Newsletter 8th June

Good afternoon,

We grow a small amount of cereal at Trenchmore as part of our rotation, which enables us to reseed the pastures with more productive grass species every few years.

Last year we harvested winter wheat and this year we’ve sown spring barley. The straw is used to bed our herd & flock in the winter, the barley will be used to finish our cattle for the best marbling and most of the wheat has been sold to E5 Bakehouse in London.

The bakery has their own mill and we collect the surplus bran that has been siphoned off by Simon the miller and feed it back to the cattle. It has good energy, minerals & fibre in it - so a happy set up for us, the bakers and the herd.

We held back a couple of sacks of wheat this year to sell as wheat berries through the yard shop and to restaurants, like Embers in Brighton.

Wheat berries are the cleaned but otherwise totally unprocessed wheat seed, and they’re absolutely delicious. Think pearl barley, but with more bite & more flavour. As the bran is left intact they have extra fibre, which is good for gut health.

They do take a while to cook - ideally in a pressure cooker, but fine on a stove top with a little patience. I’d suggest rinsing them first and the covering with plenty of water and simmering for at least an hour (30 mins in a pressure cooker), until tender but with some bite. They’re great for batch cooking because once cooked, they keep in the fridge for week.

Wheat berry & broccoli salad with tahini dressing

by Mary Gwynn

200g Trenchmore wheat berries

250g broccoli (sugar snap/ asparagus/ green beans work well too), trimmed

100g toasted cashew nuts

1 red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced

1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

1 pomegranate, seeds scooped out 

A handful of flat leafed parsley, roughly chopped

Salt & pepper

2 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

2 tbsp cider vinegar

Put the wheat berries in a pan, cover with cold water and simmer for around 60 minutes until tender. Drain thoroughly, place in a large bowl & season.

Dry fry your greens of choice for 4 - 5 mins on a high heat until charred & just tender

Cut into short lengths & add to the cooked berries.

Dry fry the nuts for a minute or two until light golden. Add to the bowl with the chilli and salad onions.

Whisk together the tahini, oil & vinegar with 2 tbsp cold water. Pour over the wheat berries and toss to coat. Leave to cool, then add the pomegranate seeds & chopped parsley. Check seasoning & enjoy. If taking on a picnic, I’d suggest adding the pomegranate & parsley once your rug is rolled out, as a limp leafy herb is a sorry sight.

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Summer Market

with the Sussex Taste Collective

8th July, 11-4pm

Free to attend

Children and dogs welcome

15 of the best food & drink producers from our abundant county will be serving up their wares in the market, whilst 3 different food trucks & the Moo Tap will be keeping you well-nourished throughout the day.

There will be an hour long farm walk with regenerative farmers Andrew & Nev, for those who'd like to work up an appetite before devouring the delicious treats available back in the yard.

Plus, we will have a roaming brass band & DJ Dan to keep our ears entertained. Something for all the senses.

Newsletter 2nd June

Good afternoon,

Our fridge is full of fresh Sussex Wagyu & Sussex Angus beef this week. We have steaks, brisket & rump cuts - all delicious cooked in the kitchen, but even better grilled over flames & enjoyed al fresco in the sunshine.

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If you fancy enjoying the BBQ weather but don’t want the fuss of cleaning your own grill, you will be pleased to know the 3Bros are back at Trenchmore tomorrow & serving their mouthwateringly delicious burgers.

Check out the full menu and pre-order here.

Picanha with chimichurri sauce

When we have it available, we ask our butcher to seam cut our rump into four muscles - picanha, tri-tip, rump heart & rump fillet.

They’re all great cuts, but my personal favourite is the picanha - also known as the rump cap. It’s one of the preferred beef joints of Brazil but less commonly cooked here, and one that I thoroughly recommend. It’s flavourful & tender, protected by a thick layer of fat which bastes the joint whilst it cooks.

Like the other 3 rump cuts, it can be steaked or grilled as a whole muscle & sliced before serving.

…………

For the chimichurri sauce, simply mix & let sit for a while before serving -

big bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped

small bunch of coriander, chopped

small handful of oregano, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

red jalapeno chilli finely chopped

shallot finely chopped

120ml red wine vinegar

180ml olive oil

1 tsp salt

For the picanha -

Remove the joint from its packaging, pat dry & bring to room temperature. Heat up the BBQ & season the picanha generously.

