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| Recent Newsleters from the farm shop and Kestle farm |
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Winter 2007
News from Kestle Farm
Nell, one of our Border Collies has given birth to six beautiful puppies. Rebecca Lobb has had a good Christmas hosting “Come and see the puppies parties”. Very soon these stars will be off to their new owners, and new flocks of sheep to chase. It is noticeable that there are now fewer and fewer farmers with sheep on their farms so therefore less need to have a farm dog to assist with the work. We have managed to find new owners for some but not all of the puppies yet. We will keep one bitch for ourselves as Fly our oldest sheepdog is now less inclined to run past the sheep when required. It is important that we have a young dog here in training, whilst the older dog is still capable because the young will watch and learn from the older more experienced dog.
The lovely weather in the autumn was ideal for us to plant the winter wheat and barley; all the crops went into perfect seedbeds and at this point in time are looking well. The animals are also looking well; many have lovely shiny coats which are a sure sign of health. This year we have kept several cows and heifers outside rather than housing from November. The mild and dry weather has been good for these cattle and they are looking healthier and happier than the housed cattle at the moment. This is also beneficial to our winter stocks of feed and bedding as less is required. The weather normally averages itself out over the long term so I suppose we can now expect a wet spring.
We have begun to plant three new orchards on the farm with traditional apple varieties; this is part of our environmental stewardship scheme. There used to be six small orchards on the farm which, as the trees have got old, have not been replaced. We will eventually have three large orchards with a total area in excess of the original six orchards. The varieties that we are planting are many and varied from Bens Red, Cornish Aromatic, Manaccan Primrose to Lord Lambourne and Bramley. Cornish Gilly Flower was one variety that we had to grow because one of the new orchards is on the site of a long gone orchard, which has a lane that leads to it called Gilly Lane.
News from Lobbs Farm Shop
The alterations to the shop were suspended during December but are now back on track. We are planning to relay the rest of the new floor boards during the end of January and through February. During this time the shop will still be open but slightly rearranged. We hope that we have not inconvenienced any customers during this interesting time; we believe that the shop will be bigger and better and there should be more space to allow for easier access to the enlarged butchery and delicatessen counters.
Our own farmhouse kitchen range of prepared food on offer in the farm shop freezer includes a range of soups such as potato and leek soup, parsnip, butternut squash, and mushroom. There is also a choice of our own home made pies made from our own ingredients with steak and ale, chicken and mushroom, and now the new flavour of pigeon and mushroom.
The butchers have been busy preparing our game products such as local pheasant, partridge, venison and rabbit. A brace of pheasant retails at £6.80 which is a similar price to a free range chicken but with a stronger flavour.
Recent TV programmes have investigated chicken production methods with both Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall encouraging consumers to choose free range if possible. It was surprising to see on the film that many people did not remove the chicken meat from the carcase and use in a pie or other meals; I was always taught that the tastiest meat is nearest to the bone.
There are three types of chicken production:
Industrially farmed which is meat from super-fast growing birds reared indoors at high density with low animal welfare.
Barn reared which is meat from slower growing birds reared at lower stocking densities able to move around a large pen with medium animal welfare.
Free range describes a system where birds are of a slower growing type with access to the outdoors, able to roam, peck, and with good animal welfare.
We sell barn reared chicken supplied to us by a Cornish abattoir; these chickens are British grade A reared to the red tractor assured standards and free of antibiotics.
We also sell free range chickens from a Devon supplier that has won awards for their farming systems. These chickens are allowed to roam grassy fields yet have the protection from predators and the elements in their specialist housing. Birds are fed a low density GM free, additive and antibiotic free diet to allow slower growth, greater maturity and better flavour. Birds are reared in small flocks to reduce stress and increase freedom. A simple diet, greater maturity and a natural environment produces a happier, better tasting chicken.
We have also managed to source free range chickens from two local Cornish chicken producers; Phil and I have visited these farmers and seen for ourselves how the chickens are cared for, and it is reassuring to see happy contented chickens allowed the opportunity to exhibit their natural behaviour. If you are able to buy free range, please do, as you are supporting good animal welfare practices. If price is important be assured that our barn reared chickens are of a high standard for that type of production method.
