Festive cheer and flogging a jam mountain

After a whole pile of recent evenings spent slaving over a hot maslin pan, this weekend saw us fully prepped for the 2018 Festive Fair at Yarner House.

Typically, the second we even thought about packing-up the truck, the heavens opened and stayed that way for pretty much all of the following forty-eight hours. So very, very standard. Still, despite the ever-fickle nature of the Dartmoor weather gods, the great and the good of the region were not to be put-off by a spot of inclement weather, and so we were treated to an action-packed weekend of purveying preserves, touting tinctures and cashing-in on confections.

This is the second year that we’ve sold our produce at the Yarner Festive Fair and it has to be said that the experience thus far has been entirely positive, with folks seemingly happy to scoff our samples and then grab a jar or two as a result. By the time we hung up our ‘closed’ sign yesterday, we had sold out of several of our more popular jams & pickles and were cleared-out of even the merest whiff of our hand-made fudges and pomegranate vokda snifters. Plus, we had interest from a whole load of potential new pork-box customers. All in all, a great result!

Next stop? A rapid pre-yule replenishment order to fulfil for our chums over at Ullacombe Farm Shop and Barn Café where they’re apparently down to their last couple of jars – no rest for the wicked but we’re loving it!

Have a great Christmas break, folks – here’s to an equally productive 2019.

Form an orderly queue for autographs…

Exciting times, as Andy chats with the editor of Grow Exeter magazine and is featured in its November 2018 edition.

It’s a weird old business, rambling-on to a complete stranger about your burgeoning business aspirations. Right now, Greedy Pig’s Pantry is still very much in ‘start-up’ mode and so talking in terms of how the business is constructed and how far we’ve come thus far is all a little strange; however, it does offer a really handy milestone from which one can look back and realise how much we’ve achieved in a relatively short space of time, which can only be a good thing.

Clearly, there’s a hell of a long way to go but we’re still happily obsessed with the idea of making a modest living from selling our wholesome, home-made, hearty tucker and so the discovery that other folks might be passingly interesting in our little venture is enormously encouraging.

Hopefully, this first foray into the world of foody journalism will generate a few leads for us, so we’re looking forward to watching the odd email from potential new customers rattle-down into our inbox in the not-too-distant future. In the meantime, it’s all about jam and pickle making, bottling and labelling, in readiness for our upcoming appearance at this year’s Yarner Festive Fair. Maybe see you there?

A debut in the grown-up world of retail

As we’ve already discussed, from tiny acorns mighty oaks doth grow, and in the grub market finding your first retail outlet is an essential part of this arboreal odyssey.

Everyone needs to forge partnerships – Louis Noilly had Claudius Prat, Thomas Huntley had George Palmer, Anne Harvey had James Nichols and, in our case, our partner in crime is the rather splendid Ullacombe Farm Shop & Barn Café where, from this week, you’ll be able to bag yourself a sample of our jammy gems and fruity fripperies.

We’re starting off with a salvo of sweet-toothed specials that includes our popular strawberry preserve (as used by our chums at B&B to the stars Yarner House and mentioned in despatches by none other than the Sunday Telegraph), a rather luscious lemon curd, a rich, sticky pear conserve and our new but nevertheless well received cheeky chilli jelly.

For a limited time we’re tempting potential new devotees to the Greedy Pig’s Pantry brand with some keen pricing, so if you’re in the area then get down there and stock-up today! For those of you in more far-flung corners of the county/country/globe we’re still working on the website shop, so bear with us – we’re getting there. Albeit slowly!

All good things…

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Much though we love our pigs whilst they’re with us, at the end of the day, we know that there’s only one reason we got into pig-rearing, and that’s to feed ourselves.

With this in mind, Monday saw the latest batch of Tamworths safely loaded on to the charabanger and off to the abattoir. When last seen, all three were happily munching on chopped apples with their tails as curled as a big box of curly things, which can only mean that they were entirely happy and unaware of their impending fate, a statement that many pig producers might struggle to say of their stock.

