January 2012 News
So far the winter has been kind to us – certainly compared with last year! Every week which goes by without serious snow gets us that bit closer to spring. Most of our cattle are still outside, and both they and we are having an easier time of it than last winter. The down side has been the strong winds, which have hit us hard – we are on the edge of the moors and close to the sea. Helping to lift the tractor cab roof back on after gales had blown it off was not the start to his visit that a friend of ours had envisaged! Our bull Thunder has only broken out of his field once in the last 6 weeks – at least this time it was into one of our fields. With the help of a diversionary bucket of nuts we managed to get him back into the right field again. He did a useful job though – one of the cows we thought to be in calf already clearly wasn’t, but hopefully now is following Thunder’s visit! Our next supply of beef will be ready at the beginning of March. Following our previous successes at the food festivals in Malton, we are pleased to have been invited to take part in the one scheduled for Saturday morning, 3rd March. We look forward to seeing old and new customers and friends there. In the meantime, we have a limited amount of frozen beef available directly from the farm – please phone for details. We still have some good breeding cows and heifers for sale – see earlier entries. Daisy (our red cow) is still for sale, and now has the added bonus of her new calf Dizzy, to complete the “package”.30 January 2012
Late Autumn News
We were pleased to be at the Malton Food Lovers' Market on Saturday 5th November. It was very enjoyable, and attracted lots of people. There was a very tempting array of good food there, and we went home with quite a few purchases ourselves. It was good to meet so many new and returning customers. Our two latest arrivals on the farm are doing well. Petunia had to be given a helping hand (literally) to have her bull calf (Penfold). It was her first calf, and was quite a bruiser. Mum and baby were in the barn for a while, with Glitter for company, but have now joined Daisy and the other new calf, Dizzy. The youngsters are enjoying playing calf games together in the field. The daily routine of rubbing Penfold’s ears when we feed Petunia will just have a new location. Thunder, our bull, is building upon his escapology reputation, this time into one of our neighbour’s fields. He didn’t wander far, but stood looking miserable the wrong side of the fence, claiming that our neighbours much, much bigger cows were picking on him. We couldn’t persuade him to come back via his escape route, so we had to cut the fence, then get him through whilst stopping the rest of our herd from trespassing and our neighbours cows from visiting us. Not the easiest start to our day! We are busily preparing for winter, and trying to ensure we have plentiful stocks of food for all the livestock (as well as for us). Hopefully the weather will be kinder to us than it was last winter. The next lot of beef will be ready on 16 December. If you want any beef for Christmas, please let us know as soon as possible. We already have quite a few orders. As long as we have enough notice we can have the meat butchered to suit individual requirements. We will be at the Farmers’ Market, Murton, York on Saturday morning 17 December (unless we have 3 foot snow drifts on the drive like last Christmas). We can bring any orders to the market for collection. We still have some good breeding cows and heifers for sale – see earlier entries. Daisy (our red cow) is still for sale, and now has the added bonus of her new heifer calf Dizzy, to complete the “package”.16 November 2011
Malton Food Lovers' Market
Only a few days to go now! Dont forget to come along to the festive market in the Milton Rooms, Malton on Saturday 5th November from 9.00am to 2.00pm. Specially selected producers will be there, and guest visitors will include Selina Scott as well as Great British Menu supremo Stephanie Moon. SEE YOU THERE!!!30 October 2001
Barnard's of Fylingthorpe
We are pleased to have a small selection of our beef available through Barnard's of Fylingthorpe. John and Paul at Barnard's already have a good reputation for their superb home-baked breads, pastries, pies etc., as well as their meat. They are now focussing even more on local produce in their refurbished shop, including free range pork products as well as our own Dexter Beef.Why not call in and see what is on offer!27 October 2011
Autumn News
Our run of bad luck seemed set to continue when first of all one of our steers got onto the road and was killed, and then our ram, Alfredo, died suddenly. The loss of our ram has made us think about the future direction of the farm, and we have reluctantly decided to give up the sheep, and concentrate solely on the Dexter cattle. We therefore have 5 ewes for sale, 4 pedigree registered Oxford Downs and 1 Suffolk cross. They are all good animals, hardy and produce good lambs, and some are like members of the family! Please contact us if you are interested and feel able to offer them a good home. In addition we still have some good breeding Dexters for sale – see earlier entries. Our new bull, Thunder, is settling down well, although we did have a surprise a few weeks ago when having returned from a few hours away we found that he had twisted a post and opened one gate, and completely smashed into two halves a second wooden gate, and was happily grazing with a group of cows and heifers. Fortunately, our gates and our animals, not those of our neighbour! His innocent “butter wouldn’t melt, how did that happen?” look didn’t fool us, we knew he was the guilty party! Our next beef will be available from 14 October, and we will be at the Farmers’ Market, Murton, York on Saturday morning 15 October. We welcome advance orders, which we can bring to the market with us or can be collected from the farm (orders over £50 are delivered free locally), and as long as we have enough notice we will have the meat butchered to suit individual requirements. As always, we have a selection of frozen meat available for sale directly from the farm. We are excited to have been invited to take part in the Food Lovers' Market taking place in Malton on Saturday the 5th November. Follow th link for details : http://www.welovemalton.co.uk/foodmarket05 October 2011
Skerry Alice
Stock For Sale - Skerry Alice
This is Skerry Alice, born June 2010, a beautiful polled non-short heifer with a very nice nature. Contact us for more details.28 August 2010
Daisy - currently for sale
Dexters for sale - Daisy
This is Daisy (Brompton Tanacetum) who is currently for sale to a good home. Contact us for details.26 August 2011
Skerry Clarissa - for sale with her mum Cleo
Stock for Sale
This is Skerry Clarissa, a beautiful polled black heifer born in April 2011. She is for sale with her mother Surrear Cleo.26 August 2011
Surrear Cleo - presently for sale
