Ever dreamed of swapping the office for the farm? Perhaps you want to get behind the supermarket label and find out how your food is produced? If so, then this is your chance. This Sunday and Monday, October 4 and 5, Wark Farm at Cushnie, near Alford, will be running Food and Farm Experience Days. For £85 a head, groups of up to six will have the opportunity to walk, talk and taste their way through the world of organic farming.
Wark Farm is a Soil Association-certified organic farm, rearing and butchering traditional breeds of British livestock.
Currently, the farm is home to more than 150 pedigree Hebridean and Hebridean-cross sheep, as well as 60 belted Galloway cattle.
The livestock are grazed on pastures planted with nutrient-rich fodder crops such as red and white clover, chicory and plantain. Between the fields, areas for wildlife have been developed through the establishment of wetlands, wildflower meadows and hedges, providing habitat for a wide range of bird species including curlew, skylark and lapwing.
The Food and Farm Experience Days are an opportunity to see the workings of an organic farm from the inside. The day will begin with a tour of the farm to see how the land is managed to keep the stock in optimum condition, while taking account of wildlife and conservation issues.
After the tour, a home-cooked lunch will be served up in the kitchen, made using Wark Farm meat, and vegetables from the farmhouse garden. The group will then head over to the butchery, where the butchering of a lamb carcase will be demonstrated, explaining the different cuts of meat and how to cook them.
To book a place on a Food and Farm Experience Day, e-mail laurel@warkfarm.co.uk