It’s an emotive issue, and I completely understand those that hold differing views to ours; however, in our opinion, as committed carnivores, the best thing we can do is take direct responsibility for the meat that we consume and ensure that the animals from which it comes lead the most enjoyable of lives before dying with dignity. It’s a pretty straightforward contract between pig and diner – treat the animal with respect and care for it’s wellbeing at all times – and if you can’t do that yourself then support those that do, rather than simply chucking an anonymous lump of clingfilm-shrouded Play-Doh into your supermarket trolley without a second thought.

Anyhoo, climbing down from the soap-box and returning to the subject of porky loveliness, this is precisely what now fills the chest freezer in the pantry. We’ve been fortunate enough to attract a number of much-welcomed meat sales this time around, whilst still retaining well over 90 kilos of pork for ourselves – which means that, even by our gluttonous standards, there’s a heartily-fed winter to come. From roasting joints to chops and loin steaks to mince (by way of the ubiquitous banger) we’ve processed as much of our pigs as possible, which seems only sensible. Waste not want not and all that.

Actually, that’s a useful reminder. Enough of this waffling – there are livers in the fridge that need turning into pâté. No rest for the wicked!

Time to order your pork boxes!

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It’s that time of year again! We’re about a month away from sending our latest batch of Tamworths off to slaughter and so it’s high time we started taking your orders for our delicious high-welfare pork-boxes.

This year, as well as selling our produce in the 20kg capacity boxes that have proved to be so popular in the past, we’ll also be looking at providing shipments in smaller batches, starting at 6kg for £45.00 plus shipping. All shipments will contain a selection of freshly butchered shoulder & leg joints, chops, belly blocks, hocks, ribs, diced meat & sausages, all of which are contained in temperature neutral polystyrene crates with chiller blocks.

Talking of shipping, we’re happy to hand-deliver locally or, if you’re a little further away, we’ll once again be using our cool-box packaging on a guaranteed pre-10am next day service from Parcelforce – a system which worked exceptionally well for us last year.

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We’re lucky enough work with local artisanal butchers Cox & Laflin to create a selection of roasting joints, chops, sausages, steaks & diced pork that we believe to be pretty much unbeatable.

The abattoir we use is also local, as well as being Soil Association approved. We take advantage of the fact that Gages Farm in Ashburton is less than ten miles from home and specialises in small batch throughput, to ensure that our pigs are treated with the utmost respect, ending their journey with dignity and empathy. Our stock is cared for with a high standard of husbandry and this extends equally to the their treatment at the end-of-life.

You can call or email us anytime to talk about your meatbox requirements; however, as an illustration of the range that we offer, here are some ideas of the packages available, their weights, approximate contents and our prices:

6kg (joints, sausages, chops) = £45.00

10kg (joints, sausages, chops, diced pork) = £67.50

15kg (joints, sausages, chops, diced pork) = £90.00

20kg (joints, prime tenderloin, belly blocks, hocks, sausages, chops, diced pork) = £105.00.

Shipping is overnight on a guaranteed pre-10am next day delivery. Shipment costs are additional to the prices shown above and can be Pantry HQ will be hand-delivered at no additional cost.

Reserve your box today, or drop us a line to talk about your requirements. You can chat with us on (01364) 661602 or drop us a line at hello@greedypigspantry.co.uk.

Mighty oaks from little acorns…

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Big news from the pantry… we’ve secured a first retail outlet for our jams & pickles!

Those lovely people at Ullacombe Farm Shop & Barn Café have decided in their infinite wisdom that the GPP range of bijoux, hand-crafted scoffables make the grade and so very shortly we will see our curds, conserves, piccalillis and pickles adorning their shelves… hopefully for only a very brief spell before being snapped-up by hungry punters.

This is a significant coup for us – right up there with our initial success in securing the exclusive supply deal for our chums at B&B to the stars Yarner House (the very same establishment that managed to wangle us a rather useful mention in a Telegraph travel review of their esteemed accommodations) and so we’re a little bit giddy with excitement at the moment.

