I know, welcome to the 20th century. Forget the 21st, I’m still catching up on the 20th. Seems everyone uses Twitter and I have studiously ignored it to this point. However someone younger and smarter (thanks Cassia!) than me said I definitely needed to get in the game so I’m going to give it a try. Now for optimum readability, I’m supposed to post 300 word posts on our website. For Twitter, it’s supposed to be 140 characters. Hmm. Brevity hasn’t been my gift up till now. One more skill to learn.
And because I cannot make a long post about all this, how about a picture instead.
The Princess, first thing in the morning, with crazy bed head.
I read an article recently that was shared with me by Darlin’ Wifey. She’s ever on the hunt for things farming related that she thinks would be of interest to me and to you.
The article (link here) is based on the book The Big Fat Surprise (picture below). It shares an interesting look at meat consumption in the US and some of the fallacies of history that shape our modern conversation on diet. It’s an interesting read and a good primer for buying the book if you want to go further. Growing, hunting, and killing your own meat certainly seems to be a better way to feed yourself in my opinion. I also know that before I had a John Deere to harvest my crops, having a cow or pig do the foraging for me and then all I had to do was harvest the animal was a simpler way of getting my food. Tasted better too.
Folks, we’ve hit the bottom of the barrel. With the help of Kayla at The Butcher and the Baker in Fayetteville we are officially out of EVERYTHING porcine except for fatback, pigs feet, and smocked ham hocks. Everybody knows that fatback and smoked hocks are great for collard greens and we won’t have any good collards till this coming winter however there are other things you can do with those cuts. Before I talk about that though, let me tell you about feet.
I made pork stock (foot soup as SWMBO called it) and used two pigs feet in the stock rather than pork bones. I simmered the stock for about 24 hours, drained all the chunky bits, and froze the stock in vacuumed bags. Easy! Darling Wifey decided to use some later for a recipe and folks, let me tell you, that stock was jello! I don’t mean it was thicker than the watery stuff you get at the store, I mean you could stick a spoon in it and it would hold it upright. It brought a richness to her cooking you just can’t get any other way. If you’ve never tried homemade stock before, get a couple of feet from us, they are on sale, and find out what real stock is all about. Pork stock isn’t something you can buy in the store like chicken or beef stock. If you aren’t sure what to do with it, there are some good ideas here and a recipe here. You can substitute pork stock for pretty much any stock you would use. It’s a neutral taste and not “porky” but it’s oh so rich.
Now onto fatback. Here is a quick blurb on fatback from Fine Cooking. Have something a bit too lean, add some fatback to make it awesome. Think fat is bad for you? Then read this, or this to learn the truth. Your brain is 60% fat. Give it what it needs. We have a ton of fatback left, it’s time to give fat a try. If you are cooking for your family this weekend, sneak some fatback into the recipe and watch them react to the flavor when it hits the table. Fat makes everything better.
Lastly we have smoked ham hocks. The best breakfast I ever ate was red beans and rice, sitting in a little hut in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. I can’t promise you the view I had, but with some of our smoked hocks, you can have the red beans and rice, plus a whole lot more. Check out these recipes for some ideas.
I can hear you saying now, “But I want PORK CHOPS, wrapped in bacon! When are you going to have that?”
The next pig we have processed will be used at our event on June 28th. If you want some porcine goodness that you don’t even have to cook, then get your tickets now. After that, we have some more pigs that are a few months from being done. We are currently looking to buy some more feeder pigs and should be back in stock going forward.
We also have the first of our cows ready to process. He’s going into the family freezer, but we may sneak a few cuts out for you to sample so good news, meat is on the way.
Ok yeah, it’s beef. You get the idea though right. We have beef coming soon so maybe next time this will be the right picture.
We were approached recently to host an event June 28th on our farm. Thanks to Bar-B-Jew for turning us onto these nice folks and this opportunity.
After meeting Kristen Baughman of Gadabaout Food, who is putting the whole thing together, and learning the details of what they are doing, we happily agreed.
So what is the event?
Beltline Brew Tours is having a Southern Wake County event right here on the farm. Tickets are $55 for six courses of BBQ from Big Mike’s BBQ and beer from local breweries. The pig is one of our own Ossabaws so I can vouch for the quality of the pork. Seems like a deal to me since a bad dinner with the Mrs. last night cost more (the dinner was bad, SWMBO was beautiful as always).
We’ve also learned that part of the proceeds from this event will go to No Kid Hungry NC so feel good about the money you are spending.
I’m not much of a beer drinker, in fact I may have a gin and tonic in hand if you see me but as a pilot who has flown in and out of Triple W airport where Aviator brewing got their start, I may have to sample a few brews just to make sure they are staying to their roots.
