Happy Winter Solstice

The Winter solstice is upon us, thankfully we have longer days to look forward to.  So far this has been a much dryer winter than last year, which doesn't help the steelhead fishing much.  We need some big rains to push those fish up river!

It's been really dark these past few mornings while feeding the animals.  I could hear the cows running at me but couldn't see them until they were right on me with their nose in the feed bucket before I could pour it into the feeder.

The shorter days makes it difficult to get things done around the farm as well.  After coming home from work in the dark it's not easy to get motivated to do things in the dark.  Looking forward to having more time to get things done, because there's a lot of things needing done!

We have finished a few things in the house, this past weekend we got some shelves up to store all of our food processing supplies.  We're still adjusting things on these shelves and in the pantry.  Having these shelves is a huge help and will make getting some of our processing done much easier since we won't have to dig through piles of boxes or run out to the shop where some of it was being stored.  We've got plenty of room alongside of the shelves too for hoarding totes!  We need more hoarding totes.

Yesterday Tori and Zach sanitized all the beer bottles we have and filled up a couple bottom shelves, now we're ready to bottle the hard cider we had fermenting and a batch of root beer.  I'm also being pressured to make caramels since it's that time of year and it has become a tradition, can't break tradition so I'll probably need to make some caramels.

Thankfully I have a four day weekend, which gives me an extra day before Christmas gets here to finish up my last minute shopping.  We're having a Christmas eve turkey dinner since the hams won't be ready until January.  We bought an extra turkey at Thanksgiving because they're discounted and deep fried turkey is amazing.

Hopefully I'll be able to get all the other things needing to be finished.  We have more flooring for the bedrooms, trees that need to be pruned, gravel that needs to be hauled in and spread, a barn that needs stalls for horses built, fencing repaired and a pasture divided for more rotation space, garden space prepped with some lime and mulch, general clean up, shop organized, fishing gear prepped, fishing trips taken, and all sorts of things that just need done!

Not that exciting of a post, I haven't been motivated lately to write and have a lot on my mind.  These longer nights probably haven't helped with the mood or attitude, nor have the politics.  I'm just looking forward to getting things ready for our horses and bringing them home!

Happy Winter Solstice to you all, hope you all have an exciting new year and best wishes!

Our BFF Farm Stay in Your Future?

Last night when I got home from work and turned on the local news (yes we have TV on the farm, we receive three channels from our roof antenna) I watched a brief segment about a couple that decided to give up the city life and move to a farm.  They had little farming experience but were looking for a change.  Ultimately they established a Farm Stay to keep their farm alive and provide themselves with an income.  Thier story kind of felt close to home since Theresa and I are doing basically the same thing, although, we didn't start this farm life out with the intention of it being our sole source of income.  Actually, I don't believe we ever considered farming for income, rather, we wanted to live on a farm to get out of the city and to enjoy raising animals and growing food for ourselves.

Getting here has been a long road.  We literally had shopped and were making offers on farm properties for 10 years, and went through three different realtors before finally making a deal.  During that time our hopes got crushed more than once to the point we thought it would never happen, but we didn't give up.  It's really not easy borrowing money to buy rural property because the lending industry considers it a higher risk market, and the homes available in our price range were either houses built 100 years ago or poorly constructed older manufactured *mobile* homes plopped down on a property and being sold for the price of a quality house built on-site.  Basically, places that lenders wouldn't touch.  For those close to us this is a 'broken record', replaying once again.

Now that we've succeeded in getting here, we're acutely aware that it wasn't cheap.  It hasn't been without worry or fear for our future either.  We know it's going to take hard work to keep our dream alive and we'll need to use this farm to supplement our income to sustain.  Watching that story about the couple turning their farm into a Farm Stay gave me hope for our future that we'll continue to live our own dream.  I doubt that we'll ever start our own Farm Stay as a source of income, our Farm Stay is really already open for free to family and friends, but we will do our best to produce food and crafts that will help support us.  It's nice to know though that we may have other options in the future if needed.  I've heard of dude ranches, but didn't realize Farm Stays are something that's becoming more popular.

We could use a bit of help around the farm, there's always lots of work, and getting people to pay us for their help for some 'education' in return would be even better.  I'd definitely smile more and even make you a farmer's pancake breakfast!

