-
The scorecard…
…for artificial insemination this year. And it’s a year where we seem to be focused on up-grading our regular herd. The first step is to get the cows in of course….and a new unrolled tasty bale of hay is a good appetizer. Over several days Church has ai-ed about 10 cows. The bulls he used included Tilbrook Sunset and Rotokawa 982. We’ve had excellent results with both perhaps 10 years ago but the progeny somehow got away from us. Our English friend Gavin Hunter was the breeder of Sunset…and he was also the source of embryos from Cashtiller, our favorite all-time cow. Rotokawa, of course, was developed by the legendary…
-
Thistle Hill ham…
..using Curt’s go-to recipe with thanks to “everydaymaven.com”. It starts with scoring the ham than patting on a mixture of cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and kosher salt. Have to punch cloves in, of course. After 1:15 in an oven, baste with a sixth of a cup of maple syrup. Cook 15 minutes more and baste with more maple syrup. Bake another 15 to 30 minutes and after your family has at it, it will look something like this! Call me a traitor, but no traditional Virginia ham ever tasted this good!
-
Christmas morning treats…
…at a customers home. Reserve you bacon now by contacting Church. Thistle Hill bacon is above the rest…he said modestly. …and a Christmas morning treat for the venerable Highwayman. He gets a year off and his very own bale of hay while we test his younger full brother in this year’s heifers! David
-
Christmas gift…
A Christmas gift for TDA 35… …his very own set of two-year old heifers! We start breeding our heifers about one month ahead of the main herd. That, and holding off until they’re 2+, makes it a little easier on young, still growing females. It also increases the percentage of successful rebreeding. TDA 35 is a full brother of our wonderful English bull Highwayman. His sire was Ashott Barton’s Millennium Falcon and his dam, Goldings Norah. David
-
Pigs first snowfall…
..and they got a kick out of it. Mackenzie got in the spirit, too! David
-
Heading out on assignment…
…a young pure traditional Devon bull out of Ashott Barton Tulip. F100 is 25 months old and just passed his breeding soundness test. His assignment is an easy one…servicing three young cows we sold bred to Paul and Lauren Rohwer in Ijamsville, Maryland plus a few others. Those Thistle Hill heifers have all calved and are now ready for rebreeding. With both an American herd and the english bloodlines we have to maintain a large inventory of herd bulls. Church has developed an important sideline offering them at stud. F100 will stay at the Rohwers for 70 days. It’s a cost effective way to build a herd! David
-
The Class of 2021…
…the next batch of piglets have arrived at Thistle Hill and will “graduate” next March! We’ve pretty much settled on crosses of Berkshire and Tamworth for our purposes…both are heritage English pigs known for their bacon and hams. We’ve also found they’re easy to handle…no minor attribute when dealing with pigs. Their predecessors incidentally are now in our freezers and you can order cuts. Of course you can also reserve one of the Class of 2021…a half or whole! Contact Church at (214) 802-1283churchhh@gmail.com David
-
November sunrise…
A crisp fall morning on the farm…as Church does the early morning rounds of the pastures. The Blue Ridge in the background. David
-
A true confession…
…I must admit I never liked pork much until we processed the first pigs raised at Thistle Hill. The difference between that pork and the factory-raised pork in restaurants and supermarkets was unbelievable…greater even than the gap between store-bought vegetables and the garden variety. Recently Carolyn prepared one of our ham steaks and it was delicious. She reports she used only some hot mango chutney sauce and cloves…cooked at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. The result: Not to be outdone, grandson Church thawed some pork chops for his dinner. Even the best steaks would have trouble competing with this! Since that first experience…I’ve tasted other pasture raised pork and it’s…
-
The final three…