The choice is yours! We do sell our own reared Beef and Lamb which are well cared for and range freely over our pastures.
Your purchasing decisions do make a difference to how farmers care for animals and care for the countryside.
Autumn 2007 Newsletter
News from Kestle Farm
The harvest is in and we are ploughing the fields for the next crop, the yields that our crops produced were less than expected, this is probably due to the unusual weather pattern experienced this summer. Incredibly the wheat price per ton has increased from £70.00 to £170/ton because the yields are down worldwide and many farmers like us have reduced the area growing crops due to the lack of profitability. Now food appears to back in demand, unfortunately for us we are only growing about 60% of what we used to grow 10 years ago. We now have to decide whether we should resume growing crops to sell to cash in on these high prices!
The threat of animal disease has been with us now for several years, with foot and mouth, Tuberclerousis, and now blue tongue disease. It is difficult to keep happy healthy animals at the best of times without all of these extra risks. It still amazes us when we hear our government announce that the export of our meat is banned because of disease, but yet we continue to import meat into the UK from other countries that has endemic disease in their herds.
In previous newsletters I have written about the cows, sheep, crops and wildlife but not about another breed on the farm: the farmer. There has been a farmer Lobb at Kestle farm for generations, Terry, Ian and Richard are the fifth generation. We would like to think that one or two or more, of our children will decide to become involved with the farm and farm shop in the future. There are seven young Lobbs at the moment three girls (Louise, Rebecca, and Georgia) and four boys (Darren, William, Tom and Harry). The oldest is 17 and the youngest 12 years old; all help out when required with various tasks on the farm and the farm shop. The majority of our vegetable plants have been planted by them and one of the children would normally be working in the shop at weekends. Now these children are getting older we have a considerable workforce to keep busy. Our business has grown over the years but will need to continue to develop if we are to fully employ all these extra hands
The farm presently employs three people, Derek who has been working for our family for over thirty years and knows the farm like the back of his hand. Paul has been with us for twelve years and Gregg who has been with us for ten years. Their expertise and knowledge is very important we could not manage our farm as well without their support. Because we can rely on these guys to get the jobs done we have been able to grow the business in other areas. Currently one of the three Lobb brothers would normally be at the shop while the other two works on the farm, but it is a juggling act trying to match the demands of the farm and the farm shop.
News from Lobbs Farm Shop
The shop is also reliant on the hard work of our excellent members of staff; the daily numbers fluctuate with the seasons from eight in the summer to five in the depths of winter. We have five full time employees; Gill in the office keeping the records in order, Heather supervising the shop floor, Shelley our new deli lady and two full time butchers Phil and Simon. There are also a host of part time and seasonal staff that allows us to cope with the seasonal demand of our business. When we originally put in our business plan to secure Objective One funding we had to forecast our employment levels and expected sales, we are pleased to say that we have exceeded our initial assumptions. We believe this is because we are able to satisfy the local and visitor demand for quality distinctive food products. The most important person in our business is you the customer, none of the above jobs would be secure without your support, we are very appreciative of your comments and we thank you all for your continued support of our business.
The recent tasting day was a slightly different day for us; we changed the format into a demonstration day. Phil the butcher demonstrated the various ways to cut up a lamb into the individual joints and he also shared a few of his “jokes” with the audience. Steve Hall who previously ran the Salamander restaurant in Mevagissey followed with his cooking of three of his recipes; Greek lamb stew made from shoulder of Lamb, Morrocan spiced lamb using neck fillets, and stuffed Leg of Lamb. The recipe sheets are available to download from the website or on display at the farmshop.
Tracklements came to the day and had an enormously successful tasting of their products. We oven cooked our own Cumberland and Lincolnshire flavoured sausages which were then liberally coated in Tracklement onion marmalade and left in a warm oven for five minutes, these were absolutely delicious yum yum yum, so good in fact that we completely sold out of the onion marmalade. But do not despair more is winging its way to us and should be in stock soon.