Related content you might be interested in:

1. From city streets to rural lanes: The story of starting Leaping Lamb Farm from scratch, KVAL, Dec 2017.

The True Cost of Cheap Meat & Produce

I realize all of us 'normal' folk live off limited income, usually taking at least two bread winners to keep a small family out of poverty.  Personally I've lived my entire life in that range of poor to lower middle class, and understand when grocery shopping you want to get the most food for your money.  Also, having grown up farming I'm aware of the work it takes to produce food and I know it's not an easy life.  I remember back in the 80s when family farms began disappearing faster than the International Harvesters could finish harvesting the fields. Entire family farm estates and equipment were being auctioned off to settle farm debts.  The losses weren't a factor of weather or crop failure, it was 'Big Ag' controlling market prices for crops, exploiting government subsidies, and the capital equipment sector charging exorbitant prices for farming equipment manufactured in poorer quality.  These circumstances gave advantage to those with wealth over those without, small family farms couldn't earn enough to keep ahead of costs.

Those disadvantages are still in play to this day as corporate farming constantly wields its muscle to keep small family farms from succeeding or consuming them in their own growth of the BigAg machine.  That hasn't stopped people from trying, small organic farms and hobby farms are popping up all over around cities, and urban farming is now actually a thing.  Savvy consumers are fighting back against BigAg because more people are realizing they can't trust the industrialized food industry to provide healthy, safe foods.  The challenge with small farming is competing with supermarket pricing.  It's a difficult decision to make for consumers, the choice to pay more for meat or produce and sacrificing ones ability to purchase the latest smart phone or pay for its monthly billing.  Super Centers are convenient as well, get all of your shopping done in one place without running around.

The problem is there's actually a greater cost to the community with cheaper prices.  These giant value stores pay their labor less and purchase their meat and produce for less, which leads to mass production and lower quality.  The profits are reaped by a few, it's not the hard working people that benefit but the already wealthy CEOs.  This is how BigAg maintains control of the market and keeps the working class in its place. 

When you're shopping for groceries keep these things in mind.  Please buy from local farmers, purchasing in bulk and learn to preserve your own food.  Realize that when you purchase meat from a small farm that the cost of your price per pound is a better deal in the long run because you're supporting local farmers and your community.  When you see pork roast for just over $1 per pound understand that the bacon and chops from that hog are selling for $5-$6 per pound and making up the difference.  It's not really cheaper, there's a 'true cost' which is a little less tangible.

Some good related reading

1. The Rise of Small Farms: Oregon leads by example, By Lauren Morency DePhillips, Epoch Times, Aug 2013
2. Rise of mega farms: how the US model of intensive farming is invading the world; Fiona Harvey, Andrew Wasley, Madlen Davies and David Child, theguardian, Jul 2017
3. Rise of ‘hobby farms’ means more growers get maimed, killed, By Rick Callahan, AP Nov 2017

Weekend Update

It was the first weekend of December, wow the year has flown by...oh, yeah and we got a lot done this past weekend.  I found several more shrines, a few pieces of armor, and collected lots of korok seeds.  Oops, that's my gamer blog update for Zelda: Breath of the Wild.  Actually, I don't have a gamer blog and yes we do play video games on the farm when not working our asses off.  Well some of us work our asses off, or at least I do trying to finish all these side quests... :)

In typical Oregon fashion we enjoyed a wet weekend of rain and did some inside work, and a little outside work when we could.  I made the mistake of ordering a ceiling fan online a couple weeks ago, and last week when it arrived I had it installed before Theresa got home from one of her late nights with Zach at ballet.  Well, the fan didn't go over so well, and I actually didn't like it either.  The direction switch was inside the light dome cover!  That and it really looked ugly.  We decided to drive into town Saturday morning and find a couple ceiling fans at Jerry's and then take back the odd one I ordered to HomeDepot.  These pics don't do the fans justice, they actually look really nice in the house and the family room fan makes a huge difference moving heat from the pellet stove around the house.  Big win after a purchasing fail.

