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The Alpha and the Omega….
….it was one of those days that makes raising Devon both a joy and so fulfilling. We had checked the young mother-to-be a few hours earlier. Nothing. After a few errands, we went back out….and there was the latest addition to our herd. The hour or so old heifer cleaned up and waiting to be tagged. The was mother’s first….and she handled it like she had read the book. The dam is a granddaughter of a young cow we bought years ago from the Tranthams’ Leonoir Creek Farm. The sire was an English pairing: Ivan Rowe’s Snowdrop and Shiamala Comer’s Falcon. Just a few miles away, two of our bull calves…approaching two…
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There’s no place like home…2…
….our farm manager Duane Ard has had a remarkable string of beautiful photographs recently…all taken with his cell phone…all taken on our farm. On our first date, and knowing my wandering nature, Wooz told me firmly: “I want to make one thing clear…I will never leave this farm!” Yesterday, one of those moments. A young mother leads her very first calf to safety away from the herd at sunset. The Blue Ridge is the backdrop.
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Words to live by….
….from grandson, Sergei’s, Facebook page. (this is me keeping an eye on you, Sergei!)
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There’s no place like home…..
….we have some special places we like to visit: the Cotswolds, Tuscany, Provence. But when we look around, we are content right here. This picture is of an adjacent property the family purchased a few years ago….the Thistle Hill east pasture is across the road…and the Blue Ridge mountains beyond that. Photo by Duane Ard.
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The cycle begins again….
….with our first calf of the season….a Traditional Devon™ bull calf, TDA 20. He’s an adventuresome fellow. Here, just a half day old, and he’s returning from a jaunt about 500 yards from his mother. She waited by our Gator as he sauntered back across the field. The dam is TDA Cashtiller 2, daughter of Tilbrook Cashtiller… a producer of great bulls in England. I need grandson Church to help with the tagging now. He uses his track skills from Denison University to catch them in the open field. Try that in a 10-acre paddock sometime! To complete the pedigree: the sire is the son of Essington Buttercup and Ashott…
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Behind the scenes…..
….many, though probably not most, consumers of grass fed beef know the right questions to ask a farmer to be sure they’re getting the “real thing”. The problem is most consumers don’t know their farmer, which is why we think buying “local” is just as important as buying “grass fed”. Simply put: a good deal of what passes for grass fed is really finished on grain, and that destroys all the benefits of a pure, natural product. But the farmer is only half the story. The butcher has just as much to do with the quality and purity of the meat you buy. That’s why we surveyed a number of…
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I’ve lost track…..
….of the number of food warnings…and the many nutrition advisories…that have turned out to be dead wrong. We lucky we’ve survived the advice of the experts. Here’s the latest: http://news.investors.com/blogs-capital-hill/100715-774507-government-advice-on-whole-milk-has-been-wrong.htm
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We’re just sayin’….
Thanks to Dehaven’s Butcher in Winchester, Virginia.
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Yes, we’ve got pork….
….though it’s still on the hoof. We do expect harvest in time for the holidays. The larger pigs are approaching 250 pounds or a little more. Our target weight is 300. This group includes Gloucester Old Spot though most are crossed with Tamworth, our favorite for bacon. Next year we may experiment with raising a greater number but we’ll confine ourselves to offering only halves and wholes. We’ll be making some changes in the way we market our beef as well. Photo by our son-in-law, Curt Humphreys.
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By way of explanation….
….we haven’t been able to enjoy our fall pastures much….or update this blog….for quite a while. So below is a recent picture by our manager, Duane Ard, and now the explanation. A month ago, Wooz fell on our gravel road and broke her hip. A routine x-ray then revealed a small mass in her lung. So our hours have been filled with frequent trips to the University of Virginia hospital (90 minutes away), where Wooz first underwent a complete hip replacement, then a Gamma knife treatment to clear up several brain lesions and finally the start of chemo for her lung. There’s still a long road to go, but she is…