Hampton Newsletter November 2013
Friday 29th November is our next beef, venison, sausages and pies collection day and we have lots of supplies waiting to be ordered and lots of cake and coffee waiting to be eaten when you come. Plus of course the Hampton herby sausage taster and also the Hampton beef banger taster just to add to the fun.
Hampton 10kg family bags of prime beef are always popular as are the bespoke orders which can range from a roasting joint for 12 to a kilo of stewing steak. Our highly trained chefs can put together whatever you require in the way of prime Hampton beef from our cold store.
Hampton special steak pies are on the menu once again with that scrumptious butter filled pastry, chock-a-block with beef, herbs and onions, and a thick gravy complete with a good splash of red and all eminently freezable. They come in family or individual sizes but do order now to avoid disappointment.
Hampton herby sausages and beef bangers both come in packs of 6 and are so useful to have in hand (or in the freezer), and there should be Hampton wild venison available subject to supply.
So do put your order in or ring Kate, Bridget or I for any guidance you might need.
The vet pregnancy diagnosed all the cows last week and all bar two are well in calf. An excellent result for Duke our bull who looked pretty pleased with himself. We also weaned this year’s calves from their mothers and they are now settling down to life without the portable milk bar at their beck and call. It also gave us a chance to replace any missing ear tags that cows and calves had managed to lose over the summer as they were all in the handling pens and fairly biddable.
The Christmas Fair at Myrtles Courtyard on Friday 22nd November is now firmly established in the fair calendar and is jammed full of excellent and very varied Christmas gift stalls. New for 2013 is Sally Iddles pop up café selling delicious hot food based on our own Hampton beef. Lots of parking in the adjacent field and it all starts at 10.00am so do put it in your diary.
We are selling lots of well-seasoned estate logs at the moment as everyone stocks up after a very mild early autumn. A pick up load (approximately 400 logs) is a very good value £100 and comprises a mixture of hard wood from the estate, air dried and ready to burn. Do let us know if you would like to order.
Bridget and I really look forward to seeing everyone who will be picking up meat on Friday 29th November. The Surrey Garden Cider Company will be with us for the day with cider to try and lots to buy and the braziers should be roaring away to add that bit of wood smoke and warmth.
Our next beef collection day will be on Friday 31st January 2014
Happy Cooking
Bill ad Bridget
Hampton Newsletter October 2013
alternative farm walk…….
Friday 25th October is our next beef collection day and orders are now being taken.
These can vary from a half kilo of best Hampton minced beef via a three rib roasting joint to a Hampton 10kg family beef bag. The beef world is your oyster and our enthusiastic and skilful booking team are waiting for your call or email. We have a good supply of steak, joints and mince, not to mention delicious stewing and braising steak or even shin for the first casserole of the mellow season.
Why not add to your beef order a couple of packs of the best Hampton Herby Sausages or try our new beef bangers, or better still have a go at Hampton wild venison and wow the family? Haunches, loin, diced and minced venison (roe deer from the Hampton woods and fields) is currently available and absolutely delicious. Dead easy to cook (hot oven and lots of faith) and all wonderfully autumnal.
Hampton Special Beef Pies will be ready for collection this month but please order as soon as possible because demand will undoubtedly exceed supply no matter how hard the chefs try. Made with Hampton herbs, a good bottle of red, Hampton prime beef and freshly diced onions our steak pies really are special and come in two sizes, individual and family.
The cows and calves are well and enjoying the late grass growth. Our next task is pregnancy diagnosing the mums and weaning their calves, which will be a noisy operation and scheduled for the end of the month. In the meantime we are gently herding all the animals in outlying grazing areas to their winter fields which will be drier and more sheltered for them.
The herd were one of the attractions, along with the donkey rides and tractor and trailer rides, of our farm walk held at Myrtle’s Courtyard at the end of September. Thanks to all for your great support for this event which culminated in a Hampton barbeque featuring our 100%beefburgers and sausages.