Family Room

Dining Room

Besides video games, the fans were about all the work done inside this weekend.  Oh, I'm sure we did other stuff but just not as important.  Outside I was gettings things ready for some of the planting we'll be doing in the spring.  I prepped sites for the fruit trees and some blueberry bushes by staking the locations and mulching.  I'm far from finished prepping for spring planting, but it's a good start.  We've got sites ready for the semi-dwarf cherry trees ( a bing and black tartarian), and the two royal plums, and two suncrest peaches.  We'll also be planting 12 blueberry bushes out front near the boarder fruit trees.  In addition there will be a new pear and probably a couple apricot trees (although, not sure how successful we'll be with the apricots).

Front Border Fruit Trees and Bushes Prep

After the mulching work Zach helped me clean out the pump house.  There were old kitchen cabinets that were left from a prior house remodel years ago and they were just a junk mess.  We pulled them out of the pump house and used the tractor to smash them down, then loaded them into the farm truck to haul to Lane Forest Products where they'll be ground down into mulch compost for future use by someone else.  After getting the pump house cleaned up I finished putting in posts to fence off the 'backyard' so the dogs have free range to come in and out of the house to do their business.  We have to have a fenced area so Dexter doesn't run off or the little dogs don't go wondering into the roadway.  Should finally have the backyard fence wrapped up by next weekend!

I don't always remember to get before and after photos of the work we do, I'm usually to busy focused on the tasks at hand to worry about taking pics, even though it is nice capturing those moments.  We still have plenty of projects to go and there's always things to do so hopefully I'll remember to get those pics before and after.  Here's one of the next projects that really needs to be taken care of.  The prior couple of weeks I worked on grading and adding gravel to the driveway and parking area next to the house, but in the process I took a lot of the accumulated debris and dragged it in front of the barn which made that mud pit look even worse.  The prior owners only put gravel down to the first stall, so in front of the last three it was mud.  In fact, the last stall they actually had a huge hole about 3' deep dug so they presumably could park a truck with a camper in it.  It would have been a small pond in the winter, not really sure what it was like but filling that hole was one of the first things I did.  Now we just need to put down a bunch of big gravel for the base and some 3/4" on top.

Mud Pit in Front of Shop

Mud Pit out to Pasture

Look for an update soon on the progress of the mud pits.  I'll be hauling in lots of gravel to make improvements here!  There's also still lots of clean up left from the previous owners, piles of wood and pvc pipe that need to be either hauled off or cleaned up, organized and stored.  It's never ending...

Turkey Weekend Update

Thanksgiving weekend was a fun four day break from the day job, but work on the farm is really a seven days a week kind of gig.  We did take most of Thanksgiving day to enjoy making a nice turkey dinner and visiting with family.  Theresa also spent a couple of days helping fund-raise during Zach's four Nutcracker performances on Saturday and Sunday, selling raffle tickets, so basically we were all busy doing something.  I spent much of the weekend grading the driveway with the box scraper implement behind the tractor and laying down fresh gravel by shovel from the back of the farm truck.  It will be a big improvement to help keep the mud from getting tracked into the house.  I'll share all those "improvement" details in another post though, with pictures.  This is supposed to be about the turkey.

For the second year we deep fried our turkey, and it was a success.  Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the operation, before or after.  I guess we were all busy doing stuff and forgot the most import part of capturing those memories in a photo op.  Anyway, we decided to deep fry again because last year's turkey was really tasty.   I guess for years we were using our big roaster to slow cook our 'big birb', but it really seemed like a lot of cooking time which kept the kitchen tied up.  A couple of years ago I tried something different and cut the turkey into pieces before roasting to cut down on the cook time, and it turned out pretty good.  We've noticed how deep frying has become more popular, and apparently starting fires trying to deep fry has also become a thing since there are so many PSAs about how to safely deep fry.  Last year we decided to risk starting our own fire and took on the dangerous cooking method of deep frying, and it turned out a good choice.  It was easily the tastiest 'birb' we've cooked and really not as scary or dangerous as the PSAs make it out to be.  We just used some common sense and care in operating the deep fryer.

