West Town Farm - Farm News

Our new addition to the team!

Steve our usual sign writer (all those wonderful hand painted signs you see dotted around Exeter) has taken some time off but luckily has trained up a very enthusiastic apprentice…(add photo) Steve 'junior' loves spending time in the workshop getting to grips with his paint brushes. You’re doing a fine job!

sign writing cow

Cutting room on its way!

It is taking a lot longer than we hoped. However please be patient we have a quote in and hopefully things will start moving pretty fast now. Affordable sausage making courses are on the way.

Our disappointment at postponing the Barn Dance

It was disappointing to cancel the Barn Dance however we are very committed to making the August Barn Dance an excellent night out. There’ll be lots of fun children’s activities and plenty of local booze to drink and delicious food to eat!

A tale of coincidence

As you will notice on our new logo there is a fantastic distinctive looking bull relaxing behind an apple tree. You may also realise that this bull is the great Hereford breed, famous for its full orange coat and particularly its fluffy white head. The bull you see is Noddy, a very significant character at West Town Farm and father to most of our calves. We bought Noddy from north Devon and he came to the farm four years ago when a decision was made to steer away from dairy and to begin beef farming. When we started to think about a logo for the farm it was a unanimous choice that Noddy had to be a part of it. For a current event we decided to put it on poster and one of the places we put it up was Bookcycle, a bookstore in town. Ant who runs the shop had seen a Hereford in the distance at the farm previously and it reminded him of the time when he looked after a family friend's farm with a Hereford bull. On a recent day this family friend visited Bookcycle and noticed the poster and thought how alike the bull looked like her…Noddy. Ant put two and two together and realised that we at West Town Farm had bought Noddy. Andy was in Scotland when we bought Noddy so he didn’t met the breeder. So lo and behold Noddy’s breeder, Eve, came to the farm on our Steak & Chips evening and went to see him in the field. It was such a special moment for us all as Ant has been at the farm many a time not realising Noddy’s presence and connection. We were so delighted to meet Eve as she clearly has a great love for him and told us tales of riding him and sorts. She is also extremely happy that Noddy is in a place where people truly care for him.

Biker Butcher

We recently had a very exciting visit from the Biker Butcher. He has fantastic values and wants farmers to get the best out of their produce. We have identified a perfect spot for hanging, cutting and packing our meat and will be developing this over the winter and early spring.

Piglets

In November we were delighted to have 5 new additions to increase our ability to give you fantastic pork. Like their Mum they are Berkshire piglets which are a fantastic breed for small scale pig farming. The Berkshire pig is the oldest recorded breed of pig in Britain, but its survival is threatened. According to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust there are less than 300 registered breeding sows left in this country. Their pork is known for its excellence and we are extremely excited about breeding them.

Pottery

The pottery here is nearly up and running. organicARTS have been working hard to raise funds. As West Town Farm has its own clay it will be great to see it put to use. Budding potters see our pottery page for more info.

Dan the Pizza Man

Thank you to Dan who has built us our very own pizza oven made with our own clay.

West Town Farm