Artisan food - The on-line magazine for lovers of food in the Lake District and Cumbria - Pig to slaughter, slave traders and jokes galore....

Location: Blogs On the farm at Howbarrow
Posted by: Paul Hughes	12/12/2006
An early start this morning - our first pig of the Autumn to Slaughter. A stress free 15-minute journey for the pig. (Its more stress-full for me as the slaughter house is in the middle of the A590 roadworks) Our second pig will be available for Christmas. Again we will butcher on the farm and hope to have a second-hand mincer and sausage making machine by then…….. Its very rewarding to stock suppliers in the shop that we encouraged to go organic. I remember enthusiastic conversations with Jim Hadwin at Mansergh Hall, whose meat we now stock and from this week we will stock cheese from Low Sizergh Farm. It is encouraging to think that our own conversion to organic may have sowed the seeds for them and other farms in the area to do the same. Friday sees me attending the AGM of the Growing Well project in my capacity as a director. The project is now entering its third year, it has turned from a ‘shared vision’ into a productive organic holding with far reaching benefits for the community. Visit www.growingwell.co.uk for more info. A reflective view from the farm this week, maybe because it’s the anniversary of living at Howbarrow for 20 years this month. 1986 feels like a long time ago. I had a brief walk up to one of our fields that has been organic since 1986. The view as ever was stunning and that one organic field, the first in South Lakeland, helped start an ever expanding movement. The box packing area Interesting to hear that Tony Blair on behalf of the UK Government is apologising for our past involvement as a Nation in Slavery. Only this weekend I read a poignant article in the Observer on the pineapple trade in South America - workers planting 5000 plants a day that are pre soaked in pesticides, causing the workers’ finger-nails to fall out. Young workers, prematurely aged, being paid a pittance, so that UK supermarkets can challenge each other as to which one can sell the cheapest fruit! So I wonder when we will get around to apologising for the modern slave trade of industrialised farming in third world countries – a few hundred years maybe? And while I’m on my soap box, should the criteria for towns to have ‘Fair Trade’ status, include a requirement that you can’t get the award if you have a Walmart (Asda) supermarket in the town? Wal-Mart being the 21st century epitome of modern slave traders….. Mud everywhere on the farm, final picking this week of winter salad and stir fry leaves with only some lovely herbs (parsley & thyme in particular) still looking great in the polytunnels. ‘Swim for your lives’, said the turkeys as the wall of rain water swept down the field…… The long dry summer, drilling bore holes for water seems a long time ago. My children and I stood outside in the weekend storm and watched the large Sycamore tree on the farm sway and buckle. You could hear it creaking, the trunk twisting and straining to each stronger gust, but it survived, incredible to watch. In our most exposed field you could lean into the wind - it was like flying. My comments (above) on the evil empire Walmart have provoked more emails then ever before. The general result of the straw poll seems to be a definite show of hands for Walmart being 21st century slave traders. One of our staff did admit to going in ‘that’ store this week ‘…but only for cat food’…. But that’s not the point, make a new years resolution NOW and do yourself a favour (and the rest of mankind) and don’t shop there. Ok, this time three in one! What do you get when you give King Kong brussel sprouts? King Pong! In the school dining room little Jimmy goes back for a second portion, please can I have some more onions? No jimmy that’s shallot…..!!! A man walks into a doctor's office. He has a cucumber up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana in his right ear. "What's the matter with me?" he asks the doctor. The doctor replies, "You're not eating properly."

Comments (1)

Re: Pig to slaughter, slave traders and jokes galore....	By Gabrielle on 1/5/2007
Hi Paul I had an exhibition about modern slavery two years ago. I collaborated with another artist and Wedgwood to produce a plate that depicts the cockle pickers on Morcambe Bay to show that the slavery that happened in the 17th century in Lancaster still continues today.