Pork is Nearly Ready

This time of year presents perfect conditions for livestock, especially pigs.  The weather is warm but not too warm, with the occasional thunderstorm to help keep the dust settled.  The fresh spring grasses are loaded with nutrients that the pigs and cattle graze down as fast as they can.  During the warmest part of the day, the pigs hide out in their shelters and take a nice long nap.  They also lay in the wallow and enjoy the cool mud.  When they wake up it is cooling down and they get up to eat again.  Call me crazy but I can sense their content and happiness.  Under these optimal conditions that pigs start growing at unbelievable rates.  They will average 2 - 2.5 lbs of gain per day!  The cows can easily gain 3 lbs a day on nothing but pasture grass.  The pigs and cows finish out wonderfully with bright white fat loaded with nutrients marbled throughout their muscle.  The deeply flavored pork has a delightful slightly beefy taste, a result of grazing the grasses.  It is moist and tender and is so easy to cook as the marbling keeps the juices evenly distributed throughout.

This time of year is also a time that we start to fire up the grills and plan outdoor activities.  We have gatherings, camp outs, family reunions, class reunions, vacations, and backyard parties.  Of course most of the events are enhanced by good food shared with one another.

Bottom line, this the perfect time of year to stock your freezers with our gourmet meats.  We have meat and you have events.  Our Berkshire Pork and Grass Fed Beef will help make your summer activities a hit.  As always, we invite anybody who is interested to come visit our farm and see how your food is grown.  We welcome any questions about our farm or products.  We have a variety of ways to order including 30 lb CSA Share packages in stock ready to go, 1/2 or whole Berkshire Pork orders, 1/4, 1/2, or whole Grass Fed Beef Orders, as well as Family Packages.  Our goal is to ensure that all of our customers are comfortable and confident in giving us their business.  Jump on our website and get your order in!

We appreciate you showing your support for our family farm by sharing our website, blog, and/or facebook page with your friends, family, and coworkers.

 

The Happy Farm

The past few weeks have been busy as we have tried to get projects done on the farm.  Of course this rainy weather has slowed us down as we wait out storms and fight through the mud.  We are slowly getting our garden planted as the weather permits.  Our 90 day growing season makes it challenging to grow anything, but we keep trying.  When our finances permit we would like to build a greenhouse.  Despite the rain and cooler weather, Spring is a wonderful time of year.  It seems that there are baby animals everywhere!  There is something about the rejuvenation that Spring brings to nature that brings a smile to my face and just makes me feel good.  I love to see the green grass growing, trees budding, birds chirping, new calves playing about, and baby chicks scratching about and chasing the occasional unlucky bug.

This past month we have had a couple restaurant owners/chefs visit our farm.  We are excited to be building relationships with these talented individuals.   During one of these recent visits, we showed a restaurant owner around our farm.  We watched the pigs graze while we talked business.  I believe he was caught up in the zeal and energy of Spring when told me that our farm was a "happy farm" and that visiting our farm offered similar feelings "as going to Disneyland as a kid".  I kind of laughed as I though about what he had said.  We enjoy quiet yet beautiful surroundings.  The animals are certainly therapeutic to watch as they roam about.  They do seem happy which we attribute to lots of space, gentle handling, and a healthy diet.  We also feel a good conscience knowing that our food and the food we sell is raised sustainably, humanely, and without all of the added junk, chemicals, antibiotics, and extra processes.  The chef I was with determined that from now on he was going to call us, "The Happy Farm".  I must admit that it felt good and was somewhat flattering to realize that other people see and feel what we are blessed to call home.

Now on Facebook

We may be a little behind the times, but we are finally on Facebook!  Several of our customers have suggested we create a Facebook page over the past couple of years.  After it was (once again) recently suggested we decided it would be worthwhile.  We hope to provide more frequent farm updates, as well as greater insight into our farm.  Our iPhone will allow us to post right in the field providing close to real time updates.  It is kind of interesting how our technology is changing farming.  Can you imagine explaining this capability to farmers 50 years ago?!  The thought makes me laugh!