Next up at Myrtles is the Christmas Fair on Friday 22nd November when we are expecting a full house of Christmas present stalls ranging from food to jewellery to crafts to the unexpected. It’s a fabulous Fair, very well attended and do put the date in your diary now.
For more details check out:- www.facebook.com/myrtlescourtyardchristmasfair
Fresh coffee, tea, biscuits and cake will be ready from 10.30 am on the 25th, plus a glass of red and a sausage taster at about lunchtime and Bridget and I really look forward to seeing everyone.
Very happy cooking
Bill and Bridget
ps Our last 2013 Beef Collection will be Friday 29th November. Christmas orders are being taken!!
Hampton Newsletter September 2013
Our September beef collection day is on FRIDAY 27th SEPTEMBER and do put in your order now to avoid disappointment. Hampton 10 kg family bags with that useful mix of joints, steak, mince and stewing steak are always popular, but so too are the bespoke orders for say a roasting joint (topside, rib), a couple of kilos of mince and a packet of Hampton Herby sausages. At this stage in the month just about any combination is possible. Have a look in your favourite recipe book, lick your lips and order up what’s needed.
Hampton Herbies and Hampton Beef Bangers are always good staples in the fridge as are our 100%beefburgers which come in packs of four. Lots of camping parties here at Hampton have relished them this summer and with mayonnaise, lettuce and a couple of slices of tomato it’s hard to go wrong…even under canvas.
Venison stocks are good and we have wild Hampton roe haunches available. This really is the best meat ever and if you’ve never tried cooking venison before, now is the time to take the plunge. It’s remarkably simple to cook a haunch, you just need a hot oven and an excellent bottle of red to accompany the roast. We also have fillet, diced and minced venison and all are equally scrummy.
Sadly no special beef pies this month as every morsel of beef was sold last month…our apologies!
The Hampton bag pictured at Annapurna Base Camp probably takes the record to date for highest bag seen, but exotic locations have included Sydney Harbour Bridge and closer to home, Buckingham Palace gardens. Do keep sending in your snaps if you happen to be on Waikiki soon or spending the weekend at Balmoral!
Our Hampton Farm Walk takes place this year on Saturday 21st September, gathering at Myrtles Courtyard at 11.00am for a tractor and trailer ride/walk/dog walk for well-behaved dogs on leads. We will certainly be visiting the Hampton herd in situ and returning to Myrtles for a very locally sourced barbeque lunch. The walk is free and is part of Surrey Farm and Food Week organised by Surrey Agricultural Society. Lunch is £15 for adults, £5 for children and includes Hogs Back TEA as well as lots of other delicious treats and all proceeds go to Parish funds. Please book via the estate office 01483 810465 or email.
Finally our hop harvest began on Monday and decorative hop bines are available until mid-September (approximately 18th). They make fantastic dried flower arrangements and at £15 are a snip for 365 days of pleasure. Just call or email your order and pick up your bine or bines from the hop garden at Puttenham.
Bridget and I really look forward to seeing everyone on the 27th who is picking up produce, Cakes, coffee, tea, biscuits, red or white at lunch time and the usual sausage samplers will all be in evidence.
Our the following date is Friday 25th October.
Very happy cooking and we all look forward to your order,
Hampton Newsletter July 2013
Summertime……
Our next beef collection day will be on FRIDAY 16th AUGUST which may see you on a beach in the South of France or may be just the ideal time to restock your Hampton beef supplies.
Last month’s Hampton Barbeque Bags were a huge success and were snapped up by many customers. Each bag comprises 4 steaks, 8 herby sausages and 8 100% beefburgers with a bunch of fresh herbs to add to the mayonnaise or fling on the meat. These are ready and waiting to be ordered.
Our 10kg beef bags are available for collection so too are Hampton Herby sausages, our wild venison and rabbit and our oh so gorgeous special steak pies. Steak pies come in family or individual sizes and are packed full of Hampton stewing and braising steak, herbs, a drop of red and the best homemade pastry imagineable. They fly off our shelves so please do order as soon as possible.