Stock for Sale
We have a few Dexters for sale to good homes at present, including Surrear Cleo and her heifer calf Skerry Clarissa. Contact us for details26 August 2011
Summer News
The mixed weather of the summer has not stopped all 7 of our summer calving cows from producing healthy, energetic offspring. Tragedy was averted when we gave a helping hand (literally) to deliver an exceptionally large calf, Valerie, when her mum became increasingly tired and distressed. The cow, Vicky, was very trusting and stood in the middle of the field whilst midwifery duties were performed. We now have a replacement bull for Sir Harry, who tragically died a few weeks ago. The newcomer, Thunder, seems to be settling well. He has 2 steers for company at the moment, but in a few weeks will visit the new mums. He has seen them in a nearby field, and shouted to let them know what a fine figure of a bull he is. Our herd has grown in size considerably over the last couple of years, so we have reluctantly decided to sell (to good homes only) some of our cows and heifers. We currently have for sale a cow (Cleo) with heifer calf at foot (calf born March 2011), a cow due to have her 2nd calf around end of September/early October (Daisy), 2 yearling heifers (Alice and Betony) and one 17 month old heifer (Bluebell). Please ring or email us for more details if you are interested. We will be at the Farmers’ Market, Murton, York on Saturday morning 20 August. We welcome advance orders, which we can bring to the market with us or can be collected from the farm (orders over £50 are delivered free locally), and as long as we have enough notice we will have the meat butchered to suit individual requirements. As always, we have a selection of frozen meat available for sale directly from the farm.3 August 2011
Late Spring 2011
The fortunes on our small farm have been very mixed over the last month. On the positive side, we did well and thoroughly enjoyed the Malton Food Lovers’ Festival, and it was nice to meet so many interesting people. Most of our animals are well, and the sheep are now shivering in the unseasonably cool temperatures, having been shorn and lost their coats. Alfred, the ram, is looking especially fed up, and can be found demanding entry to the barn and/or return of his coat on a nightly basis! On the down side, the dry, cool and windy weather has resulted in a lot less grass growth than we could normally expect at this time of year, which puts pressure on the fields for grazing, and for getting a hay crop. Worst of all, though, was the sudden and untimely death of our bull, Sir Harry, at the beginning of June. He had shown no sign of illness, and looked in the best of condition, when alerted by shouting from the four cows who were in the same field, we had the shock of finding him dead with his legs in the air. Testing by the vet failed to identify the cause, and the rest of the herd look healthy. One suggestion was a heart attack. He was only young, and had a lovely nature and produced good calves. He will be sadly missed by us and the rest of the herd, who were definitely subdued for a while after the tragic event. We will be at the Farmers’ Market, Murton, York on Saturday morning 16 July. We welcome advance orders, which we can bring to the market with us or can be collected from the farm (orders over £50 are delivered free locally), and as long as we have enough notice we will have the meat butchered to suit individual requirements. As always, we have a small selection of frozen meat available for sale directly from the farm.15 June 2011
Jan manning our stall in Malton
Malton Food Lovers Festival
Saturday and Sunday saw us in Malton for our first food festival. The lead up to the festival had been hard work, with repainting our barrow, preparing displays, designing and ordering jute bags etc., not to mention weighing, pricing and labeling meat from an extra steer. A few late nights for both of us – and the day jobs continued. It was particularly tiring for Jan during the busiest time of the year for her auditing work, coupled with nursing an injured knee. Would it be worth it? A resounding YES! We met lots of wonderful people – customers, browsers, fellow stallholders, kindred foodies – as well as almost selling out of beef by Sunday afternoon. A big “well done” to the organizers, who took care of almost everything except the windy weather. The town was buzzing, cash machines ran out of money and the beer festival ran dry, such was the success of the event. We will certainly be back next year. Look out for us then, and in the meantime catch up with us at some York Farmer’s Markets or order direct from the farm – see the availability tag to find out more.25 May 2011
Spring News
Spring is now here, thank goodness. All the animals are living outside in the fresh air. 4 of our cows had their calves in March, and all are doing well. The 4 new arrivals, Bongo, Samwise, Tiffany and Clarissa are out in the field with their mums, and happily playing calf games. The cows were in the shed for a few weeks whilst they calved – but were happy to get out into the fresh air again. In time honoured fashion, they did their run round the field, and rubbed their faces in the fresh earth. We were amazed by the action of one of the cows – Blossom, the self appointed matriarch of the herd. In walking through one field to get to the next – their ultimate destination, one of the calves was left behind. Blossom looked up from the cow nuts which had been used in a bucket to entice them to go the right way, saw one of the calves (not her calf) had been left behind, abandoned her food (unthinkable normally for Blossom, who is extremely fond of her tummy!), and marched back to the calf, nudged it with her nose, and walked it into the correct field. She is better at rounding the calves up than we are! We are busy getting ready for the Malton Food Lovers' Festival, which takes place on 21 and 22nd May – see details below. We will be there for both days and look forward to seeing old and new customers and friends. As always, we have a selection of frozen meat available for sale directly from the farm.10 May 2011
TOP MARKS FOR FOOD HYGIENE
We were delighted recently to receive our food hygiene rating from Scarborough Borough Council, giving us a top ranking score of 5 under the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. The scheme, run in conjunction with the Food Standards Agency (FSA), reflects the standards found on the date of inspection by the local authority. Ratings are given on a scale from 0 (urgent improvement necessary) to 5 (very good). The rating is not a guide to food quality – we let our beef speak for itself in that respect – but it does give our customers reassurance of our food safety standards and practices. To find out more about the scheme visit the FSA website www.food.gov.uk/hygieneratings or click the link on our links page.24 April 2011
MALTON FOOD LOVERS’ FESTIVAL 21st and 22nd MAY
