whilst we all splash around in wellies and rain coats! Due to good luck and wise timing, our farm manager Malcolm managed to get the hay crop cut, dried and bailed in the sun before the rain set in on Sunday evening.
The cattle, sheep and pigs don’t seem to mind the weather too much and we’re hoping that the recent warm burst combined with the rain will encourage more grass growth, which has been behind expectation this summer.
Our latest litter of piglets has started to arrive with the first Meidam sow delivering 16 healthy babies over the weekend, we sadly lost 4 piglets from this large litter. The heavy rain has meant that the litter is preferring to stay inside the pig arcs but we expect them to explore their world soon. This was the first litter produced by crossing our Large White boar with Meidam sows and we’re hoping for lots of long backed pigs in a few months to provide plenty of pork loin for our award winning organic bacon! We’re expecting around 150 piglets before the autumn, and in our second full year of organic pig farming the breeding cycle is now organised into Spring and Autumn farrows producing around 300 piglets each year.
The spring lambs have been weaned and are now grazing in small juvenile flocks, while our ewes are moved onto rich grassland to stimulate the breeding cycle before our male ‘tups’ run with them again later this year.
July 23, 2008
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Why buy New Zealand lamb when the very best ´New Season´ organic British lamb is available from Devon!
New Zealand lamb is famous for its taste and quality and has long been a favourite of British consumers. However, buying lamb which has to be frozen and flown half way around the world has to take second place to British organic lamb – naturally reared and freshly prepared to order.
Few could argue against buying British farm produce which is also better for the environment and better for the economy than foreign imports. New Season lamb is often sold in March for the Easter traditional roast, however this is only possible if farmers ´force´ ewes into an early breeding cycle so that lambs are born in winter and weaned in the spring.
At Eversfield we work with nature and breed from our ewes at the end of year, lambs are born in March producing new season lamb from the summer onwards.
Eversfield twin lambs with their Ewe
Eversfield Lambs are bred naturally from our Romney Marsh ewes – the same breed favoured by New Zealand farmers.
Our ewes breed at the natural time of year in late summer and our lambs are born in March & April, so after 4 months of natural growth on their mother´s milk they´re weaned and ready at 4 months old from July onwards.
Once weaned, our young lambs are grouped and given large open meadows to graze in.
They forage naturally in our meadows, seeking out herbs and wildflowers to meet the needs and in winter are given hay and any organic supplements necessary to ensure they continue to receive any additional nutrients they can’t derive from winter grazing.
Quality Lamb all Year Round
Eversfield Organic can offer quality lamb all year round. The most tender new season lamb is available from July to September. Through the winter our lambs are over 6 months old and the meat develops a more mature texture and flavour but still delicious. Older lamb is perfect for slow roasting or braising, and more consumers are requesting a return to Mutton or ‘Hogget’ – which comes from lambs between 12 and 24 months old. We often have older lamb available so if it’s Hogget you’re interested in, we can probably prepare it for you.
July 23, 2008
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Cut hay drying in the sun
Finally the sun is shining over Eversfield, and our hay meadows are ready to be cut and baled. The tractors went out a few days ago and the cut grass has been laying in the hot sun and drying. It’s turned once to make sure it’s completely dried through before the clever machinery gathers up the chopped hay and packs it tightly into a round bale which is secured with a special kind of netting. Our livestock will enjoy eating this sweet organic hay through the winter, the sheep will stay outside but be given hay, whilst our cattle will be fed on hay and silage once they come into the barns at the end of the year.
Some of our Hay Bales
Hay contains all the goodness of summer grass, but because it’s dried it can be stored, it also provides a good amount of fibre which is essential for digestion.
At the moment all our animals are enjoying being outside in the sunny weather and lush green organic meadows.
Long may it continue!
July 17, 2008
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If you’re out and about in the British countryside at this time of year you may see lots of large black plastic bales dotted around the fields - it´s silage season.
Here in Devon during late June, the fields around the Eversfield Organic farm were humming with the sound of tractors as the first silage crop of the year was harvested.
Silage being cut across our organic meadows
What´s silage?
‘Silage’ is the agricultural name given to cut grass which is packed into large round bales, wrapped in plastic, allowed to ferment during several months of storage before being used as feed for our cattle in the winter months. It’s really just ‘pickled grass’ which doesn’t sound very tasty – but cows love it!
Why do we need silage?
During the winter our organic meadows are dormant and not very rich in nutrients. So, we bring our cattle into the barns where they’re given organic food including silage. They also enjoy the protection from the wet and windy winter weather. At the same time, it gives the meadows a chance to rest before the spring growing season.
We harvest the grass when it is richest – in summer, so the cattle can still benefit from all that goodness even in winter.
Our organic silage is special.
Organic silage bales coming into the farmyard
Before cutting the grass, our organic meadows have been allowed to grow rich in wild flowers and naturally occurring wild herbs. The extra growing time ensures that the grasses are more fibrous and it takes longer for the cow´s stomach to digest it, therefore their bodies can extract more nutrients making them healthier and improving the quality of our organic beef.
The wildlife too benefits from tall meadows, since the wild flowers attract butterflies, bees and other creepy crawlies which are essential to the food chain.
The meadows are now left to grow again for several weeks before another silage harvest in late summer.
These photos show some of our meadows being cut and the silage bales stored in the farmyard.
