The self-appointed Queen of the Chickens know how to strike a pose...
First steps
A newborn heifer calf takes her first steps in the barn.
NY Resolution: Eat like a piglet
Forget NY diets and enjoy your food! Make it British. Make it Local. Make it Happen.
Happy New Year from The Stour Valley Finishing School.
Picture of a family farm
We may be small, use old machinery and don't want to take over the world, but there is something very special about life on a small family farm.
My favourite photo this week.
A hidden world
It's very wet and sticky at the moment, but to celebrate 2015 as the International Year of Soils here's a cute little video and sneak peek at what lies beneath...
What's on your plate?
Farm to Fork is about knowing where your food comes from, how it’s grown and raised and reducing the chain from farm to table.
Blog readers will know we are passionate about local produce and we are working with The Angel Inn at Stoke by Nayland to supply beef and pork for their kitchens.
Farm to Fork came about when Head Chef Mark Allen asked if we would supply beef to The Angel. Mark had heard about our Nayland Beef from a chef friend in a London hotel in Mayfair. Mark was keen to take his sourcing a step further and support local, small-scale and artisan producers by buying direct to bring the best local ingredients onto the menu. So we got to talking and I suggested embracing all stages by getting involved and rearing pigs at Lower Dairy Farm exclusively for the Angel kitchens. And here they are! Our three large black piglets surveying the mammoth task ahead; a jungle to explore, snuffle and munch their way through complete with hazelnuts, acorns and burdock roots to excavate - piggy bliss!
We want people to follow the story from pig to plate and engage in how their food is grown and raised. So step away from the supermarket shelves and get down to your local farm shop and whilst you're at it, pop into your local for a drink and a Lower Dairy Farm steak! Mark is a genius in the kitchen and we can't wait to see what he will produce from our tasty Horkesley Porkers.
Autumn
Gorgeous squash for sale in the farm shop in aid of Wiston Church. Pop over to the church to see the full selection!Dad is busy mucking out the barn, Mum has made a mountain of the most delicious blackcurrant jam and I am getting ready for a crazy Halloween season. I haven't been on the farm as much as I would like lately as I work to save money for future projects. But there is light at the end of the tunnel and hopefully I will get to spend more time with these guys very soon.
And so to get you up to speed, here is a summer in pictures:
Lower Dairy Farm Beef now graces the Big Green Egg at the Angel Inn (more on this soon...) 
One pint or two? Farmer Humph continues to defy fashion and the weather in a woolly hat - there was a brief flirtation with a baseball cap, but we said no...
Fortunately, he's had lots of new calves to distract him from his lack of sartorial freedom. Here's a midnight calf having it's first feed from Mum.
https://instagram.com/p/5swcGSs6iB/
Standards were maintained at all times, even in the middle of silage making.
Dad made a lot of hay and silage. A lot. And this year we're planting more grassland for the cows.
Two sets of chicks were born and Frizzle (the permanently broody and exceptionally crazy chicken) shocked us all by becoming an exemplary Mother Hen. Although she still insists on living in the porch which is a lovely addition to the household - Humbug thinks otherwise.
The Mercator roared... 
The baler worked better than last year! 
Mum outdid herself again with a preserve a day almost throughout the summer and new flavours for the farm shop.
Farmer Humph proved he is actually a monkey...
https://instagram.com/p/6DMVO5s6mc/
And finally, my photo of the summer. It wasn't entirely hard work, there's always time to stop for a chat at Lower Dairy Farm.
Here are Dad, Chris and Pip catching up in the Poor Field before the final load is hauled.
More from the farm soon...
You can't keep a Mercator down for long!
Thanks to BRAD Farm Machinery for making a Sunday breakdown painless!Onward Mercator!
https://instagram.com/p/55epGbM6nK/