Langley Chase Organic Farm

2012-01-10T14:27:00.001-08:00

I was delighted to be on Womans Hour on Radio 4 at the end of December and was interviewed by Felicity Finch who is an actress and journalist - she plays Ruth on the Archers - and she came to the farm a few months ago and spent the day here. I have been a fan of Womans Hour and the Archers so we had a great day and it was really good to be on the programme, especially over the Christmas time. I hope that some of you might have heard it.

Life is getting back to normal again after Christmas and all the festivities. The weather has been mild and very helpful! We will soon be moving the whole breeding ewe flock back to the home fields in preparation towards lambing in mid March. The mutton flock will stay in their fields.

We have removed the rams from the breeding ewe flock. Due to the mud we couldn't get the trailer near to the rams, three of them, so we had to walk them down to the trailer and then persuade them to load! They weren't very keen! Very glad that I had lots of male reinforcements in the form of son Will and sons in law to gather around and get the rams in the trailer!

its busy down on the farm!

2011-10-13T04:35:00.000-07:00

Everything seems to happen at this time of year, hedging, ditching, fencing all happens especially with the weather being dry and helpful.

We have been sorting the ewes for the breeding flock, putting in our homebred replacement ewes to join the flock and then sorting the breeding rams - we decide which bloodline will be used each year and then the homebred rams from that bloodline are selected and put in with the flock - exhausting stuff but great when it is all done and dusted!

It is always a race against time to get lots of jobs done before the weather breaks and this winter is predicted to be another really cold one so the sheep will be pleased with their wooly coats.

We have lots of delicious lamb and mutton in stock and if the winter is a bad one we will be sending frozen boxes out - our organic registered butcher lives in a very steep valley, not easy with snow and ice so we keep the freezers well stocked with lamb and mutton boxes so that they can be sent out quickly for orders.

Do get in touch any time, we always like to hear from you - post@langleychase.co.uk or 01249 750095

National Organic Food Awards

2011-09-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

It was a magical day to receive our award with the Prince of Wales in Clarence House gardens on a beautiful sunny evening. I am so proud of our wonderful Langley Chase Flock with our mutton winning first prize and our lamb as the runners up. We have also won double Gold with the Taste of the West Awards with our lamb and our mutton.

It is such a privilege to be able to farm our flock in Wiltshire and a wonderful endorsement to win awards. It is a great feeling being in the fields with the flock clustering around me and my sheepdog at my side, in all weathers.

Talking of weather, the recent wind has brought down a few boughs off the ancient oak trees which line our fields. It is a relief when they survive any onslaught from windy weather as they are irreplaceable even though we have planted hundreds of trees around the farm, nothing can compare with the majesty of these oaks.

2009-10-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

Wonderful Win in Organic Food Awards

It has been a wonderful time winning the National Organic Food Awards for our lamb with our mutton taking Highly Commended too. I have congratulated the flock and we are all thrilled to win! Thank you for sending all the emails with super messages and congratulations, it is very much appreciated.

We have fresh stocks of Manx Loaghtan Chorizo Salami and Manx Loaghtan Salami with juniper and red wine, they can be presented in a presentation box, also smoked lamb so let us know if you would like any. Our last deliveries for lamb and mutton before Christmas will be in November to avoid the manic Christmas courier rush so if you would like to order please do get in touch as soon as possible.

We have a good stock of our honey coloured sheepskins here, quad rugs and single rugs which make great presents. They can be sent out as late as December - as they are not a fresh product!!

Do keep in touch, we love to hear from you.

Blue Peter comes to Langley Chase and Langley Chase is Wiltshire Independent Food Producer of the Year

2009-04-21T14:50:00.000-07:00

Langley Chase has been having such an exciting time that there has been no time for posting!! Time to make amends.

We are proud and thrilled to have won the Wiltshire Independent Food Producer of the Year and thank you all so much for putting us forward for the nomination. We received the award at a most prestigious and delightful evening at the beautiful Wilton House in Salisbury, Wiltshire. We are also grateful to Wiltshire Life Magazine http://www.wiltshirelife.co.uk/awards.shtmlwho run the awards and to Smith & Williamson Accountants in Salisbury who sponsored our category award.http://www.smith.williamson.co.uk/salisbury. The magazine has yet to publish the evening and we will post the photos when we get them.