It's amazing how quickly a 20 lb turkey will cook in a deep fryer.  I guess the only real disadvantage is that you don't get to stuff your turkey, but that wasn't a huge issue for us since stuffing has never been that popular in our house.  I love stuffing, but it can always be made on the side.  This year Theresa injected the bird with melted butter and seasonings before I lowered it into the boiling peanut oil.  It came out an hour later cooked to perfection, juicy delicious.  We paired our bird with a selection of sides, like: my traditional twice baked potatoes; our new comer India's spinach bake; Zach's famous mac-n-cheese; Tsa's green bean casserole; candied yams; and 300 bottles of Martenellis.  The only real cooking fail this year was my twice bakes were ruined when I forgot to add bacon!

Overall dinner turned out really well and it was a nice Thanksgiving.  The only thing I would have liked more was to see more of the family and maybe a few more pics, next year with any luck though.  I hope all of you enjoyed your Thanksgiving weekend!

First Thanksgiving Dinner on the Farm

Get Your Pork!

We have four hogs scheduled to go in for processing January 4th, with three to be sold.  It takes a few days at processor before meat can be picked up.  Please confirm with Theresa or myself if you'd like a half or whole hog.  Finished hanging weight will be ~150-180 lbs and looks like we'll be able to sell for $3.65/lb which includes cut and wrap.  Smoked and cured hams and bacon is an additional $1.00/lb (processor's charge) for those cuts.  We don't recommend the additional processing since it's healthier without, or better and tastier if you smoke and season to your own liking.

Updated Additional Info

Our hogs are Gloucestershire Old Spot, a heritage breed that's noted for producing some of the finest pork cuts.  They've been raised responsibly and fed locally sourced grains (and a very small amount of table scraps) purchased from a local family run feed store, and will be processed at a local family run, USDA certified,  processing facility.  The price per pound covers the shared cost for feed and processing, and while overall it might seem slightly more expensive than factory raised pork at the super stores, keep in mind you're supporting local businesses and families.

Availability

Note: I'll update as we get confirmation on orders.   Currently we have a few tentative orders for half or whole hog, but I'll keep them tbd until we get solid confirmation.   If you'd like a quarter hog then find a friend or family member that will go in on a half hog with you, the processor will only cut, wrap & sort in halves.

hog#1:  Bleisch Family
hog#2:  Kim W. 1/2 || Bernie O. 1/2
hog#3:  Lorena/Sharon 1/2 || Elijah & Ryanna 1/2
hog#4:  Blake Bleisch Fam || tbd

How to Handle a Bulk Meat Purchase

Most people prefer to freeze meat because it's more convenient, but keep in mind it's easy and safe to can meat in a pressure canner, and it keeps on the shelf for a longer period of time and not susceptible to spoilage from power outages like your freezer.  It's also pre-cooked and tender so when it comes to making a meal it can easily be added to stews, soups, pastas, or other quick dinners.   Obviously prime cuts like the hams, bacon, ribs and chops you'll likely want to freeze; but for other cuts that you're not going to make into sausage consider canning some for storage.  We prefer the raw pack method after smoking slightly in our Big Chief smoker, but you might prefer the hot pack.

Here's some info for canning pork:  Home Food Preservation - Canning Meat

Web Image of Sample Pork Cuts

Illustration of Pork Cuts

Doing Dad Stuff

It's been a long time since I've been on a school bus... but that's where I was.  Loaded up and on the road participating in a field trip adventure with Victoria's high school environmental science class, on our way to Whitaker Creek to see spawning Chinook salmon and learn about this threatened species.  How could I pass up a trip like this!   I guess the only downside was that we weren't out fishing, although, learning about how threatened Chinook are makes it tough to want to go out and fish. Anyway, here's a little overview of what we did...

The bus ride there was uneventful, we sat in the back of the bus like the cool kids and I stuck out like a sore thumb.  The teenagers socialized like teens, so I pretty much looked out the window and enjoyed the beautiful Oregon scenery.

On an Adventure

After the hour drive we shuffled off the bus and joined in a big circle for a quick introduction for our visit.  We were greeted by four volunteers that participate in this salmon education program: Dave the retired biologist; Bob, the retired English teacher; Jay, a water quality specialist; and a communications specialist for a local utility.  We broke into small groups to take turns meeting with each volunteer to learn about the various environmental issues affecting salmon populations and general knowledge about these fish as known.

