Over the past few weeks I have discussed the difficulty in getting our first cut hay in the barn and we have had a bunch of questions about hay... What are the differences of first cut and second cut hay? Why do you wrap some hay in plastic and others not? What is wet hay? So I wanted to take a minute and answer all the questions in one post.
In my weekly newsletter I discussed the fact that I just finished some fall fertilization and a number of folks wrote and asked pasture, lawn, or garden fertility management questions. So instead of answering them all individually I have chosen to write a series of short post that describe some of the issues associated with managing soil fertility to maximize production and in our case animal health. This is the first in the soil series. I will introduce some of the variables, players and first steps associated with managing soil fertility.
I was asked by a customer: Is lamb raised like veal? The point they were concerned with is the in-humane nature that some veal is raised. Today I will try to address the similarities and differences between lamb and veal.
This is the last in a series of posts where we have been discussing how to eat a clean, nutritious, toxic free diet without breaking the bank. A few of the techniques we discussed were easy and only required a slight change in behavior. Some techniques, like todays will require a little sweat equity but are still an important part of eating clean. Today I want to discuss raising some of your own food and why it is important.
In the past few weeks we have discussed purchasing techniques that promote savings when you buy. Seasonal timing, volume buying and food preservation. In this installment I will discuss cut selection. Which piece of the animal or plant will you buy?
Last week we discussed buying bulk, generating savings and quality by timing your buy to the seasons. Purchasing when food is at it's ripest and most plentiful insures that it will also be at its least expensive of the year. So now that we have all that food, what do we do with it? That is the topic of todays discussion, Food Preservation.
In the previous posts on this subject we have talked about what is eating clean. We have also discussed the fact of buying food seasonally gives you the best chance of buying the best tasting foods and the least cost. This week I am going to talk about buying bulk. Buying in volume saves money buy getting volume discounts.
In this weeks installment we find out that possibly the most important attribute of eating clean on a budget is to buy foods and eat seasonally. In every area of the country we might have slightly different seasons but all foods and geographies have different seasons that produce the most flavorful foods. If you want to spend the least possible on great foods you want to buy them when they are not only at their best but when they are most plentiful and least expensive.
I have thought about this subject for a long time and have threatened to write a presentation on the subject for years and just haven't gotten around to it. So I thought this might be a better venue. To spend and hour or 2 every Sunday for the next month talking and writing about how can you eat a nutrient dense, toxic free diet without going broke. This is the first in the series and will layout the different problems and the different subject areas I will cover and will act as an introduction.
Of all the animals in the barnyard the one that has changed the most from industrial agriculture and selective breeding is the meat chicken. They are barely chickens anymore. Read and see what they have done to this once glorious animal and we will try to reverse the trend with a combination of new breeds from heritage breeds.
As we continue through our journey of understanding the relationship between genetics and how we raise our animals, we have come to the conclusion that many of the common breeds today cannot be successfully raised on pasture because the survivability of these animals in a natural setting has been bred out of them. Today we will look at the relationship between Pastured Pork and heritage breeds of hogs.
In Part 1, I laid out how man has been selectively breeding livestock for 1000's of years to develop livestock that met our purposes. But since WWII, we started to industrialize agriculture and have developed breeds that have moved far away from their initial purpose. I will look at cattle this week to discuss why we have chosen to raise South Poll Beef cattle.
One of the most frequently asked questions of us is: What type of cattle do you have? So in a response to that question and a few others I will try to explain not only the breeds of livestock we have here at Tierra Verde Farms but also why we have them here. This first installment will deal with issues of how CAFO (Confinement Animal Feeding Operations) farms have negatively influenced livestock genetics as it relates to the ability of livestock to thrive in a more natural setting. Which is what we try to do in pasture based livestock farms and ranches. In subsequent installments I will discuss specifics of poultry, cattle and hog breeds.
The Flat steaks are great flavor at affordable prices. They are also real flexible as ingredients as well as stand alone. I wrote this piece to help you decide which is best for you: Flank, Skirt or Flat Iron!
This installment will deal with the curing and labeling of bacon. There is a lot of confusion about nitrites and there use in the curing process and how the government has labeled alternatives to synthetic Potassium Nitrite. I will attempt to make the cloudy clear.
This is the first in a series on our favorite food, Bacon. In this installment we will look at the history of bacon and what is bacon. Future installments will look at different types of cures, labeling laws and we will have a discussion of the subject of nitrites as well. Hope you enjoy!
Look at why pastured eggs from Tierra Verde Farms are great tasting but more importantly good for you. Review some of the nutritional differences between pastured eggs and conventional grocery store eggs.
When shopping for eggs there is a myriad of terms used to define what type of egg you might be buying. This week we will describe each of these terms and discuss their possible impacts on egg quality.
This is the first in a series of posts that will discuss chicken eggs. I will layout the topics that we will cover in each of these short topics as we explore what makes an egg such a great food nutritionally and tastes great as well. What are the differences in types and looks of eggs and what are the differences worth paying for when you buy eggs.
In this the 5th and final entry in our series on Why Grass-fed? We will be focusing on the benefits to the whole community. How the combination of environmental and health benefits are good for the community at large. But there are other maybe more important benefits to the community and we will explore those benefits specifically.
Health Benefits of Grass-Fed Products - Meat, eggs, and dairy products from pastured animals are ideal for your health. Compared with commercial products, they offer you more "good" fats, and fewer "bad" fats. They are richer in antioxidants; including vitamins E, beta-carotene, and vitamin C. Furthermore, they do not contain traces of added hormones, antibiotics or other drugs.
This week we will look to see how cattle and sheep themselves are a large beneficiary of being grass-fed. Grass-fed and finished livestock are not only happier and healthier they avoid the list of chronic health problems that plague the commercial beef industry causing the agriculture industry to be the largest user of antibiotics in the world. Just like humans on junk food that end up with chronic health concerns the same goes for livestock on junk diets.
As we continue in our series of Why Grass-fed beef we will examine the 4 different areas literally from the ground up. Today we will discuss the environment, followed by the cattle, then people and finally society at large. Today we are considering only the environmental benefits and impacts of grass-fed beef vs conventional beef.
This is the first of a 5 part series on the how and why's of grass-fed beef. Each post will be brief in nature and try to answer the the questions each consumer should have about the food they eat especially grass-fed beef and lamb. This first installment will deal with what is grass-fed beef, and subsequent installments will deal with the health benefits for consumers of grass-fed beef, the health benefits for livestock that are grass-fed, the health benefits for the environment of raising livestock that are grass-fed and the benefits to the community at large in raising grass-fed beef and lamb.