Put onto the grill, fat-side down and close to the flames. Sear for 5 minutes before turning until it until it has a delicious crust all over.

Move the rack to the top and shuffle the coals to one side. Cook the picanha on the cooler side until the internal temperature reaches 55C (medium-rare) on a meat thermometer - approx 20 mins but depends on the size.

Wrap in foil & rest for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve with the chimichurri sauce.

Newsletter 26th May

Good afternoon,

May has been a month of two halves. A soggy start meant a very delayed migration from yard to field for both herd & flock, but a sunny second half has seen the grass grow ferociously and the ground dry up remarkably well. We’re already making silage - Nev is teddering the cut grass to let it dry as I type.

The hens are back in the orchard and are happily back to dust bathing & scratching around for worms. They’re eating noticeably less chicken feed but their crops are still bulging, which means their filling up on the lush grass & bugs. Good for the girls, good for the orchard & good for the eggs.

And, we’re happily back to moving the electric fencing & hen house every few days, which is a job best done in pairs and a lovely way to spend an hour or two in the sunshine together.

Yard events…

Tomorrow 11-4pm

We’re serving hot dogs & cold pints in the sunshine tomorrow.

Pre-order here.

3rd June 1-4pm

3Bros are back and grilling their usual juicy tasty delicious burgers.

Pre-order here.

8th July

Summer Market

DJ set & live music to go alongside our local produce market.

There will be more food, drink & merriment than the yard has seen before.

Newsletter May 18th

Good afternoon,

SoPi is bringing their wood fired oven, slowly fermented sourdoughs & San Marzano toms to Trenchmore on Saturday. We’ve also got a growing bar menu - Silly Moo Cider, Hand Brew beers, Firebird beers, Kinsbrook Pinot Gris, Old Tree Kombucha and Wobblegate apple juice. All lovely and all very local.

No need to pre-order the pizza this week, Lucas will be serving from midday until 4pm. Dogs & kids are always welcome, and we have fresh & frozen beef in the shop.

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This week…

Some of the cows are out, which is a sweet relief as we’re almost out of food and bedding. The rest are moving out today & tomorrow, and the hens will be in the orchard tomorrow.

It is so deliciously warm & summery that some are taking refuge under my favourite oak this afternoon, whilst another lounges to the left in the long grass.

Another year, another barn...

We’re making way for a new barn that will be used to store more hay & silage in the autumn.

We ran out of space last year, so ended up using some cattle barns for storage, making everything more cosy & less comfortable than it should be.

Happy barns, happy farm.

The orchard is in blossom and looks really well after a stern pruning earlier this year.

Time for the bees to work their magic, allowing the fruit to start growing in the summer.

We have sown spring barley in the new fields, which has taken (for the most part) reasonably well - you can see the rows which have been planted.

The crop will provide food & bedding for our herd & flock when they’re back in the yard this winter.

Newsletter 11th May

Good afternoon,

We’ve been operating with fairly limited stock for a little while and so have taken the opportunity this week to catch up by butchering two bodies - we are ready for the cautiously approaching barbecue season.

We’ve got steaks, short ribs, brisket, roasting joints, rump joints & mince in the fridge, and burgers & hot dogs in the freezer ready to be picked up on Saturday 11-4pm.

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This week…

The cows & calves moved out, made things very muddy and then moved back in to the yard again.

The field they were in is now puddled with muddy water, which means we went a little too early.

We’re keen to get the herd outside as our winter food stores are running low, but there is nothing to gain from letting them poach the soils, and it’s still just too wet.

We injected 6 cows with Ovarelin this week, to get them ready for artificial insemination - we will put fertilised wagyu embryos into each cow which we hope will give us 3 more pure blood wagyu bulls to father our Sussex wagyus.

Looks like one mama had made a little effort for the occasion with a trip to the hair salon…

We invited a few of the people who work with Trenchmore over for dinner last night, and the weather just about allowed al fresco dining.

We feel very lucky to have such wonderful people working with us, in various capacities, and it was lovely to share a meal with some of them.

It really does take a village.

