Newsletter November 17th

Good afternoon,

Have I got moos for you this week!

Without meaning to impose information overload, the highlights are that you can now pre-order Christmas beef joints online, the 3Bros will be serving burgers in the yard every Saturday from 25th November until 23rd December, we’re now shipping our Cyder Cider cans nationwide (which you can order through our spanking new Silly Moo Cider website, ‘cos it deserves it’s very own spot on the world wide web) and we will have Tamworth pork & Nuthurst lamb boxes to collect in December.

Oh, and we’ve put up a shed for cosier yard activities, in time for the Christmas market - which is 3 weeks away! Here’s hoping for today’s weather.

We have a few spots left for our wreath workshop and Christmas supper club, too.

And lastly, we have bone-out sirloin roasts, bone-in rib joints and plenty of tomahawks to order for tomorrow - take a look here. The marbling is epic this week.

That’s just about all for now, folks. Thanks for staying with us.

We’re offering rib, sirloin & fillet joints for Christmas, and you can choose bone-in or bone-out. Pay £50 deposit to reserve and settle the rest on collection.

order here

Get Silly Moo Cyder Cider delivered to your door, where ever that may be in England for £15.

Cans only for now as they’re harder to smash.

order here

We’ve got 16 local food & drink stalls booked for our Christmas market on 9th December.

Expect mulled cider, live music & merriment aplenty.

upcoming events

Newsletter 3rd November

Good morning,

What a week! The vet vaccinated, took blood samples and pregnancy tested all the cows that are due to calve in the spring on Monday. Tuesday & Wednesday were spent organising the cattle into groups, finishing off the apple pressing and doing a mega wash down of all the cider kit - we’ve filled 7 tanks with 56,000L juice, which is a PB. It rained (and the rest) all day on Thursday so we fed, bedded and caught up with paperwork. And today, we’re pumping cider, clearing the yard and bringing the bulls back from their summer paddocks.

Tomorrow, the 3Bros are serving wagyu & veggie burgers from midday. We know it’s grim & grizzly outside so to tempt you over, we’re offering a free drink with every burger pre-ordered online. Hot or cold, soft or cider - it’s on the house tomorrow. Details and booking can be found here.

There will be sheltered seating and options to take away, so grab your wellies & waterproofs and join us for something delicious.

Newsletter 27th October

Good morning,

We have moved some more animals back to the yard and it is lovely hearing them as we get on with the daily yard jobs. The chewing, the in-pen negotiations and the massage brush rotating against someone’s backside are once again the reassuringly consistent noises of the yard.

Jack has been pressing the apples every day for the last week. For those who aren’t familiar with our process, apples are cleaned and scratted into pulp. The pulp is left to sit for 24 hours for better juice extraction. The apple is shovelled onto cloths, which are folded into parcels and stacked between slatted wooden boards. The hydraulic ram presses the stack to squeeze out the liquid, whilst we try not to get stung by juice drunk wasps.

The juice is filtered and pumped into a tank, and what’s left in the cloth is fed to the cattle - hence the name Silly Moo Cider.

We had 60 tonnes from our orchard and the apple swap this year, which makes for a fair amount of racks and a fair amount of pressing.

Upcoming events

3Bros Burgers in the yard - 4th November, 12-4pm. Order burgers here.

Trenchmore Dinner at Carne Hove - 9th November, 7pm. Book a table here and use code FRIENDS10 for 10% discount.

Wreath making workshop at Trenchmore - 2nd December, 11am - 2pm. Book a spot here.

Christmas Supper Club - 22nd December, 6pm - 10pm. More info, full menu and booking here.

Newsletter 20th October

Good afternoon,

We were pleased to see Silly Moo in the Observer Food Monthly magazine on Sunday, after a blind test taste with Gabe Cook. We assume his photoshoot for the piece was inspired by our Moo head, but that’s yet to be confirmed. Either way, we were glad to be included, sitting on the page alongside some of the best, and chuffed with our result.

read the piece

With a bit more of a nip in the air, our orchard fruit has ripened and we’ve managed to get everything picked this week. We’ve also finished our apple swap for the year and now just have the small matter of squeezing every last drop out of the fruit using our old rack & cloth press.