There were also tasting’s of Cornish Lust a strawberry and cream liqueur, Nevek a fresh cream chocolate liqeuer and Cornish dream a fresh cream and fudge liqueur very nice, hic, apparentlelly best served chidlled over ice, hic. The day went very well and graet fun was had by all, cherers.
The next event will be advertised in the shop and will be on a first reply first booked basis, seating for these events is limited so please book when you get the chance.
Summer 2007 Newsletter
News from Kestle Farm
Wet! Wet! Wet! What a summer, so different to last year which was so dry. We have grass in abundance but it is almost impossible to conserve into silage and hay. We need three dry days in a row to make good round bale silage and ideally five or six dry days to make lovely sweet hay with a “nose”. The smell is difficult to describe but horses can tell and if it hasn’t got a nose horses will not eat it. If hay is made in the wet the grass deteriorates and moulds will grow which can cause severe lung problems for horses, cattle and sheep, so it is extremely important that we can make good hay when the sun shines.
The cereal crops have also suffered with many of the barley heads breaking off and falling to the ground due to the incessant wind and rain. We have managed to combine a few fields but the yields are down because of the weather and the grain crop requires drying to enable us to store for next winter. The straw crop is best left in the row to dry for a day before baling but this year we have watched the weather forecast and decided we had to bale the straw right behind the combine as rain was on its way again.
This year we also have an abundance of rabbits, slugs, snails, carrot fly and pigeons all intent on eating our vegetable crop. We are fighting back with plastic fleece to protect our plants and scarecrows to deter the blighters; we have also had to resort to the gas bird banger. The modern bangers are very hi-tech and we can now select a dawn delay for the first bang as well as being able to vary the frequency and size of the bangs.
You may have noticed the margins that we have left around our fields that we have not harvested; these areas are part of our stewardship scheme and will provide habitats for wildlife. We have four owl boxes on our farm which in previous years have only been occupied by pigeons but this year we have been honoured by the presence of Barn Owls and two chicks have been successfully reared. These chicks are two great big balls of fluff for weeks but eventually the brown colouring appears and we expect them to fledge soon.
Have we assisted the successful brood by our land management policies? Who knows but it must help. The public are obviously extremely interested in watching wildlife as has been proven with the huge success of the Heligan and the BBC springwatch co-operation this year. We need to make the link between wildlife, their habitats and how farmers manage the countryside and crucially where consumers buy their food.
This is the message that we have tried to get across to the school and college groups that have visited us this year. We have hosted farm visits for groups from Truro College, Exeter University, Carclaze infants, Penair and Poltair schools. We were delighted to have been able to host a tour for two groups of less able people; Headway and a Cornish visually impaired group have both written back to express their enjoyment of the tour.
The comments received back from schools have included;
“Children focused and engaged—a fantastic day out” (Carclaze infants school).
“Very interesting & informative, excellent” (Penair School).
News from Lobbs Farm Shop
The new extension to the shop is progressing; the cold room has been fitted and will be operating soon. The butchery and store room specialist, easily cleaned floor has been laid and we anticipate being able to use these areas in August. There is still more work to do in the new deli area which we plan to complete with as little disruption to the shop as possible. But we will need to close the shop for a few days to join the old with the new; we will put up notices in the shop nearer to the time to explain the details. This will probably occur in October. The room upstairs has been completed and is now awaiting the installation of furniture
The sale of the new deli products, pork pies, quiches and sausage rolls all made on the premises are progressing as are the new salads that Sally has created. Currently we have Montgomery’s Cheddar cheese in stock which is made in Somerset by farmer / artisan James Montgomery, the champion cheese maker of the world this year. Have you tried this with one of our lovely chutneys such as Tracklements Apple and Cider Brandy?
We have continued with the fish on Fridays throughout the summer this year due to increased customer demand for quality fresh fish and we hope that you will continue to support this counter so that we can widen the range of fish on offer. If you are arranging a dinner party or an event we can accept orders in advance to ensure that we have the right fish in the right quantities provided the boats are able to catch during that week.