At the Macro Invertebrate Station 

Sampling of Mayflies

The first station we visited was macro invertebrates, they're used as a bio-monitor because their presence or lack thereof is an indication of water quality/health.  Some species are more tolerable to higher pH levels so if moderate or less tolerable species aren't present you can be relatively confident the water pH is higher.  As an example we found only one Caddisfly in our sampling compared to numerous Mayflies which have a higher tolerance.

• Macroinvertebrates of the Pacific Northwest (a pdf field guide)
• USGS pH Water Properties  

Caddisfly

For our second station we visited with Bob, the retired English teacher, and he shared his knowledge of what a riparian zone is.  He explained the basic definition, it's importance to life, and the four important factors that make up a riparian zone -- words starting with S, S, F, & F was our clue.  The first S was for Shade, waterways need shade to keep water temperatures low to allow the water to hold more oxygen to support aquatic life.  The second S was for Structure, the riparian zone consists of structure that provides habitat for spawning salmon.  As an example, salmon are very particular about the gravel beds in which they create their redds (nests for laying their eggs).  The redds need to allow water flow through the eggs and protection.  The Fs were for Food and Filtration.  The riparian zone provides food and filters water through surrounding roots and structure.

Bob also shared a few stories and poems with us, here's one from a Shoshone Bannock tribal member writing about the loss of a legacy of salmon fishing when Celilo falls were covered from a dam on the Columbia River.

Celilo Fishermen

you made your nets

& tested the knots

seeing that they held.

little did you know

what was to hold you

after the sound of

water falling

over what

used to be.

 -- Ed Edmo, from "These Few Words of Mine."

Our third station was a visit with Dave, a retired biologist.  He discussed the life cycle of salmon and things we know about how they find their way back to the same spawning beds after a spending most of their lives at see.  He mentioned studies of both celestial and geomagnetic migration as possibilities of how the fish navigate and return.  He also discussed their sense of smell as another potential factor in their ability to return to the same stream as their birth.

Eggs to Fry

Stylish Polarized Lenses

Spawning Salmon

Dead Male Salmon

After lunch, our last station was the discussion of water quality lead by Jay.  It was a fun discussion which mainly focused on water temperature factors and pH levels.  Jay was a fun discussion leader that added a lot of humor to his presentation.  The kids got to participate in taking water samples to test for pH level, nitrate level, water temperature, and turbidity.  

Overall the learning experience was about the health of our streams and fisheries, and how biologists use science to help them understand the complex ecosystems to better understand human's interaction.  As Jay pointed out in his departing thoughts, if we consider 'it' nature then we're missing the point and thinking of 'it' as a system that we're not a part of and it's important that we understand what humans do is also a part of nature...

It was a fun educational trip. 

When the Weather Allows

When the weather allows you to get some work done outside in the fall, you take advantage of it.  I had finished mowing about half the pasture a couple weeks ago, and with a bit more than 10 acres left needing to get finished before the ground becomes too soggy this winter, I decided to get on it this past weekend.

I guess that's how exciting our life is, maintaining the pasture is like the main attraction.  We actually got a lot more done than mowing, we also hauled in four yards of bark mulch to take care of a few muddy areas and made a nice dry patch under the trees in the pasture for the cows to get cozy out of the weather.

I also cleared a couple of ditches to improve drainage in the small west pasture where the three cows are being kept currently.  The cows were happy with the work, they frolicked around running and kicking in the fresh cut grass.

The chickens are big enough to get let out of the coop now, they can fend for themselves if one of the cats gets any ideas of a chicken nugget meal.  Victoria finished up the run installing a gate and making sure there weren't any holes under the fencing we installed a few weeks ago.  The chickens were happy to get out and roam the run.  We'll need to get into the habit of letting them out daily now and making sure the coop is closed up at night to protect them from predators.

 In other news, one of the passing log trucks must have hit a skunk this morning because the fragrance was strong in the air this morning.  Skunks usually don't get frisky this time of year so not sure why they're out.  We'll need to be sure the dogs don't run too far because tangling with a skunk is not fun times.