We have been playing host to BBC Blue Peter who came here just before Easter and Joel, the presenter of Blue Peter, came to help with the lambing and with the jobs about the lambing barn. We all had a great time, the weather was sunny and lovely and little lambs were everywhere. We had a rejected lamb, born that morning that Joel arrived and he took over the care of it and named it Joleene! A girl of course!! Blue Peter programme is going to follow her career over the year, maybe years! I am pleased to say that Joleene was happily re-united with her young and forgetful mother who finally took on the task of rearing her lamb. So all is well!

The BBC Blue Peter Programme at Langley Chase goes out on Tuesday 28th April at 4.35 p.m. Be sure to catch it!!

Lambing has finished now and we have over two hundred leaping and bouncing lambs. When I checked them again this evening a whole crowd of them were racing together around the edge of the field in a black swathe with the mothers looking on and calling to them. The sunshine will gradually change the colour of their fleece from black to chocolate brown, to mid brown and then eventually to the deep coffee colour of the Manx Loaghtan.

We now have Manx Loaghtan Salami, delicious with plum chutney, also our Year Lamb is ready now so let us know if you would like to order anything. Give me a ring any time or email us on post@langleychase.co.uk.

New Product, lambing about to start, thank you for norminations.

2009-03-14T03:27:00.000-07:00

The past few weeks have flown by and we have been very busy preparing orders for lamb and mutton and our smoked lamb - and we have produced A NEW PRODUCT!!

MANX LOAGHTAN SALAMI IN RED WINE, it is so exciting. It is the perfect present as it lasts for nine months and can hang in your kitchen looking decorative and be eaten at the same time. Are there any salami devotees out there??

We have lots of whole and half lamb ready, along with diced mutton and mutton joints, also smoked lamb and Manx Loaghtan salami.

Our April delivery will be on Wednesday 22nd April and collection on the farm will be Saturday 25th, so if you would like an April delivery or collection now is the time to let us know what you would like to order. Give me a ring anytime for any information or send me an email.

We are gearing up for lambing and everything is in place, even the water buckets in every pen! The weather is settled and we are ready for anything now.

We have been nominated for Best Independent Food Producer sponsored by Wiltshire Life Magazine and we are very grateful to our customers for the nomination so very many thanks for putting us forward for the award.

2009-01-12T03:29:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to wish you a very Happy New Year and to thank you for your custom and interest in our Manx Loaghtan lamb and mutton in 2008. It is very much appreciated.

The big news is that we are on The Food Programme on Radio 4 Sunday 11th and today at 4.0 p.m. featuring the flock and the high quality of our lamb and mutton.

You can listen to it by going to the link on the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ghqw8

It will be available for the next seven days to 'Listen Again'

The big freeze is now thawing. It has been beautiful with white, shimmering trees and the pond completely frozen.

It has been so freezing and cold but wonderful once you are out there – I have grown muscles just trying to break the ice on the water troughs and pushing the wheelbarrow with the hay in over fields with frozen mole hills!! A real obstacle course as the wheelbarrow hits the frozen mole hill and then the hay flies out!

I am sorting batches of lambs again now that the weather is getting better so let me know if you would like to order anything. Our prices are still at the 2008 price and will be increased in the Spring. Any orders taken before end of Febuary will remain at the 2008 price.

There has been talk in the media about organic farming considering cutting down on the standards of feed due to the high cost of organic feed. If this was so the products would not be registered organic and would not be able to be registered with an organic body.

I want to confirm that we are totally and completely committed to organic standards and adhere to the rigorous organic standards of the Soil Association. We feed totally 100% organic feed, it is expensive but it is worth every penny.

We are now thinking about lambing which is in March but plans are being laid now and preparations being made.

Christmas is coming!

2008-11-23T09:21:00.000-08:00

23.11.08
The Autumn colours are so beautiful with the golden leaves on the oaks in the fields and the yellow of the hedgerows which are alive with birds bustling about. Squirrels have been much in evidence busy gathering apples and berries.

