Our first Farmer's Market of the year will be at Cradley on Saturday the 7th of January from 10am to 2pm. We will be bringing a range of sausages (TBA) and various joints of pork. If you have any special orders or requests, please contact us and we will be able to bring it with us.
Cradley Farmer's Market is held on the first Saturday of each month at The Old Rectory, Cradley, WR13 5LQ. Cradley is just on the Herefordshire side of the Malvern Hills - despite having a Worcestershire postcode!
Also, if you know of any other Farmer's Markets looking for pork producers, please let us know!
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Monday, 2 January 2012
First Farrowing of 2012...
There is something about living in the quiet of the countryside that means instead of being able to relax in the tranquil solitude each sound is amplified and able to be heard much more clearly than normal. This means that often Sarah will turn to me in the middle of the night asking if I have heard a noise (normally that won't be repeated) and then send me out for a quick trip round the farm to confirm that all is well. This morning bought about another prod in the ribs at 4am - "Did you hear that? What was it?" - and then silence... as I turned over to return to sleep I heard another shrill noise. To most people this would probably be thought of as the call of a bird, but to pig farmers like us it is the noise of a recently born piglet.
A quick run out to the cow byre (where the show-girl gilts, who are due to farrow this week, have been staying) and there was Nancy in the middle of farrowing - actually she was just standing around, slightly bemused by the shrill squeaks coming from her straw bed. A quick bit of searching and one... two... three piglets found and popped under the heat lamp to give them a warm up. We try to stay with each pig when they farrow and so Sarah began to bank up some straw to make a seat and was just about to sit down when, a tiny squeal emanated from the banked straw. A quick flinging of straw revealed piglet number four.
By the end of the night (or the beginning of the morning) she had had 10 piglets in total, but will one of them be able to gain a hallowed red rosette at this year's shows?
A quick run out to the cow byre (where the show-girl gilts, who are due to farrow this week, have been staying) and there was Nancy in the middle of farrowing - actually she was just standing around, slightly bemused by the shrill squeaks coming from her straw bed. A quick bit of searching and one... two... three piglets found and popped under the heat lamp to give them a warm up. We try to stay with each pig when they farrow and so Sarah began to bank up some straw to make a seat and was just about to sit down when, a tiny squeal emanated from the banked straw. A quick flinging of straw revealed piglet number four.
By the end of the night (or the beginning of the morning) she had had 10 piglets in total, but will one of them be able to gain a hallowed red rosette at this year's shows?
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