Thank you to everyone who swapped apples for cider and helped us pick our fruit - we’ve got almost 60 tonnes in total. Many hands make light work, and in good time, some very tasty cider.

The shop is open, the fridge is stocked and apple cake is on the menu this Saturday.

online shop

• Our market on Saturday went really well, and we’re already making plans for the next one on 9th December, so save the date.

• We’ve just released tickets for the Trenchmore Table supper club with Sam Lambert on 22nd December. Info, full menu & booking here.

• Carne Restaurant are doing a Trenchmore dinner on 9th November, and have managed to squeeze our produce into all 5 courses. I’ll be interrupting the meal to chat about the farm, so if you can bear that you might like to book here.

  Use discount code FRIENDS10 for £10 off

Newsletter 13th October

Good afternoon,

Tomorrow is our Autumn Market and the weather is looking glorious. There will be music, delicious things to enjoy and jolly times to be had from 11am - 4pm.

If anyone coming tomorrow might also like to take home some of our hens, we have about 25 still looking for their forever gardens. We’ve saved the best (fastest & most flighty) ‘till last, so you’d be taking home a jolly good clucker. Assuming you can get a coop set up in time, let me know today and we’ll have them ready for you at 11am. They’re £5 each, and still laying like total troopers.

We’re also swapping apples for the last time tomorrow, so bring us all the apples you can get your hands on (no bramleys please) and we’ll send you off with some cider, or give you a token for the bar.

The fridge is full of steak, joints & braising which you can collect tomorrow.

The farm tour leaves the yard at midday - Andrew will be loitering around the coffee truck with his mic if you’d like to join him. It’s an hour’s walk through the fields so bring appropriate footware.

And lastly, I’m really pleased to let you know that our snazzy new loo block now has accessible toilets for anyone who might need it. There’s a gentle ramp to get in so please give us a shout at the bar if you need a hand getting up.

online shop

Clare’s Chillies

If you’ve been to Trenchmore, you will likely have met our Clare.

Chilli grower & knower, maker of delicious jams & sauces and all round farm favourite, Clare will be stepping away from the Silly Moo bar and onto the chilli stall.

Curing Rebel

Charcuterie made in Brighton by the chaps behind The Herb Kitchen, Dan & Will.

Big flavours, ethical meat & conscious packaging - we are super pleased to have them in the yard for the first time.

The Kenyan Pig Farmer

Previously looking after the Plumpton College pigs, Flavian has just taken over his own tenancy at Tynefield Farm in Hampshire, and will be sampling & selling his tasty Tamworth pork with us.

Slake Spirits

Tasty tipples distilled in Worthing - it’s always a pleasure to have Tom in the yard, and we’re pleased you get to restock your drinks cabinets with the good stuff.

He won Great Taste’s Golden Fork a year or so ago, which is testament to just how tasty his tipples are.

Susana & Daughters

Creamy kefir from the grass-fed Cowdray Estate dairy herd, and flavourful olive oil from Susana’s family farm in Spain.

Susana is passionate about good food that is grown well, so is a perfect fit for the Trenchmore markets.

Newsletter 6th October

Good morning,

Our fifth food & drink market is next Saturday, 14th October, and this is the first we’ve been able to tie in to celebrate autumn and the apple harvest. Alongside our flavoursome line up of producers, we will be doing our last apple swap of the season and hopefully have a troop of pickers in the orchard - although the warm weather means we’re still waiting for our apples to ripen before letting said troop at it just yet.

There will be a few new producers this time, bringing with them local bread, veg, honey & mead, and some of our regular favourites with their chocolate, chillies, booze & cheese. We’ll have a coffee truck, wagyu burgers & sourdough pizza, plus a 4-piece brass band and DJ Dan back on the decks.

The farm walk will leave the yard at midday and take about an hour for anyone who fancies it - there’s no need to book. And almost as exciting as all of the above, we have a brand new loo block which will have its ribbon cutting ceremony at the market. I’ve sharpened my giant secateurs for the occasion.

