Farm Diary

Drumsleed

12 hours ago

I. HATE. WASTE.

Anyone who knows me knows I am the human form of a bin. I hate to see anything going to waste and really want to try and adopt a nose to tail approach and use as much of the beast as possible to not only minimise waste but also ensure we are maximising the full worth of every animal which we ultimately spend a lot of time carefully rearing.

With that in mind, we currently have some liver and oxtail in the shop. You’ll either love it or hate it, but for those of you who love it, you’re welcome!

EDIT - oxtail has already been snapped up! ... See MoreSee Less

Drumsleed

4 days ago

Good morning folks! Sorry I’ve been quiet, it’s as per usual been a very busy time.
Hello and welcome to all of our new followers 👋🏻 Thank you for joining us - you’ll soon see the socials tend to be an all or nothing approach but going to try and be a bit more consistent.. 🙄

So by introduction, my name is Doug and I am really proud to be the fourth generation farming here at Drumsleed.
I have four potential fifth generation small (or not so small) people at home who keep me on my toes and life very busy. 🙈

The farm is located in the beautiful Howe of the Mearns just outside Fordoun.
We breed our own pedigree cattle and also have a herd of commercial cattle.
In 2020 we opened our honesty shop on the farm which is open 7 days a week 0700 - 2100. We take real pride in being able to sell our own beef direct to the customer, I can tell you where each beast was born and which fields it has grazed in and provide full traceability so you know exactly where your food has come from.

You’ll maybe have seen our burger van out and about at the local agricultural shows and events which has been really great for showcasing the quality of our beef - even better when you don’t need to cook it yourself!

We have also branched into our own lamb and have been selling half lamb boxes - we’ll have another batch going away relatively soon so if you’d like to get your hands on our last lamb of the year please drop me a message.

If you’re still here, well done! 😅 Thank you for joining us, and to those who were already here, thanks for continuing to be.
We have lots of ideas and exciting things (hopefully) on the way and are really excited to take you all along with us and hope to see you soon.

#drumsleed #aberdeenshirefarming #aberdeenshirefood #homereared #sustainablefarming #smalllocalbusiness ... See MoreSee Less

Drumsleed

1 week ago

Have a quick read of this if you have a spare minute.

This is the same concept as what I am promoting with our beef and lamb. I can tell you which field our cattle have been in and what they have been eating. You also have the reassurance that it has been born and reared right here at Drumsleed and not shipped in from another country where there aren’t the same regulations we have here.A tale of two garlic bulbs…

I was preparing tea last night and grabbed some garlic from the bowl, can you tell which is our home grown garlic?

One of these bulbs was planted in soil that is managed as part of a five year rotation, it was fertilised with cover crops and manure from our animals. Cloves were planted in the autumn by our veg team and hand weeded over the winter and early spring. Delicious garlic scapes were collected from them and then when they were ready to harvest they were hand pulled and dried on a trailer in the Scottish sun. You can still see streaks of soil on its papery skin.

The other was bought from our local supermarket and travelled thousands of miles from China to get here. We have no idea how it was grown or who grew it.

There is definitely an argument for imported food but should we be importing food that we can grow perfectly well here?

The recent salmonella problem in eggs is a perfect example, why are we even importing eggs?

Some food for thought for a Tuesday! ... See MoreSee Less