This year we will be part of the Malton Food Lovers’ Festival on the 21st and 22nd of May – come and meet us there! There will be approximately 100 local food and drink producers exhibiting at the Festival, giving visitors the opportunity to taste and buy some of the finest foods produced in the area. Set across two separate stages and for both days of the Festival, a series of cookery demonstrations and tutored tastings by award-winning chefs and speakers will inspire visitors to enjoy and cook with the finest produce from Yorkshire and beyond. If the food alone doesn’t tempt you, there will be a two-day Beer, Wine and Drinks Celebration which will include 40 casks of real ale and ciders, a separate wine bar, flamboyant cocktail flaring, tutored tastings, music and an all-day “beer garden” area. Visitors to the Festival will find something for all the family to enjoy with a Young Chefs’ Competition, a local celebrity “Cook Off”, an Army Kitchen, Bushtucker Trials, Streetfood Stalls, together with music and entertainment throughout the two days. For more details visit http://maltonfoodfestival.co.uk. We will have a good selection of our Dexter beef on sale throughout the weekend, and look forward to meeting friends and customers old and new.3 March 2011
January News
We have been through that most nerve racking of events – the TB test. Fortunately as our area is at the moment a low risk TB area, we only have to go through the process once every 4 years. Getting three groups of cows into and out of our small sheds is a logistical nightmare. On the first of the two visits which the vet has to make to do the test Daisy did not want to go in, but was finally persuaded. On the 2nd vet’s visit, she claimed that she now had a good reason not to go in to the shed where the cattle crush was set up and the vet was waiting (they have a bit of hair clipped off and are given an injection on the 1st visit) and flatly refused to go in, aided and abetted by our young heifer Glitter. We finally managed to get the two of them into a small shed in a different field, and embarrassingly the vet plodded through the mud to go to them. Thanks goodness they were all clear. Hopefully another 4 years before we have to repeat the performance. At last the snow has gone! It has now been replaced with thick mud which sucks greedily at feet. It makes life difficult. We have nearly lost wellies on more than one occasion. We have to shut the small group of cows currently running with the bull and the bull into a shed when putting a large bale of hay into their ring feeder. The mud is so thick in the doorway to the shed it makes loosing a welly, or being flattened and prostrate in the mud, a distinct possibility – especially when releasing them from the shed with Harry (our bull) and Daisy helpfully offering to push the gate from their side. Our few sheep are now in the barn, awaiting the patter of tiny feet. Our next beef will be available from Friday February 18th, and we will be at the farmers’ Market at the Livestock Centre, Murton, York (just off the A64) on Saturday morning 19 February. Look forward to seeing friends and customers there. As always, we have a selection of frozen meat available for sale directly from the farm.3 February 2011
December News
We have all – people and animals – suffered due to the extreme weather which lasted for around 6 weeks from end of November until into the New Year. The following is a diary entry for a typical day: First job of the day (once it is light) is to go and see the hens. Once again their water is frozen – back to the house and then out again with a large jug of hot water. Carefully pour the hot water into and around their frozen water container. The hens don’t want to venture out for long – sensible! Next job is to let the geese out – the lock on their hut door is frozen again – takes a lot of pulling and tugging to get it to open. They come flapping out of the hut, and do a not very graceful slide on the ice. By this time the dogs are demanding an outing – they are old, and find it hard to walk in the deep snow, so the outing is a short one. Now it is the turn of the sheep, who are in the field above the house- up our steep drive. Know without looking that their water will be frozen, so take large black bucket into the house to fill with warm water from the bath tap, then carry it up to them. Turn out the frozen lump of ice from their trough onto the ground – where it stays like a weird ice sculpture for at least a week. Repeat the process with a 2nd bucket of warm water (1 isn’t enough to last them for very long), except that it is even more treacherous walking down the drive than walking up, so not a quick job. Water is all very well, but they are vociferously demanding food (they’ve eaten up again) – so its back to the yard to try and start the quad (it doesn’t like the cold weather either). The small bales of hay to go to the sheep are under a tarpaulin near the shed – which is again covered in snow. Shake the snow off the tarpaulin, get it down the back of our necks, and finally manage to extract 2 bales of hay, and get a bucket of sheep nuts. By this time the cold quad has stuttered to a stop. It finally fires up again, and the sheep get their breakfast. So far its taken well over an hour and still got the cows to do! By this time they are shouting noisily. They are spread between 3 different fields, so 3 buckets of nuts to prepare and take to them as treats during the cold weather. They have ring feeders which hold a large bale of haylage which lasts more than 1 day, but this morning the cows in the top field have eaten up again (after just 2 days) and need another bale. Back to the house for more hot water to try and thaw out the tractor. The hydraulic linkages are frozen and the steering is frozen. Finally get those thawed, but the steering refuses to thaw completely, and the tractor can only turn very gradually. Makes going up the drive and into the field to deliver a large bale to the cows interesting. Tractor is slipping on the icy drive. Finally get it to the right field, then have to persuade the cows to move to the adjoining field so they can be shut in to save any accidents as they try to help by loitering round the ring feeder and potentially getting squashed. They and we find it difficult to walk in the deep snow and ice, although they have worn down a path in the snow to get to their stream to drink, so with a bit of encouragement, they plod along this route. Finally get big bale into the ring feeder and cows are let out of the adjoining field. Back to the house for a warming coffee. Only a few brief hours, and its time to start the night time routine. So sorry we didn’t make it to the farmers’ market before Christmas – but I think you get the picture! Weather permitting (we now have mud not snow) we will be there on the 19 February, and look forward to seeing friends and customers.11 Jan 2011
An Apology. Snow, snow, thick thick snow!
