Normally I take care of the social media and blogging side of Manor Farm
Beef but Chris has messed his back up cleaning out our shed so he has time to write...


.....As the horsemeat scandal rumbles on I would be interested in any opinions on who is to blame. The boss of iceland is today blaming councils, nhs trusts and any other public sector body for demanding cheap catering. The same can be said of consumers. Previously the retailers (bristish retaill consortium) have put all the blame on the processors. But are they really innocent victims in all this? One thing that was clear from the milk price protests is that supermarkets know exactly how much it costs to produce the food they stock. So if it costs £2 to produce a beef lasagne (wholesale) for example and some supplier will sell to a supermarket for £1.50 they must know it is dodgy - but have wilfully ignored this. Consumers are not at fault for choosing the cheapest product when the labelled ingredients are the same - how can they be. I am also going to stick up for government on this, yes they have previously tested for horsemeat in processed beef products but where to stop? Do we test every carcass, every batch of mince, every ready meal and burger to ensure we know every step? To take a slightly absurd example should we DNA test every jar of strawberry jam for adulteration with raspberries?

We should be able to trust our food supply chains and some degree of random testing for lots of different possible problems would have to be part of this. It goes without saying (and yes I have a vested interest in this) but I hope people consider a number of options:

1: Make use of your local butcher, farmers market, farm shop... get to know them and ask the question "Where is this produce from?"
2: Buy British, preferably local
3: Burgers are, in their purest form, minced or chopped meat with seasoning squashed into a patty - almost the easiest food in the world - make them yourself then you know all the ingredients

 Here is a link to an article he wrote regarding meat consumption in 2011 
http://www.driffieldtoday.co.uk/news/business/meat-s-special-status-1-3195343

We look forward to reading any comments and thoughts :)

Belted Galloways

We hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year, and have not been too cold in all this snow!

We have had a good start to 2013 as we welcomed 17 new pedigree Belted Galloway cattle onto land situated in the depths of the Yorkshire Wold. Although all of our beef comes from our family farm in Thornholme we wanted to, alongside our existing beef breeding plan, nurture a breed of native pedigree cattle. We have always loved Belted Galloway and find them to be incredibly hardy and a fantastic breed to make the most grazing the historic Wolds. All the cattle are heifers and will be put in calf this spring using Artificial Insemination (AI) as we have chosen not to run a bull with our herd. After much deliberation over a name for our herd (thank you to all those who came up with suggestions), we have decided to go along the traditional route of using place names and chosen the 'Thornholme Belted Galloway' herd or 'Thornholme Belties' for short! We look forward to updating you on their progress in the coming months

Thornholme Belties heading towards their new home near Humanby.

 .

  **Coming soon**

we have a number of new beefy projects in the pipeline this year including:-

*Pop Up farm Shop*

From March, our little 'pop up' farm shop will be opening on the Friday before Driffield farmers market. Come along and see a selection of our award winning beef on sale at 'Haruna', Thornholme, YO254NN

(we are next to the RIX garage in Thornholme)

and our Manor Farm Biltong made from our own slow grown, grass fed, 21 day dry age Yorkshire beef

 

You can order one of our advertised boxes or you can order individual roasting joints or cuts of beef etc

 (just let us know how many you are cooking for and what sort of beef you are after):-

Winter warmer box £25
Braising steak
Stewing steak
Shin beef
Beef mince
total approx 3.5kg

Winter roasting box £50
Topside
Silverside
Tick rib
Chine (rolled back rib)
total approx 5kg

Steak Lovers box £55
(what better way to celebrate valentines day

then by giving the gift of fine Yorkshire beef!)
Fillet
Sirloin
Rump
total approx 2.5kg

The £55 mixed beef box contains
slow roast joint (brisket or flank or chine)
fast roast joint (topside or silverside)
steaks (rump or sirloin)
mince
shin or braising steak
Meatballs
Burgers
total approx. 6 kg

The £75 box contained
slow roast (brisket and chine)
fast roast (topside and silverside)
steaks (rump and sirloin and fillet)
mince & stewing steak & shin
braising steak
Meatballs
Burgers
total approx. 9 kg

Dates for your diary

Thursday 14th Feb

If you are cooking for valentines we have fillet, sirloin and rump 

all packed in pairs ready to cook up for your loved one!

Friday March 1st

Manor Farm 'pop up' farm shop 10am-3pm

www.manorfarmbeef.co.uk 

Saturday March 2nd

Driffield farmers market 9am - 1pm

http://www.driffieldshow.co.uk/farmers_market.php 

Hovingham farmers market 10.30am - 2pm

http://www.hovingham.org.uk/ 

Thanks for reading, Chris, Charlotte, Bethan, Sophie & Maisie

Well we started this blog in 2012 and it has been somewhat neglected! My aim for 2013 is to keep a weekly diary of all things Manor Farm and to share with you some of the highs and lows that go hand in hand with farming. I will shortly post an 'update' of everything that has happened over the past 6 or so months and then hopefully become a committed blogger!