It has been a busy time here as usual, and most exciting as we have recorded a programme for the Food Programme with Sheila Dillon. I have always been an avid listener of the Food Programme and its presenter so we are really delighted to be on a programme featuring our organic Manx Loaghtan lamb and mutton, which I think goes out in January.

We have been busy having lamb and mutton delivered throughout the country and our last delivery goes out in the second week of December as everything gets so unpredictable nearer to Christmas. That means that our final orders need to be in with us within the next week to allow time for the traditional hanging of the lamb and mutton. We have a wonderful supply of the most beautiful honey coloured sheepskins in single and quad rugs, they make an attractive Christmas present, as does half a lamb of course!

The weather has made it difficult to get to some of the fields with the landrover and trailer so I am hoping for some dry weather to help save time. No luck so far, even had sleet today.

2008-09-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

Langley Chase Goes to the Big Food Fair!

The Bristol Organic Food Fair at the beginning of the month was well attended and great fun catching up with customers and old friends as well as meeting new customers. Our new smoked lamb went well and had a lot of attention and interest.

It is not easy producing a registered organic product so it has been great to have it well received.

I have been back to Berry Bros and Rudd in St. James’s for another evening giving a talk and our Manx Loaghtan lamb was splendidly showcased with amazingly delicious courses produced by their chef, Stuart. Our lamb was paired this time with wonderful fine Riojas .Canapés of smoked lamb with beetroot, mini mutton and mint burgers and mini apple parsley sage and thyme sausages were followed by courses of Navarin of mutton, Liver and bacon, roasted leg and roasted shoulder, roasted rack and then sweetbread cannelloni! How about that!!

After all the wet weather it has been very helpful to have some days now of sunshine which enables us to get on the fields and move sheep and hurdles about without cutting up the ground and to catch up with jobs.

It is now the time for marketing the lambs which have done so well on all the grass which has been growing and growing. The mutton is also looking very good and has finished well on all the grass. I hope that this dry spell continues so that we can get to the fields easily with the trailer.

Blue Tongue

2008-08-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

14th August 2008

It has been a very busy time since I last posted the blog and lots of events have been going on - we have vaccinated against Blue Tongue which is an historical event in our flock and that went smoothly and efficiently.

We have been marketing lambs and have had our farm shop open on Fridays which has been fun and up until now the weather has been good!

I gave a talk at Berry Bros and Rudd in London where we do food partnerships with our lamb and mutton being showcased in five courses perfectly cooked and presented by the chef and the courses are accompanied by tastings of fabulous wines. A most interesting and delicious evening!

We had another Masterclass here which was really good with very interested people who really wanted to know as much as possible, the weather wasn’t that good but it didn’t dampen our enthusiasm.

We have had school visits where we have studied the Journey of Flour – we ground wheat in a grain mill, turned it into flour and then made dough and then I had loaves of bread which I had baked the day before which everyone then devoured! http://www.browfarmwheatproducts.co.uk/grain_mill.htm The children then did Pond Dipping and the weather was lovely and sunny.

At the end of July we had a location photoshoot here for Country House Magazine http://www.countryhousemagazine.co.uk/ who also sent a journalist to cover the Masterclasses and her article was also included in the September edition along with the photographs from the photoshoot. It is out now! The pictures look amazing with the sheep, Atilla our lurcher and our horse all with starring roles! The article was very good and informative. We had an article about the Masterclasses in The Times earlier in the year too.

The weather has now turned into the monsoon season and it has rained continuously, rather like last year but without the Foot and Mouth complications of movement restrictions. The wet land is enough of a restriction this time! We have weaned the lambs and put them all in different fields and so it all takes time checking everyday the flock of ewes, the lambs, the rams, the muttons – all stomping along in the rain! The dogs love it and tear round through the mud and puddles.

The next big thing is the Organic Food Fair in Bristol at the beginning of September so preparations are well under way for that – we will be launching our new product of smoked lamb!

Everything is growing!

