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| Available in our shop - seasonal vegetables grown in Cornwall |
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We are a 850 acre traditional mixed and non-intensive family run farm based in the heart of rural Cornwall and we produce, supply and deliver the finest quality meats and produce from our licenced premises.All the beef and lamb sold in the shop is born and reared on our farm.
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Seasonal Selection from Lobbs Farm Shop ...
September 2008
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| Fresh Cauliflower and winter vegetables available now. |
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News from Kestle Farm
It’s spring, well it’s supposed to be, but I am writing this during a tremendous gale with the wind trying its best to rip off our doors and shed roofs. We have suffered damage but fortunately not catastrophic damage.
When we originally built the farm shop the idea was that the farm shop would sell what the farm has produced. That has now been turned around completely so that now the farm produces what the farm shop needs when the farm shop needs it. We have adjusted the ewes’ lambing dates to coincide with the expected demand from the shop. We have just sold the last of our June born lambs, so we have weighed our November born lambs not expecting any to be fit for market yet, but on cue we have several that are of the correct weight; sometimes we do get our forward planning right. We will have these new season lambs in stock from the 19th of March, just right for Easter. February was busy for us as we were lambing again and as I write we have about 15 ewes left to lamb. The weather has been extremely good for these lambs being dry and reasonably warm; consequently most have grown away well.
Another new venture for us this year is that SEF (Southern England farms) are growing cauliflowers on our farm which they harvest for the supermarkets; obviously these will not be as fresh as the ones we sell in the farm shop. Traditionally these crops have been grown in west Cornwall but now are extensively grown in this area as well. The prices that farmers have received for cauliflowers this year has been poor with a low of 18p at one time which is totally unsustainable for the farmer. These low prices have made a few farmers question whether to plant any cauliflowers this year; it’s the boom and bust cycle appearing again. What farmers really need are long term contracts with fixed prices, so that the farmer, wholesaler and supermarket can all plan ahead.
We have completed planting our three new orchards with 160 traditional apple trees. We enjoyed great assistance from our sheepdogs with the planting; for some reason they really enjoy digging holes, planting and then christening the trees! There is a good picture on the website of our puppy Ben with a newly dug hole.
February was a milestone reached for the farm as we sold beef cattle in Truro market that made an average price of 125.5p/kg which is the same price we achieved on 20 March 1997. It has taken us 10 years almost to get back to where we were on that fateful day that Stephen Dorrel announced that there may be a link between BSE and CJD. The bitter irony for us is that we have never had a case of BSE on our farm, but we have had to endure years of depressed prices and extra food safety measures imposed on us farmers by government. The problem for farmers is that although our prices have improved, we now find that the input costs for fertilisers and fuel etc have all increased dramatically. We are still playing catch-up!
News from Lobbs Farm Shop
Well the shop renovations are almost over; we just have to install the rotisserie oven and a couple of new freezers. We are pleased with the refurbishment and we hope you, our customers, agree. We will be moving products around the shop as we are unsure as to where the best selling spots for each product is, so you may have to hunt for your favourite products. Please do ask any of us if you require assistance; we are here to help.
Bags are a current issue and we are supporting the use of bags for life and the recycling of bags. The butchers have begun to pack the meat in biodegradable bags which is another step forward but the best option for us all is to choose products with minimal packaging.
Butchers Phil and Simon have been busy creating a new line of chicken cushions. These are chicken, stuffed with Lobbs’ own sausage meat blended with gourmet cranberry, apple and herb stuffing, wrapped in Cornish dry cured streaky bacon and topped off with a slice of fresh orange. Phil has also made meatballs which are a blend of beef and pork minced and formed in his fair hands and then coated in a tomato sauce.
New season lamb, born and reared on our own farm, will be available from Easter, but with Easter early this year we will not be able to accompany the lamb with Cornish new potatoes. We are also promoting mutton in the butchery with joints as well as mutton chops on offer. We recommend that these are cooked slower and for longer than lamb to get the best from this flavoursome meat. Again please try and give us your feedback; it is valued.
We now sell the RSPCA Freedom Food approved corn fed chickens. These birds are reared to a higher standard that normal barn reared chicken and were featured recently in Hugh and Jamie’s “Chicken out” campaign. Please try, and let us know what you think about chicken production ethics. We will also continue to stock free range chicken produced here in Cornwall.
Another new product is Cornish sea salt which comes in lovely blue packaged pouches (225g for £3.85) or in a large sealable tub which is suitable for catering use. We have also sourced a supply of tasty, fresh salad leaves. These seasonal salad bags currently contain rocket, mizuna and pak choi leaves, accompanied by watercress which is high in calcium, iron and folic acid and is classed as a “super food”.
We are organising a taster week in April from the 14th to the 18th. We have invited several producers along and we will of course have tastings of our own farm shop produced food to try. Please come along and why not bring a friend to visit Lobbs Farm Shop at Heligan.
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