The butchers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of summer and the BBQ season. We do have an extensive range of meats on offer such as the popular flavoured chicken packs, good value at three packs (12 pieces) for only £5.00. I personally like the lemon and black pepper pieces, great taste, easy to cook. The packs of Chinese flavoured pork ribs are only about £1.80 and contain six or seven pieces and our own made stir fry costs £2.10 for a pack (0.5Kg). If the weather remains wet then be resolute and have that BBQ you planned, but cook your food in the grill or as my son did for my birthday use the BBQ hotplate, place on the stove and cook your steaks on the stove. Rain what rain? The food still tastes great especially with a glass or two of Cornish ale or wine, cheers.
News from Kestle Farm
Spring 2007
Kestle Farm has successfully been accepted for the DEFRA Higher Level Countryside Stewardship scheme, we are now able to take school, college or any special interest group of six people or more on a free farm tour. Do you have children at a local school that would be interested in a visit to see our cows and young calves or our ewes and lambs, please inform us or the school so that we can arrange a visit soon, we want to show our young people and the wider public where their food comes from and why they should support local food and farming.
Spring is here and it has been very busy on the farm, when the weather is wet we have our yard work to complete every day; feeding the animals, checking on their health and cleaning out where necessary. But when it becomes dry the list of jobs that require attention becomes endless, planting, fertilising, fencing, hedging, fixing gates it goes on, every day a new task to complete. We have a great variety in our work which is part of the joy of farming but sometimes we just wish we had more hours in a day.
The ewes have finished lambing and we have just begun weighing the lambs that were born last autumn. These are sorted and the ewe lambs (females) are kept as replacements in the flock, we will need about 120 this year. Ewes normally live to about six years old and will have on average, eight lambs each during their lifetime. The rams normally live to a similar age and are expected to serve 35 ewes during each tupping period which is spread over six weeks. Our rams are fortunate in that we lamb different flocks of ewes at different times of the year, consequently their activity is encouraged in June, September and December, lucky chaps! These boys could in theory father up to 500 lambs in their lifetime. The ewes remain pregnant for five months with the young lambs requiring milk for four months, supplemented by grass from about four weeks of age.
This year we have decided not to plant as many fields of wheat or barley because the crop prices are still very similar to what we received 10 years ago, instead we are planting more grass fields which will allow us to produce enough grass for our animals without having to use much in the way of fertiliser. We are reverting back to a system of farming that our grandfather would have recognised. When he was farming every Friday the trap was loaded up with our Granny’s butter, milk, eggs and cakes and off to our local market town they went. We have gone full circle as we are farming more like our grandparents and we are selling our food direct to you the consumer at Lobbs farmshop.
Nature watch.We are delighted to see the swallows back the first arrival sat upon the wires in the farmyard on the 8th of April, which is seven days earlier than last year. The local pigeon population has decimated our crop of spring greens, fortunately we grew two patches of greens this year and we have been able to harvest from this remaining patch
News from Lobbs Farmshop
The building work has been progressing as can be seen, the shell of the building is almost finished with a few jobs left to complete. Internally we need to install the new cold room and freezer this will allow us to continue to hang our meat for the three weeks that we believe is important for enhanced flavour and tenderness. The shop area itself will eventually be larger with the Delicatessen moving back about eight feet and away from the Butcher’s cabinet. This will enable us to extend the butchery cabinet allowing for an improved meat display. Unfortunately we do not envisage that the work will be completed before the summer; we feel it is important to do the job right, rather than rush for a quick job. We thank you for your support during this process and apologise for any inconvenience created by this building work.
Through the spring we have been developing recipes to improve our range in the Deli and the Butchery. Sal ‘our Deli maid’ has asked customers for suggestions of products they would like to buy and has come up with some deliciously enticing salads made on our premises. New products for the summer include an Algerian salad, Potato salad, 5 bean salad, Waldorf salad, homemade Houmous and a colourful tomato/mozzarella salad. All these will be available with our own popular coleslaw and cous cous salad for the summer.
