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Rebirth: A Season of Hope & Excitement

written by

Sue King

posted on

May 22, 2020

Today I have been thinking about the long line-ups we have all faced at the grocery stores. Are you tired of waiting in long line-ups only to find that the shelves are empty when you get there? You may not realize it, but there is another option.

When we watch the news we are hearing about meat shortages caused by the shutdown of major packing plants. If you were to ask a small farmer they would tell you that there is not a shortage of meat. It is a broken supply chain that causes the empty shelves at the grocery store. Did you know that there are local farms that raise clean, healthy meat that aren’t reliant on these huge corporations?

The last time I went to Costco for a few items the experience was strange to me. On the farm when we need to control the movement of animals with the least amount of stress we move them through a handling system that is similar to a maze. This is how I felt when I lined up with all the other folks waiting to do their shopping. I felt like I was being herded. I also noticed how distrustful people were of each other. Even the cashiers wouldn’t hardly look at you.

My children are all grown up now and don’t usually shop with me. I feel so bad for the moms out there who have more than one child. My daughter-in-law told me that she was not even allowed to bring all her children with her on their weekly shopping trips. She is fortunate to have family that can take care of her children while she shops. But what about those mom’s who don’t have a support system of family around them. How can they even get groceries? How do you all cope?

I am so thankful that we can raise most of our food and do not have to rely on the grocery stores. I believe that we farm for bigger reasons though than just to feed ourselves. We have an obligation to provide our community with access to this health-giving food raised by farmers who truly care. We are a small family farm that serves our customers directly.

Sure, we have been faced with challenges of our own during this time of crisis, but life on the farm continues as it has for generations.  Our jobs have not disappeared, but we are finding more people who are seeking options to the grocery store shortages. We are learning how to adjust the farm to meet the new requests for locally grown food.

As we enter this season of busyness on the farm we will be slowing down on the blog. This allows us to focus on doing our job of raising food well. We will be sharing this season with you through more farm photos.

When you subscribe you can download your free copy of our 4 Fabulous Pastured Pork Recipes booklet.


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Are you Absolutely Satisfied with Store-Bought Pork?

Are you Absolutely Satisfied with Store-Bought Pork?

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY PORK DISHES ALWAYS HAVE SO MANY SWEET SAUCES ON THEM? For many years this question never crossed my mind. Until we started raising and eating our own pasture-raised pork. But what lead us to start raising pigs?  Neither Larry nor I had much experience with pigs growing up. We started our married life buying all our pork in the grocery store, but then switched to sourcing it from a neighboring conventional pork producer. We were not aware that most of the pork that is available in the grocery stores comes from pigs that have never seen the light of day. They spend their whole life crowded into huge hog barns. They are fed an industry standard diet of grain with no green, living food at all. They are crowded into small spaces with many other pigs where their natural ability to move is restricted. Much to our surprise and horror, we discovered that the neighbor we were purchasing our pork from was raising them no differently than what we could get in the store. At that time, little did we know that eventually Larry would face a digestive issue from this type of pork. After certain meals he would feel sick to the stomach and end up with diarrhea. It got so bad before we clued into the cause. When we quit eating pork these issues went away. Now we had a dilemma. We really like pork but couldn’t eat it anymore. Being the DIY homesteaders we were back in those days we decided to buy a couple little pigs and raise them ourselves. We knew that we didn’t want to raise them in a barn. So outside they went. These were the happiest pigs I ever saw. They were free to roam around their pasture, rooting in the soil and wallowing in the mud while searching for whatever they thought was tasty to eat. We fed them grains from a neighbor, kitchen scraps and milk from our milk cow. When they were big enough to harvest, we sent them to the processor, not knowing if we would even be able to eat this pork. Much to our delight Larry had no adverse reaction to the meat. It was delicious! The meat was firm, not mushy like barn raised pork. It also had a richness to it that we had never experienced before.  No more bland and flavorless conventional pork for us.  No sauces required! We thought that we couldn’t be the only people who had experienced something similar and wished for a pleasurable eating experience. This success started us on a new farming adventure, raising pastured pork for sale. Encouraged by the success we had with our first pigs we decided to purchase our breeding herd. We have tried many breeds of pigs over the years and have settled on the Berkshire breed. They are a heritage pig that matures slower thus producing an excellent quality meat and the best lard fat that I think you can get. I have heard it said that Berkshire pork is the gold standard of pork among chefs. Besides that, they are very personable and entertaining to have around!  And mischievous. I truly believe from our personal experience that all animals that we raise for food need to be able to live in conditions that are natural for them and have the ability to express their God-given characteristics. When we domesticated animals, we became responsible to steward them well. We strive to do just this with all our animals. One of my favorite cuts of pork is the Boston Butt Roast.  It is juicy, tender, melt-in-your mouth meat. This is the cut that pulled-pork is made from. It is an economical cut that we also use to make ground pork and our special gluten-free, nitrate-free sausages. When you purchase our pasture-raised pork you will experience what real pork should taste like. We offer a variety of options when it comes to purchasing our pasture-raised pork.   Individual cuts to suit your needs. Pork Chops, Traditional salt-cured and smoked ham and bacon, Whole Tenderloin, Boston Butt Roasts, Ground Pork, Breakfast Sausages (Nitrate-free, Sugar-free and Filler-free). Coming soon!  Our "1/4 Pork Bundle."  Our newest addition to our pastured-pork line-up.  This bundle is perfect for a smaller family or if you have limited freezer space.  It will consist of a variety of the individual cuts, including Pork Chops, Pork Sirloin Steak, Ham Steak, Bacon, Ground Pork and Sausage. And, last but not least if you want to customize the cuts you receive, we have whole hogs available.   You can find all of these options in our online store. Do you want to try my simple Boston Butt Roast recipe? It’s so simple. I place the roast on a rack in my cast-iron dutch-oven. Add a little water. Sprinkle chopped onions on top (I used my home-grown dehydrated onions) salt and pepper. Roast until the internal temperature reaches 160F. I slice it and serve with apple sauce, oven roasted potatoes and a veggie.  You can purchase our pasture-raised pork from our online store or from us at the Grande Prairie Farmers Market on Fridays or Saturdays.

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