cumbria's springtime nursery...

At this time of year, all over Cumbria you see the cute little lambs, peeping through fences, running in lines down the stone walls, joyfully playing together as spring turns to summer. The sheep normally grazing the fells have been living in fields close to the farmers for lambing time. As you travel around you realise that Cumbria is one huge spring time nursery when you see just how many lambs and calves are born in the county and what perfect conditions they have with a plentiful supply of grass.

Herdwick, the distinctive Lakeland breed, have black lambs that then fade to chocolate brown eventually greying as they age. The lambs learn from their mothers the area of the fell they should be grazing. Herdwick lambs are usually over a year old before they are mature enough for meat and this growing time makes them relatively expensive to produce. Herdwicks' mixed diet and long natural lifestyle produces a meat so rich and tender that it has become a national delicacy. Although the cuts are smaller than cross bred lambs, the meat has superb depth of flavour and is high in beneficial Omega 3 fat. You can read about one of Cumbria's most famous farms, which breed Herdwick, at www.Artisan-food.com

 Content and photography supplied by www.Artisan-Food.com, funded by Distinctly Cumbrian.