Gold Hill pork for sale in February

We will have fresh farm-reared pork for sale in the farm shop from Thursday 9th February.

I, Stephen, purchased two pigs back in September at the age of 8 weeks. They were born to a Saddleback sow and OSB boar on a farm on the Wiltshire border. They have lived most of their life in a paddock of about 12m2 on our neighbour’s land. Their diet has been mainly a barley and soybean pig meal, bought from the farm on the road to Gillingham (you’ll have seen their pigs on the roadside). It is rich in protein and energy. I think the barley is grown there, but the soybean is imported in from overseas. The pigmeal is not organic. They also have enjoyed a large variety of vegetable scraps from the farm, from cabbage leaves, to leek offcuts, to squishy tomatoes. Their favourite has been kale (very healthy pigs!). They have had access to plenty of fresh clean water to drink. They quickly got to work digging up all the grass and nettles and bramble in the paddock, foraging for leaves, roots, and worms. They have stayed warm in their pigsty we built for them, padded with our own straw. They have had human interaction at least twice a day every day since they came. If you scratch thoroughly enough in just the right place, they fall over in a comatose state.

They are booked in for slaughter and butchery at C and S Meats near Sherborne on 6th February. We will drive them up there, and then pick up the meat a few days later, ready for sale in the shop on Thursday.

I tell you all this detail in the name of transparency. My main intention for getting pigs in the first place was to understand for myself what really went into getting meat from the paddock to my plate. And now I’d like to be as clear with you as I can be about the process too. It has not been ideal - I’d like to have fed them organic food, I’d like to have relied less on soybean meal, I’d like them to have had more space, I’d like them to grow up among more of their own kind (they were three in total, as one belonged to our neighbours). These goals I hope to fulfil the next time I have pigs.

But for the most part I think they have lived well and happily. I am grateful to have had the experience of knowing them and caring for them myself. And I hope now that their produce will sustain and satisfy you and your families.

We will have a wide range of pork products available, from sausages to joints to faggots to cheeks. If you’d like to reserve anything specific for yourself, or for any other inquiries, please do feel free to get in touch at goldhillorganicfarm@gmail.com or 01258861916.