 

March Manor Farm news

Chris and Charlotte Shipley

info@manorfarmbeef.co.uk

01262 490354

07912 941333

 

As I sit here writing this months news letter the sun is pouring in through the study window and there is not a cloud in the sky! Dougal and Hamish, the oldest of our Belted Galloway steers, are enjoying the unusually mild winter conditions lounging around out at grass. We are also continuing to welcome a number of calves at Manor Farm, including 'Bob' a beautiful looking British Blue cross bull. 'Bob' is the second calf for 'Betty' (who's first calf was named 'Boo' by our 4 year old daughter) and Betty is proving to be an extremely good mother by providing enough top quality milk to allow Bob to thrive.

Land work has also begun in earnest at Manor Farm and this month will see the final sowing of our Spring barley and beans, some of which will go into our meal mix for next winters feed. These fields have been left fallow over winter and have provided a wonderful habitat for animal species including deer, hare, game and wild birds.

Our March beef comes from another of our British Blue cross heifers who was slow grown to 24months on grass and home grown barley/bean meal (she also spent the spring, summer and autumn months grazing in front of Burton Agnes Hall). All the beef has been hung on the bone for 21 days and has been expertly butchered by Glaves at Brompton by Sawdon. 

 

 

Celebrate

Great British

pie week 

5^th - 11^th of March!

  

As part of the celebrations Manor Farm Beef are excited to offer the following 3 different pie mixes for you to enjoy making your own  

Great British pie!

Steak & kidney / Steak & heart / Steak mix

£4.50/700g packs

February Manor Farm news

Chris and Charlotte Shipley

info@manorfarmbeef.co.uk

01262 490354

07912 941333 

We hope you have all had a good start to the New Year and here at Manor Farm we can not quite believe its February already! Chris and his Dad are already busy with calvings and they have already welcomed 1 Belted Galloway, 3 Aberdeen Angus, a hand full of British Friesians and twin British Blue bulls onto the farm!

This months beef comes from one of our British Blue cross heifers who was slow grown to 24months on grass and home grown barley/bean meal (she also spent the spring, summer and autumn months grazing in front of Burton Agnes Hall). All the beef has been hung on the bone for 22 days and has been expertly butchered by Glaves at Brompton by Sawdon.

We are looking forward to 2012 and we think its going to be a busier year than last. Some of you may have seen in this weeks Driffield Post that Manor Farm Beef has been shortlisted for the Remarkable East Yorkshire Tourism Awards (REYTA) in the 'Remarkable Fayre' category. We are incredibly excited by this shortlisting and look forward to an evening away from the cows at the awards dinner. 

We are also planning a number events for 2012 at Manor Farm

Open Farm Sunday - 17^th of June 2012.

11am-1pm - We plan to 'Open up' the farm yard for a morning of family activities. There will be a chance to visit the milking parlour, see some of our animals and see the farms machinery, 
including the tractors & combine.

2pm-4pm – a 2 hour walk showing how a mixed arable, beef and dairy farm works in conjunction with each other and the environment. This walk will be on farming terrain so wellies or hiking boots are a must! 

Festival of British Archaeology – July 2012 date tbc.

An Iron Age farmstead was discovered at the farm and we plan two events including a day of family activities at the site and an evening historical walk and talk, followed by a cheese and wine supper.

All events need to be pre booked by email (info@manorfarmbeef.co.uk) or telephone (01262 490354) and are free of charge except the cheese and wine supper which will cost £5 per person

So after setting up the blog with the intention of posting regularly, its been over week since our last post! The farm has been keeping Chris and his Dad busy with plenty of new calfs (Aberdeen Angus and Limousin cross as well as a hand full of British Friesian) as well as the twice daily task of milking. Inside we have been busy swapping bedrooms around to make way for our 3rd child this spring. Our 2 girls are now proud owners of a new 'butterfly and fairy' bedroom and Chris and I have inherited the not so glam study. But needs must!!

Our next Manor Farm Beef beast is due back next week so attention now turns to this. We have lots of beef boxes going off with Coast To Coast Couriers to Oxford, Manchester and London to name but a few destinations and we will be attending Driffield Farmers market and Hovingham market both on the 4th of Feb. We have decided that it is definatly still pie weather and so will be  bringing back some of our steak and kidney and steak and heart mix that proved extremely popular last autumn. 

We are finally getting geared up to offer samples to our customers on farmers market days (its only taken a year!!). One of our favourite cuts of beef is short rib of beef (also know as a Jacob's Ladder?). Its an incredible flavoured slow cooked bit of beef which our butcher expertly cuts into individual pieces. We then pack them in pairs and offer advice on how to cook them. Look out for them at Driffield and Hovingham, and don't forget to ask for a taste!

Hello and welcome to our new blogspot. As our existing Manor Farm Beef followers know, for the past 6 months I have been producing monthly newsletters that go out with our beef boxes and at farmers markets. We shall be continuing with these but we also thought we would blog about the day to day goings on here at Manor Farm. 

Through our blog we hope to share with you the highs and lows of farming on a mixed beef, dairy and arable family run farm situated between the Yorkshire Wolds and the Holderness flats. We hope you enjoy our ramblings and look forward to hearing from you.