Many customers have requested a wider range of cooked meats; we are now offering cooked ham, beef, pork and tongue. During the summer we will again have cooked chickens and gammon knuckles available. We have also started making pork pies in two different sizes for big or small appetites, great for a picnic or a trip to the beach.
The wonderful weather this spring has seen a early demand for barbecue products, we are doing lemon peppered chicken pieces, chilli willi flavoured steaks, Chinese ribs, minted lamb steaks as well as our own burgers and sausages, happy sizzling. Simon in the butchery has created our own Lobbs farmshop Hogs pudding which is selling very well.
Many B& B’s are offering the complete Cornish breakfast with hogs pudding accompanied by Lobbs sausage, Cornish bacon and eggs for a great start to the day, proper ‘ansome my dears.
For the true flavour of spring, why not try our speciality home reared shoulder of lamb marinated in rosemary, roasted and eaten with new Cornish potatoes and succulent Cornish asparagus from Tregassow Farm. Ahhh Cornwall !
News from Kestle Farm
Winter 2006
We are delighted that our higher level stewardship application to DEFRA has been accepted; we will now receive grant support for our care of the countryside. We manage our pastures with little inputs of fertiliser or chemicals which is beneficial to wildlife improving the flora and fauna of our farm. This spring we will begin to plant a 6 metre margin around our fields which will provide suitable habitat and feed sources for many creatures increasing biodiversity - it should be interesting to see what changes we can achieve with the population levels of the many different species of wildlife, whether it is bees, butterflies or bats.
Our ewes that lambed in the autumn are now eating the forage rape fields one of which is situated opposite the road junction leading towards St.Ewe. These lambs have grown dramatically as the mild winter has increased grass growth enabling the ewes to suckle the lambs well.
The weather does seem to be changing; we have noticed differences from year to year. The recent Stern report has focused attention on this issue, stating that “the scientific evidence is now over whelming: climate change is a serious threat, and it demands an urgent global response.”
Have you clicked onto the website? Just search Google with “Stern report” and read the executive summary!
We are trying to reduce our carbon footprint and be environmentally aware but it is an ongoing process. There is no doubt that local food sourcing is important, we can reduce food miles with fewer trucks on the roads and less unnecessary transport of food around the world. We do not need to import lamb from ‘down under,’ instead you can buy tasty Cornish lamb from Lobbs Farm shop and help to save the planet!
On the farm we have three collies; Fly is older and wiser and works at her own pace if you don’t mind. Nell, another bitch, is 5 years old and normally works in third and fourth gear without any first or second gear! Sharp, our trainee dog is almost 3 years old and is a late developer, but has recently improved tremendously. He will now go to the left when hearing the command “come bye” and right for “away to me”; without these three clever dogs we could not care for our sheep and cattle to the same standard of care. You may well have seen our dogs with their heads peeping over our shoulder when they ride on the back of our quad bike.
Richard has three spaniels, Millie and her two six month old puppies Poppy and Bruce. Millie regularly attends the local pheasant shoot in the woods here at Heligan whilst the puppies are still in training. There are also two Jack Russell terriers on the farm, Rose is Derek’s dog and she often accompanies him when he is working on the tractor. Occasionally she loses sight of him so she sits in the yard and howls; eventually Derek returns and they are reunited resulting in much tail wagging, from Rose that is. The other terrier is Dan who can be described as a trainee terrorist looking for chicken or pheasant to terrorise, he has been known to attack and kill many a tennis ball which lie scattered around Lower Kestle yard. One of the many joys of being a farmer is that we are able to work with animals especially our faithful friends, our dogs, a joy every day.
News from Lobbs Farmshop
By now those of you that purchased food from us over the Christmas / New Year period should have a copy of the Lobbs Farm shop calendar. All of the photographs have been taken on our farm by members of our family and we are pleased with the quality of the pictures. It does prove the point that our countryside is beautiful and is worth preserving; we are very fortunate to live in such wonderful surroundings.
Thank you all for your kind words and remarks regarding your seasonal Lobbs Farm shop food purchases, from turkeys to ribs and the system for processing your orders on the busy days. It is really great to hear your comments as it increases our enthusiasm for our work, Thank you.