We trialled our new Hampton beef banger last month and thanks to all for your feedback. They are now available for sale, in packs of 6 and I’ve totally forgotten the clever name that we all came up with for them. Can anyone remember? But they are very tasty and cook really well and met with great approval.
And finally given the weather how about some good old fashioned 100% beef burgers? We really enjoyed meeting so many friends and customers when we cooked our beefburgers at the Seale and Sands Show, we have supplied lots of parties and camping trips with them this summer and they are available in packs of four for your own party.
The grass is drying up extremely fast and we spent a day earlier in the month fly spraying every animal in every field to give them all as much protection as possible. Swishing tails and flapping ears can only do so much in this extremely hot weather and we like to give them a little help. Big oak trees and thick hedges give them all good shade and daily water trough checks are essential. They all seem in good fettle and their dark brown coats really shine in these conditions.
Do put your order in for August. Our next beef collection day after August will be Friday 27th September which seems like a whole summer away. We hope that all summer holidays are a huge success and look forward to seeing everyone for cakes, coffee and sausage tasters on Friday 16th August when we will have remembered the name of our new sausage.
Happy cooking
Best wishes
Bill and Bridget
Hampton Newsletter June 2013
Dust the BBQ off summer is here…….
Medium rare rib eye steaks sizzling on the stove, sirloin steaks with a touch of mustard, fat rump steaks chargrilled to perfection, Hampton herby sausages for a bit of variety and Hampton 100% beefburgers in a freshly baked roll with salad and mayo. What a way to start thinking about barbeques and all the above is available at our next beef collection day on FRIDAY 28th JUNE. Do put an order in and come over and see us.
The Hampton Barbeque Bag will have 4 steaks, 12 sausages, 8 beef burgers and a bunch of fresh herbs and is a good way to start off the al fresco season. Alternatively make up your own order, depending on how many friends you will be inviting, the size of their appetites, their ability to relish delicious beef and your reputation as an ace barbeque chef. Add into the mix some local Hogs Back Beer (made with only the finest Hampton hops) and you will be on the way to a terrific do.
We also have our 10kg Hampton family beef bags available with steak, joints, mince and stewing steak, our Hampton wild venison and wild rabbit, all jointed and oven ready, and even better news, our Hampton Special beef pies. Made with our own stewing steak, braising steak and shin to a traditional Hampton recipe involving fresh herbs and fine wine these mouth-watering pies come in two sizes, individual and family, and are a much sought commodity in west Surrey. Do add them to your order but to avoid disappointment send us your order now.
Everything is growing around the farm. Hops are at long last heading up their strings, grass is on a major spurt, cattle are losing their winter coats and look glossy and content, the garden looks full of promise with strawberries flowering well and on a still evening hot air balloons abound with three landing last week.
Fresh coffee, cakes, biscuits and Hampton Herby tasters will be waiting for you together with a lunchtime glass of red or white when you collect on the 28th. Bridget and I really look forward to seeing you then and now you just have to decide who to invite to that all important barbeque.
Our next beef day will not be until 16th August, do stock up for the summer.
Hampton Newsletter May 2013
Enjoying our new fields……
The sun is shining on the green fields of Hampton and at long last there is a tad of warmth. Yippee. The brisk breeze has faded and there is quite a chance of sitting outside and not needing a jacket. Yippee.
And there is Prime Hampton beef available on Friday 24th May at our next collection day. Yippee.
Do put your order in as soon as possible for beef (bags of 10kgs or bespoke orders of cuts, joints, offal, steaks, mince,) Hampton Herby sausages, Hampton venison and rabbit (both wild), Hampton 100%beef burgers and best of all Hampton Special Beef Pies. Last month we almost ran out of meat such was the demand and Bridget and I would hate you to be disappointed, so if it’s our beef you’re after please send us an email or phone us as soon as you have decided which lip smackingly delicious bit you want.