That said, there’s no time spare to waste in self-congratulation – the Sumptuous Strawberry Jam and Luscious Lemon Curd won’t make itself! Likewise, our current labels won’t magically update themselves with the additional production information that they require to make us 100% EU-label-Nazi-proof and so, without further ado, it’s off to the bat cave to mess about with Photoshop, in an attempt to add-in strange little ‘e’ symbols, average audited batch weights, allergen warnings, prominent ingredient percentiles and other soul-sappingly tiresome boilerplate that will hopefully keep the bean-counters and ambulance chasers from our door.

Label drudgery aside though, things are looking up!

And our survey said…

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Very good, apparently.

Actually, there’s no point in trying to be unduly cool and dispassionate about this one – it’s a massive deal for us!

Whilst we hoped that the way in which we were running our kitchen was appropriate for a professional purveyor of chompables, the proof of the pudding was always going to be in the eating and so, when the nice lady from the local Food Standards Agency office turned up this morning, it’s safe to say that were at least mildly interested in what she had to say about the general levels of hygiene at Greedy Pig HQ.

Quite rightly, no foodie business can operate without the go-ahead of its local food safety authority, and so gaining approval was pretty critical. At the same time though, to our minds, this one was not only a technical hoop through which we were obliged to jump but also a real landmark in the evolution of the Greedy Pig’s Pantry story which would take us from being a couple of folks with a rather vague and fluffy pipe-dream about growing stuff and selling stuff to actually becoming a bona fide food producer and retailer… if only at rather very modest level.

So, the 400 gallons of multipurpose cleaner with bleach, 72 miles of Tork cleaning cloth and thirty or so man-hours of domestic slave labour must have done the trick – turns out we had nothing to worry about. In all honesty our kitchen was hardly a midden in the first place; however, after recent efforts, one could quite reasonably eat one’s dinner off the floor round these parts. Luckily though, there’s no need, as we’ve rather cleverly decided to put various bits of our culinary repertoire into bottles & jars for you to sample on a surface of your choice.

Stay tuned and we’ll keep you up to date with the miscellany of foodie events that we get out to this summer – we’ll also have the shop up and running soon for mail-order sales. Watch this (dazzlingly clean & highly professional) space!

Sumer Is Icumen In

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Finally, after what has been pretty much universally acknowledged as a thoroughly miserable winter followed by an atrocious spring 2018, a glorious Beltane sunrise appears to have heralded-in a spot of decent weather.

To welcome in the May – despite the fact that the duvet was warm & inviting whilst outside it was pitch black & blinkin’ freezing – it seemed sensible to prepare a flask of hot, sweet coffee, trouser a hip-flask of home-made sloe gin and head-off for Haytor, to join the lunatic throng already gathered to watch Beltane Morris and chums usher in the summer months. A spectacular (if slightly bonkers) event which is well worth supporting should you be lurking about the moors on the first of May – as were the folks [here].

And no sooner has the sun popped-out but the entire place has taken on a rather tropical look; with hedges, lawns, paddocks and the wood beside us all suddenly exploding into life. It’s amazing how nature tends to pick up the slack and get itself back on track when it needs to; however, one suspects that this gorgeously warm spell will also result in more than few aching backs and corresponding long soaks in Epsom salt-laden baths.

And so, in the space of no more than a few days, we move from packing the pigs with additional bedding straw to refilling their wallows several times a day and offering cooling hose-downs on a regular basis. As always though, the Tamworths are taking it all in their stride and seem to be entirely happy with the Mediterranean conditions that we’re all currently being treated to. They really are remarkable creatures.

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Not so remarkable is our ability to cope with a little hard graft. Now that the rain has stopped and the paddock has dried-out, we’ve been going like the clappers to make up for time hitherto lost to foul weather.

This has involved a rapid re-digging of our vegetable plots before planting several hundred onions & garlic sets, a similar amount of potatoes, beans, peas and other sundry legumes, which will hopefully get us back on track as far as our veggie growing’s concerned.