We’ll have dinner on the lawn, overlooking the farm. You’ll be treated, weather permitting, to the sunset we enjoy every night overlooking the prettiest view on our farm. This is a small event and seating is limited so grab some tickets and support a good cause.
Yesterday’s paddock on the left, today’s on the right
Grazing update from 6-8-2014. The paddocks are about 35 yards wide, and half the length of the main pasture. They are split in length on the bottom of the field where all the repair work was done last year for erosion. While the cows eat a lot of the seed heads, they leave quite a bit standing as you can see in the picture. The dog fennel is rearing its head, and the thistle is coming up thick but only in areas where there is an issue. I hate thistle, but it’s a pioneering plant that is good for recovery of soil. Having it be so selective where it comes up is satisfying because it was starting to pop up everywhere. As we’ve recovered soil health, it’s starting to choke out in the good stands of grass and only appear where things need more help. I love it when what we are doing works.
One thing both Spork and I noted was that the cows are leaving quite a bit of grass behind. They aren’t reaching under the hot wire at all, nor are they eating down the grass past a first bite or two. The clover is being decimated as usual but the grass is only getting decent pressure. As we head into summer, that’s where I want the grass to be. Tall and not under pressure, even though the fescue will go dormant and our warm season grasses will take over, the fescue will help shield the ground from the heat of summer. We will clip this pasture as we’ve done the others, leaving about 8″ of height and plenty of litter on the ground to help rebuild the soil. One big reason the grass is not getting so much pressure is that huge amount of veggies and fruits we are bringing onto the farm each day. We literally bring thousands of pounds of produce on the farm, most of which goes to the cows. The cows are getting a lot of what they want from these loads of produce, and are filling in the corners with a days grazing. The end result if happy, fat cows with no grain (except seed heads).
One issue I’m noting is that the flies are especially bad this year. There is a swarm around the cows and I don’t want to use chemicals to ward them off. We ordered another batch of meat chickens last week. I’m hoping to get the chicken tractors back in production behind the cows so they can start eating the fly larvae. That is supposed to put a dent in the fly population. It’s about time these chickens started earning their keep around here.
Today we harvested honey from our bee hives. We got almost 30 pounds of honey and left quite a bit behind. I probably will not harvest any more honey the rest of the year unless they really pack it away the remaining months. My intention is to leave the bees with full honey stores so they go strong into the winter. I really don’t want to feed them all winter like I did this winter. Of course I brought Spork and Bok Bok along to help. Some chores they don’t like, some they tolerate. Honey harvest is one where they beat me to the door.
We use simple tools for harvesting the honey.
I don’t have much in the way of fancy honey harvest gear. A stainless bowl from the kitchen, a large kitchen towel, SWMBOs kitchen strainer (shh, don’t tell her), and a honey bucket. I crush the comb by hand into the strainer, then let heat and gravity do the work to drain the now clear honey into the bucket.
Honey comb straight from the hives
The photographer on this adventure was Spork, who did a marvelous job. It’s really neat to see pictures from a kids perspective. Things are closer, shorter, and parts adults might not even notice receive a lot of attention when a kid had the camera. I really love it when the kids take pictures. Here you can see some of the old comb (the dark wax) and some new comb (the light wax below).
What makes a honey bucket a honey bucket
You don’t have to buy a honey bucket. You can buy this neat little knife valve and mount it to your own bucket. I was clean bucket poor so I bought the ready to go deal. I’m glad I did. I’ve never had the valve like this before. It’s very worth the 9 bucks it costs because it handles the sticky honey beautifully.
Can I have some daddy?
If your kids won’t work with you. Get bees. Kids will be right there when it’s bee time. Also, most kids are afraid of “bees.” Because all wasps, yellow jackets, etc. are “bees.” When they participate in a honey harvest and see no stings on daddy, and sweet sweet honey to eat still warm from the sun, they have a whole new perspective on bees. If you don’t have bees but you do have kids, look into it.
Thank goodness this honey isn’t for sale
Sticky fingers inserted into the honey dripping. It’s not exactly hygienic but it’s my kids and my honey and they only do it a little bit. Well, some of it will go to Angie at Angie’s restaurant but she kisses my kids so I think she’ll be ok. We will take a couple of germs for the experience they are getting.
Here are the kids cleaning up after we put all the comb and honey into the strainer.
Just about done crushing the honey comb.
At this point my hand is dripping with honey up to my wrist. Despite the kids sticking their fingers in occasionally, I’m actually clean. I’ve seen lots of tools for doing this part but the old hand works great and cleans up easy.
