Surrey Homes | SH79 | August 2021 | Adding value to your property supplement inside
The lifestyle magazine for Surrey - Inspirational Interiors, Fabulous Fashion, Delicious Dishes
The lifestyle magazine for Surrey - Inspirational Interiors, Fabulous Fashion, Delicious Dishes
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Slow,<br />
Grow, Eat<br />
Hairdresser-turned-shepherdess, Zoë Colville<br />
farms nearly 100 acres of land near Maids<strong>to</strong>ne<br />
with her partner, Chris Woodhead. With prime<br />
focus on their animals’ wellbeing, <strong>to</strong>gether they<br />
rear cows, sheep, goats and pigs, eventually<br />
selling their meat through The Little Farm<br />
Fridge. This month, Zoe contemplates a new<br />
way <strong>to</strong> educate the public about farming life<br />
The farm becomes a very noisy place for a little while<br />
around this time. We wean our goat kids and lambs<br />
from their mothers and even though their mothers’<br />
milk supply would have hugely reduced and nine times out of<br />
ten they would have been kicked off the teat, they still scream<br />
blue murder for a day or two. I had an interesting conversation<br />
with a local saying that they’ve ‘never known sheep <strong>to</strong> be<br />
so noisy’ and it got me thinking about what we can do <strong>to</strong><br />
familiarise our neighbours and local walkers with our practises<br />
<strong>to</strong> avoid their worry and all the phone calls we receive.<br />
We have explored putting a QR code on the gates of the<br />
fields the lives<strong>to</strong>ck are in, which could be scanned <strong>to</strong> open<br />
a blog <strong>to</strong> show what we are getting up <strong>to</strong> and shed some<br />
light on certain situations, <strong>to</strong> avoid worry or panic.<br />
A good example would be that we have a few lame lambs<br />
at the moment with a condition called ‘scald’ – this is when<br />
the grass gets <strong>to</strong>o long, it rubs in the soft area where their hoof<br />
splits and creates a sore bit. The way we treat it is <strong>to</strong> spray in<br />
between the ‘<strong>to</strong>es’ with a blue spray which is an antiseptic that<br />
aids the healing process. We then mark the affected individual’s<br />
head with a dot of spray paint so we know we’ve treated it<br />
and can keep an eye on their progress. We also quite often<br />
spray its whole foot blue for any onlookers <strong>to</strong> see, so when<br />
we get a call about a lamb hobbling we can ask if it has a blue<br />
foot and we know it’s been identified and treated already.<br />
Another example could be that when our Highland cows<br />
are due <strong>to</strong> calf we may put a sign up warning footpath<br />
walkers <strong>to</strong> be vigilant when walking through that field as new<br />
mothers can be unpredictable. This could sound scary or<br />
make us sound like we are being difficult but if walkers can<br />
ping on<strong>to</strong> the blog and see when the girls have given birth<br />
and feel a part of the process it’s suddenly less daunting.<br />
A blog for the local community can also make people feel<br />
involved with the lives<strong>to</strong>ck in their area as they are up <strong>to</strong> date<br />
with what goes on week-<strong>to</strong>-week in the land surrounding their<br />
houses, even learning the breeds, ages, purposes etc. Quite<br />
often we will have dog walkers asking if the sheep are for wool<br />
or meat and if the pygmy goats are for eating, whilst some will<br />
just make their own conclusions and not voice their questions,<br />
so it would benefit us whilst also clearing up any ambiguity<br />
or gaps in their understanding of farming or the food chain.<br />
The Little Farm Fridge Recipe of the month<br />
How <strong>to</strong> cook it... Lamb leg<br />
steaks with chimichurri.<br />
• 2 Little Farm Fridge<br />
lamb leg steaks<br />
• handful mint leaves,<br />
finely chopped<br />
• handful parsley,<br />
finely chopped<br />
• 3 chopped garlic cloves<br />
• shallot, finely chopped<br />
• red chilli (half or whole<br />
• Serves 2<br />
depending on taste)<br />
• ½ tsp chilli powder<br />
• ½ tsp paprika<br />
• ½ tsp oregano<br />
• 2 tbsps white wine vinegar<br />
• 5 tbsps olive oil<br />
• ½ tsp pink rock<br />
salt (or <strong>to</strong> taste)<br />
• black pepper, <strong>to</strong> taste<br />
1 Add all the chimichurri ingredients <strong>to</strong> a bowl and mix well,<br />
adjusting the chilli and seasoning <strong>to</strong> <strong>your</strong> taste or audience.<br />
2 Season the meat and heat the barbeque.<br />
3 Grill on each side for around 6 minutes, stand <strong>to</strong> rest on<br />
the side for a couple of minutes before adding the chimichurri<br />
and serving. (Best served with home made chips or wedges!)<br />
Follow Zoe on Instagram @thechiefshepherdess<br />
and @thelittlefarmfridge. You can order<br />
meat online at thelittlefarmfridge.co.uk<br />
is<strong>to</strong>ckpho<strong>to</strong>.com/swkunst / winyuu