2008-07-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

(2nd June 2008)

Time seems to be flying by already and this is our quiet time! Everything is growing! The lambs are eating the delicious white clover and wild herbs and all the trees are in full leaf. The moorhen chicks are running around the edge of the pond and scooting across the water, it is so lovely to see them. The carp and golden orf small fry are swirling along the surface of the water in the sunshine.

Every day something changes politically – from blue tongue vaccine being available which is something very new to food shortages and the huge rise in fuel and diesel costs. Our organic sheep feed has risen by 80% which is a huge hike in price and the diesel costs are rising by the week and will affect everything.

We will be vaccinating for blue tongue this week and it will seem very odd to be doing that but it is so very important to get this problem under control before it is a problem in this country. It is a horrible disease and affects the fertility of cattle and sheep and makes them very unwell and debilitated. Europe has had a very bad time with it and it must not get a foothold here.

Food shortages are another thing and we should be making the most of all the wonderful produce in this country and get back to having seasonal produce. Ah well, I am glad I am not running the country!!

The Badminton Horse Trials

2008-07-21T15:42:00.000-07:00

(Wednesday 7th May)

The past few days before and over the weekend have been pre-occupied with The Badminton Horse Trials at the Badminton Estate a few miles from here. It is an amazing equestrian three day event which has been going for many years and we are so lucky to live so close to such an event and such a beautiful estate and it is a busy few days for us all. Our walking sticks are made from wood which comes from the estate.

Wonderful warm sunny weather has arrived and it is just so lovely to be outside in such weather.
The flock seem surprised by the change, as are we, and I have already phoned the sheep shearer to set a date. We normally shear at the beginning of May.

It is always quite a decision – if you leave it too long the flock gets loss of weight and fly strike and if too soon and the weather breaks and gets cold and wet you get loss of weight and drop of milk supply to the lambs. Flystrike is when the heavy fleece gets wet in warm and humid conditions and the bluebottle fly lays its eggs on the fleece and the resulting maggots eat the sheep and can kill it or make it very ill if the condition isn’t noticed immediately. So you have to try and get it right! Not always easy. A bit like the decision of when to cut the grass for hay in the summer!

We have different classes of stock, ages and gender, in different fields and they all have to be gathered up and taken to the barn for shearing, and all kept separately in order to take them all back again!

I also have to plan it with Faye as it is a long and labour intensive day. Faye is very good at organising the movement of the sheep to the barn, into the pens, out of the pens, and keeping all the different groups separate whilst keeping everything and everybody safe and accident free. It is a time when things can go wrong if they are not properly planned and set up and the flock has to be kept moving through to the sheep shearer and not have hold ups.

The pond is looking very good with all the new planting at the back of it beginning to grow and flower and the wildflower patch is budding up and getting taller. The fish have been basking in the sun and lying on the top of the water and grazing around the edge of the pond on weeds. The Golden Orf are pretty big now and their scales are outlined in black against the gold and they look quite magnificent. The herons think so too and take up position in the bulrushes and on the pontoon and are ready for action.

Yesterday I heard frogs croaking which was very pleasing as last year we had many fewer than normal and I hope that we will get the numbers back up again this year.

There has been a lot in the news about honey bees getting disease. Ours are very fortunately flourishing and have produced lots of honey this season and seem very happy so I hope they continue to do so.

Now I am going to fix the sheep shearing date and hope for the best!

The end of lambing

2008-07-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

(Monday 21st April)

Lambing has now come to an end with no problems or casualties and the weather has been reasonable despite blizzards at the start of lambing and bitter winds at the close of lambing.

We moved a bunch of beautiful ewe replacements to the other end of the village where they will spend the summer, before going into the flock at tupping time in November. They are in a most picturesque setting beside the Church and the School and can be seen from the village playground.

The week has passed quickly keeping an eye on the last lambs born and on the ones which are being kept here due to having unconcientious mothers so that they need more care. They are all grazing around the pond and the lambs love racing around the ditches and the pond edge.

The main flock are contentedly grazing the young grasses and clover and the lambs are already growing apace, playing together. It takes quite a time checking on them all and walking around all the fields, coming across dark puddles of brown lambs hidden in the grass, sleeping! It is a very pleasant duty and time has to be allowed to do it properly and to watch a while to see that all is well.

