We're often asked in the farm shop "why is you meat different from the rest?" so I thought we probably arent telling the story properly. We take alot of pride in what we are trying to do here at Hartley Farm so I thought it would be useful for us to tell everyone in a little more detail what goes into every joint, cut and sausage that gets put in our meat counter every day.
Why Choose Us?
With 5 generations and well over 100 years of faming experience in the family we take things seriously. It is our belief that the same high level of care and attention should be applied throughout an animals life from field all the way through to fork. Meat has become a commodity in the last couple of decades and something which has caused every component of the meat production system to seek the most cost effective way of producing animals for slaughter. Not only has the welfare of the animal suffered but so to has the quality of the end product and now we have very bland meat that doesnt tick any of the boxes it was initially meant for but only the task of filling our bellies.
We choose to offer something different. We put a great deal of effort into choosing breeds and production systems that give the highest welfare for each of our animals and ultimately provides us with meat that is unrivalled in flavour. Our traditional breeds of animal from Aberdeen Angus and Hereford cattle to Gloucester Old Spot pigs grow slowly on natural fodder. This allows them develop fat and therefor flavour. This is not in the interest of the large scale retailers as time costs money and allows for variation and not a uniform cut of meat.
We take advantage of our local abattoir, H.F Stiles, just a few miles away which minimizes any stress caused in transport which is hugely influential in the quality of the meat. Our carcasses are then delivered back to us where we are able to hang and mature them in our cold rooms to maintain complete control and deliver the same level of care as we did on the farm. Our butchers then handle and cut the meat using traditional butchery methods to offer all the cuts throughout the carcass being careful to utilise the whole animal. Our counter offers everything from the big joint that forms the centrepiece of the traditional roast to dry aged steaks and something a little more creative for that mid week meal.
It is also important for us to mention that, although we will never choose compete with the multiples on price as we will always focus on quality, meat that you buy over the counter in supermarkets is often more expensive than our own.
Don't forget our butchers can cut to your specific requirement so if you're planning a dinner party, fancy a barbecue or want to try something a little more unusual please dont hesitate to get in touch!
Phone us on 01225 864948 or email us by clicking here .
Below is a little more information about the meat we offer from our butchers.
Beef
We
rear traditional breeds of beef cattle such as Aberdeen Angus and
Hereford. All our cattle graze our pastures throughout the year and are
only "topped up" with haylage during the winter when the grass starts to
slow down. Our pastureland is clover rich and is cared for without the
use of fertilizers to keep the whole process as natural as possible. All
our beef is hung and matured in house to keep complete control of the
product we sell. The resulting beef is well marbled, tender and full of
flavour. Whether it be a beautifully aged rib of beef for sunday roast, a
succulent steak to fry in butter or some meltingly tender shin or beef
to sit on the hob for the best part of a day, our beef is cut and
handled to your specific requirement by our butchery team.
Pork
We
keep the very best Gloucester Old Spot breeding sows in an outdoor
system for the majority of the year. Like us, pigs dont always enjoy
being outdoors when the weather turns so they retreat to our
straw-bedded barns when the time suits. Gloucester Old Spots are
notoriously slow growing breeds with plenty of fat. The pork we have in
our counter is therefor from animals that have had a chance to grow at their own pace and develop an unrivalled flavour. Our pork is almost unrecognisable from that of the pale, flavourless stuff you find on mass stacked high on the shelves of you know where! With our pork you will notice deep pinky colour with plenty of fat, the essential ingredient for perfect crackling. The meat is also the perfect consistency for our homemade sausages that we make from scratch in our butchery. This is how pork should be!
Lamb
Our
lamb is reared by Tom’s uncle, Steve Bowles, at Church Farm. Church
Farm has been in the Bowles family for many generations and is situated
next door to Hartley Farm. Much of the land between the two farms is
shared and Steve farms approximately 200 breeding ewes throughout the
year on the pastures surrounding both the farms. Steve's lambs are
Texel-Lleyn cross which produce hardy, well fatted lambs that grow well
on the pastures on the farm. The resulting meat is well marbled, a deep
shade of red with a good of cover fat that is essential for great
tasting lamb when cooking. We also mature our lamb to bring out the full
depth of flavour from the slow growing lamb which is a stark contrast
to the bright pink and often tastless meat you may well find at the
supermarket.This bit of text now stands in our "Farm Butchery" section on the website for you to read whenever you want!