In the delicatessen cabinet we have our Lobbs Farm shop cooked tongue, pork and beef presented in foil packs.
We are currently increasing the range of prepared foods in the freezer; we are selling Lobbs homemade pies - £3.50 for two frozen pies. The range includes;
Chicken, leek, bacon & spring onion pies or chicken and mushroom pies.
Beef and ale or beef, onion & mushroom pies.
The butchery has on offer at the moment, frozen sausages where if you choose three packs you get one pack free. Why not try a new flavouring such as pork and cranberry, lamb and mint, pork and cracked black pepper or even turkey sausages? Game is still available either fresh or frozen depending on the season, we have pheasant, rabbit and venison all in the frozen meat cabinet.
You can now purchase a range of flours and yeast for your own baking of cakes and bread. Alternatively we sell Martin’ bread, our own baked bread, or Baker Tom delivers every Friday with his specialist breads. Have you tried the smoked bacon & red onion or the sun dried tomato & thyme loaf? Yummmy!
email:lobbsfarmshop@btconnect.com www.lobbsfarmshop.com
Autumn 2006
Well summer is over and the wet cold weather is back; how the seasons change. The dry summer did create a few problems with a lack of grazing for our animals; fortunately we did not have to use any of our winter feed, unlike many farmers that have had hungry animals to feed. This is probably because we graze our animals very extensively which means that our animals have more meadows and pastures to graze over rather than relying on grass growth fuelled by high artificial fertiliser inputs, which is very dependent on regular amounts of rainfall.
The dry weather did bring an early and quick harvest for our crops of wheat and barley. We actually finished earlier than we can ever remember, and not a single trailer load had to be dried which was a significant saving as drying corn is a very expensive process (£12 to £20 for each ton dried). The yield was slightly reduced because most of the grain was very small and pinched, but despite the reduced national yield the prices are still low with each ton being worth only £65/ton. Ten years ago wheat was worth £100/ton and one of the reasons for the low price is that apparently we can import cereals from the Black Sea for this value; now isn’t that near to the Ukraine and Chernobyl!
This year we have seen huge numbers of butterflies. We have seen the Clouded Yellow and the Common Blue. In one particular field which was a mass of clover flowers we noticed that the blues prefer the white clover whilst the yellows frequent the red clover flowers; perhaps the length of proboscis in relation to the position of the nectar within the flower is the reason for this phenomenon. During a recent farm walk that we hosted for the RSPB we were lucky to have an expert Lepidopterist explain the importance of old pasture grass and herb species that are crucial in the circle of life for larvae and pupae that become butterflies. This illustrates the vital importance of a species diverse pasture to encourage biodiversity.
On our farm we have many such pastures on which we graze our animals and due to your support and purchases of meat from Lobbs Farm Shop we are able to continue this traditional system, working with nature producing quality Cornish food. Thank you.
Recently we had a school visit from Gorran school, years 3 and 4. The kids loved seeing the cows being fed hay whilst the calf took the opportunity to suckle milk. It was great to hear the feedback from parents visiting the shop saying:
“My son loved the tractor tour; he told me they went to a real farm where they have real food”.
Summer 2006 Newsletter
On Sunday June 11th Kestle Farm as the only LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) demonstration farm in Cornwall hosted free farm tours. Terry and Ian Lobb took trailer loads of visitors and farmshop customers around part of the farm, each tour took an hour or so depending on the number of question from our guests. During the tour passengers were shown crops of barley, lupins and a wild bird seed cover crop. The tours began and finished at Lobbs farmshop where Richard Lobb with our families and staff were providing roast lamb and sausage baps for the returning travellers. If you look on the website at Lobbsfarmshop.com you can see a few photos taken on the day, including one Will Lobb has taken of a Dragonfly resting on barley.
In Coney Park, one of our pasture fields, we saw the South Devon cattle with their young calves and met Trewint Hugo the third, our resident South Devon Bull. Finally a short demonstration was given by Fly one of our border collies of how to round up our flock of Dorset Horn sheep. Our young sheepdog called Sharp also had a run out and surprisingly did not disgrace himself, managing to drive the sheep through the cattle and back towards the tour trailer.
