Pannage Pork 2018

This year the pannage season has been fairly short, despite huge amounts of acorns in some areas of the New Forest. Richard has had his pigs (rare breed Middle White / Landcross) out on the acorns fattening nicely. They’ve enjoyed the relatively mild weather this autumn and have been hoovering up acorns and any other foraged goodies.

We will be selling pannage pork boxes over the next two weeks. Each box is £49 and will contain a range of cuts including a shoulder joint, ham joint, and chops with a total weight on 5kg. We should also have offal available if you enjoy the full nose to tail experience, just let us know your preferences and we can add that to your box. If you would like the joints off the bone, please let us know.

This is as pork used to taste centuries ago – foraging across the forest during the Autumn and fattening up for some winter feasting. Pannage is an historical right bestowed to local people (commoners) to graze livestock on common land. William the Conqueror established pannage rules within the New Forest that are still in place today. The acorns are poisonous to other livestock, so the pigs are helping to clear the forest floor keeping it safe for cattle and horses.

Richard’s pannage pigs will stay close to the farm at night for warmth, but are free to head off to wherever and whenever they choose – usually the parts of the wood that have the most acorns – and interestingly, some tree’s acorns are sweeter than others, so they have trees that they ignore.
To order your Pannage Pork box for £49 contact us here…