New season Chearsley lamb and Farm News!
Dear all in the village and surroundings
On Friday we will have our first 2022 lamb for sale. I have kept prices the same as last year and am offering 10% off larger orders or first orders. Cutlets and chops are great for the BBQ and soon roasts and stews will be more appealing as this good weather can’t last forever!
I am also offering a brilliant value half lamb box at
£130. This will include one leg, one shoulder, cutlets or a rack of lamb,
chops, neck fillet on the bone, mince and diced lamb. All cuts will be a good
size, not tiddly ones like in the supermarket. It should fit in a decent-sized
freezer drawer and will be an affordable way to feed the family high quality
meat for a while.
All our meat is born and raised on the farm without the use of chemicals and is pure grass-fed and therefore very healthy and full of omega 3 and other essential nutrients.
I hope you have been enjoying the sunshine. It has been glorious but we are now very keen for a proper rain on the farm (the last few showers have not been enough). Our grass has completely dried up but fortunately we do have some mixed pastures (herbal leys) with deep rooting plants like lucerne that have continued to grow a bit. Nevertheless, we are now feeding hay (usually the winter food) to our sheep and cows and we are looking forward to some fresh September grass.
Summer on a livestock farm when the animals are all out grazing on ample food usually means less time spent feeding. Instead, we can get on with jobs like pulling up ragwort (endless – please come and join in, it’s very therapeutic!) making hay and silage for winter feed and planning autumn sowing to top up the wildflower meadows, pastures and herbal leys. I want to add more flowers and forage plants for maximum diversity.
An exciting project is also underway on the farm. A large grant was obtained by the Freshwater Habitats Trust and the River Thame Conservation Trust to put in a new wetland for wildlife on the river. There is already a big wetland that was made a few years ago a few miles upstream on the Waddesdon Estate and our new wildlife area will provide more of a corridor of good habitat along the river.
I would be happy to organise a walk to visit the new wetland once construction is finished. At the moment, huge diggers and dumpers are shunting soil around to create ponds, scrapes and a backwater. The project was a few years in the planning with applications for money, permits from the Environment Agency, the planning authorities and the Rural Payments Agency; checks by archeologists, ecologists, hydrologists and so on - so it’s hat’s off to the two charities for getting it done.
The wetland has been made in our wettest river meadow that always floods. It will still be grazed in summer and will be monitored to see how it captures carbon in the soil and enhances wildlife. It will be very exciting to see how it develops.
Meanwhile, our first beef will soon be available – it is currently dry aging at the butchers and some will be on sale as burgers at the Cricket Club car show. I’ll be there to tell you more about the farm and the meat we are producing – hope to see you on 11 September. I may even bring a couple of sheep along for all to admire!
All the best
Rose
Please email rose@rosedalesorganicfarm.com
for a price list of individual cuts and to enquire about availability.
Or call me on 07535 611919
Thank you!