And to end on a little local news, we’re very proud of Councillor Knowles (my Mum) for being elected to serve Cowfold, Shermanbury & West Grinstead with the Lib Dems.

We know it means great things for the village - well done Mum!

Newsletter May 4th

Good afternoon,

Before we hop back into the cidery today, I thought I should let you know Charles’s coronation isn’t the only newsworthy thing happening this weekend - the boys are back serving 3Bros burgers fit for a royal (or republican) in the yard on Saturday (pre-order here), and I’m running the Moo Bar at the Campervan Campout Festival in Ardingly tomorrow, Saturday & Sunday.

What a weekend it is going to be.

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So, cider v cyder - you might have spotted our tap badges are changing from Unfiltered Cider to Cyder Cider, which probably looks like a typo to some.

Cyder is the olde English spelling for a tipple made in the olde English way - thoughtfully, slowly and with respect for both fruit and drink.

Even though often drank out of a pint glass in a pub garden, cider is different to beer. Beer is made from barley, which can be harvested and stored, and then malted, stewed & fermented over a matter of days as and when the brewer wants to. Cider is made from apples which don’t store well, meaning traditional makers tend to press & ferment all their juice once a year at harvest time. The juice can take 6 months to ferment and benefits from a little more time in the tanks to mature.

Compared to beer, cider making is inefficient business.

Big modern cideries have found ways to get around this - using apple concentrate which stores for ages, and adding sugar before fermenting to get a higher alcohol content, which is then diluted back down with water before drinking. More booze & more sugar helps to stabilise things, which makes these ciders more consistent, efficient and affordable.

What they gain in affordability & stability, they lose in flavour. Efficient, after all, is rarely delicious.

Concentrating & then diluting the juice removes the volatile aromas and tannins, which are the moreish flavour makers we love. It is the polyphenols in traditional cider apples that are only retained with a slow & natural fermentation that give complexity & variety to the best cyder ciders.

Our cyder is made from fresh apple juice, fermented slowly with wild yeasts and diluted to a sessionable strength with more juice. Naturally delicious & full flavoured, we think it deserves the ‘y’.

Newsletter 20th April

Good afternoon,

We’ve been busy tidying up for our Spring Market this week, and getting the new Trenchmore Kitchen through its first hygiene inspection (5 stars, thank you v much).

The orchard and pastures are drying out with the help of some good wind and sun, and we’re gearing up for the great exodus for both flock & herd into their respective summer residencies next week.

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The Spring Market is here! There will be 2 hot food options, 1 coffee truck, 5 food producers, 5 drink producers and 1 stall selling lovely things made from reclaimed wood & cement.

You don’t need to book or buy a ticket to join - the gates are open from 11am - 4pm on Saturday, with the farm walk leaving the yard at midday and our favourite folk duo Sistie Moose playing music in the afternoon.

There will be covered seating, plenty of parking, extra loos, if that’s a selling point, and lots of farmyard fun to be enjoyed. Dogs & families are very welcome. A little more info here.

Newsletter 13th April

Good afternoon,

Whilst the cows & chickens moo & cluck their way to front of mind most of the time, our cider quietly and politely bubbles away in the tanks, demanding much less attention but no less appreciation. As the weather warms and our appetite for something cold & delicious grows, it feels like a good time to give that golden liquid the word count it deserves.

So, the next few emails are going to focus on our much loved beverage, and how Silly Moo Cider came to be.

We’ve got a 7 acre south facing field that looks onto the farmyard. Being so well positioned, deciding what to do with it took a little thought when we first started farming 10 years ago. A winemaking friend suggested we grow grapes for him, but, despite the efforts of climate change, it is still tricky to grow vine fruit without fertilisers & fungicides this side of the Channel.

Apples, on the other hand, grow comfortably with little intervention.

The other inspiration was a French holiday spent sipping different Brittany and Normandy ciders. We tasted something that was totally different to the ciders available in English shops and pubs at the time - a drink that honoured the apple, and that had a balanced depth of flavour that could be compared to a decent wine. And so, with an appetite for better English cider in Sussex, we planted our first apple trees.

Cider varies in flavour depending on where you are - there are style preferences and cultural variations in production, but more importantly the fruit grown differs in variety & flavour across the world.

