August at Hartley Farm

Well it wouldn't be one of my newsletters if there wasn't some reference/grumble about the weather! It seems our week-long summer came to a premature end in July and we're now back to the grey and drizzle. The only benefit from this weather is its a perfect grass growing climate and we have more grass this year than we need! Due to the plentiful grass we have and great quality silage we have cut this year we have made the decision to increase the size of our Aberdeen Angus herd. The recent award for our grass fed beef in the Taste of the West competition has given us further proof and confidence that our slow-growing, traditional breed, grass fed beef is the best around and so our efforts on the farm are going towards breeding for future generations. In July we welcomed a pedigree Angus stock bull by the name of Jasper to Hartley Farm. Jasper is now happy munching the pastures here at the farm, and doing what he does best, looking after our girls and the future generations of Aberdeen Angus cows for us!


On the subject of new life on the farm we've had another two litters of piglets from our Gloucester Old Spot sows in July with a total of three so far this summer. With all the rain they've had plenty of mud to play around in so at least the British summer has brought some happiness! We will also have one or two new arrivals in Pet's Corner soon. We've been on the look out for a few more interesting animals for all to see and as our newly created enclosures are just about finished they will be filled soon so keep your eyes peeled!



We have seen lots of great new products from local producers in the farm shop this summer. Over the next few months we will be inviting some of these wonderful producers to the farm shop to say hello to all our equally wonderful customers! Below are the dates to put in your diary for our "Meet the Producer Days"

Victorian Kitchen and their Handmade Preserves on Saturday 18th August.
Bath Harvest Rapeseed Oil on Saturday 25th August.
Heavenly Hedgerows with their preserves made from foraging local hedgerows on Saturday 15th September.

As well as meeting our suppliers you will get to taste their products and we will also be running special offers on their products for the day only.



As the weather changes from deepest winter to tropical summer in the space of a day at times our butchers are staying strong and continuing to craft their delicious barbecue range on offer from the counter. All available to pre-order are our handmade burgers and sausages all homemade as well as our ever popular glazed chicken skewers, and marinated chicken. Also new to our range is our ready made Beef Burgundy and Beef Stir Fry in an attempt to offer something for all seasons! Our new ready made meal solutions can be popped straight into the oven in their containers and dinner is taken care of! The ingredients are of course using our own meat from the counter and all vegetables are freshly prepared too picked from our vegetable display!

This months specials from the butchers are as follows;

6 Hartley Farm Beef Burgers for £4.50
10 Marinated Chicken Skewers for £8

Also new this month is our 3 for £10 offer in our self-service fridge. Mix and match any pre packed meat with our 3 for £10 stickers on them to save! The range will include our burgers, sausages, free range chicken and more!



While the terrible growing season has continued, ground under cover has been even more valuable this year, and Kate is very excited as her third polytunnel is finally finished! After waiting for a still, sunny day to put the plastic on, she and her team of helpers finally gave up and did it anyway in the drizzle. Now the cucumbers have a home and look happy, with some more beetroot, carrots, spinach and rocket sown to try and make up a bit for all the lost crops in the field. Meanwhile bunches of spring onions and beetroot have survived and are on sale now, along with the trusty red butterhead lettuces and rainbow chard. Roll on the August heatwave, she is looking forward to moaning about the dry for a change!



Firstly, and by far most importantly our butcher Will got engaged to his now fiancee Lizzie in July! Wedding planning has already commenced and we wish them both all the best for their future together.

In other, slightly less exciting but none the less interesting, news (well we think so anyway) we have recently entered a national award for farm shops and farm retailers. One of the sections we were asked to fill in on the entry form was about our green credentials which got us, thinking about what we have done so far this year. We're please to say our solar energy system is now installed on our barn roof and already harnessing lots of energy from all this sun we've been having! In addition to this we have also managed to recycle the following in the past year;

2.5 tons of cardboard 

1.25 tons of Plastics

10 tons of Glass!!

We're very please with this effort and we are continuing to try to decrease our carbon footprint with a view toward rain water conservation among other projects. We'll keep you posted as these projects gather pace.

Best wishes and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Tom