Please follow us on Facebook.  You can "like" us and share our page and info with your friends.  This is a great way to support a family farm!

Click here to check out our new Facebook page.





 

Reflecting on 2010

This year has been a very busy year for us!  We have had lots of ups and downs but hopefully we have averaged an upward direction.  This year we were blessed with the opportunity to expand our farm.  We purchased a new parcel of land about 1 mile from our previous location.  We built a new home on the farm as well as a large workshop/barn.  We have some of our pens built and will work on more through the winter and coming spring.  Our new farm will give us lots of room to grow.  This spring we will plant new pastures as well as a small apple orchard.  Our new location seems to have a constant wind, something we plan to utilize.  As finances permit we plan to install 2-3 SkyStream wind turbines (or equivalent) to offset the farm's energy needs.

 

CSA Shares

Our CSA Share program changed a bit this year.  After delivering 10 lb shares every month to our CSA customers we found that many of our customers' schedules conflicted with our delivery schedules.  (Especially during the summer.)  It was also a little hairy tracking which customers had received their shares and trying to deliver make up shares etc...  We now offer a one time delivery of 30 lbs.  (3 months of meat by the previous standard.)  When you run low on your CSA Share, you can easily reorder online. We have some meat lovers who order this every month and others who can make 30 lbs stretch for 6 months.  We have a 30 lb Pork Share ($160) as well as a 30 lb Combo Share (15 lbs of beef and 15 lbs of pork)($175).  Beginning in February we will be offering a 30 lb Beef Share ($190) and a much demanded 30 lb Ground Beef Share ($150).  Our goal is to keep these Shares in stock ready for a quick delivery.

 

Poultry

Raising poultry has been the source of many of our "downs" this year.  In Vernon, our growing season is a mere 90 frost free days.  This is good info for gardening but as it turns out is equally applicable to raising chickens on pasture.  This strong winds proved to be fatal for nearly every breed we attempted to raise.  We have concluded that in order to successfully/profitably raise chickens in our area that we would need to provide the chickens with a heated building that allowed easy access to pastures outdoors.  Another option would be to team up with another farmer in an area with better weather.  However, our plans have recently been squashed by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF).  Last winter we spoke extensively with the inspectors to find out how we could legally and safely process chickens for our customers.  They helped us get set up under an exemption that allowed small farms to process their own poultry.  Under this exemption, we had a young aspiring butcher process our chickens outdoors on our property following safety guidelines set forth by the department.  This has worked wonderfully all year.  Recently, we received a call from the department informing us that we would now have to take the live chickens to each of our customer's private property and process them on their property in order to continue under this small farm exemption.  We protested their request stating that not only would it be economically unfeasible, less sanitary, and ridiculously time consuming, but that no city would allow for processing poultry in people's driveways.  However, they refused to budge.  Our only alternative is a costly one, which would require us to build a full blown processing facility.  Even if we were able to justify such an investment the UDAF informed us that there isn't an inspector in Utah who is even certified to inspect our facility.  So, for now poultry is on hold for 2011 as we explore our options.

 

Pork

Our Berkshire pork continues to be the product that defines our farm.  We are pleased to be acquiring the reputation of raising Utah's finest pork.  Even customers from Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Colorado, and California have found our pork worth the drive.  This year we successfully switched to our own custom feed that consists of 100% Utah grown grains.  Much of the grain is purchased from local farmers right here in Vernon.  The grain we use consists of wheat, barley, triticale, and oats.  These small cereal grains produce an even higher quality pork than pork raised on corn and soy.  The small grains produce a harder and whiter fat that our chef and foodie customers love!  We also love the fact that our grain isn't being shipped in from all over the country.  In 2011 we will began raising our pigs to a live weight of 300 lbs rather than the 250 lbs we have aimed for in the past.  In our own experiments, we found that a 300 lb Berkshire pig offers a higher yield in terms of meat to bone ratio.  The marbling is better defined and the meat develops a slightly deeper flavor.  Overall we feel this will take our quality up a notch as well as offer our customers a little more bang for their buck.