For the second winter running our bit of the North-East coast seems to have borne the brunt of the snow and icy conditions, starting in November and continuing with only varying severity right through Christmas and almost to New Year. The track to our farm, half-a-mile across open moorland, has been impassable for much of the time, even for the Land Rover. As a result we were unable to make it to the Farmers' Market on 18th December. Many apologies to friends and potential customers who were expecting to see us there. We plan to be there next on 19 February, until then, A HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all.31 December 2010
November News
We had a great surprise a few weeks ago, when our supposedly “barren” heifer gave birth to a lovely bull calf. She had been running with the bull on and off for about 2 years, and the vet had examined her, declared she wasn’t in calf, and wasn’t likely to be. What a shock when one morning there was a little black calf next to her! She is proving to be an excellent mum to her calf “Lucky”. The winter has struck early and is hitting us all hard. There is deep snow everywhere and temperatures well below freezing. Its such hard going for us and the animals – they eat a lot more to keep warm, their water freezes over, and none of us like it – they want us to turn the cold off! Our next beef will be ready 17 December, and we will be at the farmer’s market at the Livestock Centre, Murton (just off the A 64) on Saturday morning 18 December. Please feel free to contact us to buy directly from the farm – although any visits to the farm at the moment would be like an Arctic Expedition! One way or another, however, we will ensure that all our Christmas orders are delivered. We would like to wish all our friends and customers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.7 December 2010
September News
Harry, our bull, is now back from his sex tourism vacation to some Dexter cows 20 miles away, and is being entertained by our cows who calved in the June to August period. He is getting quite used to moving in the trailer, and having keen female company awaiting him on his arrival. Its sex all round, as the ram, Alfredo, is now back in with our small flock of Oxford Down ewes - not that this stops him being his usual, miserable, Eyeore-like self. Hopefully we will expect the patter of tiny lamb feet in February. Our next beef will be available from 17 December, and we will be at the farmers’ market at the Livestock Centre, Murton (just off the A 64) on Saturday morning 18 December. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to visit the farm to buy directly from us. One snag we had until recently was a lack of a telephone line. The line was snagged on a rowan tree on the edge our far field, and was trailing on the ground. After almost 3 weeks BT have finally repaired the line. Sincere apologies if you have been trying to ring us. When dialled, the phone made a ringing noise for the caller, but was dead at our end. We were not trying to avoid speaking to anyone!! We are now taking orders for beef for Christmas. The beef will be ready on 17 December, and we will be able to take orders to the Murton Farmer’s Market on Saturday 18 December for customers in the York area, as well as making deliveries in the Whitby area.18 October 2010
TELEPHONE PROBLEM RESOLVED!
At long last we have a new overhead telephone line installed. We apologize for the inconvenience that this may have caused to customers and potential customers, but the fault lies entirely with BT. We will once again be pleased to receive any enquiries about our beef, either by phone or via this website. Once more, sorry if you have tried phoning over the past three weeks and had no reply.15 October 2010
TELEPHONE PROBLEMS
Many apologies to anyone who has tried unsuccessfully to contact us by telephone over the past TWO WEEKS. We live half a mile from the nearest road, and our overhead telephone line runs alongside the moor and across our fields. This came down a fortnight ago and we are STILL WAITING FOR BT TO REPAIR IT! No date has been given for its repair. This also means that we do not have internet access other than on a borrowed laptop and "dongle". We will check our e-mails as often as possible, and contacts via our website, but if you wish to 'phone us try our mobile 'phones on 07881 602 779 or 07888 398 674.10 October 2010
Jan's August News
All of our cows due to calve this year are now proud mums of healthy offspring. Our next calves won’t be due until the New Year. The latest calves were up and on their feet, and joining in with the rest of the herd in no time – not for them the usual lying up for a couple of days before mum introduces them to the herd. At just a day old they were full members of the calf gang. The small amount of hay we produce ourselves is now safely baled and stacked. Jobs for September will include re-introducing the ram to the ewes, hopefully so they can lamb mid February again, and getting Sir Harry, our bull, back to go with the mums and newest calves. The hens have gone off lay a little, but are still producing a few lovely eggs each day. Our two remaining geese seem to have taken up almost permanent residence in the yard, and if not there are with the ram in his field. I think they feel safe from the fox that way – although I’m not sure our permanently miserable ram Alfredo, who has all of Eyore’s traits, would do much to protect them if the fox were to appear! Our next beef will be available from 15 October, and we will be at the farmers’ market at the York Livestock Centre, Murton (just off the A 64) on Saturday morning 16 October. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to visit the farm to buy directly from us. Fresh or frozen supplies always available. Advance orders are always welcome, and our butcher will do his best to meet any special requirements – just give us as much notice as possible.15 September 2010
July News
We now have five new calves, born over the last month and a half. All now seem fit and well, although for Alice this has only been achieved after 2 visits from the vet to sort out an infection she had from her birth cord. She seems fine now, and happily plays tig with the rest of the gang. We have a further two cows, Mayflower and Dinky, due to calve in September or October. Harry, our bull, is paying what has become his annual visit to a small herd of Dexter cows at Glaisdale. He will be coming home mid-September to see our cows who calved June and in July. Our beef availability is spreading - it now appearing as an occasional special on the menu of our local pub, the Fylingdales Inn (see link), as well as at the Woodlands Restaurant at Sandsend. Our next beef will be available from 20 August, although we have a limited amount of frozen beef available. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to visit the farm to buy directly from us.9 August 2010
Gemma and the newly-born Guinness - before she lost him!