In the meantime, we’re open for apple swapping and pulled brisket sarnies tomorrow 11-4pm. The brisket has been slowly cooking for 24 hours so it’s fall-apart mouth-wateringly tasty, destined for some seriously super sandwiches.

We have a limited amount so it is first come first serve, or you can save yours here.

online shop

Flint Owl Bakery

Flint Owl are one of the best bakeries in Sussex, making breads with organic flours and a sourdough starter that originated in the French Alps 45 years ago.

They have also recently started harvesting from their market garden, so will be bringing organic veg along for you too.

One Four Coffee

Sian will be keeping us all caffeinated, serving hot drinks from her little blue coffee van.  

She’ll also be selling bags of the beans she uses in her drinks, which are from Lindfield Coffee Works, so you take the buzz home.

Loxwood Mead

Danny & Emily will be joining us in the yard, serving samples and selling bottles of their honey wine.

Loxwood is made with 100% honey, giving it a natural and delicately sweet flavour - definitely worth a sip.

Bolney Honey

Shane started keeping bees in Bolney only a few years ago, and sold his first serious harvest locally in 2022.

We sell it through the yard shop when he’s in stock, so you might have been lucky enough to try it already. If not, he’ll be giving out samples and selling the sweet stuff next Saturday.

Cocoa Loco

Sarah started selling organic & Fairtrade chocolate in 2005, and has built a business that supplies local retailers and online customers.

Cocoa Loco’s chocolate is really delicious, ethically produced and is in plastic-free packaging. What’s not to love.

Newsletter 30th September

Good morning,

We have lamb boxes available for collection on 14th October, so I’ve pestered Rosie for some recent pictures to show you.

From left to right we have Spiro the handsome Border Leicester ram bought at auction 2 weeks ago, Annie the camera shy sheep dog, ewes in the morning mist and Rosie’s Hampshire Down & Lleyn replacements, who are due to be spending the autumn with Spiro.

Rosie’s flock spent a few weeks in the summer tidying up our orchard, and are due to enjoy a winter grazing beneath the vines at Kinsbrook. Having the sheep nibble and fertilise our orchard saves us from chemical or mechanical intervention, so it’s good for us and good for the flock.

Each lamb box includes a leg, a shoulder, a rack of cutlets, a selection of chops, a neck fillet & some mince - and fits nicely into a standard freezer drawer.

Take a look here.

Today

We’re swapping apples and serving hot dogs (wagyu & vegan) and local tipples in the yard from 11am until 4pm.

The fridge is stocked with fresh tomahawks, fillets and mince.

shop

7th October

Apple swapping & slow cooked pulled wagyu brisket buns for lunch.

pre-order

14th October

We’re really excited about the variety of Sussex produce we will have at our next food & drink market - bread, veg, cheese, booze, meat, plants, coffee & honey.

A 4-piece brass band & DJ Dan will be keep us entertained, and 3Bros Burgers & SoPi Pizza will be keeping us well fed.

We hope to see you there.

Newsletter

Good afternoon,

A quick roundup of the week - we’ve welcomed a new group of cows to our growing herd, and they are in fine fettle out in the field today. They are pregnant pedigree Sussex cows we bought from a local farmer to replace our older Sussex mums, so we can keep our breeding stock in good health.

This weather is great for the orchard - sunshine in the day and cold at night. We’ve tested the ripeness of a couple of apples this morning with iodine drops - the iodine goes blue with starch and stays orange with sugar - and unfortunately we’re not quite there. Hoping another week will be enough to do the job.

We are swapping apples for cider tomorrow, and happy to test your apples for ripeness when you bring them - starch doesn’t ferment so unfortunately we’re not able to do much with unripe fruit. More information about the swap here.

SoPi will be serving sourdough pizzas from midday, so please join us with or without any apples.

I blended this year’s batch of mulled cider at Ringden Farm yesterday, taking the last of our 2022 harvest from the tanks, a spiced syrup of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg & ginger and mixing it with their freshly pressed Discovery juice. Once packed, it will be back on the farm ready to serve at our Autumn Market next month.

