The Return of the Brown Hare

The Return of the Brown Hare

Walking my mad spaniel, Bonnie, across the farm every day lets me notice how the year passes by on an almost micro, daily level. Right now, our walks are punctuated with impromptu cool-offs in the cattle troughs, but soon enough, autumn will set in, and a cool dip...
Easter Feasting – Crispy Lamb Gyros

Easter Feasting – Crispy Lamb Gyros

The daffs are in full bloom and the glow from the occasionally shy sun is signalling the growing of the days. It feels like we are awakening from the hibernation of winter and all it threw at us this year. Easter is always a line in the sand to bring us out of the...
March

March

As we waved goodbye to the chill of January and February, our team has been deep in the throes of planning for the exciting year ahead. With spring peeking around the corner, we’re thrilled to start bringing our visions to life. The feedback from our community...
The Perks of a Local Christmas

The Perks of a Local Christmas

As a farmer and a food lover, I’m a firm believer that when it comes to meat, in particular, eat local where you can, but always eat British. We are a nation built on the solid and rich heritage of great British food and farming. There is very little reason to...
Christmas Orders Now Open!

Christmas Orders Now Open!

‘Tis the Season Christmas will be a little different this year but rest assured our intentions remain the same, to bring people together over the best local and seasonal food. We are so proud and grateful to work with so many wonderful local farmers and food...
The Garden Kitchen at Hartley Farm

The Garden Kitchen at Hartley Farm

With the news at the start of July that cafes can reopen, we got our thinking hats on to see what we could do to make this summer a special one for everyone as we move into our new normal. We love seeing people enjoying the outdoors at our farm and have a wonderful...
A New Year’s resolution all about meat

A New Year’s resolution all about meat

January is about reflection and goal setting for the year ahead. Many of my musings recently have been regarding the press and their portrayal of livestock farming and the environment. The key message has been that we need to eat less meat as intensive farming...
October

October

Well, here we are heading towards the end of another year already. This is certainly the business end of the year for us in the farm shop and all of the efforts in planning and preparation over the last few months culminate in a mad rush towards another Christmas at...
September

September

September at Hartley Farm Darkness has started to set in earlier in the evenings but the trade-off has been some picture-perfect autumn scenes at the beginning and end of the day. The sloes and damsons are steeping in the gin and the smell of woodsmoke fills the damp...
Allotments available!

Allotments available!

New years resolution to eat healthier, exercise more, reduce your impact on the environment…? Why not start an allotment? February 1st is the start of our allotment year at Hartley Farm & this year we have a couple of vacant allotments for any keen gardeners...
A trip to see our turkey farmer Stu from Castlemead Farm

June Haylage Making at Hartley Farm

Welcome to our first vlog! A hot dry June made this year’s first cut of grass a little easier to manage. In this video we cover the mowing, raking, baling and wrapping of our haylage bales to begin squirrelling away our livestock feed for the winter. I hope you...
What do you think of our Butcher’s Counter?

What do you think of our Butcher’s Counter?

Being livestock farmers for five generations, we take our meat very seriously. When we opened our farm shop back in 2008 our butcher’s counter really was our cornerstone, selling our own meat from the farm but also providing a marketplace for other local farmers too....
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