June News
We are now into our summer calving session. The first to calve was Gemma, and building upon her reputation from last year, she managed to lose the calf half a dozen times in the first week! It is no joke when 11.30 at night saw us combing the field with torches looking for a new calf which Gemma claimed to have left in a “safe place, if only she could remember where”. On that occasion, the calf (Guinness) had got under the electric tape and was fast asleep by the outbuildings, completely oblivious to his mum’s shouts. There is now just one cow left to calve before September, when we start again! The older calves are now getting into a routine of playing and then resting with the cow nominated to calf sit for all of them. The sheep were relieved of their thick fleeces a week ago, and are looking quite sleek and slim (unusual for them!) in their cooler summer attire. Our next beef will be available 23 July, although we have some frozen beef available in the mean time. We have some excellent burgers available for those summer BBQs in the long hot summer days which we all hope to be able to enjoy.12 July 2010
May 2010 News
May has been dry, to the extent that we have brought our water bowser into use, and apart from the odd day, cold. This has meant that the grass hasn’t grown in the exuberant manner expected for this time of year – in fact its hardly grown at all! The cattle have had the small amount of grass supplemented by hay – not a usual position for May! We were very excited when the Queen visited the Hares Leap Farm Shop, which stocks our Dexter beef. Her Majesty was given a hamper to take away with her which included two of our sirloin steaks. We hope she enjoyed them. May also saw the opening of the new Woodlands Restaurant & Delicatessen, now located in East Row, near the beck and car park at Sandsend. They continue to feature our Dexter beef as a “special” on the menu and in the delicatessen. Our next farmers’ market is on Saturday morning 19th June, when we will be at the Livestock Centre, Murton (just off the A64). Alternatively, please feel free to contact us and buy directly from the farm. If we don’t have what you want in stock, we are pleased to take advance orders.11 June 2010
A ROYAL VISIT
On Thursday 20th May Her Majesty the Queen is to include Hares Leap Farm Shop at Burniston in her visit to Scarborough and Duchy of Lancaster properties in Burniston & Cloughton. The Palace has requested that a hamper of locally produced and sourced food be provided for the Queen, and we are delighted that this is to include some of our sirloin steaks! Why not eat like royalty yourself and try some of our superb beef, available from Hares Leap or direct from the farm.17 May 2010
April News
Thank goodness spring has finally arrived. All our animals are now outside enjoying the fresh air and new grass. The first thing Blossom did when coming out of the barn with her calf, Bluebell, was to wipe her face along the earth – a typical cow reaction to a period spent inside. All 4 new calves have formed a gang and chase round the field together. We (and the rest of the neighbourhood) had a noisy couple of days when we separated last years’ calves from mums. The calves are quite big and between 8 and 10 months old – but it still didn’t stop them from shouting loudly that they needed their mums – the mums largely keeping quite in case they got their calves back! In sorting out cows and calves, we now have 7 in calf cows together – some of whom hadn’t seen each other throughout the winter months, so the first day saw the usual head wrestling. They have settled down and are the best of friends again now. Our next batch of beef is due 18 June, and we will be at the farmers’ market at York Livestock Centre, Murton (just off the A64) on Saturday morning 19 June. If you would like some of our beef and can’t make the farmers’ market, please feel free to get in touch and come and buy directly from the farm. We have some excellent frozen meat available.11 May 2010
Geraldine - one of our two latest arrivals
March News
The sheep and their lambs are now out enjoying freedom in the periodic spring sunshine – it is a real treat to watch them playing races, tig, king of the castle and other favourite lamb games. March saw two new arrivals. Our cows Tulip and Smokey, bought in calf last Autumn, have each got a lovely red polled heifer. The calves, Geraldine and Buttercup, and their mums, are residing in the shed space recently occupied by the sheep and lambs. With timing guaranteed to cause the maximum disruption (something Dexters seem to excel at!) Tulip chose to go into labour an hour and a half before we were due to go out for a meal, and a couple of weeks before we thought she was due to calve. Trying to persuade a cow in the process of calving to leave her field and friends and go into the shed – where we tried to persuade her she would be far more comfortable – was no easy matter. The calf was born in the entrance to the shed – but mum happily followed when we picked the calf up and carried it into the shed, demanding to know why we hadn’t suggested she go into there in the first place! We just made our outing on time. The following day we had an almost identical re-run with the other cow, Smokey. Both calves and mums are doing just fine. The Woodlands restaurant that we supply continues to get rave reviews - see our links to items in the Guardian and the Telegraph. Our next batch of beef is due 16 April, and we will be at the farmers’ market at York Livestock Centre, Murton (just off the A64) on Saturday morning 17 April. If you would like some of our beef and can’t make the farmers’ market, please feel free to get in touch and come and buy directly from the farm.7 April 2010
Moses - our prize winning steer
February News
Our small sheds are looking increasingly like maternity wards. One is a temporary home to 6 sheep and their 7 lambs, the other is home to two cows and their new calves. Lambing time was not without its problems for our small flock. Two of the ewes developed mastitis, but recovered following antibiotic injections. The calves – one heifer (Bluebell) and a bull calf (Goliath) - are the latest arrivals for their mums Blossom and Cleo. Our kitchen is proudly displaying 4 new rosettes. Included in our success in the Northern Dexter Group competition judged from photographs at the AGM, was first and second prize for two of our steers. Our bull, Sir Harry, is on his holidays in Easingwold at the moment, where he is being entertained by some Dexter cows and a Belted Galloway! Unfortunately the bad weather (more snow) prevented us from attending the farmers’ market at the York Livestock Centre in February. Apologies to anyone who turned up there expecting to see us. We will be there on 17 April. Hopefully there won’t be any snow this time. In the meantime, we have some frozen beef available – just ring or e-mail us.16 March 2010
Sorry!