We've got a busy week ahead.  Tomorrow I'll be traveling with Victoria's high school class to the Whitaker area to see spawning salmon, and then there's Thanksgiving, and then we've got a weekend of Zach performing in the Nutcracker as the Rat King.  Good times.

My daily driver

From pasture looking west at Farm House

Southwest view

Southeast view

Progress on Farm House Continues

The farm house was in pretty bad shape when we bought the place, and with work getting in the way we haven't had much time to get as many things done as we'd have liked.  I made Theresa a promise the dining room floor would be finished before Thanksgiving, so this past weekend was dedicated to keeping that promise.  Oh, we still got some of the other farm chores done with Kyle's help on the tractor and India and Theresa helping with the flooring.  We're still only about 40% finished with the flooring overall, but the dining room had the biggest impact on livability.  The only thing left in the dining room is baseboard trim and hanging a new door.  We're at least making steady progress rain or shine.  This week we'll be wrapping up the trim and getting ready for Thanksgiving.  Theresa's already thinking ahead to next year and has been contemplating raising our own turkeys...we'll likely have some more 'birds' on the farm soon.  Stay tuned.

Dining Room Flooring

Kyle Taking Over on Tractor

In Honor of Leonard

I've got six sticks smoked and hanging for you Len, I'm sure I didn't do them right which goes without saying.  Although, you probably would have told me I used the wrong casings and didn't smoke it long enough.  That I already know.  Fiber casings is all they had and I agree they're not the best, they don't take the smoke as well and won't dry up tight to the meat.   I did grind the meat only once and kept the seasoning on these simple the way you liked it.  Theresa and the kids and I will be thinking of you when we slice into this batch.

Summer Sausage

First Batch of Jerky and Sausage

Making summer/deer sausage has been a long standing tradition in my family.  My dad had a reputation for making the best deer sausage around and while I'm certainly biased, I have to agree with that reputation.  My dad's recipe was simple, using traditional cold smoking and curing practices we simply ground the meat once before mixing seasoning then stuffing to smoke.  It was a basic mix of venison to pork of either 50/50 or 40/60.  Seasoning was also basic with cure salt, pepper, and a little whole mustard seed.  The real trick was stuffing the casings to ensure there were no air pockets, smoking with hickory for the right amount of time, and hanging the sausage until firm.  In all it generally took 6-8 weeks before the sausage was ready.  Well worth the wait.

I have some fond memories of those annual sausage productions and with my dad's recent passing have a greater appreciation for his years of dedication making great sausage and for all the memories.  I'm also more inspired to carry on his tradition with my family.  This year I'm making a traditional batch in honor of his memory.

Times have changed though and traditional cold smoking and curing isn't recommended or considered safe these days.  It's understandable, botulism actually comes from the Latin word botulus which means "sausage."  Also, in today's food supply market if you're getting your pork or beef from a supplier you don't have any control over the production or sanitation so there's always that uncertainty.   Both listeria and e. coli are other potential pathogens to be worried about as well.  Pasteurization is the key to safe sausage so don't try that cold smoking stuff at home unless you understand the risks!  I've done quite a bit of research to make sure we're processing safely for the sake of my family.

Since we've acquired a new grinder, dehydrator, and other processing gear to begin making our own sausage at home we also thought it would be nice to make jerky and snack sticks as well.   We just recently finished our first batch of jerky and this evening I'll be pulling out the first batch of snack sticks from the dehydrator and we'll also be stuffing our first batch of my dad's traditional cold smoked sausage.  So far the jerky turned out excellent and I have high hopes for the snack sticks, the hickory smoke flavor is my favorite.

Healthy Eating Includes Meat in Your Diet

It's speculated that humans have been using fire to cook food for at least 1.5 million years, presumably that's a lot of steaks! I realize the population over that period of time hasn't been close to modern day populations, but my imagination can easily see generations of some distant relative neanderthal family sitting around a fire with some meat on a spit.  Evidence of animal husbandry dates back 15,000 years through the Neolithic period and continues to this day.  That's why I'm fairly certain that meat is probably still a safe bet in our diet and even a necessity to good health.  It's also the reason barbecues are so essential to family/friend gatherings.