Plenty of steak, short ribs & roasting joints in stock, if you wanted to pop in tomorrow.

Newsletter 14th September

Good afternoon,

There’s now a day to celebrate anything you can think of and, other than pancake day and my own birthday, I don’t usually tune in. Having said that, it doesn’t take much to get me excited about local food systems, and yesterday was Back British Farming Day so it’s a date underlined & highlighted in my diary.

Our country’s climate doesn’t allow for much citrus, coffee or bananas so an exclusively local diet is a tall order for most, but we do grow lots of delicious food really well, and buying British supports food security.

Better yet, going direct to local & small farms means your food wont have spent days travelling from farm to hub to supermarket shelf, it keeps money in the local economy and better relationships with your food producer often leads to better farming practises & welfare standards. Preaching to the choir, I know.

As with our own experience, British farms are subjected to lots of inspections, which is frustrating & arduous for us but should be reassuring for the consumer. We also have a great climate for growing grass, which means British livestock tend to be outside - a much happier set up to some of the industrial feedlots found across the pond.

Backing British farming needs to happen year round, but it’s good to use 13th September as reminder of how important it is to shop thoughtfully & locally where we can.

shop

If you fancy backing British farms this weekend, we’re serving hot dogs and selling British beef, British cider & British eggs from 11am - 4pm. Join us.

Farms we love…

Nuthurst Farm - lamb available here

Barcombe Nurseries - Sussex veg

Tynefield Farm - Tamworth pigs & goat from Hampshire

Tablehurst Farm - biodynamic produce

Ringden Farm - apple farm

Middle Farm - the best selection of perries and ciders in the UK

Kinsbrook Vineyard - grape farm..? Butchery, farm shop & restaurant too

Knepp - slow-grown & wild range meat on rewilded land

Newsletter 7th September

Good afternoon,

Our plates have been pretty full recently with calves being born, straw being baled and events on and off the farm. Thank you to everyone who joined us at last Friday’s supper club with Sam, which was rather dreamy - a warm late summer evening, beautiful food from our farm and local wines served in the roundhouse barn with candles & fairy lights. Even though it certainly doesn’t feel like it today, autumn isn’t far off so we are planning to make an indoor space to continue hosting you through all the seasons.

We’ve penned in a Christmas supper club (sorry to mention the C word) on 22nd December and will start taking bookings once we have finalised the menu.

In the meantime…

Worthing Food & Drink Festival

This Saturday & Sunday we will be serving crisp cold pints of cider alongside delicious 3Bros wagyu burgers. There’s lots of different food & drink stalls and some kitchen demos to whet your appetites, so pop by for something tasty.

Apple swapping

11am-4pm

23rd September - SoPi Pizza

30th September - TBC

7th October - pulled brisket buns

14th October - the Autumn food & drink market

apple swap info

Autumn Food & Drink Market

14th October, 11-4pm

Sussex producers market, hot food vendors, farm tour, live music & mulled cider. We can’t wait.

A couple more things to mention - we’re looking to find forever homes for this year’s cohort of hens, and I’m recruiting apple pickers as the season starts in a few weeks.

If you’re interested in either, please email rachel@trenchmore.co.uk.

And lastly, our fridges are full of fillets, sirloin steaks, rump joints & tomahawks - pre-order online or swing by and see Clare on Saturday.

That’s all from me for today, I’m off to the beach. Ciao for now.

Newsletter 31st August

Good afternoon,

The vet is on his way to check on our lad Saturn, who has returned to the yard for a fertility test. Our Angus bull has enjoyed the last few months in the fields with a herd of Sussex cows, but has unfortunately not managed to get any of them in calf. He’s 5 years old and should be at peak calf-making ability & enthusiasm, so we’ve asked the vet & his long glove to pop in and figure out what the issue might be.

After a few late nights of carting in the dark, we have managed to get all of our 1,500 bales of hay & straw safely stacked in the new barn, and we’re pleased to see it is water tight. Our spring barley crop was poor this year - about 10 tonnes from 20 acres. This year’s spring gave us ground that was too dry, too cold and then too wet so we weren’t able to sow until May and the seeds didn’t germinate well - it wasn’t even worth combining, we’ve baled it with the hay for the cattle to enjoy later in the year.