Apologies to anyone who turned up to the Farmers' Market at York on Saturday expecting us to be there. It seems that Robin Hood's Bay has a climate of its own. We had ice and snow on Friday (and more over the weekend) which left us with a treacherous 6" covering by early on Saturday on our 1 in 4 track up out of the farmyard to the road half a mile away. Couple that with a crisis in our lambing shed, and we very reluctantly decided that we would have to miss the market this time. We hope that you will keep checking our website to see when we are next going to be at the Livestock Centre.22 February 2010
January News
January ended as it started – with a white world. The snow and ice makes it very difficult for us and for our animals. Keeping them supplied with enough food to satisfy their increased appetites during bad weather is certainly time-consuming. Unravelling big bales, normally dropped into ring feeders with the tractor, and delivering it a bit at a time on the quad is hard work. Drifting snow prevented even the land rover getting up the farm track for a couple of days – and that normally goes anywhere. The weather lore which says if snow remains behind some more will come to fetch it is obviously not a myth, as that is exactly what happened! For two weeks in the middle of the month the white was transformed to brown as snow became mud, which again makes putting big bales into the ring feeders problematical as the tractor ploughs deep furrows into the soft muddy ground. The “distraction” technique we have developed to allow the tractor to put a large bale into place without the help of cows and calves is a sight to behold – cow nuts in a trough lasts only a few minutes. Trying not to become anchored by mud and falling over like an aunt sally whilst waving a stick and shouting is a whole new skill that Jan has not yet fully mastered! Roll on spring! This month we are pleased to have started supplying the Woodlands Hotel & Restaurant at Sandsend near Whitby with our beef. The Woodlands has a very good reputation as a small restaurant. Their passion for top quality food, locally produced, mirrors our own. Early feedback from Alex Perkins, their talented chef, and customers in the restaurant has been superb. Watch this space for updates, especially for details of the opening of their delicatessen around Easter time! Our next beef will be available from 19 February. We will be at the farmers market at Murton, York (just off the A64) on Saturday morning, 20 February. If you would like us to save you some beef to collect from there, just let us know. Alternatively, you can buy directly from the farm. We usually have a range of fresh or frozen beef available. Large and small orders both welcome, and there can’t be a better time to have a warming beef casserole.10 February 2010
Winter at Skerry Hall
December News & A Happy New Year!
We are all, animals and humans, suffering from an overdose of bad winter weather. The snow arrived a week before Christmas, is still with us and looks set to continue well into January. Some of our cattle (the fortunate few) are indoors, but the other cattle and all the sheep are braving the cold outside. They need to eat so much to keep warm, that it is a daily battle to get the food they need out to them. They do not show much patience when their tummies are empty – the best sound is that of silence when the morning feeding round is finished. On the plus side, they all look healthy and have lovely thick winter coats to deal with the bad weather. Our next calves are due in February, so both expectant mums will be brought into the barn before their due date. With sheep due to lamb in February, it will be very full in our small sheds! Despite bad weather, we made it to the farmers market before Christmas, and were able to deliver the meat which people had ordered from us. Our next beef will be available 19 February, and we will be at the farmers market at Murton, York (just off the A64) on Saturday morning, 20 February. If you would like us to save you some beef to collect from there, just let us know. We always welcome people to come and buy from us directly from the farm, or alternatively we are now supplying our beef to the Hare’s Leap Farm Shop at Burniston, near Scarborough (which sells a delicious range of local food). Happy New Year to all our friends and customers.4 Jan 2010
November News
After a dry late summer and autumn, the rain has really arrived. Some of our springs which normally flow freely ran dry at the end of summer, and we were using water bowsers to fill up the animals’ water troughs. We are now back to normal, water everywhere, converted quickly into mud by people and cattle. The remaining lonely duck and geese are the only ones enjoying it! We have sold three of our heifers, who have gone to live near York. We will miss them, but I’m sure they have gone to a good home. We have one remaining heifer for sale. To bring our numbers back up, we have acquired two new cows together with their 6 month heifer calves – its not their fault they are called Glitter and Petunia! If they can get used to their names, I’m sure we will. They should soon settle down well with us, as long as they accept that Blossom is the head cow, and what she says goes – (her main message being “I am first in line for ALL the food”). Dexter beef is being given further good publicity – it is featured in the current series of Gordon Ramsey’s F word. Janet Street-Porter is raising animals to provide the best of British food for the final meal in the series. Dexter was selected as the best. Our next farmers market is at Murton, York (just off the A64) on Saturday morning, 19 December. If you would like us to save you some beef to collect from there, just let us know. Orders already in mean that all of the fillet from the December batch is spoken for. We always welcome people to come and buy from us directly from the farm, or alternatively we are now supplying our beef to the Hare’s Leap Farm Shop at Burniston, and Simply Yorkshire in the Market Place, Whitby. Both establishments sell a delicious range of local food. Wishing all our customers and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.26 November 2009
Mayflower and Othello
Herd Visit
At the beginning of September we were pleased to host a visit from the Northern Dexter Group. Having first visited Glaisdale, the group arrived at Skerry Hall in time for soup and rolls, eaten in the garden with its magnificent views over Robin Hood's Bay. We had just one cow left to calve that Sunday morning, and right on cue Mayflower produced a super bull calf for our visitors! The whole group seemed to enjoy seeing our friendly herd, and it was particularly pleasing to meet so many enthusiastic youngsters as well as adults.24 September 2009
August News
