Keyhaven Lamb in the Larder

A little secret gem has just become public knowledge.

Lisa's Larder ‘Pop Up Shop’ has a Grand Opening taking place at Aubrey Farm, in Keyhaven Road on Sunday 23rd December from 10.30am until 3pm.

Everyone is invited, so why not go along to find out more about how you can buy local Keyhaven Lamb and other local goodies.

They will also be serving mulled wine and mince pies around midday, also local guest producers will be available for you to sample their products, and the Total Voice Choir will be there to celebrate the festive season.

A few lucky people will also be picking up their pre-ordered traditional barn reared turkeys for the Christmas table. There will also be a small amount of fresh Keyhaven lamb available in various packs.

Lisa's Larder are planning to offer produce straight from their own local farm, including traditional barn reared turkeys, Keyhaven lamb and mutton, local pork, bacon, sausages and gammon plus a few other carefully selected local seasonal products.

If you have walked along Hurst Spit you may have seen some of the farms flock in the fields by Sturt Pond. The salt they eat enhances the flavour.

 

Keyhaven lamb is already being served in The Marine, and having tasted a meal featuring the lamb, I can vouch that it is absolutly delicious. We understand it will also soon be on the menu at Verveine.

If you are after last minute presents, Christmas Lamb Box Gift Vouchers will also be available for pre-cut joints, half and whole lamb boxes.

In August 2012 the farm were very proud to be presented with the: 'New Forest Marque Food Producer of the Year' at the Hampshire Life Food & Drink Awards, and with their exciting plans, things look like they will just keep getting better.

Should you want to keep up with all of the latest product information in the Lisa's Larder newsletter, or would like to know the opening times, please contact: Lisa Morgan at:

lisa@simeonmorganfarming.com or 07702 556207.

Lisa's Larder can be found at Aubrey Farm, Keyhaven Road, Milford on Sea, SO41 0TH. 

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About Aubrey Farm

 

Aubrey Farm is in Keyhaven Road near Milford on Sea. Simeon, Lisa’s husband, takes care of all day-to-day farm management and is responsible for all crop marketing and sheep rearing. Lisa takes care of the administration and marketing of the sheep enterprise, as well as Lisa's Larder Shop.

 

The farming business was started in 1998 when J&D Edgar Ltd reviewed their farming operations. At that time Simeon was employed by the company having just completed his time at Sparsholt College studying for his ND in Agriculture and HND in Agricultural Business Studies. Lisa, who also attended Sparsholt College, was working as a farm secretary. Simeon was offered redundancy and was asked to tender to take over their arable operations on a contracting basis and the business took off from there.

It has always been Simeon & Lisa’s aim to create a long-term professional and sustainable business that keeps up with modern farming practices, remains flexible and innovative. They also undertake arable operations on 622 hectares of land, under a range of different agreements from contract farming to tenancy and individual operations.

The farm employs two full time members of staff and have a fleet of modern tractors and up to date farm machinery.

Lisa’s Larder now sells their own crossbred lambs and the male Zwartbles lambs via a box scheme through Lisa's Larder Shop. Sales have come about via word of mouth and currently demand exceeds supply. Customers are given the option of pre-cut joints, chops etc. half or a whole lamb cut and packed to their specification.

To ensure they produce the finest lamb, the farm uses C&S Meat’s abattoir near Sherborne, this is a small operation which they have chosen and inspected carefully. Simeon transport the animals himself and leave the farm early in the morning on the day of slaughter, with the whole process usually taking no more than 4 hours. Simeon & Lisa believe it is imperative for carcass quality that the animal’s remain unstressed and handled as least as possible. Blackmore Vale Butchery then collects the carcasses and hangs them for 10-14 days before cutting and packing to our specifications.

 

The end produce is wonderful Keyhaven Lamb.

The Veertig Flock of Pedigree Zwartbles Sheep

Breed Characteristics: The Zwartbles has a striking appearance: a black/brown fleece, a white blaze on the face, 2 - 4 white socks, and a white tail tip (which is traditionally left undocked). Both rams and ewes are polled. The Zwartbles are relatively large sheep: ewes weigh an average of 85 kg (190 lb), and rams 100 kg (220 lb). The dense fleece ranges from black to brown with sun bleached tips, some silvering maybe present in older animals. The wool is medium to fine with excellent crimp and fibre length, a Bradford count of 54-56 and a micron count of 27 making it popular for spinning and felting. Zwartbles are known for being docile, friendly, easy lambing, prolific, milky and being excellent mothers.

The farm has experimented with crossing their Zwartbles ram with some Easycare and Wiltshire Horn cross ewes and have had some very pleasing results producing a faster maturing butchers lamb whilst still enjoying the advantage of a lean, larger carcass. Lambs from these crosses are always black but sometimes will have a little white on the head.

www.simeonmorganfarming.com