Vaughnshire Farm

Today we were quite busy.  We took a trip to the butcher shop to pick up our meat.  We took all the coolers and freezer bags we had and still needed more…so the children ended up packing some of the meat in plastic bags and putting it inside boxes.  We froze on the way home with the air conditioner on high!

Here the boys are unloading the roller rack and packing our hamburger patties.  We are very glad we opted to have 1/3 of our beef put into patties.  They came out very nice…and are sure to be a convenience for me cooking. 

They loaded the coolers on to a roller cart to take out to the trailer. 

Almost ready to go…It took quite a while to pack over 600 lbs of meat. 

A very proud 11 year old stands by the lamb meat he raised. 

 A very busy 2 year old pushing carts. 

After a big day, we finally get the last of the meat into the freezer.  We still have a lot of rearranging to do, but at least we have our own beef, pork and lamb stocked at home in our freezers!  And Wow..that is an amazing feeling to raise your own food!  Anyone wanna buy some meat?!!

Since moving to the farm, we have had a crash course with the concept of food going from the field to table…family style.  I will be the first to admit that at first it was at first very strange concept.  We, like the majority of Americans, were completely disconnected from knowing where our food came from.  However, lately we have had plenty of opportunities to get use to the age old idea of family food production. 

Yesterday, we took our steer to the butcher.  He weighed in at 1,080 lbs!  I was surprised he weighed so much!  We also loaded up a pig weighing in at 205 and two lambs that each weighed 50 lbs.  Had we of known the lambs were only 50 lbs, we probably would have waited a little while before processing them.  

We were concerned about loading up the animals on the trailer.  Our last experience with loading up an animal to take to the butcher was traumatic.  Traumatic only because the pig would not hop up in the trailer like we were expecting him to. Only after lots of dragging, pushing and ear deafening pig squealing, was the 300 lb pig finally in the trailer. That day we found out that they don’t just hop up in the trailer when you want them too. 

However, we learned a few things from last time.  First, don’t feed them before you load them up.  You will want them hungry so they come to the feed you lure them in with.  Second, park the trailer in the field the night before and put a feeding trough in it.  They will want to check it out. 

The guys put a feeding trough and feed in the trailer the day before.  They left the trailer open and in the field over night.  The next morning our 12 year old went out to the trailer and put some more feed in the trough.  He then ran up the hill to go find the cows and bring them down.  When he arrived back at the trailer, to our great astonishment, the pig was waiting for him.  He was lounging in the feed trough inside the trailer.  WOW, that was easy!  Our steer wasn’t as easy, but compared to what we were expecting… 

Now we were ready to head off to the butcher.  We had about an hour and a half truck ride with 8 children and a trailer full of animals.  We arrived at the Yoder’s butcher shop and went inside to fill out our order.  They hand you a sheet of paper for each animal you bring in and ask you how you would like him.  Roasts or Steaks, thick or thin, tenderized or not, medium or hot sausage etc. etc. etc.  After we filled out our orders, it was time to drive around back and unload.

The boys help unload. 

Here they try to coax the cow off the trailer and into the weighing station. 

Little ones look on with great interest. 

Still trying to coax the cow…only this time out of the weighing station.  I became a bit concerned when the executioner began to yell at the cow, “HOOO, YHAWW, I don’t have all day cow!” 

Maybe I should get the children back in the truck??

The Yoder’s butcher shop is quite large.  The children look on at the work taking place.  Our 3 year old asked, “Is this the place where they take the cows apart?” 

It was a great field trip…that is…for those who enjoy loading and unloading messy animals and watching people cut up meat.   We will return in about 3 weeks to pick up our meat. 

The day has arrived and we are downsizing here at Vaughnshire (for a change!). 

We will be less one cow, one pig and two lambs out in the pasture –  We’re off to the butcher…that is if we can manage to catch them all! 

This week we have posted a lot of farm related material…that would be because it’s early spring (as of today) and there are a ton of things to do around a farm during “planting season”.  As one of my younger children recently lamented, “If only we had more children…we could have more help…” 

Today was a beyond gorgeous day.  I sat in a lawn chair out by the garden and gave directions on what I wanted done. We had cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes and onions to get in the ground.  By the days end, they had the garden planted with plants and had posted the poultry netting around the garden.   The garden would have been gone by morning if we didn’t do something quick because the chickens spotted the fresh young plants and started eating them. 

The boys also repaired the disconnected spring pipe.  Water was gushing out of the pipe into the creek (it is supposed to be connected to another pipe running into our spring tank).  The pipe was disconnected because of the amount of water and debris that rushed through the creek yesterday with all of our rain.  The boys cleared the debris and reconnected the pipe.  All is well. 

The cows and goats were also moved over into a different section of the pasture.  They enjoyed having fresh green grass as they had been grazing in another section for several weeks. 

So far the mother hen hatched out 3 chicks:  one died, two are doing great.  We aren’t sure why the other eggs have not hatched. 