The variable summer weather has not stopped us from getting in the small amount of hay which we’ve produced this year. At least it’s not in rotting piles, which was its fate in 2008. We will have to buy in further hay to see us through the winter. The ewes are now separated from their lambs – none of them made any fuss – I think that the lambs had just about weaned themselves, and their mums were glad to be free of them – better than disturbing the neighbourhood with loud bleating as ewes and lambs call to each other. The Oxford Down gimmer (female) lambs and the ram lambs will be sold this autumn, together will a shearling ram. The lambs and the shearling ram all look in good condition – please contact us if you are interested in buying any of them. The calves born in June and July are looking good, and are full of energy playing their calf games. A further new arrival (a red heifer, Rowan) was born on the last Saturday in August. It is her mum’s (Dinky’s) first calf. Both mum and baby are doing well. There are hopefully a further 2 cows, Mayflower and Daisy, to calve in the next few weeks, although we are beginning to doubt whether Daisy is in calf at all. The calves who were born in 2008 are still in their summer grazing quarters in Hawsker. We have two nice black, non-short heifers for sale – Jasmine and Persephone. Our few poultry were further depleted several weeks ago when the fox, on a day time raid, took our 2 remaining ducks. There is now a lonely drake, who hangs around with the elderly geese for company. Our next fresh supplies of dexter beef will be available from 18 September. We will be at the Farmer’s Market at Murton, York (just off the A64) on Saturday morning 19 September. The Hare’s Leap farm shop will also be re-supplied with our beef on 18 September. As always, we welcome direct sales from the farm. I know it may seem a long time away, but we are now taking orders of beef for Christmas. It will be available from 18 December. There was good feedback from those who treated themselves to a large joint of our delicious beef last year as a change from the infamously tasteless turkey.31 August 2009
Vicky and her new calf Rosie
June/July News
Our small flock of sheep are looking much cooler in their lighter summer attire. They lost their thick fleeces at the beginning of June, three of the thick, luxuriant Oxford Down fleeces finding good homes with two local spinners. The summer calving is off to a good start. The five girls who were due to calve in June and July have between them 2 black bull calves, 1 red bull calf, 1 black heifer and 1 red heifer. Thankfully, mums and babies are all doing well, despite Gemma’s attempts to loose her red bull calf in the first week of his life. We must have looked an odd sight when on 4 separate occasions 2 humans and 1 cow were peering into the hedgerows of the field to find Gemma’s latest hiding place, carefully selected then promptly forgotten! The other cows watched on smugly with their calves sensibly close to mum! Gemma has no excuses, as this is her third calf. As he has grown, Lenny (the calf in question) is now big enough to find his own way back to his scatter brained mum. Our next 3 new arrivals are due in August. Our bull, Sir Harry, is away until the end of August enjoying his job as a sex tourist, entertaining some Dexter cows in Glaisdale. There has been great feed back from the Hare’s Leap Farm Shop at Burniston, Scarborough which has had our dexter beef on sale since June. The owner and chef described the thick rib he cooked for himself as “awesome”. Although we have some excellent frozen beef available for sale, our next fresh supplies are due 19 September, when we will be at the Farmer’s Market, at the Livestock Centre, Murton, York (just off the A 64). Enquiries and sales directly from the farm are always welcome.26 July 2009
STOP PRESS – Skerry Hall Farm Dexter Beef at Hares Leap Farm Shop
From Friday 19th June a selection of our fresh beef will be available from Hares Leap Farm Shop at Flatts Farm, Coastal Road, Burniston, Scarborough. Here Jon and Kath Smith, who spent ten years transforming Peppers Restaurant into a fine and contemporary dining experience using the best regionally sourced ingredients, have a real and honest passion for food. They are now devoting their time and skills to the farm shop, with its integral cafe. We are delighted to supply our beef, when available, for their farm shop venture. Here this award winning chef will give special ideas, recipes and cookery advice to help you get the best out of our Dexter Beef, and stocks complementary produce to help you create meals to remember. We hope that this will be the start of a long and rewarding association with Hares Leap, although supplies will continue to be available direct from the farm or the farmers’ markets that we attend.9th June 2009, updated 17 May 2010
May 2009 News
All of our cattle, including Holly, our convalescent cow, are now enjoying the warm sunshine which the end of the month brought us, and the late spring grass which is growing well. Holly’s stay in the barn “sick bay” ended just before the end of the month, although she was never lonely – she had a constant stream of visitors – hens (who laid their eggs in her food trough), pheasants, partridges – all of whom she accepted with remarkably good grace. The only ones she took exception to were the geese who moved into her pen and proceeded to have a fight (as they are inclined to do in the spring!) In typical Holly fashion, when first released from indoors she showed her appreciation by rubbing her head and neck on the ground in sheer ecstasy. There is plenty of tasty grass in the field where six of last year’s calves are currently residing, but this didn’t prevent two of them from making an escape bid into a neighbour’s field. We were mystified at first as to where the two could have gone – the fences all appeared secure. We dismissed the claims of the others that they had been beamed up, and finally discovered they had gone down quite a steep ravine and pushed through undergrowth. Initial efforts to get them back ended up with all six in the wrong field. They eventually were coaxed back with a bucket of cow nuts – the most reluctant being Heather, Holly’s daughter and a quiet, timid individual who claimed that she was far too delicate to go back down the ravine! The next fresh supplies of our delicious beef will be available from 19th June. We will be at the farmers’ market at the Livestock Centre, Murton, York on 20th June. In addition, we are pleased to announce that some of our beef will be available from 19th June at the Hares Leap Farm Shop at Burniston, near Scarborough, a new farm shop selling a range of tasty local produce. Alternatively, you are welcome to buy directly from the farm – just ring first to make sure we are in. Fresh or frozen supplies always available.4 June 2009
April 2009 News
It really feels like Spring is here. The cattle are now all living outside (instead of in their winter quarters), with one sad exception. Holly, a nice young cow who has given us 2 good calves previously, had problems which involved an emergency visit from the vet a couple of months ago. A recent visit from the vet showed that she still has problems and is unlikely to be able to get into calf again. For the time being she is living in the barn so we can keep a close eye on her. She is bearing the incarceration with great fortitude, with only the occasional shout to the rest of the herd who are enjoying fresh air and freedom. Jacob and Moses, our two steers who had the unfortunate experience of getting stuck in the mud during the worst of the winter wet, are now happily living outside and seem to be regaining some of their previous condition. Our bull, Sir Harry, is now back from his “holiday” in East Yorkshire with several Dexter cows, and is happily entertaining two of our girls, Blossom and Cleo. Hopefully in preparation for the promised warm, dry summer the cattle are shedding their winter coats and should emerge butterfly-like from their current personas of walking hairy rugs into sleek, glossy versions of their former selves. Dexter beef got well deserved praise during the recent television programme of Great British Menu. The meat is certainly getting a very good reputation with top chefs. We usually have a range of frozen meat available. Our contact details are on this site, and we always welcome people to buy directly from the farm. Our next farmers’ market will be 20 June at the Livestock Centre, Murton, York.08 May 2009
