Herons Reach is a family run smallholding located in the lake district village of The Green, above the marshes which fringe the Duddon Estuary, where we rear a wide range of rare breedstock, including; Saddleback pigs, Embden Geese, Cream Legbar Hens, Khaki Campbell Ducks and Norfolk Black Turkeys. The family strongly believe that by maintaining pedigree stock our pig and poultry products are of superior quality and flavour to many of the modern, cross-breed varieties where often taste is sacrificed for convenience, uniformity, cheapness and reduced fat content. All our stock live outside and have large areas in which to roam and forage.
Saddleback Pigs
A native, British breed the saddleback, an amalgamation of the Wessex and Essex pigs, was recognisedas a breed in its own right in 1967. A very docile breed, they make excellent mothers having large litters and plentiful milk.
The British Saddleback is a striking animal being black with a white unbroken band over the shoulders and down to both front feet. The hind feet may also be white and a white tail tip and white on the snout may be present in some animals; the ears lop over their heads. Belted pigs of this type occur around the world and it is a standard colour pattern that occurs in certain genotypes of the domesticated pig. The patterns can be present in totally unrelated breeds. The body is deep and long which has advantages both as an excellent breeding animal and as a producer of high quality meat.
Unlike commercial pork which is ultra-lean, wet, and with the fat and lean separating, saddleback pork is robustly excellent being succulent, flavoursome and with crackling to die for. Rare breed pigs are the ancestors of the modern factory pigs and a million miles away in quality. They mature slowly and because they live outdoors they need to develop the muscles and fat to survive this lifestyle, giving them a higher fat content, a special taste and texture, and ensuring that the meat remains moist and succulent throughout the cooking process, qualities deemed unsuitable for modern factory farming methods. We aim to produce the best pork you can buy which is why we have chosen only to use the slow growing Saddleback.
During the Summer the pigs are housed in arks outside on the farm where they are able to roam and forage in the the wide, open spaces. In fact they regularly roam a bit too much.
To supplement the feed we use brewers grains from our local microbrewery and GM free grower pellets.
Heron’s Reach saddleback pigs are expertly butchered and packaged and available to buy in whole of half-pig lots. for guidance, a half- pig provides approximately 23kg of meat and comprises the following cuts.
|
Half-Pig Cutting List Shoulder Joints |
Poultry for Christmas
We have recently begun a rearing programme for birds for the Christmas market. Currently we are rearing lovely Embden Geese and large Norfolk Black Turkeys.
Cream Legbar Eggs
The Cream Legbar is quite an old, now very rare in its true form, pure breed. The 'Old Cotswold Legbar' lays her eggs in a variety of beautiful pastel colours including, turquoise, blue, olive, pink, peach and eau-de-nil. The colours are perfectly natural and are akin to the eggs laid by many wild birds. We sell the lovely blue eggs that the leg bar produces.
Khaki Campbell Duck Eggs
Generally anything you can do with hens eggs can also be done with duck eggs. We had never eaten duck eggs until a few years ago and now never use hens eggs given the choice. Baking is especially good with duck eggs, everything just seems to 'work' - the sponges just keep on rising and we no longer have problems with pavlovas sticking to the paper - it takes a little longer to whisk the duck egg whites but the end result is well worth it. Scrambled eggs and omelettes are wonderfully rich and a beautiful colour thanks to the large yellow yolks, which also make excellent ice cream.
A large hens egg weighs between 63 and 72 grams, most duck eggs will be at least that and often larger, so simply substitute them in your own recipes accordingly.
Embden Goose
Norfolk Black Turkey
To enquire about any of our quality produce or for a price list,
please contact us on 01229 771217 or 07814365859
or you can click below to Email us at
 |