This week, my husband and the boys also started taking out one of the driveways so we can run a fence across the front of the house.  They worked on clearing brush, filling in other parts of the land with fill dirt, leveling out other parts.  This is a huge project in the works. 

That’s all the farm updates.

…well, there are many reasons, but one good one is having the pure and simple freedom of raising our own beef cow in our own pasture. 

He eats grass and drinks fresh spring water and has free access to all the sunshine he could ever want in his big old fashion pasture.  He isn’t medicated, vaccinated, chemically coated or filled with hormones.  He lives the peaceful life of a cow on a family farm.   

Raising your own beef really is not that difficult and leaves one to wonder why in the world we ever allowed ourselves to become mixed up in the Frankenstein factory meat-lots anyway?  Is it any wonder we are seeing the headlines in the papers this week about the largest beef recall in this nation’s history?

USDA recalls 143 million pounds of beef

Small Risk of Danger from Beef Recall

The largest beef recall in the nation’s history but “Don’t Worry”! 

I found a good article on the topic to be:  Consumers Told To Eat Local Meat — Where meat comes from, how it is processed are keys in the wake of a record beef recall

We hope to encourage other families to seek out alternatives to the regular factory system through either raising your own, buying from a family farm or utilizing a coop for your meat purchases.  For our family, the road to being self-sufficient in the area of producing home grown meat, has been a long and greatly anticipated journey–one we haven’t arrived at yet, however, news such as these food recalls only furthers our resolve to think and grow with sustainable, generational intent. 

More to come on this subject…

After supper the boys get in a little light reading by the fire on a very blistery cold winter’s night….

These Salatin books win hands down in the minds of these farm boys:  Salad Bar Beef and Pastured Poultry Profits. Tonight, we heard Salatin wisdom in the form of  two boys excited about the books they were reading……The constant “Did you know..” followed by some piece of sustainable farming insight or some funny story or some great idea they are going to pursue became very entertaining. 

Technically, these books aren’t written for 10 year old boys, however, these boys have used the Salatin books as well as the knowledge they have gained through growing practical experience here on the farm, listening to sustainable farming cd’s, reading farming magazines and other books and attending conferences to grow their knowledge and maturity well beyond their age—Well, they are ready to make a go at it!

They both are in the process of starting up business here on the farm.  One with raising beef, one with poultry. 

Tonight, I paid my debt on 5 dozen chicken eggs to the 12 year old after he asked the question over supper, “Do I get to charge a late fee to someone that doesn’t pay their bills?”  I got the hint.  Remember he submitted me a bill for his chicken eggs 2 days ago! 

I caught myself thinking a very agrarian thought today as I looked out into the field and watched our cows munching on some fresh hay in the middle of a frigid January winter.  The happy thought hit me, “Look, our milk and meat eating hay!” 

I never use to see cows as anything else but a cow.  However, the agrarian life has opened up an entire wing of thought and introspection like never before. 

Not only that, but it has greatly expanded the subjects of conversation at the supper table. 

In other farm news, our goats are ready to be picked up from the breeder.  However, we have to wait until the weather warms up a bit or we might end up with goats that get pneumonia??  It is strange to think that not too many months ago, it was 100 degrees hotter than it is tonight. The 2 super baby chicks are doing great out in the milk barn in their warming box.  We are still unsure if the milk cow was bred successfully, however, we should know in a few days.  Our hens are laying up a storm thanks to the boys focused efforts in separating them from the roosters, giving them a light and lots of kitchen scraps for food.  Our barn cat catches squirrels and the boys built a “plow” out of an old bicycle.  Now they are just anxious for the ground to thaw so they can ”plow” in the garden and finish their paying job of hauling dirt for mom.   

 Hey, it’s snowing.  A brief blizzard of sorts lasted a few minutes and then vanished away.  An exciting happening of the day.

Bonnie, the fat and furry milk cow.

The rest of us were a bit under the weather so to speak and spent the day resting– sipping down hot tea and soup.    The girls worked on our household notebooks (more on that later) while the boys spent afternoon playing games. 

Freezing bone broths or other types of broth in freezer bags or containers, make an easy way to make homemade soup rather quickly.  The above soup is a mixture of deer and chicken broth with diced potatoes, cut carrots, diced red and green pepper and chopped onion.  Add a couple of crushed cloves of garlic and a dash of cayenne.   Add salt and pepper to taste and throw in chopped cabbage a few minutes before removing from the heat.  Cabbage makes an excellent addition to any soup.   

Mrs. C. brought this ad to us last weekend.  Apparently we were not the only one’s who had a Monster Turkey for Thanksgiving! - Great ad!..

However, in our case, the turkey was not fighting for space in the freezer - he was too busy taking up oven space.  It was the cow and the pig fighing over the freezer space.  Eventually though they both learned to share the space available and get along like old field friends… at least when the light is on.  Who knows what they do when the door is closed?