Even if we hone in on the UK alone, the apples grown in the West are contrasting to those in the East, and the ciders from each region have a certain local flavour & character.

The Western counties tend to produce cider from tannin-rich, bittersweet cider apples, blended with sharp & sweet varieties, making a deliciously flavourful and complex drink with plenty of mouth-feel. The Eastern counties grow dessert & culinary apples (traditionally for the London fruit market), making their cider prominent in freshness, fruitiness & acidity.

Although geographically we’re in the South East, we wanted to make a cider that pulled together both styles so we grow traditional cider varieties in our orchard, and backsweeten with fresh local culinary apple juice for a balanced, moreish and sessionable drink.

As lovely as a cider-drinking holiday in France and planting our traditional orchard sounds, it’s not all been romantic scenes from Cider With Rosie (or Rachel…) - secondary fermentations, unintentional cider vinegar and competing with national brands for a spot at the bar has at times made ‘cyder’ making feel like a futile operation.

I will dip into that over the next few weeks, but for now I’ll mention that the liquid we pour from the farmyard cider tap every Saturday is a delicious example of how proper cider can taste. Low intervention practices, a full-juice recipe and a balance of tannin, sweetness & acidity means you will often see us sipping our own cider whilst enjoying serving it to you as well. Andrew will be pouring (and sipping) cider & snacks this Saturday so please do pop by for something delicious.

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The Spring Market is next weekend!!

We are not taking pre-orders for hot food but both vendors will be preparing plenty of burgers & pizza for walk-ins. We’re sorry they sold out last time and they have promised to overcompensate this time.

The farm walk will leave the yard at midday, so please arrive 5 minutes before to park up and join in.

Live music will be from 1pm and fabulous food & drink is available all day.

We’re hoping for a really good turn out to help us support our local producers, and we can’t wait to sip some cyder with you all.

Newsletter 6th April 2023

Good morning and happy Easter to you,

Less quantity but better quality seems to be the flavour of the moment when it comes to eating animal products, which makes sense for health, ethics & the environment. When it comes to better tasting beef, studies suggest the British prefer the flavour of suckler beef over dairy crosses, grass fed over grain fed and certain breeds, such as Angus, tend to come out on top.

Some countries like America, Australia & Japan actually reward their beef farmers based on the quality of meat they produce by paying more for better tasting beef. America, for example, grades its beef by three main categories - prime (the most delicious and expensive, with plenty o’ marbling), choice (good but less marbling) & select (uniform quality but leaner). The grade is judged by cutting between the 12th & 13th rib and seeing how much fat is dispersed in the meat of the ribeye, as the clearest indicator of flavour, juiciness and deliciousness is marbling.

In the UK, the supermarkets & large meat processors tend to value beef based on the carcass yield, not flavour or quality. Farmers in Britain are incentivised to produce a carcass with a high meat to fat & bone ratio, and our cattle are graded on the shape of the animal & the leanness of the muscle. As a result, the eating quality is low down on the list of priorities when breeding, and so what’s available to buy from the supermarkets tends to lack flavour.

On setting out to produce the best beef we can, we learned that 5% of all American beef is in the top rated ‘prime’ category, and impressively 38% of American beef that has been crossed with the Akaushi breed - aka red Wagyu - qualifies as ‘prime’.

Wagyu is producing more than its fair share of prime beef by quite some way.

If you’d like some for the easter weekend, pop by tomorrow from 11am. We’re serving hot dogs & Silly Moo Cider and look forward to seeing you in the sunny yard.

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The line up is looking excellent, with hot food from 3Bros Burgers & SoPi Pizza, live music from Brighton folk band Sistie Moose and lots of wonderful Sussex food & drink stalls.

Newsletter 31st March 2023

Good afternoon,

March has been wet. I try not to harp on about the weather too often but working on a farm in England makes it inevitable sometimes. The weather does dictate what we can do, and is probably the thing most groaned about over a morning coffee when discussing plans for the day.

We’ve not yet been able to sow our spring barley and we have unfortunately missed the chance to grow our winter wheat this year, which needs soil warm enough to grow through, and then a sufficiently cold spell to vernalise - the ground has been too cold, and is now too wet to get on with machinery.

