The calves are born in the spring. They stay with mama until weaning time, which is sometime in November. At this point, we put them in a pasture by themselves where they stay until they are well over a year old. Soon afterwards, their diet is supplemented with locally grown hormone-free/antibiotic-free corn. This is what gives beef it’s highly prized marbling texture and increases the meats flavor and tenderness.
At the beginning of the next summer, when we see the calves approaching their optimal weight, we begin contacting our customers and set an appointment up with our butcher at Swiss Meat. A quaint locally owned family business (but that’s a story for another day).
After two or three weeks processing time, The Farmer and I pick up the meat and bring it back to the farm so our local customers can pick up their meat from the farm where it was raised.
The steak that took 16 minutes on a hot grill took 16 months to prepare.
So we savor every bite!
This is what we had for supper last night. I also made Homemade Peach Cobbler for dessert.
3 comments:
16 months? Interesting. We hope to have enough land to raise our own beef someday. For now we buy off local farmers as available.
You're fortunate to have a local farmer. They are getting few and far between.
Love your post on http://zucchinisummeretsy.blogspot.com/ about the Splash into Summer Water Fun. Thanks for sharing!
Great information everyone should know and think about. We take for granted being able to go to the store and buy our meat so easily. The last few years we have bought our beef from some friends who have a local farm. I have a much deeper appreciation for the whole process. I am teaching my grand kids the process too. I host a weekly linky party called The Gathering Spot and would it if you'd share something sometime. Have a wonderful weekend!
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