Butchering Day, Part Two

Man, yesterday was tough.

First off, I have to hand it to the guys that came out with the mobile abbatoir (isn't that a nice sounding word?) from Del Fox Meats. They worked together so seamlessly that it was nearly a dance: beautifully orchestrated, every man having a job to do that overlapped with the others. It was really quite stunning to watch, all things considered. From start to finish, they were done with everything -clean up included- in under 45 minutes. (It takes me about that long to process one rabbit. One! Rabbit!!)

I took a lot of photos while they were working, and some of them are very graphic. The ones I've chosen to use today are still powerful images, but in many cases are more so in their perspective than they are in actual blood. Note that I said in many cases- it was butchering day, after all, so there are a few bloody ones. That being said, I'm relegating most of the photos and this post to "after the jump" status. This way, if you don't want to see and/or read about what happened yesterday, you totally don't have to. I get it. This is not for everyone.

If you want to continue, please click below.

Friday Photos

What a week, folks...TGIF; I'm ready to put this one to bed! The rain started on Tuesday, and with it came a major fibro flare- a one-two punch combo that I really could do without. It'll pass soon; just need to ride it out for now. I did manage to get a few pictures taken, in between raindrops, though! Here's what it looked like:

Bee in Cucumber Flower... thank goodness it was sunny on Monday, at least!

Did you say... apples?

Nom, nom, nom,slobber. (I had no idea cattle were so... drooly.)

The tomato forest. So far, I've eaten three cherry tomatoes and
picked 2 full-sized ones. YAY!

The new yarn, on the loom. You can't see how shiny it is from this picture, but
it's going to be gorgeous when it's finished. More to come!

Glacier National Park, here we come!

Good Fences and Good Neighbors

On Saturday, Alex and I headed over to the neighbors' house- it was our turn to check on the electric fence and trim back any stray weeds that were encroaching on the hot wire. It was also my first opportunity to see our latest sustainable food project in action: 

If they had names, they might just be Lenny and Squiggy.

 The boys were a little wary of me, at first, despite their barreling across the pasture to see us. They stopped just short of the fence (much to my relief)- maybe 10 feet or so, to get a better look before coming closer. I was more than just a little wary too, I will admit. I don't have personal experience with bovines of any sort, let alone two good-sized steers running at me. So, I opted to make friends the best way I know how: with food. 

I picked a huge handful of grass from my side of the fence, and offered it to the fellas. They seemed pleased with the gift, and apparently figured I must be okay. They came right over to eat the grass and see what else I had. My gloves were interesting to them, as well... I had to keep moving my hands to avoid getting nibbled. They were surprisingly gentle, though, which I wasn't really expecting. Oh, and the white-faced one in front likes having the top of his head scratched, particularly around his ears. 

We didn't spend a lot of time there; it was just a quick stop to check the fence and make sure everyone was doing well, but I was really pleased to finally see our co-op beef plan in action. These guys will spend the summer being rotated between two pastures, getting nice and fat off of the land... and come winter-time our three families will have a nice supply of beef in our freezers. I really couldn't ask for much more.

As usual, I'm super excited to see how this progresses and to learn new things. I've been reading about how other folks raise their beef for years (thanks, Matron of Husbandry and Head Farm Steward!) and while I'm a firm believer that reading is a great foundation, there's nothing quite like hands-on practical learning. Most importantly, though, I have to say a huge thank you to our neighbors Scott and Beth for providing the know how and the home base for this new adventure. I truly couldn't be more grateful.

Have you ever raised your own beef? I'd love to hear about it! Come on over to the Facebook page where you can post photos and tell me all about your experiences with cattle- beef and dairy, both!