‘you gotta eat it, to keep it’
We farm native breeds to suit the landscape that we farm. From diverse wildflower meadows and ancient pasture, to woodland and parkland, the breeds that walk amongst these thrive. We have chosen these native breeds not just because they’re beautiful, but because they have the ability to convert the ancient pastures and hedgerows into healthy nutritious meat. It’s simple really - native breeds require zero input, and naturally flourish within the environment we have here in the South East. The zero input our native breeds require means our meat is produced sustainably and ethically, in harmony with the environment they live in, just as nature intended.
Why do we have to eat it to keep it?
As the population grew, so has the need for food on mass scale and in great quantities. Native breeds have given way to commercial breeds. These commercial breeds are born in large numbers, grown quickly in factory farms, and are available at a low price. Not here, this isn’t how we work. Our English Longhorns grow slowly, our Tamworth pigs give birth to small litters and our Romney sheep grow slowly to full natural maturity.
You see, to farm ethically, sustainably, regeneratively and in harmony with nature, only native breeds allow this to happen. They thrive in these low input systems, and to aid the survival of Britain’s rare and native breeds it’s so important that you support us, so that we can farm sustainably and regeneratively, nourishing the environment of which we farm, hand in hand with our native breeds. By eating our native rare breed meat, you keep the native rare breeds alive. You gotta eat it, to keep it!
English Longhorn Cattle
Our English Longhorn cattle are a beautiful slow growing breed. When born, they are up on their feet within ten minutes and feeding from their mother. The calves are with their mothers, flourishing on their milk and grazing for 10 months before being weaned. Once weaned, they grow slowly to full natural maturity of about 30 - 36 months and only ever on a diet of 100% grass. They graze the ancient parkland and diverse wild flower meadows across our farmland. Not only do our English Longhorns produce the most sensational beef, but they play an incredibly important role in the management of the wild flower meadows, transporting the seed of rare plant species from field to field, where their dung acts as an all in one germination station! The Longhorns graze the meadows and eat the seed amongst the wild flowers, taking the seed with them as they browse and graze. When the conditions are right, the seeds of the wild flowers germinate in the dung and as the dung degrades into the soil, the wild flowers are left and grow to flourish amongst the meadows.
ROMNEY SHEEP
Our Romney sheep are native to Kent and flourish on our ancient meadows. Their thick fleeces keep them dry and warm in winter, and once shorn the lanolin in their fleeces also helps to keep them cool during the summer. We lamb outdoors during April, whatever the weather. Our Romney ewes are excellent milky mothers, providing their lambs with plenty of milk until weaning. Once weaned, our Romney lambs are 100% grass fed, spending their entire lives grazing our permanent pastures. The lambs grow slowly, reaching full natural maturity of around 10 - 18 months and producing the most succulent, tender lamb and hogget. Once our ewes have finished their breeding life, we allow them to rest and graze through all four seasons to produce the most fantastic mutton.
Tamworth pigs
Our properly free range rare breed Tamworth pigs lead an active lifestyle, living outdoors their entire lives. They have earth beneath their feet and mud at the end of their snouts, spending their days grazing pasture, rooting, foraging, wallowing and getting up to all things pig. Our Tamworth sows are excellent milky mothers, teaching their piglets all the do’s and do not’s! The piglets are weaned from their mothers at 2 months of age and grow slowly to an age of 10 - 12 months. Our Tamworth pigs have a largely forage-based diet, and are fed on a locally milled grain feed to produce pork with a deep flavour and fantastic texture.
Bronze turkeys
From the moment our Bronze turkeys hatch, we nurture them. For the first six weeks of their lives they are nestled up in a warm cosy barn under heaters. With unlimited food and water, and plenty of friends, they thrive. Once they have feathered up and can face the weather at around the age of 6 weeks, they are ready to be properly free range across our wild flower meadows. Spending their days running, flapping, chasing bugs and pecking grass they grow slowly to full natural maturity of about 7 months. They are fed on a locally milled grain feed with no antibiotics., exactly as nature intended.
Our bees are the bee’s knees!
Our bees are busy bees, working in harmony with nature and pollinating the landscape around us. The bees forage acres and acres of ancient pastures, wild flower meadows and deep hedgerows, returning to their hives full of nectar and fortifying their reserves. Our bees are the most important element to our entire farming system, working hard to pollinate the grassland and meadows that our ruminants graze, and the hedgerows and trees that provide them all with shade and shelter. Each hive is home to about 80,000 bees and with the goal to build up to around 250 hives across the land we farm, our farmland will be home to about 20 million bees. That’s why our bees are the bee’s knees!