The apples in the orchard are swelling up nicely and we are planning to start picking and swapping on the last weekends of September. If you’ve not been to our apple swap before, all you need to do it turn up with your garden apples and we’ll pay for them with cider - this year’s exchange rate is 8kg for a 330ml bottle or 2/3 pint in the yard.

The apples need to be clean, ripe and unsprayed - good enough for you to eat is good enough for our cider. We’ll be swapping 23rd, 30th September, 7th and 14th October from 11-4pm, serving hot food each Saturday and throwing a harvest party come food & drink market on the 14th October. Hope to see you & your apples there

Newsetter 18th August

Good morning,

I started this mailing list in November 2017, sending my first email to 162 of you about that year’s apple swap - if you received that initial email and are still with us, hats off to you. Signups started picking up in the first lockdown when we set up our online shop, and lots of you lovely folk joined to see when we had restocked with produce. Today we email 2,624 glorious inboxes almost every week. Welcome to our new friends and thank you to our enduring ones.

Trenchmore Farm was set up in 2012 by both my parents - Andrew & Joanne, and my brother Oscar joined in 2015. I joined in 2017, then Mum & Oscar moved on to pastures new - unrelated, they assure me. Nev joined in 2019 and the three of us have been running the farm together for the past 4 years.

We set out to grow the best tasting food for local restaurants & retailers, whilst keeping welfare, ethics and the environment very much in mind. Over the last few years, our priorities have remained intact but we’ve learned plenty more about regenerative agriculture and have been working to implement its principles into our land management & animal husbandry.

We’ve also moved away from only working with the trade, and now fling open our farm gates every Saturday and welcome everyone to pop in to have a look at what we’re doing, and enjoy a pint of cider or something to eat.

We’re constantly flexing to the changing context in which we’re farming and running a small business - cost of living crisis, inflation, unpredictable weather, local abattoirs closing, losing restaurants and new ones coming along, the loss of farming subsidies and trying to navigate its proposed replacement. We had 7 farm & food inspections last year, and a harrowing trailer incident a few months ago. We’ve lost animals without clear reason, and lost animals due to our own shortcomings.

Past all of this, all three of us feel incredibly passionate about producing good food in our little patch of Sussex - tasty, ethical food for local people, at a price that enables us to keep going.

We’re trying new things with more yard events, a rain harvesting system for the cattle troughs, dreams of a small farm butchery and maybe even a campsite at some point - diversification baby! And we’re sticking with some of the tried & tested things that make Trenchmore what it is - this year’s apple swap is only a couple of months away, we still pick & press our apples by hand and we still look after our animals as best we can.

All of this is possible because of the support you show us when you order online, eat our produce in a restaurant or simply mention this newsletter to your neighbour in case they might be interested in hearing from a Sussex farm just trying its best.

Plus all the lovely google reviews you have left us, it really makes a difference.

So thank you, a big cin cin to you. And please do pop in one Saturday soon, we’d love to see you. We’re serving wagyu hot dogs from midday tomorrow if that tickles your fancy.

The Trenchmore Table

Last week’s Friday evening supper was magical. A three course meal cooked by Sam and enjoyed in the roundhouse barn by candlelight.

We’re taking bookings for our next supper and would love for you to join us.

Apologies my button didn’t work last week - this time it should do the trick.

1st September booking

Talking of newsletters….

Here’s a couple of my favourites:

Wicked Leeks from Riverford - for the name and thoughtful farm news

Anna Jones’ weekly email - for the recipes and food photography

Red Hand Files by Nick Cave - for Nick Cave

Newsletter 11th August

Good morning,

My days are often too quickly filled with emails, delivery driving and faffing about in the yard - there’s always something that needs moving, packing or cleaning. When Nev asked me to help him move some cattle after lunch yesterday, I was very pleased to get out of the office and into the field. He’s certainly capable of moving the animals by himself but I think he knew I could do with some sun on my face.

So today’s email is a short round up of a quick field stop with my favourite cowboy.

