By Sarah Ferguson
No one travelling along Route des Genets can miss the neatly enclosed paddocks sporting a variety of livestock and produce. The black and white pigs are British Saddleback Rare Breed pigs. The pigs are all free range and no one who has seen them can deny that they are well fed and happy. They live contentedly with a variety of chickens and ducks and, as the farm expands, some Jersey calves. There is a free range flock of geese and, essential for a Jersey Farm, a goat.
The farm is using old fashioned techniques of husbandry where possible with old fashioned rotation of crops and animals. The layout has also been carefully planned so that it is easy to organise educational visits by the Primary Schools.
John Hackett has been raising pigs for a number of years and is gaining a reputation for fresh Genuine Jersey Pork, Bacon and Sausages. There are plain sausages but also more adventurous varieties with names such as Corbiere and flavours such as cranberry and port, some with a touch of lavender and others with rosemary. The speciality of the season is Christmas Calvados Sausages .
You can find John at the St Aubin Market but if you can’t wait, you can phone him on 745270 or 07797-721456. A farm website is currently under development at www.meandthefarmer.co.uk