34 PARADISE PRODUCE DEC / JAN 2021 • farmers-mart . co . uk
support from those who live in the village . It ’ s only a country lane but people love driving on it and they see our only real form of advertising , a blackboard at the end of our farmyard driveway , although of course we also use social media . People love coming here because they can see the animals and we have lots that interest them .’
‘ When lockdown came in March my farm shop business went mental ! It was absolutely unbelievable . All of my freezers were completely emptied in just a week ! I couldn ’ t believe it and it took me all summer to stock it back up again . I had been trying to plan for a year as normal , but because it had all gone , and our speciality is the rare and native breeds I then had to act quickly and source the same breeds we stocked here from elsewhere . No easy task .’
Lucy ’ s pigs of choice have always been Oxford Sandy & Blacks .
‘ I ’ d shown cows at the Great Yorkshire Show with my dad and years ago at Harrogate is where I ’ d first seen the pig breed . I ’ d thought at the time that one day I was going to have some , but you don ’ t find that many up north . Then I found some for sale nearby , before I started the shop when Scarlet was 18 months . I got them from Aldbrough , near Hornsea . A guy had put them on the Preloved site . I got 2 girls that I planned on keeping and 2 boys to fatten for ourselves . Their pork was just amazing . I ’ d never tasted anything like it and I vowed I ’ d never buy pork again . We would produce our own .’
Lucy still has her 2 original breeding sows Carrot and Cupcake . After hiring a boar initially she now has her own called Jack .
‘ Over the years I ’ ve tried to purchase good quality pedigree breeding , so I have a Dandy and 2 Gertrudes called Kinky and Gertie ; and we ’ ve kept one of the gilts we bred off Cupcake , she ’ s called Splodge and another youngster called Kiwi . We now need another boar so it is nearly time to go shopping . Our litters average around 8-9 piglets and I try to organise them in groups of two or maybe soon three sows farrowing at a time . The first litters by Carrot and Cupcake saw us start selling pork and we also sold a couple as pedigree registered gilts . I ’ m currently looking at the four sows , as the others are not ready yet , producing around 80 pigs a year .’
‘ All of the sows are free range , outside and sometimes if the weather is nice I let them give birth outside , but I mostly bring them into the shed at that time to look after them . They have plenty of grass and silage , which is not a regular pig feed , but we already have enough for the cattle and sheep and I ’ m sure it makes the pork taste even better with all of the vitamins they gain . In autumn they get apples and pears from the orchard and those who live in the village bring me apples all the time . During winter they are in straw sheds and loose boxes .’
‘ When my freezers were left bare in March I had to get my skates on to find another supply of Oxford Sandy & Blacks and I was lucky enough to find some up near Pickering . They ’ re not cheap because they are a specialist rare breed and pedigree registered . I bought two litters of youngsters and reared them on as I rear ours , sticking to our core values .’
Lucy would love to show her Oxford Sandy & Blacks and with her own family pedigree in showing of cows you wouldn ’ t bet against her making a success of it .
Six years ago Lucy bought 2 Jacob girls from Pat Black ’ s pedigree Blackwolds flock . She now has a sheep flock of 85 ewes , being half Jacobs and half Lleyns , and then there are her rams in addition .
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