The raised beds are now in their third season and, with last autumn’s application of several tons of well-rotted cow dung, the soil within them is now really rather spectacular. Here’s hoping that we’re in for a bumper harvest as compensation for such a stinker of a start to our year!

And finally for now, and ostensibly as a post-script to the previous posting, you’ll no doubt be delighted to learn that work on the polytunnel goes on a pace. Through heartless press-ganging of unsuspecting houseguests into the thankless task of digging post-holes in ground heaving with granite lumps of various sizes, we’re finally at a stage where the (extremely well-anchored) frame can start to go up.

At this rate we’ll have it fully functional just as I start to draw my pension.

Surely some mistake? No rain!?

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What we’re seeing here is sunshine on ginger pigs. I mention this, as here on Dartmoor it rather feels like we haven’t seen the sun in several years – not least the pigs, who really only experienced this sensation for the first time earlier in the week.

Given that the poor little blighters have had to endure some truly grim conditions since they landed at Greedy Pig HQ, it’s a minor miracle that they’re even here to tell to tale, let alone piling on the weight and generally thriving. Nevertheless, thriving they are, which is testament to the hardiness of the Tamworth breed and the main reason why it’s unlikely we’ll be moving on to other flavours of pig… we’re confirmed ginger addicts.

So, several weeks later than intended, we’re finally at a point where we can turn over the veg-beds and get ready for planting-out. The paddock mower has put in it’s first appearance of the year and next week we’ll be welcoming long-time chums Pammy & Jonny for a weekend in the country, having first extorted promises from them of assistance in finally putting up the polytunnel. Exciting times!

Still waiting for spring to arrive…

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OK, the snow is (hopefully) a thing of the past; however, we’re still in the middle of a rainy season of near-biblical proportions and it’s starting to become a little tiresome now.

March saw Devonshire gaining the dubious distinction of being the wettest place in Britain, with double the average monthly rainfall for the time of year depositing itself on the county (the majority seemingly landing right here) and sadly it doesn’t look like the foul weather is letting-up as we move into April.

Despite our concerns during the coldest spells the weaners have sailed through the whole thing with flying colours, braving the snow with complete abandon and facing-up to the following deluge like real troopers. Likewise, the rescue hens seem to be entirely happy to wander about in the rain, clucking, scratching and grubbing for worms like it was the middle of summer – this, despite the fact that nearly all of them are missing a fair few feathers and looking more than a little bedraggled.

On the laying front we’re currently inundated, with an average of seven or eight eggs a day appearing in nesting boxes. Last week saw a haul of ten eggs in a single day, which means that not only are our new arrivals in full swing but the pensioners (whom we had presumed to be beyond their laying days) are back in production too, so we’re currently knocking out cakes, lemon curd and other sundry egg-based fancies like there’s no tomorrow. Also, anyone foolish enough to come near the house leaves with the gift of egg… whether they like it or not.

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Sadly, this joyful fecundity does not extend to the entire household. With the weather having set itself firmly against us we’re now several weeks late in getting onions, garlic and potatoes into veg-beds, whilst we’ve had to hold back on the usual ritual of filling every windowsill in the house with trays of sundry seedlings, simply because the soil is still so cold and boggy.

To make matters worse, the chitting potatoes that have been stored in the workshop have clearly succumbed to the unseasonal winter blast and well over half have gone rotten, so we’re going to have to start again, assuming stocks are still to be had. The hedgerows have yet to really burst into any semblance of spring colour and the ramsoms on the drive (much sought-after for fresh pesto, bear garlic lasagne and other drool-inducing loveliness) are only just getting to a point where they can be harvested – almost a month behind last year’s crop.

All in all it has been a long and unpleasant winter, with spring showing very little sign of picking up the slack just yet. One can only hope that at some point soon the Dartmoor weather gods will decide to show their benevolence and redress the meteorological balance with a spell of sunshine and blue skies.

In fact, I’m off to build a wicker man to speed the process along…