I have been setting up the next masterclass here for Spinning which we hope to run at the end of May. I need a few more bookings so let me know if anyone would like to learn how to spin wool, such an ancient craft. The tutor is going to bring a 40" diameter spinning wheel, real sleeping beauty fairytale stuff!

Masterclass

2008-06-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had a great masterclass with thirteen people from all over the country attending. We covered topics from DEFRA legal requirements to ear tagging and turning over a sheep and a hot mutton tagine revived us at lunchtime! Being immersed in lambing gave the course extra atmosphere.

It was lovely to meet new enthusiasts and I hope they enjoyed their day as much as I did meeting all of them.

Lambing is drawing to a close now and we have been able to turn our attention to other pressing activities such as moving sheep from different fields which will be put down for hay and moving them onto summer grazing. The whole flock, ewes and new lambs, is in the away fields and are very contented roaming through the fields with good clean grass.

We have also been weighing and marketing our year lamb who look absolutely wonderful and are ready to go to customers as whole or half lambs.

A perfect matched batch of lambs all healthy and weighing up well, they are a joy to look at and it is very rewarding to see a great end product. A number of those have now gone off the farm to customers. We are able to offer an all year round supply now which is very pleasing as I have been working towards this end since I started some years ago.

Nothing has been bought in, the flock has grown each year by retaining as many ewe lambs as possible. This keeps infection out and keeps the flock healthy and is called a closed flock as we breed all our own flock replacements.

So I will be kept busy from now on being in touch with customers and I hope anyone will contact me for lamb now as they are in prime condition.The school visits have slowed down as it is the holidays but various people drift in and out looking at the lambs and the rams and see Trim the sheepdog bringing the ewe lambs up the hill to see everyone. She loves working and I use her everyday to do something. She is a super dog with a loving temperament and I would find life very difficult without her help with the sheep.

Wonderful healthy lambs!

2008-06-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

It has been such a very busy week with lambing full on. Wonderful healthy lambs!

We have a number of new, first time mothers and it is not easy to get them to follow their lambs into the mothering up pens - they rush about all over the place and get in a panic and then don't seem to recognise their lambs. We leave them quietly in the field for a while and then calmly walk them towards the lambing barn whilst the rest of the flock are either in the yard being fed or are further away from the new mother.

It all takes time and patience. The older mothers who have lambed before take it all in their stride and follow along and know the routine.

We have also had two schools a day for educational visits and some schools have spent the whole day here and had lunch in the barn on the hay bales. Some students have had hands on practical experience with the sheep and they have been shown our lamb management and seen other sheep in different fields being rounded up by Trim the sheepdog.

One school took their practical land management examination here and they all seemed to enjoy their time here.

We are having a Sheep Husbandry Workshop or Master Class here on Saturday and we are looking forward to that and to meeting everyone coming on the course.

The weather has been beautiful and the ewes have taken full advantage of the sunshine and been producing lambs and keeping us busy!

Overcast but dry

2008-06-30T14:48:00.000-07:00

Checked flock early in the morning, an overcast but dry and still morning, to find a beautiful black bleating little lamb with an attentive mother. This was a lovely surprise as I was expecting a flurry of lambs towards the end of the week to herald the start of lambing.

All was well and I put the mother and lamb in a pen in the lambing barn which is all ready – disinfected, beautifully clean with clean hurdles all set up with lambing/mothering up pens, well bedded down with straw. Stacks of clean water buckets and feed trays await them, complete with a trolley of iodine, tags and veterinary medications if required.

We then moved the last of the replacement ewes and some muttons back to the home fields here – and then the heavens opened and it rained heavily for the next twenty four hours, rather like in January.

Now the fields are very waterlogged and the flock is stomping along doggedly through the rain, along with their shepherd!

I hope that the weather clears and is settled and dry by the end of the week so that lambing gets under way in the dry.

Back from holiday

2008-06-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

Back from holiday, haven't been away for a month, unfortunately!! Just been in slow mode! It seems to take ages to get back into racing around and multi-skilling again.

