The owners of Spillers Farm - Bridget and Keith Trayling - moved to Devon from London in 2005 seeking a simpler way of life and wanting to grow their own food and raise livestock.  Spillers had not been a working farm since the 1960's but Keith and Bridget have literally brought new life to the farm when their sow Cassie had her first litter of six piglets in April 2008 - the first livestock to be born on the farm in forty years.  They have also created a vegetable garden with four large plots which produces vegetables all year round; planted a small orchard with apple, pear and plum trees and planted a soft fruits plot which provides enough strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and loganberries to make almost a hundred pounds of homemade jam per year!

Bridget and Keith raise their animals using the principles of good animal husbandry.  The pigs have a custom-built pigsty with constant access to outside space and they live as natural a life as possible.  The pigs grow slowly and are allowed to take as long as necessary to reach their slaughter weight.  The same principles are applied to all the other animals reared on the farm - lambs and poultry.  Wanting to offer a good life to as many animals as possible, Bridget and Keith rescued two dozen battery hens in the summer of 2008.  The project was so successful and fulfilling that two dozen more were rescued in the spring of 2009.  All fully feathered and thriving, the birds are now completely free range.

Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall moved his River Cottage HQ to within a five minute drive of Spillers Farm in October 2006.  Having such an inspirational and all round foodie good guy on the doorstep inspired Bridget and Keith to extend their product offering at Spillers Farm and open a small food shop selling their wares to the public.  Bridget and Keith have met with Hugh at River Cottage and have also had some fantastic help and advice from members of the River Cottage team.

If you are interested in helping to feed the pigs, ducks, hens or sheep and finding out what it’s like to raise your own livestock please call for more details.