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All dirt is not the same…..
Water (not oil) may be our most precious resource but dirt isn’t far behind. And with all the changes we’ve made to our pastures at Thistle Hill (and the addition of more acreage) we thought it was time for a complete analysis of our soil. So last week we brought in Tellus Consulting again for a survey. Tim Woodward (on the left) took samples in seven key and representative pastures. Not sure who the old geezer was on the right who showed up to watch. The hundreds of samples are sent off to a lab in Ohio…put through a number of tests to identify the mineral content, fertility, pH and…
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As I was saying….
…before our modem quit. Well, more precisely, before three modems and three techs finally solved the problem. It is not with complete confidence that I try this post….I’ve gotten this far many times only to see the internet suddenly fade away. The headlines while you (we) were gone: Pork is sold out. More beef and pork in late May or June. Rave reviews which I’ll share later. All our older bulls but one are sold; we deliver 180 in a few days. The next crop of bulls and heifers are doing beautifully and we’ll have quite a few arguments over how many we can keep. We really are at our…
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Another helping of slime, kids?
We thought it kinda funny-sad-outrageous recently when the Fed Food Police confiscated some school lunch boxes and substituted cafeteria meals instead. The contents of the lunch boxes were deemed “unhealthy” but when we read what the Feds proscribed—starting with chicken nuggets—we concluded Mom’s cooking may not have been perfect but it was a whole lot better than Michelle’s Menu. Now comes word that a decision back in the Bush administration perfecting a school lunch burger—something scientists that investigate the project call “pink slime”—is being implemented. The Feds are buying millions of pounds of the stuff—made up of meat trims, connective tissue, and “you best not ask”—for your local school cafeteria. …
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It was bound to happen….
Someone would eventually realize how glamorous cows really are. And it’s finally happened….in a Dallas boutique, of course. These cow mannequins are sporting not only the latest designer gowns, but thousands of dollars in jewelry. We think our cows are gorgeous just the way they are…but maybe a little sparkle on their ear tags would be nice.
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Not all food is created equal….
A good friend has written an article on food production that we think deserves wider dissemination than we offer here…..but we’ll do our bit. Organizations such as Weston A. Price are stout advocates of what is termed “nutrient dense food”. It’s a phrase that is beginning to find its way into popular literature and Bill Roberts, of 12 Stones Grassland Beef, offers his take on it below. We think he’s right and spend a good deal of money each year trying to improve the mineralization of our soil. We also spend about 10 times what the average farmer does on natural, organic mineral supplements for our cows. America’s soils were…
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First they came for the raw milk farmer…
…and eventually it will be locally-grown meat. (In fact, it’s already started.) The unholy alliance of Industrial Agriculture and Big Government are engaged in a campaign of harassment and intimidation targeting the small farmer who sells his products directly to the consumer. It’s all under the guise of protecting consumer health, but in fact the real danger to the consumer is that food in the fancy wrapping in the supermarket. This isn’t political, though Michelle is the only one closer to the President than Big Ag’s lobbyists. But this campaign to discourage local food production has gone on through several Republican and Democrat administrations. It seems to be intensifying now…
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Tie breaking vote…
Ever since he calved two years ago, Blizzard here has been one of our leading candidates for Thistle Hill herd bull. He’s the son of Watson and what is probably our best cost and visitors generally singled him out. But we wavered between Blizzard (technically U180) and U2. Also a Watson son but by another damn. Now, the decision has been made for us. Michael Heller of Clagett Farm near Upper Marlboro has purchased Blizzard for his herd. It was a tough decision for him, too, partly because he wasn’t sure about Blizzard status as a horned bull. Of course, it’s unlikely that there’ll be any horned calves since all…
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Going, going….
….our latest offering of Pork Paks is just about sold out. We’re down to our last two boxes and, when they’re gone, we’ll have only a few individual packages of sausage and ham steaks left. Each box contains: Pork chops 6 Ham steaks 4 Bacon 2 Sausages (bratwurst, sweet Italian, breakfast links) 2 packages each The box weighs about 15 pounds and costs just $5.50/lb per actual weight. If you live within driving distance of Hume, Virginia and want to try our delicious, natural, pure pork contact us at info@thistlehill.net or phone (540) 364-2090. Sorry, we do not ship our meat.
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On our home page….
We wanted to alert those who skip our Home Page and come direct to this blog that we’ve posted some pictures of our 688 line-bred calves there. We’re not entirely convinced that breeding a sire (even one as good as Rotokawa 688) to his daughter is a good idea. But in these matters, at least, we think it’s a good idea to try something for ourselves before making a decision. So far, the results have been excellent. Of the 10 embryos implanted, we got seven calves…two males and five females. One of the bull calves died at about six months and, while we think it was the shock of a…
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About those gestation cages….
…here’s a picture of your McDonald’s breakfast Sausage McMuffin I ran across on a political blog today. The company is asking its producers to stop the practice…sometime in the future. But their recommendation is to put the sows in the same kind of crowded housing they use for their piglets and continue pumping them full of antibiotics and hormones to keep them growing and breeding….until they drop. For now, you can see the pigs can’t even turn around. Thistle Hill pigs are entirely free range, grazing with the cows and rooting for acorns. You may not have believed me the other day when I said we could tell they were…