 

Beef

Our beef sales have pleasantly surprised this year.  So much so, that we have teamed up with some of our neighbors to help us keep us with demand.  These neighbors have committed to raising beef to the standards that we have set forth.  We have been fortunate to be able to work with neighbors that have quality stock and well managed pastures.  They also have considerably more land than we have.  Our grass fed beef is complimented by our butcher who does a fantastic job dry aging the beef until it has developed a rich flavor and tender texture.  Our customers have repeatedly been surprised by the mouthwatering flavor of our hamburger.  We frequently hear, "It tastes like steak!"   To which we chuckle and reply, "Why shouldn't it? It all comes from the same cow!"

 

Thank you!

We would like to express our gratitude to all of our customers for their support; both in terms of orders as well as in the many kind comments and emails we have received.  As we look forward to a new year we will continue to dedicate ourselves to raising the finest, safest, healthiest, and tastiest meats utilizing sustainable, humane, and natural practices.  We are excited to pursue new ideas next year.  This spring we will kick off 2011 with another Farm Day!  We plan to host several farm days in 2011.  Not only do we love to meet and mingle with you, but we also enjoy allowing our customers the chance to see where their food comes from.  Our farm days offer customers a chance to really connect with their food.  As always, we want to be your farmer!  Please feel free to communicate your ideas, suggestions, and comments.  Let us know what products you would like to see.  We have toyed with the idea of offering bratwurst/sausages that are spiced with local Utah flavors.  Or finding a local artisan to cure hams and bacon.  Perhaps Rose Veal is of interest?  We are constantly trying to learn and improve and would be happy to hear from you.  We hope that as you gather with your families this holiday season that the meats you prepare are delicious and nourishing.  

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

PS.  Please don't forget that our farm is very much dependant on word of mouth referrals.  Please feel free to forward this blog or our contact info to your family and friends.   

Pork for Sale

We are excited to announce our first Berkshire pork for sale! All natural, humanely treated, pasture raised, purebred Berkshire (Kurobuta) Pork. We are the only registered farm in Utah raising Berkshire Pigs. Berkshire pork tastes the way pork used to taste, before pigs were bred to compete with chicken (the other white meat).  Berkshire Pork is often called the "Kobe Beef of Pork". It is finely marbled meat and honestly the most delicious pork you will ever eat. It is more tender and moist than any other breed. We have loads of information on our blog as well as two different side by side comparisons between our pork and traditional pork.

We sell our pork by the half or whole. The cost is calculated by the hanging weight usually 160-220 lbs for a whole pork. Click here for current pricing and here for availablility. This is the finest pork in the country and at prices similar to the artificially enhanced grocery store pork. We will deliver the pork to our drop points in Salt Lake County, Utah County, and Tooele County.

Support your local farm! We care about our animals and pamper them. You are welcome to visit our farm and pick out your own pig if would like. You will be surprised how happy and healthy our pigs are if you have visited other farms. Our place doesn't reek of ammonia and have zombie looking pigs laying around. These pigs are not fed any bread or leftovers. Some farms advertise grain fed pigs, but what they don't tell you is that they are also feeding them bread, twinkies etc... This greatly reduces the quality of the meat. Our Berkshires are not raised in 6" of their own waste but rather in pasture where they can eat fresh grass, locally grown grains, and alfalfa. Because they are so healthy, there is no need for antibiotics and never any hormones. All this on top of genetically being the best tasting breed means the healthiest, most delicious pork. Thanks for checking out our blog and learning about where our meat comes from. We will be happy to answer any questions for you.

Feel free to contact us with any questions!