Phil and Simon our butchers had previously prepared several boned and rolled legs of Kestle Farm Lamb in a Rosemary marinade. These were then roasted in our new demonstration kitchen and served to our visitors, a real taste of the countryside. We received several comments about the flavour of the meat which was delicious, why not ask our butchers to prepare one for your next dinner party.
On the farm Darren,Tom and Harry Lobb have planted several rows of vegetables and a few early turnips for sale later in the summer. Unfortunately the pigeons have been pulling up some of the plants so we have had to employ our scarecrows to do their work.
The swallows that have been raising their young in the farmyard have recently been terrorised by a sparrow hawk. I witnessed this incredible bird catch a swallow in mid flight an amazing feat as swallows are themselves remarkable aeronauts. Following this attack all of the swallows in the farmyard then chased the hawk over the barn and out of sight presumably attempting to rescue their compatriot.
We have recently applied to DEFRA to enter the higher level stewardship programme. This is an initiative to support farmers with grants, providing the countryside is maintained and natural environmental features are enhanced such as parkland trees, hedgerows, ponds and pastures. The application process is quite detailed and we have had to map all of the features on the farm, which for our farm is a mammoth task. Let’s hope our application is successful.
News from Lobbs farmshop
Summer 2006 Newsletter
We have managed to source yet more local products to tempt your taste buds. At the far end of the shop we have a display of herb dressings and marinades from Kernewek and Halzephron the range is huge with incredible flavours. To compliment these we have freshly picked salad leaf bags, from two local suppliers, some even come with a lovely nasturtium flower.
Teoni’s in Devon are now supplying us with delicious Oat Crunch Cookies half dipped in chocolate and all butter shortbreads – yummy! Be quick because these are selling like hot cakes sorry biscuits!
The butchery department has been busy creating new products such as our own made pork and apple pies, as well as our steak and ale pies. These are available either frozen or cooked hot to take away, please try them and let us know what you think.
Now that summer is here we are extending our range of barbecue food, we are packing the meats in individual portions or in family BBQ packs. The choice is huge with chilli willi beef steaks, peppered beef steaks, minted lamb chops and ribs, pork steaks and ribs with a Chinese marinade. For the chicken packs we use chinese, garlic and butter as well as the lovely lemon pepper coating. There is also the full range of Lobbs farmshop produced burgers and sausages with the latest offering of a Orange and Country Herb sausage another taste sensation, try a pack and please tell us which ones you like!
The delicatessen has extended the range of cooked meats; we now have Cornish ham, cold tongue, and cooked Kestle beef as well as rotisserie cooked chicken. We are also making our own coleslaw and Cous Cous salad with cheese and hazelnut, available from the upright chiller above the Cornish Gammon. Adjacent to these there are locally made mushroom and pepper quiches as well as the expected bacon and egg.
We were delighted to hear that Lynher dairies have recently won two gold medals at the annual World Cheese Awards for their Yarg Cornish cheese and Wild Garlic Cornish cheese, both available from Lobbs farmshop.
Spring 2006 newsletter
Spring is definitely here now, we have daffodils and camellias in flower and the sheep are lambing, the weather has been great for the lambs with very little rain during the first few weeks after birth. They are now growing away, grazing the meadows around the farm. The ewes that lambed in the autumn and their twin lambs are grazing fields further away from the farmyard at Tregarton and Treleaven with one flock of ewes with single lambs eating the turnips that didn’t make the grade for the farmshop. These older lambs are now at an age where they have races across the fields – great fun!
The suckler cows have also started calving with two of the South Devon cows giving birth to twins obviously our new Bull Hugo is full of youthful vigour! We will have to keep these cows and their calves separate from the others for a while so that we can lavish some TLC (tender loving care) on them and extra food rations for the cows.