First stop was to find our farming friend Hedley and marvel at his John Deere combine harvester in action. The ground is just dry enough to get on it with a bit of kit that big, and he was easy to track down by the cloud of dust that could be spotted from the lane. The wheat is cut close to the ground, the seed gets threshed from the straw & chaff, ready to be cleaned and stored. The straw is left in swaths or rows on the ground, which will dry out in the sun (fingers crossed) before being baled and driven to Trenchmore to bed up our cattle over the winter.

Then we went to find the animals that needed moving - a small group of pregnant cows, 2 young calves and our handsome wagyu bull, Duke. The electric fencing was disconnected and carefully rolled up, before being unravelled and switched back on in a different place to get this herd onto fresh pasture.

Nev pointed out how lush the grass is thanks to all the rain. It’s full of starch & nutrients, and our animals are back to gaining weight. The sunshine seems to be having a cheering effect on grass, animals & farmers alike.

Food on the farm

We’ve sold out for this evening’s supper club, and are now taking bookings for 1st September, which will be all about cooking over flames.

SoPi Pizza is in the yard tomorrow from midday, so join us for a pint and slice.

Newsletter 4th August

Good afternoon,

Blimey, it is August already. The weather this summer has been disappointing - both personally (seasonal affective disorder should be limited to the winter months…) and for the cattle.

We’re known as a beef farm, but really we’re a grass farm. Our game is converting sunshine into food, via grass and we go about it by building soil health, and trying to mow / graze / leave it at the exact right time according to the weather forecast - there should be a support group for anyone relying on the weather forecast at the moment.

The grass growth cycle produces deliciously lush pasture filled with digestible cellulose in spring, but an unpalatable & undigestible woody stem once it has set seed. Grazing & mowing starts the cycle again, so we get several crops each year.

This year, the wet spring meant the cattle went out much later in the grass cycle so the quality wasn’t what it should have been. They don’t eat as much when it doesn’t taste as good, and what they do eat is higher in fibre and lower in starch so they loose condition and take longer to finish. They are also late calving this summer, which we think is because of the grass quality earlier in the summer.

We’ve had plenty of rain since the very dry June and the grass is growing nicely again. Now we want a spell of glorious late summer sunshine… don’t we all!

online shop

Trenchmore Suppers

Join us next Friday evening for the first of our farm to table suppers…

Welcome drink

+

Classic beef tartare with wagyu fat tacos

+

Slow cooked beef with pressed potatoes and seasonal Shrub veggies

+

Summer fruits with cream and toasted almonds

Vegan & GF available, pre-book only

Newsletter 27th July

Good afternoon,

One man’s weed is another man’s wildflower, and we have enjoyed seeing the different species that are flourishing in our fields this year. 2022 saw a lot of ragwort at Trenchmore, which is great for pollinators but poisonous to cattle - it hasn’t come back this year but we’ve got much more bindweed, birdsfoot trefoil & white clover.

The apple crop looks the best it has for a while, the acorns are light (also poisonous to cattle, so no love lost there) and mum’s walnut trees are heavy with nuts in their vibrant green jackets.

The more extreme and varied weather patterns will mean different varieties will thrive each year. We’re encouraging the variation by waiting a little longer before mowing or grazing our fields, and the result is more wildflowers and butterflies in our fields.

We have one table left for our picnic in the orchard on Saturday and you can book it here. The forecast looks sunny for lunch but we will move undercover if the weather turns. We will be serving a selection of nibbles, feta & greens filo pie and a few salads filled with delicious local produce from Shrub Provisions.

If a burger & pint is more to your taste, the Moo Tap is joining the 3Bros Burgers at Loxwood on Sunday for their Gin, Jazz & Blues festival and we’d love to see you there.

The yard shop is open 11-4pm on Saturday and is well stocked with beef, cider, eggs & hot sauce. Yes, the wait is over - Manda’s Atchar sauce is back in stock.

online shop

white clover

birdsfoot trefoil

bindweed

Newsletter 13th July

Good afternoon,

Despite an almost biblical downpour on Saturday, nearly 500 of you braved the rain and joined us in the yard for a wonderful day of food, drink & music. Cider tastes best when drunk in your waterproofs, after all.