The ram hoggets are getting quite above themselves and are trying to have team leader interviews ie head butting and more head butting to see who is in charge of the field. We are moving them next Friday to new pastures and that will sort them out and give them something to think about. The sun is shining wonderfully and I have seen some lovely butterflies, a tortoiseshell and a red admiral. I think they have been woken up by the sun and wonder how long they will last. Our resident pair of Canada Geese are noisily enjoying the pond - the other day it was very frosty and the pond was frozen and the geese were very perplexed as to how to land on the water!! They kept flying around and around and swooping down and then thinking they couldn't land so would swoop up in the air again!!

Big feed delivery today

2008-06-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

The lorry is huge and can only just squeeze in the through the gate - we need new gates and a wider entrance so if it knocks it down at least it will hasten the decision! The ewes are having a small amount of organic feed now to help them with their growing lambs inside them. It wards off problems like twin lamb disease, staggers, and weakly lambs through lack of colostrums. Organic feed has dramatically risen in price and is quite a shock. This is because there is such a shortage in organic feed. The ewes are delighted with the feed though and are queuing up at the gate and seem to recognise the lorry!

We are going away for two weeks holiday, hurray, as it doesn't often happen. This is supposed to be a quiet time of year - supposed! Instead of thinking holiday I have been getting extra hurdles, iodine, straw etc in readiness for lambing in case more early ones decide that now is the time.

Getting ready for the lambs

2008-06-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

Starting to sort out everything for lambing, gradually. Hay has been collected by hay merchants to go to Windsor for elegant and smart polo ponies. This has cleared a whole barn in readiness for the school visits which will happen over lambing between mid March and Mid April - this is our proper lambing time, not the unexpected time in January! Those lambs are doing well and jumping about looking delightful. They have to be double tagged now - well, it is easier to double tag them now because from this Spring anything which loses a tag has to have an identical tag number inserted. If it is double tagged and looses one then a red tag can be inserted with a different number. So that option is the one more easily managed. Of course everything is then cross referenced in the appropriate book. So the little lambs are jumping around looking really lovely with two yellow tags, one in each ear like earrings. At least their ears now look equal, before they had only one tag and one ear weighed down and one looking like it was sticking up!! The school visits use the cleared barn to sit on arranged hay bales and have their drinks and biscuits and to look at the sheepskins, fleeces and wool and other things all sheep related.

Soil Association Inspection

2008-06-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Big Day! Soil Association inspection day and all is ready - all paperwork has to be in place and all files laid out for inspection. The weather is awful and rain is pouring and pouring, a biblical type of weather day when building an ark would seem reasonable. The inspector arrives and as the weather is so bad we decide to check some paperwork before inspecting the farm. In comes Faye, my wonderful and experienced stockperson - she is an expert on pigs and now an expert on sheep - and asked to see me. She then dropped a bombshell - there was a lamb in the field, in January!! Unheard of for a primitive rare breed I thought. And today of all days, being inspected, which is a very big deal, and the rain. We agreed there was nothing for it but to move the flock as the water was rising from the stream, now a river and two foxes were in the field eyeing up the lamb. Our hurried and almost whispered conversation was overheard by the inspector who was wonderful and asked what he could do to help! So there we were, in the rain, moving sheep. I carried the lamb across the field to the waiting trailer which was up to its wheels in water. I thought the new mother would not swim to follow the lamb into a half submerged trailer but she did and I was so proud of her, it was wonderful. The sheepdog was swimming along and I asked the inspector if he could take a picture on his phone as I, naturally in the general panic, but not put my camera in my pocket, but he had not put his phone in either! It would have made such a good picture for the blog! But you will just have to believe me. Anyway the whole flock was moved to dry land, near the house, and eight ewes lambed much to our complete amazement. It was due to the movement restrictions with the Foot and Mouth in August and we were not able to wean the lambs and they were all in the same field. It did occur to me that we might have a forward ram lamb but had thought that ewes would not be in season in August. But then August was so cold and miserable that I think they thought it was Autumn and the time to be in season!!It was a day to remember!!