Our pork is slaughtered on farm. We find it means less stress for the animals, and the waste stays on the farm lungs and stomach to be fed to dog, lungs to the cat, and guts are composted. Ken eats heart and tongue; I eat liver. So, although we are not quite nose to tail, we work to respect the animal and use as much as we can and waste as little as we can. …
Usually we have some late hatch cockerels that are too small to butcher in fall. So we watch them and the weather and when everything comes together it is “chicken population reduction day.” We also take out some older hens so there are enough birds to make the preparation and process worth it. Just before I left to visit my parents we butchered 20 chickens. Here is a photo of the final step of the …
Once the pigs go to the locker, Ken and I make soup stock from the heads and feet. I scrub the feet, and Ken starts the stock pot outside. Once the meat is tender I pull it from the bones and return the bones and cartilage to the pot. Then once the stock is done, Ken strains it and sets it outside so the fat rises. The next morning I skim the fat and set …
Greetings for the Garden! This week’s CSA box has salad and braising greens, potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, carrots or beets, celery, winter tomatoes, and herbs Field Notes. What a season! We have had such a beautiful fall. Ken has finished digging potatoes and is wrapping up field work. The forecast is for cold weather later this week, so we will be getting the squash and onions to inside storage, hoopettes up over some …