The puddles haven’t put us off and we’re now taking bookings for more events this summer - a Friday evening 3 course supper with chef Sam Lambert and a picnic in the orchard. Take a look at what’s on and peruse the menus here.

We’ve restocked with fresh beef and have a 1.7kg Sussex Wagyu fillet in the fridge for anyone planning something a little special this weekend.

online shop

Summer picnic

served in the orchard

pre-book only

Saturday 29th July

1-4pm

Set menu supper

3 courses, meat or veg

pre-book only

Friday 11th August

5-9pm

SoPi pizza

no need to book

22nd July, 12th August & 23rd September

12-4pm

Newsletter 6th July

Good afternoon,

We’ve been hosing down the roundhouse barn, tidying away the usual accumulated debris & mowing the orchard for picnic blankets (BYO blanket) and field for parking - all in the excited anticipation for what might just be our best food & drink market so far.

We have a few new local producers, a brass band and 3 hot food vendors to keep the waiting times short and the merriment levels high.

The farm walk will leave the yard at midday sharp, this time with Andrew donning his new Britney-esque microphone head set so those at the back can hear him. Meeting point is between the loos and the bar at 12pm.

The parking field is just to the right of the farm track so keep an eye out for Jack & Finley in their high vis jackets to direct you. 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 please keep a watchful eye on your gang.

The event is free and you do not need a ticket to enter. We would appreciate you booking online so we have an idea of numbers, but there is no charge.

And lastly, the fridge if full of tomahawks, steaks & rump joints. Pre-order online and pick up on Saturday, or just pop in to see what’s available. We’re all looking forward to seeing you.

online shop

Chef Sam Lambert will be serving barbecued pork, mackerel or tofu + a Shrub salad, followed by bbq’d peaches for something sweet, 3Bros are serving their classic wagyu burgers & SoPi is back with sourdough pizza.

We have our market regulars including Clare's Chillies, Slake Spirits, Susana & Daughters and High Weald Dairy, plus a few new faces…

Sussex Gourmand

Liz will be selling her beef & venison bresaola, Sussex Hampers and canapé kits.

She air-dries ethical meats in Brighton from animals that graze the Sussex countryside & woodlands, and pairs them with homemade pestos & tasty thins.

Rowdy & Fancys

Annys will be selling chocolate bars and serving up strawberries covered in melted chocolate!

It is a family run chocolatier business based in the Sussex countryside, with an emphasis on quality ingredients, unique flavours and planet friendly packaging.

Hand Brew Co

Landlord Jen & head brewer Kate have come together to make some very tasty beers in Brighton and Worthing.

They say it’s ‘Art you can drink’. That’s because artists design the outsides, and artisans design the insides.

Pints to enjoy and cans to take away!

Old Tree Kombucha

A social enterprise kombucha brewery based in the historic village of Glynde, using fermentation to create delicious, live drinks in ways that support social and ecological regeneration.

The result: some truly tasty organic low-alcohol and gut healthy drinks.

Bean Smitten

Darren runs this independent specialty coffee roasters in Flimwell, and sources the finest fresh coffee beans to create hand roasted, small batch specialty coffee that’s ground to perfection. His mantra: great coffee that makes people happy.

Darren will be serving cold brews to enjoy and selling coffee to take home, whilst Slake Spirits will be serving a coffee based cocktail from their bar using Darrens cold brew. Collab at its tastiest.

Newsletter 30th June

Good afternoon,

If you’re yet to decide what to do this weekend, may I suggest CowFest in Cowfold for a 3Bros wagyu burger tomorrow, followed by the Chilli & Cheese Festival in Chichester for a pint of Silly Moo Cider on Saturday and/or Sunday?

Andrew will be running the yard shop & Moo Tap tomorrow, and if that’s not enough excitement for you, our Summer Market is on the following Saturday at the farm.

shop

A few more podcast reccos for you…

Zoe podcast: Are eggs good for us? Spoiler: yes, nutritious & delicious.

