Aa-Gård’ sheep farm
A Norwegian TRADITION
Aa-Gård is also a sheep farm, producting its own lamb meat served in the restaurant or on direct sale. Wild sheep is the most sustainable type of meat you can get in Northern Norway and has become an important part of Norwegian food culture.
They are one of the oldest livestock animals in Norway. Approximately two million of them are grazing in the outlying fields of Norway every summer. That’s unique, and something that you won’t experience elsewhere.
About the SHEEP in NORWAY
Norway is a land with large grass resources and only a few areas that are suitable for crop production – only 3% of Norway’s land is arable. Those areas that are arable are limited with regards to crop production due to climate and topography challenges. That is why nearly 2/3 of the agricultural area in Norway comprises grassland. Ruminants have been, and still are, of high importance for self-sufficiency, as they can convert grass into human edible food products and plus-products such as wool. They are so efficient at this that they require very little feed concentrate.
Farmers typically see the start of the “sheep year” as sometime in the autumn, when the sheep come home from grazing in the mountain and forest areas. This is the moment when farmers decide which animals will be sent for slaughter, and which animals will be kept for breeding for the next year’s production.
Like most, we breed our ewes in December, which means the lambs are born around May. Lambing is a very intense and demanding period, but also an enjoyable and rewarding time with so much new life. Each newly born lamb is registered with its own individual registration number. This number follows the animal throughout its entire life.
When the snow on the mountain starts to melt, and the new grass starts to germinate and grow at a good pace, this means it is time for the sheep to go back out into the mountains and forests. Up in the mountains, the sheep will roam around freely in the wild, along the edge of the melting snow and eat a nutritious diet of herbs, grass, heather, and bushes, and drink naturally pure clean mountain water.
Our SHEEP
Aa-Gård’s sheep farm is a family business ran through generations.
Our sheep are from the more primitive / old breeds of sheep in Europe, named Gammalnorsk spælsau – in Norwegian, “sau” means “sheep”.
The animals are short-tailed with a double coat of fleece that can appear in any of the colors of sheep wool due to the genetic disposition of the breed. The males, as well as many of the females, have horns.
THE Taste
The Gammel Norsk Sau eat a wild and varied diet: more herbs, leaves, sea weed and tree bark, than the more modern sheep, which prefer grass species. This gives a greater intake of, among other things, essential oils, which can further affect the taste of mutton’s unique taste – a mix between a deer and a sheep.
This is partly due to a different distribution of body fat compared to standard sheep breeds, with greater fat deposits around the viscera and less around the muscles. Fat is distributed in a very fine marbled pattern between muscle fibers, increasing the tenderness of the meat.
MEAT production
Following our family’s old recipes we prepare traditional dishes such as pinnekjøtt (smoked ribs), lammerull (lamb roll), lammgryte (lamb stew), lambsteik or fenalår (smoked leg) among others.
Our homemade lamb meat products will be on sale starting Autumn, and the meat will be ready before the Christmas Holidays.
For more informations about pre-orders, availabilities and prices, check our facebook page or contact us directly.
Our SHEEP
Aa-Gård’s sheep farm is a family business ran through generations.
Our sheep are from the more primitive / old breeds of sheep in Europe, named Gammalnorsk spælsau – in Norwegian, “sau” means “sheep”.
The animals are short-tailed with a double coat of fleece that can appear in any of the colors of sheep wool due to the genetic disposition of the breed. The males, as well as many of the females, have horns.
THE Taste
The Gammel Norsk Sau eat a wild and varied diet: more herbs, leaves, sea weed and tree bark, than the more modern sheep, which prefer grass species. This gives a greater intake of, among other things, essential oils, which can further affect the taste of mutton’s unique taste – a mix between a deer and a sheep.
This is partly due to a different distribution of body fat compared to standard sheep breeds, with greater fat deposits around the viscera and less around the muscles. Fat is distributed in a very fine marbled pattern between muscle fibers, increasing the tenderness of the meat.
MEAT production
Following our family’s old recipes we prepare traditional dishes such as pinnekjøtt (smoked ribs), lammerull (lamb roll), lammgryte (lamb stew), lambsteik or fenalår (smoked leg) among others.
Our homemade lamb meat products will be on sale starting Autumn, and the meat will be ready before the Christmas Holidays.
For more informations about pre-orders, availabilities and prices, check our facebook page or contact us directly.
SKINS for sale
In Marsh 2022, we have put skins available on sale. Check the gallery bellow for the photos.
To check what is left available and to make an order, check our Farm Shop then send your order by email to post@aagaard-lavangen.no
Price starting from 2300 NOK
EN