Down on the farm

At this time of year Sylvia Prince becomes the "paediatric nurse" at Highfield House Farm. 

The snowy view from Highfield House Farm this morning

Even though the snow is lying thick on the ground, Sylvia, her husband David and son Matthew are facing one of their busiest times of year as lambing begins and it's testament to the determination and tenacity of farmers that despite the pressures of the season they are still successfully juggling the demands of their thriving farm shop on site.

Neil and I visited the shop this morning, having previously been completely unaware of it's existence. Proving how easy it is to avoid the supermarkets - we simply typed "farm shop" and "Chesterfield" into Google and found Highfield House Farm Shop on one of the roads out of town. It's about a seven minute drive away from our house - which is coincidentally about the same amount of time it would have taken us to get to Tesco. Plus, like the supermarkets, the shop opens on a Sunday.

There is an amazing selection of local foods (more about that below) and we are surprised to find that despite the bad weather Sylvia and David are entertaining a steady stream of customers.

Selection at the shop

The family bought the farm in 1986 and set about creating flocks of several different breeds of sheep - pedigree Suffolks, which have characteristic black legs and face, Texels, a breed which originated from Holland, and Beltex, which they first began breeding in 2006 when they brought six ewes (lady sheep) to the farm. As well as helping to keep the shop well-stocked with meat, some of these sheep have been earning the Prince family rosettes in the show ring. And the woolly women are currently giving David sleepless nights as he waits for about 130 of them to lamb (give birth).

The farmer admits that he's been awake since 3.30am this morning checking the sheep, who are currently housed in huge barns away from the worst of the elements. And lambing is very much a family affair, with David and Mathew taking the day shift and a member of staff keeping an eye on the sheep overnight, plus Sylvia's nursing duties of course.

"Sylvia is our paediatric nurse," David jokes. "She's the one who bottle feeds any lamb that needs it."

The family opened their farm shop in 1996 and then in 2004 used a development grant to turn it into a much bigger concern, selling lamb, beef, pork, poultry, game, exotic meat, cheese, honey, bread, pickles, pies, honey, dairy products and much more. It's clearly popular and the pair appear to know the majority of their customers - with Sylvia ducking under the counter to produce a box of lollipops as a couple walk in with a little girl, togged up in a pink snowsuit, who is clearly expecting a treat.

They are obviously passionate about local food and farming, and as soon as I explain my challenge to avoid the supermarkets Sylvia hands me a leaflet which outlines where the meat not reared onsite comes from. Inspired by this enthusiasm for the produce, I'd like to conclude this blog entry by showing you some of the things we bought, with a bit of detail about where they come from. And perhaps as the year goes on we'll get to meet some of these other producers too...

ROSEMARY'S RASPBERRY PAVLOVA ICE CREAM made by Hope Valley Ice Cream, in Hathersage, Derbyshire. The label on this pot explains that it's made by the Marsden family, who treat every cow, chicken and sheep on their farm "as an individual" and work hard to protect their local landscape. The ice cream is made "with milk from our happy cows and egg-yolks from local free-range eggs". This particular flavour is named after Rosemary, one of the farm's "sweetest cows" who is "always affectionate and never any trouble".

Altogether now.... Ahhhhhhhhh!

DERBYSHIRE HONEY made by a beekeeper in Chesterfield. There's not much information on the jar or online about this producer, but the farm shop's own website explains that the beekeeper has 20 hives at two local sites and it's 100% pure honey that has not been processed or heat treated.

The bees get their nectar from surrounding gardens, fields and farms, which is important for those who use honey to tackle allergies.





MUESLI from Maud Foster Mill, in Lincolnshire. Admittedly this mill isn't really local but I've found some information about it online and it sounds brilliant. The mill itself looks spectacular, and is apparently one of the tallest windmills in the UK with a seven floor brick tower. There is also a shop selling organic flour, oats and muesli, and there's even a holiday cottage onsite so you can stay there and lend a hand with the traditional milling process. It looks like it's definitely worth a day trip at some point to see it in action.




SAUSAGES AND STEAK which I've not photographed because they're all bagged up, but the leaflet Sylvia has given us tells me that the shop's beef comes from farms in Ashover, Bakewell and Baslow (all local Derbyshire villages) and is slaughtered in Chesterfield, then allowed to mature on the bone for 21-28 days to help the flavour develop. Bet you're impressed that a vegetarian can write that eh?! And all the pork sold in the shop is free range.

So there you go, food for thought. Just look at how exciting shopping local can be. Look at this lovely picture of me outside the shop (below). How excited do I look?! Okay, okay, I do look a bit dorky and stupid in my silly hat and wellies, but shopping at Highfield House Farm was a genuinely fun 20 minutes and now we're excited about all the lovely food we've brought home to try.

Vanity has made me shrink this photo so you can't see what a daft face I'm pulling!