The animals are now in their summer pastures and loving the fresh grass, the sun on their backs and a new view. We have moved some to Church Meadow below the church in Seale much Im glad to say to the approval of the Wood Lane residents. I know they will be watching them lovingly for the next 6 month. Some have gone onto the Hogs Back and will graze a series of fields next to our hay meadows. We have put some in Owls Hatch field where they will be keeping an eye on members of our own family and finally a batch went off to Broomfields where they will soon be in the water meadows watching the river Wey go by. All fairly bucolic and Hardyesque until they start testing the fences and find the weak spot!
Generally we feel the farm is about three weeks behind due to the weather and we haven’t yet started training our hops in the hop gardens in Puttenham. Last year we started training the young shoots up the strings on the 2nd April. This year it will be the 7th May to start. Funnily enough they will magically catch up and I am sure that hop picking will start at the beginning of September as always.
Don’t forget to order pies, similarly, with a few more good days, barbequing could become a reality and you might just need some 100% beefburgers and Herbies. Bridget and I really look forward to seeing everyone on 24th May for cakes, coffee, biscuits, sausage tasting and a glass of lunchtime red.
Happy cooking
PS Our next beef day after 24th May will be FRIDAY 28th JUNE.
Hampton Newsletter April 2013
Despite the cold our cows have been calving successfully…
Friday 26th April is our next beef collection day and as usual the meat is already hanging in our butcher’s cold store to ensure it has four weeks maturation. So please order now for the end of April when our prime Hampton beef will be available in 10kg family bags, or if that is too much, devise your own bespoke order picking out exactly what you want. Interestingly this varies from customer to customer with some offal only orders to other sirloin joints and double carvery rib orders.
Hampton herby sausages will be ready for you, Hampton wild venison and rabbits will be available and best of all Hampton Special Steak Pies are definitely on the menu once again. These come in two sizes, small and large and seem to be remarkably popular. They are stuffed full of Hampton beef mixed with herbs from the garden and a good dosh of a reasonable red wine.
Bridget’s biscuits and cake with fresh coffee are a winner on collection day and the appearance of a plate of Hampton herby sausages to taste always seems to please. If only we could make tiny sample pies as well but that could be pushing things a tad too far!
Don’t forget The Ride in the Park which we are hosting at Hampton again on Sunday 5th May. The Hampton drives are safe havens for bikes, trikes, rollerblades, skate boards and all are very welcome from 2 until 5 that afternoon for some safe adventure. The garden is open too and everyone is very welcome to look round before returning to Myrtle’s Courtyard for tea and cakes.
Do check out the details on our website https://www.hamptonestate.co.uk
Despite the cold our cows have been calving successfully and we are just so grateful that we are not farming on the Isle of Arran or in other northern areas where the deep snow has had a devastating effect on livestock. As a result of the weather we have been bringing all new born calves inside for the first two days to ensure they are able to suck their mother’s colostrum full milk which is so vital for their well-being. Quite a change from the first of last year’s generation who were born in a heat wave.
Our beef collection day in May will be on Friday 24th but for fresh supplies of 100% prime Hampton beef put your order in now and Bridget and I really look forward to seeing you on 26th April.
Happy cooking
Hampton Newsletter February 2013
Spring is on the way……….
Friday March 22nd is our next beef collection day and amazingly it is very close indeed to Easter. In fact, the following Friday is Good Friday and then the Easter weekend when Sunday roasts will be needed as never before. Fortunately this is where we can help.
We have our 10 kg family bags of prime Hampton beef available, lots of Hampton Herby sausages, Hampton venison for that extra special treat and our 100% prime beef burgers for those with the spring barbeque bent.
Alternatively send through your bespoke order (these are proving extremely popular) and we will make up your bag. How about a 2kg roasting joint, 2 packs of sausages, 2 kgs of mince and 2 packs of beef burgers, although this maybe overdoing the 2s.
Very sadly we won’t be having pies…simply because we sold all our stewing, braising and shin to all you wonderful chefs who are now creating your own tasty, traditionally built casseroles, stews and dare I say it, pies.
