Author: Martin Beard

  • TWTWTW (2)

    TWTWTW (2)

    After last week, anything is an improvement. Fortunately, our OSB sow continued her recovery, the fox stayed away and our son returned home to look after the place, so we were able to travel down to the Great Yorkshire Show. The Yorkshire has a fantastic array of Pig classes, and this year was no exception.…

  • That was the week that was……

    That was the week that was……

    This week has been horrendous, but there is always light at the end of the tunnel and it came for us in the form of customers at the Hospitalfield Arts ‘Beer and Berries’ event who liked our sausages and burgers – please follow Hospitalfield Arts on twitter.com/@hospitalfield – we managed to get along for an hour…

  • Of Foxes and Shows, Cattle and Bacon!

    Of Foxes and Shows, Cattle and Bacon!

    Six of our pedigree Oxford sandy and Black weaners went off to the Royal Highland Show last week, where they were on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust stand promoting the “Choose Pedigree Pork” Initiative. RBST along with the BPA are trying to ensure that people who want to eat the finest pork, (pork that comes…

  • Vote 2017!!!

    Vote 2017!!!

    just when you thought it was all over…. why not vote for your favourite sausage from our range? Pork and Sweet Chilli – a cheeky bit of heat to offset the fine taste of our Parkhill Pork. Pork, Black Pepper and Caramelised Onion – a savoury treat with a touch of sweetness in the finish…

  • Apricot’s litter, and the case of the disappearing ducks

    Apricot’s litter, and the case of the disappearing ducks

    As we wait for the next batch of meat to come back from the Butcher, we have been busy looking at our herd and working out our stock plan. The first job was to get one of our OSB sows away from her litter – we judge when to do this based on the amount…

  • Batch #2 !

    On Tuesday this week, the next batch were loaded into the trailer for the trip “away”. This time we used Dunblane abattoir, which is closer to us, and is in the town where we used to live. It is a credit to their operation that not many people know there is an abattoir in the…

  • RBST Caledonian Group Open Day

    RBST Caledonian Group Open Day

    On Saturday 6th, we welcomed 29 intrepid members and friends of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust to Parkhill for a “Piglets to Pork” Open Day. We began with a walk around the farm, which involved a lot of talking to the pigs on the way. As usual, the Large Black sows were very chatty, and…

  • Bottle feeding….a piglet!

    Bottle feeding….a piglet!

    Meet crumble. He is 2 and a half weeks old. He was feeding along with the rest of the litter but we felt he was not doing very well, so we watched and worked out that he had managed to choose a teat that was no longer working, and so he was not getting any…

  • First Orders away!

    First Orders away!

    After a little bit of stress, pleased to say that our first orders went away without a hitch. The chilled packaging did its job and so did the delivery companies. We have had some good responses as well, so we are really happy that our journey has begun! This is the picture of the courier…

  • Of Prep Rooms and Piglets

    Of Prep Rooms and Piglets

    The outbuildings attached to the house have seen many uses, from the initial stables and coach house, through to workshops, storage areas and in some cases living accommodation for casual land workers. Those days are long gone – the original coal house and woodshed now houses our biomass boiler, the coach house is now the…