Our cattle release day also looks a few weeks off in order to save our muddy fields from hoof damage. We’ve got plenty of fodder for the herd from 2022’s silage & hay making, but we’re soon going to run out of bedding and it might be difficult to buy it in as everyone around here is in a similar soggy boat. We shower all the pens with fresh straw everyday, keeping the cattle on soft, dry ground and helping to balance and bind their manure for the muck heap, so we’re hoping it dries off enough to get them onto pasture soon.

It’s been wet, but not dreary - we’ve had 55 new Sussex Wagyu calves join the Trenchmore herd, and lots of new restaurants and pubs joining the Trenchmore troupe. Have a look at the full list here.

We’re looking forward to plenty of delicious things in the diary starting with 3Bros burgers this Saturday from 1pm. We will also be joined by Loz & Ian, two friends who share a passion for making lovely things from offcuts, reclaimed wood & cement. Expect functional & beautiful things, including picture frames, chopping boards and the odd garden gnome thrown in for good measure.

Trenchmore shop

Spring Market

We’ve got some wonderful Sussex producers joining the line up on 22nd April, with two hot food options and live music.

Andrew & Nev will be hosting a farm walk from 12pm - 1pm, and everyone is welcome to join. Just find them in the yard at midday and join us afterwards for some delicious grub and live music.

Newsletter 23rd March 2023

Good afternoon,

Our fridge is stocked with short ribs, tomahawks, fillet & roasting joints this week, and we’re serving pizza 12-4pm on Saturday. 

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Spiced, braised short ribs

nabbed from Alison Roman

Serves 5 people

2kg short rib

Salt, pepper, vegetable oil

0.5kg small, waxy potatoes, quartered

1 large yellow onion, sliced

5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon crushed chilli pepper

2 tablespoons cumin seeds

2 tablespoons fennel seed

1 tablespoon coriander seed

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons tomato paste

110ml white wine vinegar

700ml beef stock

2 lemons, seeds removed, thinly sliced

A big handful of coriander, coarsely chopped

Season short ribs with salt and lots of pepper. Preheat oven to 160°C.

Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat & sear short ribs until deeply golden brown all on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer short ribs to a large plate.

Drain some fat from the pot, leaving behind any of the good bits, and add potatoes cut side down, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, without disturbing for about 5 minutes. Give them a stir and continue to cook until browned a little more evenly. Transfer potatoes to the tray with the meat, leaving any bits and fat behind.

Add onions and garlic to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Cook 5–8 minutes. Add chilli flakes, cumin, fennel, coriander seed, and cinnamon, stirring to coat and toast the spices. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add stock and vinegar, and bring to a simmer, scraping up all the bits on the bottom of the pot.

Return short ribs and potatoes to the pot, nestling everything in under liquid and scatter with half the lemon, ensuring the beef is submerged. Cover and place pot in the oven until short ribs are falling off the bone tender and potatoes are impossibly creamy, 2.5 to 3 hours.

Increase oven temperature to 220°C and remove the lid. Continue to cook until short ribs and any potatoes on top are browned and starting to crisp and the liquid has reduced to a very nice, rich sauce, 25–35 minutes.

Remove from heat and scatter with remaining lemon and the chopped coriander.

Newsletter 9th March 2023

Good morning,

Thank you to everyone who came to see us last Saturday. We’re open again from 11am tomorrow, serving hot dogs and cider from 1pm. You can book or just pop along.

Abattoirs are a necessary link in the food chain for meat eaters. They’re often intentionally tucked well out of sight and mind, but in order to make better food choices we could all give local slaughterhouses a little more thought.

We’re very lucky to have a good one only 15 minutes away from the farm. The proximity means less travel-time for the cattle, and enables us to slaughter every week and supply our customers with regular fresh beef. Small abattoirs lend themselves to higher welfare systems - smaller numbers in holding pens means less stress for the animals, and local abattoirs enable less intensive farming, which tends to be more ethical for animal, farmer & the environment.

There has been a drastic decline in small abattoirs because of rising costs and staff shortages. Every closure makes farming in the local area harder and if closures continue at their current rate, there wouldn’t be any small abattoirs left in this country by 2030.

