What's cookin'?

Last July, we had our two pigs, Chuck and Gloria, slaughtered and had 100 pounds of sausage made into link and bulk. The bulk sausage has been wonderful mixed with ground venison and nade into burgers, meatballs, chili, spaghetti sauce, or just about anything ground beef would be put into. The advantage is it is already seasoned. Adding the ground venison, improves the gamey taste of the venison plus adds enough fat to make it cook better.
This year, we plan to purchase our pigs a little later in the year, probably May, so that we will have more natural foods for them to forage, saving us the cost of feed. Our enormous garden usually has enough surplus and by products to satisfy the chickens and a few pigs. Anyway, May pigs will give us November hogs.
We intend to make lard again this year. I thoroughly enjoyed using the lard. I didn't ask for the leaf fat (from the kidneys) out of ignorance. But I can promise you there will not be as much waste this time around. I want the trotters (feet) for dog treats, along with the ears. We will purchase a smoker to cook them like the store-bought kind. Some of these parts seem like they would make great dog food if cooked with a grain like barly or rice with a few veggies thrown in for good measure. I hate to waste any part of a hog who gave its life for us!
In regards to the smoker, the bacon made from Chuck and GLoria was really good made in the oven, but my husband wants to smoke it next time, as well as the hocks, some hams, etc. I am sure a smoker would make excellent venison jerky and chipotle peppers, too. In fact, the charcutterie book I was given has many recipes requiring a smoker.
Forget all that nonsense about lard being bad for you. When has anyone done a study on the health benefits of Crisco or Snowdrift?? I firmly believe that a pig eating all natural foods has healthier fat than any can of vegetable shortening. So since my ancestors ate lard for centuries, I am certain that this won't kill us any faster than eating McDonald's food or frozen pizza!
Enough for now, I have work to do...

Meet the Goats

Here are some shots of our new buckling, Splash. He is a purebred Nubian. We look forward to having some colorful offspring this year. Nancy is our only Boer doe. She is due to kid in March-April--her first freshening. Tango is our matriarch. She is a beautiful Nubian doe who gave us four beautiful kids in January. Her daughter from 2009 is in our herd, too. Bambi is a solid brown Nubian with roan ears and some black along her back and on her legs. She is bred to Splash and will hopefully kid in June.

Photos from the farm

Here are some "before" photos of the old homeplace we plan to restore. This is the house in which my father was born. He lived here until he was about 7 years old. The house was built c.1923, by my grandfather's oldest brother. Along with the house, there is a barn and a big shop. Plans are to restore all of them to working condition and use them in our agritourism business.
The eggs are a comparison of chicken, duck and goose eggs. The goose egg is in the center and is approximately twice as large as a brown chicken egg. The duck egg is the white egg in the lower right.
The peas were some we planted in late August as somewhat of a cover crop to improve nitrogen levels in soil. However, they made quite a good crop, which we have enjoyed through the winter.

Our First Blog

Rocking A Sustaianable Farm is the name of our newly formed farm business venture. My husband, Harlan, and I are both corporate people who just happened to grow up on farms about 5 miles apart in two adjacent counties in Georgia. Little did I know that the freckle-faced boy on my school bus would become my husband and farming partner twenty years later!Harlan and I have just had the most amazing weekend in Athens, GA at the Georgia Organics Annual Conference. We learned so much and met so many interesting people. Our hopes are to put into action some of the new ideas we have in regards to our farm. Within the upcoming two weeks we will begin renovating our 1920's barn, home, and shop; as we make progress we will post photos to keep you up to date.