Unfortunately, in recent years (the past few centuries) human success has lead to population growth that's far beyond a sustainable level, and traditional animal husbandry practices have turned into an ugly industrialized food supply system that's morally offensive and environmentally unfriendly. The vast majority of people now rely on grocery stores as their food source and are far removed from planting and growing of fruits and vegetable, and raising animals.  A for-profit food industry stands between them and subsistence.   This drastic change along with other human social influences have lead to over consumption, unhealthy diets, a rise in food allergies, and disdain for the food industry itself. 

It's easy to see why more people are looking at vegetarian diets as a solution to health and food safety.  With a growing number of case studies and scientific research focused on demonstrating meat is bad and veggies are good one only needs to accept human over-population as our future to agree.  Sadly, over-population is an issue that won't be addressed or going away any time soon, it will get a lot worse before it gets better.  So the anti-meat movement will likely get stronger and those of us that appreciate meat in our diet will be further branded as neanderthals living in the past.  Google searches are already biased and when searching for "why meat protein is better for you" the top results displayed are opinion pieces siting studies that imply strictly vegetarian diets are better for you.

The real problem with studies that have identified meat as being "less healthy" is that the underlying health risk isn't the meat, it's actually sodium and nitrates that are used in meat processing.  These studies don't make that point clear enough and the general overall message delivered is to avoid meat.  It's the curing salts, smoking, and other preservatives that lead to the associated health risks, along with poor eating habits in general for those that enjoy excess processed foods.  It seems our greatest health risks come from processed foods, which is one of the biggest reasons here on the farm we're working hard to preserve our own foods, including meat products.

The reality is, and it's evidence based, vegetable proteins aren't complete and lack a number of amino acids and simply don't fulfill the human body's needs.  Even plants that have been identified as having more proteins still fall short.  Plants also lack many of the accompanying important nutrients, such as: zinc, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and omega-3.  The bottom line is meat has an important role in human diet and thousands of years of evolution has established that.  Here on the farm we're going to continue appreciating meat in our diet for our health and well-being, and we'll do our best to raise our animals responsibly and as environmentally friendly as we can.  It will likely be cooked and/or cured and served alongside a variety of vegetables and fruit.


References -
1.  Mark, Joshua J (2010), Ancient Animal Husbandry, Ancient History Encyclopedia.
2.  Brown (PhD, RD), Mary Jane (2017), Animal vs Plant Protein - What's the Difference?, Healthline.com.

Brush Hog Implement Attached

Finally got a rotary cutter/brush hog attachment and Kyle is working on the South pasture.  It's been a busy weekend and still have more to do and not enough time to finish it all.  Theresa exclaimed, "the day is already half over and we don't have the chicken coop built," one of the projects we intended getting done this weekend.  I reminded her farming is a lifestyle and there are no deadlines for farm life, unless it's getting the crops in or harvesting or any of the important farm chores...a coop will happen when it happens.

In other news we expanded the hog run another 16' and the cows have been moved into the West pasture and are doing great, happy cows.

When the Cows Came Home

Apparently waiting until the cows come home is a long time, and for us it certainly has been.  When we found Joyce we had been looking hard on craigslist for nearly three months in search of a good deal on feeder calves.  It's not easy finding good calves at an affordable cost.  Also, getting into cattle is an expensive endeavor, but with 20 acres of pasture we want to make sure we're getting good use out of the land.

Oh, Joyce isn't the name of one of the cows, she's the lady we bought the cows from.  After contacting several sellers and asking about their cattle we decided on buying some cows from Joyce because she's super nice and very knowledgeable.  She was offering nice looking, well cared for calves at an unbeatable price.  From what we gathered talking to her she puts a lot of time and effort gentling her calves, properly vaccinating them, and a healthy feeding program.  So this past weekend we hitched up the stock trailer and drove all the way up to Woodburn, Oregon to load up the start of our herd.