Jan's March News
Spring continues apace. All of our sheep have now had their lambs except our one Suffolk Cross – Speckles. We think she is holding out for cold, wet and windy weather – reminiscent of when she was born, and had to be nurtured. Damson, the calf, is thriving. She is now out of the barn and running rings round her mum! Caesar, the calf who was born in November, is sharing the field together with his mum. He is quite short and very plump, and sadly for Damson lacks her energy levels! The older calves (born May and June last year) are now away from their mums, who need a rest before they calve again in June this year. Although they are quite big, and are now 9 or 10 months old, the peace of the countryside was shattered for a few days by their shouting from their temporary incarceration in the barn. I think their mums are secretly glad to be rid of them, and there is only the odd answering call. It’s like having a barn full of juvenile delinquents, and we really could have managed without their help in loading an animal into a trailer early one morning. To load we had to persuade him to walk from another barn, through a walkway we’d constructed in the barn containing said delinquents, and into the awaiting trailer. When, after some coaxing, we emerged with him following a bucket of cattle nuts from the other barn, there was one of the calves standing in the trailer. I swear it was grinning at us! We took the steer back to where we’d started, finally managed to get the calf back behind the gate, and started again. In a horrid bout of dejavu, the exact same thing happened a second time! It was finally third time lucky, and the bad back caused by trying to push helpful calves back behind the gate still persists! Amongst the helpers were three very nice heifers, Jasmine, Persephone and Heather, who will be for sale shortly, and I’m sure will settle down and act responsibly one day …. Sir Harry, our bull, is due back at the end of the month from his sex tourist trip to some dexter cows in East Yorkshire. He will go into a field containing a large ring feeder for his hay – we don’t want a repeat of an earlier episode when his head got stuck in the smaller feeder and he had the undignified experience of having to wear the feeder like a necklace whilst we sawed off one of the bars to free him – after which he want jumping and skipping round the field like a young calf! We will have fresh supplies of our delicious beef, hung for three and a half weeks, available from the 17th of April, and we will be at the Farmer’s Market at Murton, York (just off the A64) on Saturday morning, 18th April. We will be the ones hunched over with bad backs! Alternatively, you can buy direct from the farm – just let us know in advance that you are coming. Visitors are always welcome.26 March 2009
Damson - our latest calf
February News
February proved to be a month of mixed fortunes – both for weather and with livestock. Together with everyone else, we struggled with the bad weather at the beginning of the month. As some of our cattle live outside for the winter, we made sure they had plenty to eat, and put straw down in their favourite sleeping places. The heaviest snowfall which came on Thursday of the 2nd week in the month was followed be a quite rapid thaw – which left everywhere the muddiest it has ever been. Fortunately, 2 of our Oxford Down sheep chose the milder drier weather since then to have their twin lambs. One set of gimmer (girl) lambs, Milly and Molly, are thriving. Mabel, their mum, is an old hand. The other set of twin lambs were okay until their mum Ada laid on one of them and squashed it. Ada’s surviving lamb, Arthur, is doing fine. Although he is smaller than Milly and Molly he still joins in their lamb games. Sadly, another of our Oxford Down sheep had a miscarriage. We have 3 sheep left to lamb (hopefully!) Blossom, a very steady friendly cow who is currently residing in the barn, had a lovely heifer calf the last week of February. Called Damson, she is very lively and very friendly. She would dearly love to play calf games with other youngsters, but for now has to make do with racing round the barn and chewing our wellies. The milder weather has seen the older claves racing around the field, and their mums lying around in the early spring sunshine. Long may it continue! We have sold a lot of beef from our latest consignment –although there is still a bit of excellent meat left. If anyone missed out or wants to top up their supplies just get in touch with us. Buy direct from the farm, and visit Damson and the lambs at the same time! Our next supplies of fresh beef are due at the end of April.2 March 2009
November Snow
December/January News
December and January have been busy for us, as always in the winter when the only food the animals get is what we feed them. They certainly let us know when they are hungry – none of them are reticent in shouting when their tummy bells go! The majority of our cattle our wintered outside, with only a limited few enjoying the relative comfort of our small barns. One of the few is Cleo, who had a lovely little bull calf (Caesar) at the end of November. His survival was touch and go at first, so it hardly seems fair to turf him out into the cold wet world just yet. Blossom is also in the barn – her excuse is that she is due to calve later in February. The other recent addition to the barn gang is Moses (a young steer) – so called as he was found stuck in the mud a few days ago. It took digging in mud with a spade, tractor, tractor straps and the link box on the tractor to rescue him and transport him to the barn. He is now enjoying a bit of pampering – lots of nice food, and regular brushing to try and shift the mud which so far has defeated buckets of water and old cloths. Our bull, Sir Harry, is on holiday at the moment. He has gone as a sex tourist to entertain some cows in East Yorkshire, and I’m sure is thoroughly enjoying himself. The snow before Christmas saw us taking an unnatural interest in cow pats – in the scrum to be the first to eat a bale of hay we were carrying, one of the cows swallowed a black fleece glove as an accompaniment. We did actually find it a few days later – but as Father Christmas very kindly supplied new gloves, it was thrown away! Our diary for February includes a farmers market at the Livestock Centre, Murton, York (just off the A 64) on February 21st. We will be getting the beef back from its usual 3 and-a-half weeks of hanging immediately before the 21st. Advance orders and/or sales from the farm are, as ever, welcome.31st January 2009
Anthem and Jet
Calving at Skerry Hall
Our May calving period got under way with the first arrival on Thursday 29 May - a bull calf for Anthem, Skerry Jet. On Saturday Jilly gave birth to a beautiful heifer, Skerry Jasmine. Vicky, Bramble and Holly followed on with three more excellent calves. Mayflower is due to have her first calf next month, and later in the year Cleo, our latest acquisition, is due to have her first calf.24 June 2008
Rufus - our prizewinner