[Scottish Deli]

Hi - My name is Alec and my wife Sarah and we have a smallholding (8 acres) just outside Pitlochry. We have 2 delicatessans -"The Scottish Deli" one in Pitlochry and the other in Dunkeld (Just been nominated for "Deli of the Year 2012" - a national competition.) We also have a production kitchen where we make as much for the shops as possibe. We do all our own homebaking for the shops, quiches, soups, readymeals etc. As far as possible we try and provide as much as we can from our small holding. For example we try and supply the salad leaves for our range of gourmet sandwiches from our pollytunnel. We ventured into pig keeping last year and put our own pork through our shops - it disapeared over night. This year we are looking to expand our range of piggy friends and are currently looking for saddlebacks. Aspiring to be the River Cottage Scotland!

[Big Light]

Hi, we are down near Kinross welcome to the Forum, How do you get the time to run 2 Delis and a small holding?

We have lots of pure breed chickens and Hebrideans on 6 acres or so.

Good theory though if you can cut out the middle / end man for your produce and sell direct.

I'm sure you will find plenty of info / contacts on this site

Let us know when you are on CH4 like HFW

Good luck

[lill]

Hi and welcome to the forum from Falkirk/Bathgate, hope you manage to get good saddlebacks, but i prefer the Hampshires, minimal amount of fat on them, you can see the amount of backfat if you go to the pig section under "ped hampshire back fat"  for all other reading this post i know, i know naughty of me plugging the hampshire but as there is only one breeder in Scotland I need to do my bit to promote them.

[goosepimple]

Well that sounds just about perfect if you ask me  lots of people sit around on Friday nights over a bottle of wine and discuss doing that sort of thing but never get around to it.  You sound like you're doing brilliantly - I know that area quite well and must pop in during the summer hols (we're in Lauder, south of Edinburgh).  Bet its really hard work though keeping it all going (we know ourselves  ) but bet its all worth it.  Welcome to TAS, its brilliant (and lots of times it's hilarious  )

[Rosemary]

Hello and welcome from Carnoustie

[Mammyshaz]

Hello alec, we are near Durham   

Wow .. How many hours do you have in your days.    .  Sounds non-stop. Good luck to you.

[HappyHippy]

Hello from me in South Lanarkshire 

[Scottish Deli]

Hi everyone and thank you for making us feel so welcome. We are really looking foreward to interacting with this site having spent the whole morning have a good look around. What a mine of information and so nice to find people with a similar outlook on life. If you would like to keep up to date with the Scottish Deli Smallholding then you can follow us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Scottish-Deli/151799978194256 or follow us on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ScottishDeli
Thanks
Alec & Sarah

[HappyHippy]

You should check out the Scottish Smallholder & Grower Festival that's happening in Forfar on Sunday 30th of September this year 
http://www.scottishsmallholdershow.co.uk/
Bring & show your pigs, enter some sausages in the sausage competiton and have a great day out with all us nutters smallholders 
Karen 

[Fleecewife]

That's a great idea Karen - a successful smallholding business is just what people coming to the Smallholders Show will want to see, plus they will want to buy the produce - so you must be there on both counts Scottish Deli  .

[Lesley Silvester]

   Hi and welcome from soggy Shropshire.  sounds like you lead very busy lives.

[Eeyore]

Hello Scottish Deli.  My hubby and I currently live in North Aberdeenshire but we are both from where you are.  I was born and brought up in small village called Strathtay and my hubby was brought up in Dunkeld.

We would dearly love to live back home but there is much more work up in Aberdeenshire.

Good luck with your plans.

[chairmanphil]

welcome in, great that you make loads of the stuff yourself, we do the same for the farmers markets and make loads of chutney and jam to sell. hi from Oxfordshire! 

[smudger]

  From Exmoor, but raised in Perth so know the area well. Home at Easter and in Dunkeld as well, would have popped in.  (Funny even when you've left a place 20 years, its still 'home'!).