Who we are and what we are doing

In April 2017 Jo was gifted 7 pigs after an argument over the difference of quality in meat between factory farmed animals & free range with  with her partner, Andy. He said there was no difference…clearly that was wrong.

In September Jo took a pig to the nearest livestock market that takes pigs (Melton Mowbray). The pig didn't even make the diesel money.
She spoke to her mother who said she could remember how Uncle Frank & Auntie Vin used to keep a couple of pigs when she was a child. Uncle Frank would slaughter them behind the outhouse and Auntie Vin would divide the 2 halves, one half was cured & the other half was eaten fresh & divided up around the family. Jo then taught herself how to butcher a pig and in June 2018, secured a monthly pitch on the farmers market in Bury St Edmund’s, with Suffolk Market Events, by the end of 2021, she was selling 1 pig a week at 7 or 8 Farmers Markets a month, all within 30 miles of the farm.

Andy and Jo’s aim was to show their customers that every inch of the pig can be eaten, so half a carcass was brought to each market, including the offal and trotters. As Jo was butchering the pig at home, and selling it loose on the market, there was no need for vacuum packing and labelling. Their customers could choose to buy as much or as little as they needed.

Jo has always loved being outside, enjoying the space and the fresh air. Her garden has given her solace in times of stress and anxiety, She has also always loved being around animals. For around 15 years she worked in Social Care, firstly working in Social Housing as a support worker with young and vulnerable adults, then she trained to be a Social Worker, qualifying in 2008 and working within both the statutory and voluntary sector with children, young people and families.

Andy has farmed all his life (nearly 50 years). His family farm was bought by his Great-grandfather in 1906, sadly the farm was sold in 2009, but Andy managed to retain just under 12 acres of land, formerly known as Old Meadow, now Greenacres Smallholding. Together they are working towards re-purposing the land using Regenerative Farming methods, maintaining and sustaining the Suffolk Heritage Breeds.