-
From the kitchen….
….from time to time we try to bring you recipes that have stood the test of time. And this is a classic from Gracie Allen. Sorry, if you’re under the age of 60 you may not have heard of her but she was one of the great cooks of all time. Here is her classic recipe for roast beef: Gracie Allen Recipe for Roast Beef 1 large Roast of beef 1 small Roast of beef Take the two roasts and put them in the oven. When the little one burns, the big one is done. The man in the picture of course was her sous chef, George Burns.
-
The “low cost” of beef….
….well, if you import it from Tasmania anyway. Our recent round-table discussion opened up a number of avenues that the “old reporter” in me couldn’t resist. One was the discovery that US Wellness, the largest marketer of grass fed beef on the Internet, was importing some of its meat from Tasmania. (Yes, I had to look on a map, too. It’s about 100 miles south of Australia.) Turns out their northern soil is practically perfect for grazing. Couple that with low wages and low land costs, throw in cheap shipping on boats returning to the States that would otherwise be empty, and you can see what American producers are up…
-
Roundtable: Can I make money selling grass fed beef?
It’s a question that comes up whenever a new Devon breeder recognizes the gourmet quality of the meat in his pasture: can I sell this animal at a reasonable profit or do I have to settle for the price dictated by the auction barn? That same new Devon breeder also quickly becomes discouraged when he realizes he can’t produce enough meat for the commercial marketplace. Not many Devon breeders have the numbers necessary to supply the needs of just one store much less a major supermarket chain or a wholesaler that buys thousands of steers at a crack. The marketing problem seems insurmountable. Edward Taylor of Vermont wrote us recently…
-
A milestone (of sorts)….
….part of the main Thistle Hill herd making its final move of the winter. The stockpiled grass in what we call River Pasture is about 10 inches tall and we estimate this will take us to about the end of March. That could mean we have grazed the main herd through the winter for the first time in our history. For that we have to thank the lessons we learned in our sessions with Holistic Management International. The second thing that pleases us is that we had forecast to make this move on March 1st, and that was a forecast made last April. So we were off by just four…
-
Where did all the flowers go….
….one of the blogs this weekend posted pictures of high school kids from 1969. The pictures were originally in Life magazine and the subject was high school fashions. Fun and interesting….but…. But the comments quickly fastened on just one thing: there were no girls who were fat! Clearly, something has happened in the past 40 years….something really frightening. http://www.leenks.com/link421304.html
-
You have to care a lot….
….to brave a cold February evening to talk about pastures. Cliff Miller of nearby Mt. Vernon farm in Sperryville was host to a group of grass fed farmers to discuss the finer points of raising all-natural beef. Cliff does a better job than most of us in documenting the results he’s achieved and he’s getting excellent results. Mt. Vernon raises not only beef but chickens, pigs and sheep on one of the oldest farms in Rappahannock county. The group of holitistic farmers meets regularly to compare notes and offer encouragement in this still experimental method of farmers.
-
Goodby grass; hello corn…
A college study indicates the high price of corn and soybeans, thanks to the bio-fuel demand, is robbing us of grass and wetlands at an alarming rate. The research was by a team from South Dakota State University and it says we’re losing grasslands at the rate of five per cent a year. That is a major ecological threat and, according to the scientists, it would take us decades to recover from the setback to natural carbon sequestration, even if we wanted to. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/02/13/1215404110.short?rss=1 This is all the handiwork of Big Government and Big Ag, of course. As a blogger often puts it: “the country is in the very best…
-
Margie Fry, R.I.P….
Margie Fry, the wife of Gearld Fry, died this morning, February 20th, after a long battle with cancer. Fry, of course, is the man largely credited with sparking the resurgence of Devon cattle in America both with the import of Rotokawa genetics and his crusading fervor for the breed. With Ridge Shinn and David Schoumacher, Fry founded the North American Devon Association in 2006. In recent years, Fry has devoted his attention to the American Herbataurus Society, an organization supporting crossing of Rotokawa bulls to other breeds. Margie Fry was a beautiful Christian woman who lived her faith to the fullest and her life was an inspiration to all of us who…
-
What about bone marrow?
Don’t know. Certainly love what I taste when I have osso bucco. But I have never really focused on the subject until our butcher, Doug Aylestock of Blue Ridge Meats, cut up some from our latest animal to introduce us to the treat. I’ve always been really happy with the soup bones we get from our animals and so I was only mildly interested. Wooz, on the other hand, got very excited when she saw the four bags of marrow bones on the gurney. Apparently marrow bones are just the ticket if you want to make serious beef stock….waaay better than the store-bought stuff. Not only that, but apparently it’s…
-
Spinach pops….
….now here’s a wonderful idea: spray vegetables with sugar so kids will eat them. No, really. A serious suggestion from the “experts” in nutrition. http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/02/18/sugar-mist-makes-veggies-more-palatable-to-kids/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+foxnews%2Fhealth+%28Internal+-+Health+-+Text%29