But there has been some good news - new funding for small abattoirs was announced by farming minister Mark Spencer last week. The details haven’t been confirmed but the announcement is very welcome, and signals that our government might be starting to take our fragile food system a little more seriously.

Easter Lamb

We’re taking orders for Nuthurst Lamb boxes for Easter. Each box has a leg, shoulder, cutlet, chops & mince and will fit into a standard sized freezer drawer.

We can also have individual joints so please email if you’re interested.

Newsletter 1st March 2023

Good afternoon,

March is here, and with it a feeling of spring is in the air thanks to the keen daffodils and wild garlic. To celebrate, the yard shop is back to normal hours and will be serving farmhouse cider & wagyu hot dogs this Saturday and we hope to see you.

We will have wagyu hot dogs available for walk-ins, but please let us know if you’re meat or gluten free as I’ll need to organise these beforehand.

We’ve got beef, eggs & cider to take home aplenty - take a look here.

The first thing most people notice when they come down our farm drive is the unusually shaped cowshed in the middle of our yard. Not only does it serve as a convenient roundabout for shop customers, delivery drivers & tractors, and an interesting venue for interesting talks by agricultural authors, but it provides a happy home for our cattle.

The design is inspired by the principles of Temple Grandin, who observed cattle prefer to move in curves rather than straight lines, don’t enjoy heading into darkness and feel more safe in a confined creche-like handling system, which this barn has in its centre. It has a chimney that draws moist air up and out, improving the health of the herd, and its design enables the cattle to all see each other, which helps keeps them calm. All in all, it’s a thoughtfully designed building and the first barn we put up at Trenchmore, almost 10 years ago. We currently use it for the finishers, where they get ample silage and bi-products to eat, and access to the Happy Cow, a rotating brush that is turned on when a cow pushes against it for a back and neck rub.

We’re open on Saturday 11-4pm so pop by to see the Happy Cow & our happy cows.

Newsletter 23rd February 20323

Good afternoon,

As February draws to an end and the days are getting longer and warmer, we’re looking forward to the new season beginning. We’ve been calving for the last few weeks, a little earlier than expected with 25 newborns arriving so far. It’s almost a full house as we also have Nuthurst Farm’s sheep tidying our orchard, and the pregnant ewes are a cheerful indication that spring isn’t so far off.

Nev has built our newborns a play pen, which allows them a little respite from protective mums and time to hang out with the other youngsters. They can head back in for feeds and nuzzling whenever they want.

Change has been in the air this month as we’re now working with a new butcher, we are supplying a few new chefs in Sussex, and we have been preparing the seed bed in our four new fields - named Thornybank, Willowbank, Cowfold & Summersby.

We’ve made fast work on these fields, clearing the brambles and scrap, and getting the soil primed and ready to go back into food production after 17 years of being inactive. Prior to that, they’d had their top soil stripped for turf so I expect it will take a bit of time to get things to where we want them but progress is underway.

November’s batch of pressed apple juice has been slowly bubbling away in our steel cider tanks, and has almost finished fermenting and tastes fresh, fruity, with a slight sweet tang and pleasing effervescence - it tastes alive which is exactly what it is. Once it has finished fermenting completely, we will let it mature for at least 6 months before blending and packing into Silly Moo.

We are pleased to have the Moo Tap & Yard Shop back open from 11am - 4pm on 4th March, and all Saturdays from then on. We will be pouring pints and serving Wagyu hot dogs on our first Saturday back - pre-order here.

Take a look at some other events in the pipeline here, with much more to follow soon.

In the meantime, we have plenty of beef in the freezers and steak boxes on offer and are open for collections this Saturday 11am - midday.

We’re looking forward to seeing you soon.

Newsletter 26th January 2023

Good morning,

Hello, howdy and a happy new year, if we’re still allowed to wish it this late into January. It has been a short while since my last email and I hope everyone is keeping well. We’ve been quiet at Trenchmore this month and are looking forward to resuming full shop hours and yard events once it warms up a little - and January’s virtuous intentions start to lack their flavour.

In the meantime, we have been bedding & feeding the hens and herd every day, and getting ourselves in order for the spring. This has involved a fair amount of office work and yard sorting, with the added excitement of frozen, and sometimes bursting, water pipes.