Please put your order in by email or phone for March 22nd and we will have lots of fresh coffee, Bridget’s yummy cake and biscuits, followed by a glass or two of red at about lunchtime not to mention a Hampton Herby sausage taster.
We are inundated with snowdrops around the house which must mean that spring is on the way. Another good sign is that the first new calf of the season was born last week, (40 more to go), and he is a very healthy male with a penchant for frolicking. We have moved the most near calving cows, often called forward cows, back to the smaller paddocks around Myrtle’s Courtyard so that we can keep a good eye on them in their later stages of pregnancy, and the general opinion is that we will have quite a flurry of births in a couple of weeks time.
Myrtles Courtyard is also playing host to local nutritionist Sarah Zorab who is holding a Healthy Eating Cookery Demonstration there on Thursday 21st March and do have a look at her website for details www.sarahzorab.co.uk well worth a squint.
We have a new two bedroom cottage to let at Binton Farm, two wonderful state of the art offices to let at Shoelands Farm and logs for sale delivered by our foresters. All details from the estate office which is just a phone or email away.
Our next beef collection day will be Friday April 26th and with apologies but to keep us abreast of the times our prices will increase a tad from this day. Our family 10kg bag will be £115 and all individual items will go up accordingly.
Bridget and I really look forward to seeing everyone who is collecting produce on Friday 22nd March and do put your order in as soon as inspiration hits (and you purchase at the current prices).
Best wishes and very happy cooking
Hampton Newsletter January 2013
Happy New Year to all our customers.
A date for your new diary. Our next beef collection day will be FRIDAY 8th FEBRUARY and orders are now being taken for Hampton prime beef in 10kg family bags or your own bespoke order. We will have pheasant available, the last of the season’s, lots of Hampton Herby sausages in packs of 6, and we have 2013 venison recently culled from the Hampton woodlands. Possibly the best news of the year to date is that Hampton Special Beef Pies, traditionally built of course, are back on the menu this month, so please do order as soon as possible because they vanish with alarming speed once the news is out.
The other excellent news of 2013 is our further link up with Wakeling’s butchers in Farncombe who will now be butchering the beasts for us. Our beef animals are slaughtered at Laverstoke Farms a state of the art abattoir near Basingstoke and hung for four weeks. This is one of the key ingredients to quality. We are delighted that we have teamed up with Wakeling’s who will be using their traditional skills to present the meat in the best way possible. We have known Mark and Jo at Wakelings for many years and it is they who have always created the Hampton Herby Sausage for us. Now we can all judge their butchery skills which if Hampton Herby’s are anything to go by will be of top quality.
As always it was terrific to see so many on New Year’s Day enjoying a walk, a salt beef sandwich and a glass of champagne at Myrtles Courtyard and many thanks for all your very encouraging messages and comments, much appreciated.
A light covering of snow today over the fields doesn’t seem to concern the cows and calves who are well insulated with thick brown curly coats. There are always trees to stand behind and under if needs be and they are exceptionally adept at always being out of the wind, finding that spot in the field which is quiet and with a bit of a dip. We are feeding good barley straw and excellent hay in all the fields, the products of a successful summer and luckily have good supplies of both. Infact we are selling straw as we have so much, and the last two loads went down to Cornwall where it is not so plentiful. Just watch out on the A303 when you see a huge truck with an even bigger trailer stacked high with bales bearing down on you.
Elsewhere around the estate we have two wonderful state of the art offices to let at Shoelands Farm Offices, both of 1000 square feet with masses of parking, excellent facilities and secure fibre optic cabling.
In the hop gardens we are replacing poles and tightening up the wire work, and in the woods we are concentrating on our chestnut coppice in the Britty Hill area which will give magnificent views once finished.
Do put your order together an email us or phone as soon as possible, especially if pies are needed and Bridget and I look forward to seeing everyone whom is collecting Hampton produce on the 8th for the usual sustenance.
Best wishes and happy cooking