Well, maybe not easy, but fun.
Ok, so I’m a kid in a bigger body. I’m covered in yummy goodness, what did you expect me to do?
At long last, we reach the final post about our farm truck restoration. This was a month’s long project and it came together the day we needed it to be ready to go to the wedding. Fortunately it wasn’t a photo finish like you see on those car restoration shows and I wasn’t screwing things together on the ride down. It wasn’t far off though!
Thank you for coming along on this ride with us. Enjoy the wedding pictures below.
The final result. Bales of straw in the back as requested. Cleaned and ready to go to the wedding.Front view of the truck, ready to go. Note the Ninja Cow Farm front license plate.My kids were also in the wedding. Here is Spork in his outfit, looking dapper.Here is Bok Bok dancing with the happy couple and other kids. Photo courtesy of Libby McGowan PhotographyThe Princess and Bok Bok dancing with Cassia and Johnathan. Photo courtesy of Libby McGowan PhotographyThe girls, having fun while the adults do boring adult stuff. Photo courtesy of Libby McGowan PhotographyJust married. Photo courtesy of Libby McGowan PhotographyThe reason to get the truck ready. The big photo shoot.The bridesmaids got in on the action.The happy couple, ready to go and start their lives together. That is yours truly in the cab, driving them away. Photo courtesy of Libby McGowan Photography
Many thanks to Cassia and Johnathan McKay, the McKay family and the Lewis family for letting us be a small part of a really big day. And best of luck to Johnathan and Cassia on their lives together.
This morning found the Ninja Cows enjoying a cool 55 degree start to their day and some fog to make things pretty. Here is a panoramic shot of the front pasture and some of the fog that was visible.
The pigs, having their breakfast. Hot food and fresh veggies. They are legs up in the air asleep in the shade now.
I had a genuine farm Princess to help me this morning. She rode in the gator, drove the skid steer, and drove the farm tractor. It’s amazing what having the right headwear does for your abilities as a farmer. Thanks to Miguel for the snazzy hat.
The cows received two pallets of food this morning. Well, more like 1.5. There was a minor issue when Bok Bok was driving the skid steer and we spilled one of the pallets. No worries though. The chickens were on patrol and are picking up the pieces we didn’t scoop up with the tractor. That’s the beauty of feeding fresh vegetables. What doesn’t get eaten just becomes organic matter for the earth worms.
The grass isn’t looking great. The spring flush is backing off and the grass height isn’t as good as I would like it at this point in the season. The fescue is starting to go dormant and the Bermuda and weeds are starting to make their summer run. Right now the weeds are winning. We are mowing early and often this year so the weeds won’t have a chance to dominate. The pasture where we fed hay hasn’t exactly become lush yet but it’s the first to get mowed so we will see how it transitions over the course of the year.
When I started this blog over a year ago, I made it a goal to post every day, or at least to average a post per day. Some days you’ve gotten long diatribes, other days it’s been quick thoughts or even a link to something else going on in the world. And some days it is a picture of poop because you know, it is a farm. Either way, over 300 posts later, I feel like I’ve met my goal of one interesting post per day. I also feel like we have a nice repository of content on our site where people that are new to our farm can browse and learn about what we do (raise and sell really high quality meat) and what we do not do (make any money).
So with that said, I’m going to start a new chapter in the blog and forego the goal of one post per day and instead try to have my posts be high quality and routine, but not daily. Don’t worry, there will still be pictures of poop, and cows, and chickens, and even the kids on occasion. But if you don’t hear from me a couple of days, don’t worry, I’m not dead.
Thank you all for your continued business and for following our little blog. I promise there is still plenty more to come.
Your hosts on our internet farm tour, Dan and SWMBO
You may have noticed that I stopped posting pictures from our hog class a while back. The reason is, some of our followers, who love us and love our food, just weren’t excited to see hog parts on their daily feed (Hi Kelsey). While knowing your food and your farmer is very important, I think we can put the killing in it’s own box for a while. I’ve uploaded the rest of the pictures to the gallery so anyone who wants to see the details from our class can scroll to their hearts content. Everyone else can use our feed to stay up on what is happening currently.
Your author Thomas, on class day.
Just because we’ve stopped posting pictures doesn’t mean we have given up on our hog class. Thomas Locke, from CFSA attended our class and fully participated. He also went home and wrote up a very nice article on the class and posted it on CFSA’s website. I can’t thank Thomas enough for his and CFSA’s support of our farm. If you aren’t familiar with CFSA, they are a great organization that is behind a lot of what we enjoy in our vibrant farming community.