The hens are happy and are laying well - in both egg quantity and egg size - seemingly unperturbed by the nippy weather. The cattle have struggled a little more with the cold & damp air, and we have had to treat a couple for pneumonia. Nev is keeping a close eye on everyone and we thankfully seem to be past the worst of it.

We have taken on some land near to the farm which needs a fair amount of TLC before we can put the cattle on it, or sow our wheat. We’re working on clearing the brambles and plan to make the hedgerows denser with some clever pruning and improve the soil with some clever farming.

We delivered our first 1.5 tonnes of Trenchmore DP (diverse population) wheat to E5 Bakehouse in London last week, and will be supplying them with plenty more over the next month. If you live near enough, their Hackney Wild loaf is up there on my list of favourite foods, rubbing shoulders with tiramisu and my mum’s lasagne. Even if you don’t live near enough, it’s probably worth the trip.

We’ve had our first calf of the season this week and are expecting lots more to come over the next month, so pay us a visit if you’d like to coo over something fluffy, wobbly and a little shy.

This chap is a Wagyu x Angus and is very very sweet.

For those who have pre-ordered, Rosie’s lamb boxes are ready to pick up tomorrow 11-12pm. She’s taking orders for more if you would like to have one in the coming weeks.

The Trenchmore Yard Shop is open every Saturday 11am-12pm, and has fresh & frozen beef available to take home. We will be back open 11am-4pm in March.

We look forward to seeing you in the yard soon.

Newsletter 23rd December 2022

Good afternoon,

Whether you’re spending today frantically tying up loose ends at work, or you already have your feet up and are nursing a glass of something delicious whilst chestnuts roast over an open fire, or you’re mentally preparing yourself for a few days of seeing more family than you’d usually care to, we’re pleased to have made it to the homestretch for 2022.

And what a year it has been. Politically, nauseating. Financially, brutal. Weather-wise, very hot and very cold, and now very mild. But through all the excitement, the grass continues to grow, the cattle continue to eat and the hens continue to lay - remarkably well, I might add.

It’s definitely time for us at Trenchmore to slow down, pull our wellies off and mull over plans for 2023. But just before we do, we are open tomorrow 11-4pm and Thursday 29th 11-4pm for the last collections for the year, and we hope to see you.

We will not be open on 31st December, and will be moving into our hibernation hours for January & February - 11am-12pm every Saturday.

Thank you for the continued support this year - be that buying from the shop, eating & drinking our produce in restaurants & pubs or simply spreading the good word. All of it means a lot and enables us to keep farming in the best way we can.

Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year to you all.

Rachel, Andrew & Neville

Newsletter 16th December 2022

Good afternoon,

It is breathtakingly cold & beautiful at Trenchmore this week. We’ve been keeping busy making beef stock & dripping for our festive boxes, piling muck whilst the ground is cold enough to let the machinery on and making lots of cider - blending freshly pressed apple juice when it is at its best (just after harvest) with last year’s fermented base cider for our signature juicy Moo.

We’ve got some wonderful beef in the fridge and are offering home delivery in Brighton & Hove before Christmas. I’m afraid our little electric van has a limited mileage so we can’t offer it further afield just yet, but we’re still open for collections for the next two Saturdays, 11-4pm.

Sussex Wagyu Steak Box

If you’re stuck for a last minute gift, or fancy stocking up with steaks to see you through the cold months, have a look at our stellar Sussex Wagyu steak box.

This week each box includes 6 pairs of fresh steak including fillet, sirloin & flat iron.

If it’s a gift, just send us an email and we can pop a card in for you.

order here

Sussex Wagyu Rib Joints

We’ve got a few extra bone-in rib roasting joints if you’re yet to decide on your Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day menu.

They are all dry-ageing so will be fresh this Saturday or next.

order here

Sussex Wagyu Roast Joints

We’ve got 1.5kg & 2kg fresh roasting joints in this week, and the shop lists them by their cut & weight so you can choose the perfect joint for you.

The options are Aitch Bone, LMC, Topside & Top Rump.

Newsletter 9th December 2022

Good morning,

Thank you to all the chefs, bakers, makers, farmers, growers & eaters who joined us in the yard last Saturday. It was a wonderful day, full to the brim with food, music & merriment, and we were pleased to see so many of you.