Unfortunately one of our cow’s calf was born dead, after a difficult calving, so we have bought a spare calf from another farmer to foster onto the cow. This involves us tying the Cow up each day with a halter and then encouraging her to allow the calf to suckle, hopefully after two weeks of this effort she will accept this calf as her own. This system has worked in the past and hopefully if successful the cow and fostered calf will graze the fields along with the rest of the herd.
Twitchers required: we have recently been contacted by the RSPB regarding surveying part of our farm for bird activity. As members of the RSPB Volunteer & Farmer Alliance we have accommodated previous surveys of the farm with the results displayed on a map with explanatory text in the Countryside barn. A volunteer is required to walk the fields every two or three weeks and record what birds are resident and nesting during the spring and early summer. It is an ideal opportunity to get up with the lark and enjoy the countryside that is not normally available for public access, if this interests you please get in touch with us here at Lobbs Farm Shop on 01726 844411 or Deborah Hanlon at the RSPB on 01392 432691.
News from Lobbs Farm Shop
Spring newsletter 2006
Roskillys ice cream and fudge has now been certified as fully organic congratulations to them. We have recently been contacted by a new soup producer called Rainy Day Soups; these are handmade from the finest produce sourced exclusively in Cornwall and are free from additives and colouring. These delicious wholesome soups are available now with flavours such as Winter Vegetable, Sweet Tomato and even Perfect Pasty! These are sold in 600g tubs and are priced at £3.75.
Our regular suppliers of home made cakes, Rebecca’s Cake Tin on Mondays and Helens cakes on Thursdays have created a few new recipes to tempt you into trying one of their delicious creations, but you will need to be quick as these do sell well or you can order in advance to reserve the cake you require.
The range of chocolate has been added to with Easter eggs and bunnies from £1.79, made in Cornwall by Trenance Chocolates. We also stock Green and Black’s Maya gold eggs which are organic and fair-trade chocolate with Orange and spices – yummy!
A new aspect of the shop is our “store cupboard” which is a food basics area situated in the corner next to the teas and coffee, items such as Suet, Yeast, baking powder, treacle, golden syrup, tomato puree and tinned chopped tomatoes and red kidney beans. We have even found vegetarian rennet which can be used to make lovely junket sprinkled with organic nutmeg from our huge spice range. If there is an item you need which you would like us to stock, please let us know.
The farm tours will begin in April once we have put our calves and cows back into the fields to graze, if you ever wondered how we look after our animals this is your chance to find out and see these animals in their natural habitat, the beautiful Cornish Countryside.
Making the news- we were delighted to be included in an article in the Times supplement about Farm trails with our tractor tours around the farm. The writer Nick Wyke suggested
“that talking to a producer was like having a talking label telling you things other labels leave out”.
My brothers and I thought this was a very good description of the extra information you get when buying from a farm shop.
Cornwall Tourism Awards 2005
Winners of The Cornish Distinctiveness Champion Of The Year Lobbs Farm Shop.
This award highlights the creation of a product that is truly cornish and recognises outstanding achievement in contributing to Cornwall as a quality brand.
We also usually have plenty of Kestle Farm home-grown leeks, curly kale, chard, broccoli, white cauliflower, romanesque broccoli, swedes, cabbages, celeriac (see recipe page), sprouts on stalks come & see for yourself. Thanks to the Lobb brothers and their band of merry men the veg is all cut 'morning-dew fresh' for you each day - be sure to come in good time to avoid disappointment.
We are delighted to announce that we have won the gold award from Taste of the West as the "Local Retail Outlet in Cornwall for the Year 2005" and have been put forward a further stage of judging to identify the South West Local Retail Outlet of the Year 2005 - fingers crossed!
Terry, Ian & Richard are delighted to announce that Lobbs Farm Shop Limited has been awarded gold as the "South West Retail Outlet of the Year 2005" in the Taste of the West Food & Drinks awards. Terry & Ian have been to the award ceremony at Highgrove to receive the award from HRH Prince Charles.
We also won bronze awards for our home-made Pork & Cornish Blue Cheese sausages, Pork & Cracked black pepper sausages and our home-reared Kestle Farm lamb. Come & buy some today!
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