May Newsletter

HAPPY ONE YEAR TO US!!!

We’ve now been at Tynefield Farm for just over a year – time certainly flies when you’re having fun! It’s been a roller coaster to say the least but we’re still here a year on with plenty going on at the farm.

Our market towards the end of last month at Trenchmore Farm in Sussex went very well! It was good to see many familiar faces and returning customers who we hope are now hooked on our pork. Highlights for customers included dry cured bacon, meaty ribs, chops and sausages.

The hog roasting season is in full flow which is keeping us busy most weekends. We particularly enjoy these events as it gives us a chance to engage with our customers and see them enjoying our delicious ginger ninjas.

We have also had 32 ginger ninjalets born this month, the most we’ve had so far. Apart from the odd litter, they’ve all been born in our new farrowing huts. This means that we’ve had a very low pre-weaning mortality rate (death of piglets whilst they’re still nursing from their mother) so far.

We weaned our first planned weaning this month too which is excited. The weaners, a few of whom we had to chase, are being housed in a temporary open shed until I set up their hut in the field.

The weather has been playing up for what seems like an eternity, but it seems to be making up its mind the last few days. Unlike us, our new turnip seedlings have been enjoying the weather as its good conditions for them to germinate. We have planted turnips for to help the soil structure as well as provide the pigs with some reward for when they are digging.

Other farm updates include:

• Noah had his first day on the farm as an employee (supervisor) when we moving the goats to a new field
• We’ve planted a pig-specific seed mix which will provide them with a variety of forage and nutrients
• The goats are doing an excellent job of maintaining the hedges
• The sheep have been pains in the neck to move, we couldn’t even catch them to get them shorn
• We now have cattle on the farm which is exciting – they belong to our neighbours & fellow tenant farmers James & Alison

Finally, the long wait for our online shop will soon be over! We’ll have a variety of products, from roasting joints and chops to dry cured bacon and sausages.