The Food Programme: Agritourisim in the UK. Connecting people & food is the way forward.

A little left field for a farming email, but I really enjoyed Louis Theroux X Shania Twain. Man, she is quite the woman.

Newsletter 22nd June

Good afternoon,

The farm has had an inch of rain this week and the grass & barley look all the more cheery for it. We’re only a couple of weeks away from our first autumn calves, which is an unwelcome descriptor at this point in the year, but it works well to get everyone calved in the fields whilst it is still warm and dry. We have Rosie’s sheep in the orchard, making a good job of the grass and looking lush (pic below), just ahead of their annual shear.

Andrew is planning to experiment with inoculating the soil in our new fields. They have not had any grazing animals on them for decades, which means no dung, no flies and thus, very few birds. He’s sourcing a brew with 54,000 species of microbacteria & fungi, and planning to blend it with our farmyard manure before spreading on the land. It’s an expensive experiment, but we hope it will accelerate the  return of life to the soil, in addition to cattle grazing later in the year. We will keep you posted on the progress.

online shop

When not tending to her sheep or doing freelance design work, Rosie helps us out in the yard and will be looking after the shop on Saturday, so pop by for something tasty between 11am - 4pm.

I’m now in south Spain and my trip has included a lot of driving time with only Frank the dog for company, who is good for sharing the snacks but has not got very much to say. It has given me lots of time to listen to podcasts & albums, so here are a couple that I’ve really enjoyed.

And a snap of a rather dashing horse we spotted in France.

The Food Programme - Wassail! Wassail! A celebration of cider, orchards and song. Slightly untimely but it has got me excited to plan a Silly Moo Wassail in the new year.

Reasons to be Cheerful - Back to nature: how can farming be sustainable? Ed & Geoff talk to farmers and experts about the future of food & farming.

Wiser Than Me - Julia Louis-Dreyfus talks with food writer, magazine editor & author Ruth Reichl about growing older.

I’ve read a few books, but most enjoyed Laurie Lee’s As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning - a poetically written memoir of his journey through Spain in the 30’s, & the perfect book to read whilst here.

After watching Searching for Sugar Man, Rodriguez has soundtracked the road trip so far & I’m enjoying both albums, especially Cold Fact.

Newsletter 15th June

Good morning,

Reporting to you today from a chestnut farm in the south of France, where I camped last night on my Eat Pray Love tour of France & Spain - taking the eating part most seriously. 

Between the boulangeries & apricot farms, I have caught up with the boots on the ground for your weekly farm update: the spring barley sown earlier this year in our new fields is showing signs of dehydration. The good news is our other fields are faring much better, which goes to show that years of cattle-led soil management does work in building resilience. Andrew & Nev have been plying the compost pile into some fields to protect the soil in case of a potential downpour.

They’ve made 750 bales of silage from 100 acres, and hope to get to 1,200 so we have plenty of reserves for the winter, should we have a similarly soggy spring next year. There are two groups of 30 cows & 30 calves rotationally grazing the fields, spending about 3 days in a paddock before moving on to the next.

online shop

The yard shop is open this Saturday 11-4pm and sells the best beef, cider & eggs in the village. Probably the county, possibly even the country. It’s certainly well worth popping in for a cold drink, have an amble around the farm and to pick up some thoughtfully grown grub for your weekend’s menu.

Our market is coming together brilliantly and we can now announce a few of the traders who will be joining us -

Sussex Gourmand (charcuterie and hampers), Rowdy & Fancys (chocolate covered strawberries), Slake (gin & vermouth), Gywn’s Bakery, Clare’s Chillies, Hand Brewery, Perfectly Preserved (jams), High Weald Dairy & Old Tree Kombucha. We will have hot food from 3Bros Burgers, SoPi Pizza and Slam, who will be serving nourishing boxes of local veg topped with something from the BBQ.

It is free to attend, but we’d appreciate you booking here so we have an idea of numbers - thank you!

And a couple of holiday snaps, which I know you didn’t ask for. A mug of delicious Breton cider in Sens, and Moo with a view in Ardèche. À bientôt.