The Farm Shop

New Lagan Farm Pies – Grown here, made here, baked here

We are delighted to announce that the Lagan Farm Pies have just been re-launched in our Farm Shop at our Garden Centre, after 3 months of trials and testing with new pastry and improved recipes. David Mortimer, the Lagan Farm Shop butcher, has made great steak pies for many years at his own shops in Surrey and has taken the beef produced on the farm alongside the garden centre to make a range of really good pies. The principle of low food miles has been kept so that pies under the Lagan brand are now, as David says,  “Grown here, made here and baked here”.

Lagan Farm is the herd name at Park Farm, Gillingham, and has an internationally recognised reputation for quality, supplying breeding stock from its traditional native herds of Red Poll, British White, and the very rare Irish Moil cattle to many other farms. Besides the steak pies and one of the best tasting pasties around, Lagan Farm shop is also making chicken pies and sausage rolls, all with meat sourced from other local farms. They hope to be looking at lamb or even mutton pies later in the year.

Lagan cattle have been raised and grazed at Park Farm Gillingham for the past 20 years or more, on part of Gillingham’s ancient Royal Forest, and the beef with its renowned flavour is now being served in a number of hotels, restaurants and schools locally as well as in the Orchard Park café.

We are really pleased with the quality of our new range of pies; Steak & Kidney, Steak & Onion, Steak & Ale, with beef from the Lagan herd, as well as locally sourced chicken pies.

Individual pies and meat pasties are £1.50 each, and sausage rolls £1.20.

Meet The Farm Shop Team

Gemma At the heart of the Farm Shop, Gemma has been a feature from the start. Always smiling, she is unfailingly willing and able to help everyone. A real asset to the Café, too, as well as helping with the Garden Centre paperwork mountain. She often changes the style, if not the colour, of her hair. (She’s sort of blonde.)

Kevin The butcher, not the general manager. Kevin is our work-in-progress and great hope for the future. He joined us before Christmas and is now here four days a week, helping and learning from Dave. He usually comes to work on what he assures us is a motor scooter, but we’re not entirely convinced about that.

Matthew That’s me. I’m here four days a week and (very occasionally) at weekends too. What I like to do is to find really good products and put them on our shelves, at the right time and at the right price. I’m the one who comes up with the recipes and the person to blame if anything goes wrong ! Let me know what you think of us and I’ll be very grateful indeed. All suggestions gratefully received.

Betty Without whom nobody would be able to have a day off. We couldn’t manage without her and wouldn’t want to even if we could. Always dependable, Betty deals with us all with great patience and good humour. Betty also helps in the Café when called upon.

David David The butcher, not the cook. A master of his trade, our customers have rightly learnt to value his expertise in choosing and cutting meat. Dave used to run his own shop in the south-east, so Surrey’s loss is Dorset’s gain. If you would like anything special done, David’s the man to turn to.

The Orchard Park Farm Shop Guide to Beef & Lamb