Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Pig heads

John is half way through the 8 hour drive from asheville nc to bluemont va. Tomorrow we will go to Blue Ridge Meats to pick up 3 pig heads. Dating an experienced chef has its perks, and makes utilitizing all edible portions of a pig much easier.
I planned the trip on slaughter day so john and I can witness several pigs being killed. This is important for me to see and my only regret with my experience raising pigs was not being there when they were killed.
Tomorrow will be an interesting, educational, and emotional day. For now though, my eyes are on the clock waiting for John. He's been gone for almost a month. Excited doesn't come close to describe how glad I will be to see him, if only for 2 days.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Plaid and polka

A fine pair


A pond

a lab and my girls.

...and white vehicles.


if you're going to do it

do it right.

an email from the slaughterhouse/butcher, a husband and wife team that only processes a handful of animals a week and practices the teachings of Temple Grandin. 

"Just wanted to let you know that we would love to have the larger pig.  The reasoning for our choice is that we have so many orders, we need the extra meat.  I would love to take the 2nd pig, as well, if you could take payment within 30 days, unless you have another buyer and I completely understand.   I will barter out the first larger pig towards your processing and whatever else we would owe, I would pay you the difference when you pick up.  Thanks for the opportunity to buy them, and just so you know you did a great job, and my staff was very impressed."

The two largest pigs will be sold to Blue Ridge Meats and I will keep the smaller female to disperse to family and friends, keep a bit for myself, and repay debts such as borrowing the trailer to take them to slaughter and my friends time trailering us there.

I feel the quality of the meat has 3 contributing factors. 

1. Genetics.  These were good looking and conformationally sound pigs.

2. Environment.  My pigs enjoyed access to a stall that opened to a large pen.  There was room to run, sun bathe, and wallow. The door to the stall was always left open. They had access to food and fresh water at all times.  In the evenings I would open their pen door to allow them to free range, root, and play in a large grassy field.  For the last 3 days they have 24/7 access to this area.  These pigs did not know a moment of discomfort while in my care.  They were warm in the cold weather and cool in the recent hot temps. 

3. Interaction. I loved my pigs.  Loved hanging out, grooming, petting, and playing with them.  On most days I spent a minimum of a hour with the pigs, often times more.  In the winter you could find me in the stall with a spotlight and a book snug as a bug surrounded by three pigs.  I believe their trust in me played an important role in the quality of their meat.  Stressed, anxious, scared, and injured animals will leave tell tale traces in their meat, often the butcher has to cut around or possibly discard the entire carcass.  It can even be unfit for animal consumption.  Before transporting to slaughter I parked the trailer in their field for 4 days.  They were fed and praised in the trailer to limit anxiety during loading and transport.

I believe i'll take the summer off from raising pigs and purchase 3 more near the end of October.  Hopefully the same breeder will have more for sale.  In the future I would love to own a property where my pigs can be raised proper, which to me means on pasture.  Pigs are not intended to live in a confined environment and even though I provided mine with quite a bit of space, the more natural approach is pasture.  I cringe at the commercial pork industry and other homesteaders or small time farmers that stall their pigs.  Raising pigs should not be done without the appropriate amount of space.  There is no pride in keeping these animals behind closed doors.


Friday, April 20, 2012

new website

http://www.highstfarm.com/

getting there.

whole pig $2.50 a lb
half pig $3.00 a lb

priced cuts coming soon.

Chapter 12

The pigs have been slaughtered.
They are truly missed.
The experience was amazing.
John will walk me through the butchers cut sheet.

When they got off the trailer the butcher commented
"those are good looking pigs"
they are going to purchase one at $2.50 a lb







Thursday, April 5, 2012

happy boy!

pee little thrigs







Samhain

john sent this picture to me yesterday evening...quite proud of his sewing skills.  wondering what the word samhain really means, i did a quick google search.  pretty interesting!  my favorite aspect is the community bonfire.  this reminded me of a book i read at john's house in ashville, nc.  it said that some fires are continuous over generations, even when a family moved...a small bit of fire was brought along to start the hearth fire at the new home.

The night of Samhain, in Irish, Oíche Shamhna and Scots Gaelic, Oidhche Shamhna, is one of the principal festivals of the Celtic calendar, and falls on the October 31. It represents the final harvest. In modern Ireland and Scotland, the name by which Halloween is known in the Gaelic language is still Oíche/Oidhche Shamhna. It is still the custom in some areas to set a place for the dead at the Samhain feast, and to tell tales of the ancestors on that night.[4][16]

Traditionally, Samhain was time to take stock of the herds and grain supplies, and decide which animals would need to be slaughtered in order for the people and livestock to survive the winter. This custom is still observed by many who farm and raise livestock [4][16] because it is when meat will keep since the freeze has come and also since summer grass is gone and free foraging is no longer possible.

Bonfires played a large part in the festivities celebrated down through the last several centuries, and up through the present day in some rural areas of the Celtic nations and the diaspora. In Scotland, these bonfires were called samhnagan, and they were usually made from flammable materials like ferns, tar-barrels, and anything else that would burn.[17] Villagers were said to have cast the bones of the slaughtered cattle upon the flames. In the pre-Christian Gaelic world, cattle were the primary unit of currency and the center of agricultural and pastoral life. Samhain was the traditional time for slaughter, for preparing stores of meat and grain to last through the coming winter.

With the bonfire ablaze, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit its hearth from the common flame, thus bonding the families of the village together. Often two bonfires would be built side by side, and the people would walk between the fires as a ritual of purification. Sometimes the cattle and other livestock would be driven between the fires, as well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain