A short trail that takes you round the paddocks where you can see the different rare and native breeds and learn about where your food comes from.
We have a variety of rare and native breeds of large livestock and poultry on the farm. Animal feed can be bought at reception and there is a daily programme of animal encounters which varies according to the time of year where visitors can interact with the animals and learn about the different breeds and how they are cared for.
We buy in animals from reputable sources or rear them ourselves through our on-going breeding programme. This means there are always young animals to see throughout the year. Our busiest time is in Spring, when we have our lambing. Most of this takes place in the barn and is very popular with our visitors.
Farm to Fork
At Green Dragon we’re passionate about sustainability and the promotion of fresh, seasonal and local food. The site consists mostly of grassland which is used for grazing and haymaking with margins for wildlife habitats. Today we rear grass-fed rare and native breeds for meat production in order to conserve the breeds for years to come.
Meat from rare and native breeds may not suit today’s mass market but it makes up for it in quality. All our meat goes to supply our cafés and is very popular. We also supply our cafés with eggs from our free-range chickens. Our visitors can learn more about our produce by following the Farm to Fork Trail amongst the paddocks where our large livestock graze.
In general, we rear animals for beef, pork, lamb, mutton and hogget, which is meat from a sheep between one and two years of age. Hogget meat tends to have a darker red colour than meat from a younger lamb and a slightly richer flavour. As we farm sustainably, the availability fluctuates depending on the season.