The Farm Diaries

#8 Julius' Hebridean Hogget

Ever since I began farming, I’ve always dreamt of selling produce from the farm directly to those of you that have been supporting me for all these years. I am immensely proud of the way I farm, and the lessons I’ve learnt along the way have resulted in a strong devotion to nature. My belief is that we must farm in harmony with the natural world rather than battling against it. It is possible to create quality food, whilst also being a guardian of the land, thereby providing a vibrant habitat for much more than just our animals.

Finally, I am thrilled to say that I am now able to offer you Hebridean hogget, reared in small numbers, on thriving biodiverse wildflower meadows here in South West Dorset, delivered to your door by Aurox.

Hebridean is a breed of sheep from the northern islands of Scotland. It is an old breed that is much smaller and slower growing than modern sheep. They are beautiful, with distinctive horns and wiry black wool, that fades to brown in the summer and goes grey as they age. They have a lovely nature, are tough as nails, make wonderful mothers and are a joy to look after.

Because they are an old breed, and smaller than modern sheep, I rear them not to sell them as lamb, but as hogget. Lamb is a sheep under a year old, and traditionally that meant keeping lambs for just under a year. Born in spring, and grown until the following spring just before the next batch were born, eaten as spring lamb! Now, with modern breeding and high protein feed, they are grown much faster than that, and are often sold in supermarkets at around 5-8 months of age.

My Hebridean sheep, being an old breed and naturally raised, are much smaller and slower growing. At 5-8 months they are still absolutely tiny. So rather than selling them as lamb, I rear them to hogget (hogget are sheep between 1 and 2 years old, mutton is then anything above 2 years). My sheep are raised for 23 months, with every second of that spent outside, on wild and staggeringly beautiful land. This slow natural growth, results in meat that is still tender, with wonderful marbling and a deeply nutritious and slowly developed flavour. They are raised on diverse grasses and wildflowers, in fields that haven’t seen a chemical in 40 years! In my mind, it is as good as it gets.

This is hogget from a farm where we are lucky enough to be able to put nature first. And in a world with the extinction rate at 1000 times its natural level, many species here in England are living on the brink of survival. With the climate in flux, our own human health declining and the UK’s biodiversity in crisis, considered in the bottom 3% of the planet, I think the health of the planet and the way in which we treat the natural world directly correlates to our own health. The way we eat and where we source our food from has never been more important. By eating less meat, we have more to spend on higher quality meat. Allowing more room for nature, and supporting farmers directly. It’s all about quality, not quantity.

To bring this to life I have partnered with Aurox, Dorset neighbours with a shared philosophy: we should all eat less meat, ensuring it is of the highest quality and raised as ethically as possible. They specialise in bringing deeply flavoured, fully matured meat to restaurants and home cooks. Each online order is flash-frozen to lock in the flavour, insulated in sustainable wool packaging, and delivered straight from the butchery to your doorstep.

LINK HERE - https://auroxmeat.com/collections/hogget/products/half-hebridean-hogget

Thank you for reading, and for those of you that get your hands on some of this hogget. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for supporting this style of farming.

Back soon with an update on house renovations and a delicious recipe, really excited to share what’s been going on!