From left:  Patty (belted gallaway-angus-jersey cross heifer), Ron (angus steer), and Becky (limousin heifer)

Deciding on what breed of cows to get was not an easy decision.  Everyone knows Angus because of all the successful marketing and while it's recommended when starting a cattle operation to consider the market demand, we didn't want to decide solely on the business aspects because our little family farm is more about the love of the animals and the life experience.  Since we're not interested in a dairy or breeder/calving operation we could be a bit more flexible and not worry about registered breeds.  Cross breed cattle can be heartier as well, so we opted for a couple heifers with some traditional beef cattle and heritage stock lines to start with.  We picked up a limousin heifer and a Belted Galloway (Oreo Cookie cow)-Angus-Jersey cross heifer as breeding cows.  We also grabbed a cute little Angus steer to keep the young ladies company for awhile.  When the time comes we'll breed the heifers with a gentle limousin bull that's easy on first time cows.

We spent the past couple of weekends getting ready for bringing cows home, patching up some pasture fencing, replacing old or missing posts, and re-hanging gates so they worked properly.  We got the smaller pasture all ready to go and thought we were well prepared to just drop some calves in it, but being rookie cow pokes we didn't think about a transition space to get the new calves acquainted with their new home.  Joyce dropped that bombshell on us as we were chatting and loading the calves.  She asked if we had a small solid fenced off area we could keep the calves in for a couple of weeks so they had time to adjust to their new owners and farm space, and we responded with a positive yes.  It was more of a yes, sure we've got this and we will have a space for them...just as soon as we get home and whip one up!   Thankfully we have a barn and I had a quick plan to get space in it ready, but it took a bit work when we got home.  Much of the work we already intended to do because we planned on turning the barn into some horse stalls anyway, but this gave us some urgent motivation and helped us clear a third of the barn for getting the calves settled in.

The next two weeks will be handling and getting them ready for pasture.  The herd begins.

Catching Up

It's been a busy couple of months since moving onto our farm and this is just a quick overview of what we've been up to as we're trying to get settled in.  The farm we bought had been vacant for a few years, and neglected even longer because the older owners weren't able to take care of the place as I'm sure they would have liked to.  It wasn't an easy transaction, in fact, we placed five offers on this place over the coarse of a year dealing with a family trust, and the final accepted offer didn't have any contingencies allowing us time to sell our old house.  It was an all or nothing deal to sell our old home on Suburban Ave and close the farm within a couple of months, very scary considering the condition of the farm house.

Obviously we've made it past the fear and stress of selling and buying and are now dealing with the conditions of the property to make it livable and put the land to use.  The first week was like camping, the farm house was filthy and without any floor coverings.  The population of spiders and other 'residents' (aka rodents) gave it that classic haunted movie scene appearance and the property was seriously overgrown with blackberry bushes so thick and tall there very well could have been a graveyard of abandoned cars hidden within.  The work began though and lots of cleaning for everyone, even the cats did their part clearing the house of the resident mice.  The cats are still busy to this day patrolling the barns and fields and occasionally leaving a 'gift' of dead mouse near the front door.

Moving all the household belongings and farm house cleaning kept us really sore and made the outside work even more difficult.  Thankfully we planned on buying some help as part of our farm purchase and at our first opportunity took some time to run into town to buy a tractor.  It made quick work of blackberry removal and comes in handy with all the farm work.  In fact, I just scheduled it's first break-in service because we've already gotten 50 hours of use on it.  But that's not all we've been up to.

New Holland Workmaster 33

       

Within a couple weeks of getting the tractor we started right in on getting the farm into use and purchased four gilts.  We decided on getting a heritage breed hog and chose Gloucestershire Old Spot, a nice pasture pig and noted for their winter heartiness and best tasting pork.  We still haven't decided if we're going to breed for a new litter, but we are seriously considering it.  Pigs aren't the only animals we'll have on the farm, we also recently picked up a couple dozen egg layers, aka chickens, and may possibly be loading up some cows this weekend to bring to our pastures.

Gloucestershire Old Spot gilts

It doesn't look like there was any gardening happening on the property so we anticipate a busy Spring and Fall as we plant a large garden and hopefully have a nice harvest next fall.  I'm sure the local deer population is excited by that news because they've been visiting the existing apples trees in the yard near every night.  This Winter we'll keep busy working on the garden plan, farm house remodeling, and other chores like fencing repairs.  There will be a lot of self-educating for small farm success happening as we continue learning to care for our livestock and plan our gardening.  Stay tuned for more!

First Post

Just getting this blog setup to share our farming experiences.  Stay tuned, there will be lots of updates and pics coming!