And the festivities at Trenchmore are not over just yet - we are open today and the two next Saturdays to pick up produce & grab a cup of mulled cider.

We’ve got fresh tomahawks, sirloin steaks & roasting joints in the fridge today.

3Bros burgers in Chichester

The boys are serving Trenchmore Sussex Wagyu burgers at the Chichester Christmas Market every day for the next 2 weeks.

Pop by to pick up gifts, produce and something tasty for lunch.

Christmas veg

We’re selling local organic veg boxes for Christmas, brimming with the classics (spuds, sprouts, ‘snips & the rest) that have been grown locally and are all organic.

You can pre-order a Barcombe box online and collect from the farm on 24th December.

more info

New Year lamb

Rosie is taking orders for lamb boxes which will be ready to enjoy in January. Each box will contain a leg, shoulder, rack of cutlets, chops, neck fillet & mince and will fit into 1 freezer drawer.

Rosie’s sheep are well loved and grass-fed up the lane from us, and the flavour is excellent.

order here

Trenchmore gift cards

Not sure what to gift someone who cares about their food?

Not only how it tastes, but also where it has come from and the impact it has had?

Well, if you want to give the gift of good food grown well, we have £25 - £100 gift cards on our website which can be spent on any produce or events through our website.

Newsletter 2nd December 2022

Good morning,

We’ve been moving machinery, tidying away the tools and sweeping up the yard this week in preparation for our festive food market tomorrow. The wreath workshop benches (covered piles of pallets) are in situ in the cider house, the smell of mulled cider has been wafting around the farm and the pot holes in the farm track have been filled in.

We are ready for you.

We’re expecting a big turn out so please drive slowly in the yard and follow the signs for parking. Dogs on leads & kids are welcome but are your responsibility - we’re a working farm with livestock, machinery & enticing but unstable things to climb on so keep a watchful eye on your troop.

From 11am - 4pm you can pick up beef, cider & wheat from the Trenchmore shop and delicious provisions & hot food from our friends. There will be live music & fire pits so we hope you will hang about for a bit and enjoy being merry with us.

We will be giving out free sourdough starters for those who pick up our wheat - please bring an empty jar to put it in.

And lastly, thanks to your pre-orders we have raised £360 for JustLife to help support the amazing work they do in Brighton. It would be great to give even more so please pre-order a discounted cup of something delicious here to enjoy tomorrow.

Newsletter 25th November 2022

Good morning,

We’ve had 12 inches of rain so far this month, which is almost half what we would expect to get in a whole year. Half. In about three weeks.

I’m struggling to let that sink in, much like the sodden soils and overflowing streams. Well, thankfully, it’s not too bad at Trenchmore - the fields are a little muddy but not waterlogged and our farmyard is blessed with the largest umbrella in the parish. The roundhouse is doing a great job of keeping the cattle dry but we are having to bed up every day at the moment, as opposed to every few days, to keep things comfortable for them.

Young Bucko is back in the roundhouse and has made a couple of friends - one who was born very late and another who’s mother didn’t produce enough milk. The three of them maybe the smallest and slowest of the pack but we hope they will soon catch up to their cohort and enjoy getting onto grass in the spring.

The hens are doing just fine in their new digs. Plenty of space to scratch about and straw, chopped grass & porridge (topped with linseed flakes, which Dad claims is for the omegas but I’m sure he’s showing off his culinary flair) to peck through. Plus Radio 4 plays in the background so they can stay up to date with The Archers. They’re laying remarkably well for this time of year.

Our farm shop is open tomorrow and we have plenty of fresh steaks & roasting joints in stock. Plus eggs, cider & wheat. Take a look online or just pop in from 11am.

online shop

Festive Food Market

Next Saturday we are hosting a festive food market with 8 delicious market stalls, 2 hot food options, live music and Christmas trees & wreaths to buy.

We’ve just added Kinsbrook Vineyard to the offering, who will be serving wine by the glass & bottles to take home.

You do not need a ticket to join the market but we are selling warm drinks online for £3 (£4.50 on the day).

For every £3 drink that is bought online, £6 will be donated to Brighton based homeless charity JustLife, thanks to The Big Give campaign.