100% grass fed lamb and mutton
slow-grown, rare breed and delicious
How they live
Our flock of sheep are a mixture of rare breed Shetland, Wiltshire horn and Jacob. They are particularly hardy to live outside at any weather, and thrive on pasture alone. They do not need grain to fatten up.
Hannah moves her sheep daily to a fresh piece of pasture, that has been rested for 1-3 months until it’s fully recovered and ready to graze again.
Our sheep graze the pasture when it’s at its best, to ensure the best nutritional value. They have plenty of diverse hedgerows to pick their minerals and other nutrients from. This contributes to their overall health and makes for lamb meat that has a very distinctive taste.
Our pasture management
We manage our flock of sheep in a way that mimics natural ecology of grasslands. They are kept in a herd with electric fence, in an area that provides just enough grass for a day – then they are moved to a new area. Hannah then moves chickens onto it to scratch the area the sheep have been in, to help to break up the parasite cycle and distribute the fertility evenly.
In this way, biodiversity is naturally increasing, creating rich habitats for many insects and animals. The water holding capacity is improving too, that allows Hannah to graze her sheep through weather extremes of droughts and floods.
Good for wildlife and the planet
Sheep often get bad press when not managed properly. Indeed, they can damage many habitats and plant species, by overgrazing them. Bracken, thistle and gorse bush then start dominating the landscape, as those are the only plants sheep don’t eat. Furthermore, sheep overgrazing in the uplands cause soil erosion and floods downhill. The shaved hills don’t have plants with deep roots for quick water penetration, so most water runs off.
However, our sheep benefit the wildlife and landscape and can heal previous mismanagement. Hannah’s sheep have helped her to restore her decimated land to its previous glory, and she is aiming for to make it even better.
Since our sheep are managed as nature would manage large herds of animals, the grasses keep growing fast. They are taking CO2 from the air and storing some as soil carbon in the soil. This process is helping to reverse global warming and prevent droughts and floods.
Farmer Hannah takes care of her sheep sometimes more than of her children. Here, she picks up a role of a sheep mum, in case a ewe cannot look after all her lambs.
Hannah’s mixture of crossed rare breed sheep are helping her to restore the biodiversity and improve soil quality on her land. She manages them carefully by grazing them as nature intended, in a herd, and moves them every day to fresh piece of pasture.
Diversity of plant species have boomed as a result of correct management of the sheep flock. This in turn provides food and habitat for many birds, animals and insect.
Tasty and mild
100% grass fed lamb tastes different to standard lamb. Our 100% grass fed lamb is much leaner in comparison, and its fat doesn’t have a pungent smell. Instead, it is mild and lovely, never overpowering and strong.
Even if you’re not a lamb eater, you’ll probably enjoy slow-cook lamb dishes, where the best of the mild taste comes out.
Our lamb is also much older than conventional lamb (ours is 12 months old, whereas conventional only 6 months). This is because our rare-breed sheep grow and mature much slower.
We dry-age our lamb for 10-14 days. This increases its tenderness while keeping its distinctive grass fed flavour.
Mutton for deeper flavour
We also occasionally have 100% grass fed mutton from the same flock, which are sheep over 2 years old.
The flavour of mutton is in between lamb and beef. It is deeper and more complex like beef, with a light lamb taste, same as our lamb.