The Good Slaughter

I watched this video this morning and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a good way to wake up and start my day. ;) This gentleman knows what he's doing with meat and loves what he does. Makes me miss the slaughtering line of work... I've always enjoyed that stuff.

Growth Spurts

Do y'all remember that little video I posted awhile back about the artisan butcher shop that's opening in my neck of the woods? Well, if you don't (or if you do, and want to see the video again), you can click HERE and time warp your way back real quick to see it.

Now, why am I asking you if you remember it? 

*Cough, cough* As of this morning, guess who is now a supplier for that shop? 

Yep, yours truly! Starting in July (hopefully; if not then, then August!), Goat Song Farm will begin supplying MEAT with pastured pork and pastured broilers!!! The broilers will be seasonal, but the pork will hopefully be year around. One nice thing about Oregon is that since we don't get snow here, or super cold temps (this year's coldest day was I think around 23 degrees?), we can pretty much just keep trucking along with the larger livestock outdoors. The owners of MEAT have also asked if I would be interested in supplying lamb, goat, or even duck, and while I like the idea of supplying lamb (very muchly so!), I'm not sure about the other two suggestions. I'd have to think about it, and do some math. 

Kyle and Amanda (owners of MEAT) came out to my stomping grounds today and we talked about my favorite subjects: animals, farming, and meat. We discussed heritage breeds, pricing, monthly numbers of animals, and all sorts of different topics while Gyp mischievously tugged and chewed at the end of his lead at my feet; looking more like some furry delinquent than a trusty farmhand. When our visit was over, we shook hands on the deal and verbally agreed on one thing: I'm in. GSF is experiencing a growth spurt, and I am beyond excited about this. The numbers are very doable, and I'll be able to slowly ease my way into it all. The hogs will be used to begin combating the ridiculously numerous blackberry stands, using Joel Salatin's methods for pastured pork. The broilers will follow along behind the ruminants in their traditional chicken tractors. The lamb may have to wait until next year... We'll see.

So that's my big piece of news for today. :) Growth spurts are a good thing. And something tells me I'm going to have a lot of stories to tell as Summer begins.

Subculture of Butchers

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video today, and figured I would share it on here with y'all. :)

Heads up though, I did notice a couple swear words in the middle of it... Bummer that they didn't edit those out. :-/

Exactly

Makin' Bacon

Pigs have really small hearts.

True fact.

I guess I had never thought about the size of a pig heart before... And then I couldn't believe how small it was when the butcher fished Mike's out. Make a fist with your hand; that's about how big the heart was. They were pretty big pigs; not as big as I wanted, but still a good size... And only a fist-sized heart to keep those porkers running? I thought it was interesting anyway. ;)

So yep, the butchers came, the butchers - ah - butchered, and then they left with two carcasses which will age for a week before being cut. All in forty minutes. I was in awe.

I had never met these two guys who were coming to deal with my hogs. I didn't even know where they were coming from. All I knew was that a total stranger in Dallas swore by them and told me that I absolutely had to use these guys if I was looking for a mobile butcher, and that I wouldn't be dissapointed. So I took the stranger's word and so far I feel pretty good about the decision.

I liked the butcher's sense of humor. :) Cheerful and at ease, he smiled and asked to see my hogs. I immediately felt comfortable with letting him take my Tamworths down and finish the job I had started. He and his working partner took a look around my humble pig pen, and then went to get their tools. It was time. 

Armed with a high-power rifle, and his partner with a knife, the two went back to where Mike and Sausage were. The butcher explained that he did his absolute best to take each pig down with one shot, and he would wait as long as needed to get that shot. Once a pig went down, his partner's job was to jump in and slit the jugular before the pig's heart stopped beating. 

I stood back and watched quietly.

Mike and Sausage were definitely patience testers. Used to human contact, they felt no reason to come and check the two intruders out, so they instead kept their heads down in the newest hole they were rooting up; blissfully intent on finding some small smackerel deep down in the cool depths of their composted bedding. I offered to get some grain to lure the boys where the butcher needed them, but he declined. He could wait, he said... He'd wait for the right moment. It probably only took five minutes before they got curious, but it seemed like a year. Mike lifted his head and looked at us, and that was all the butcher needed. The butcher's shot was uncannily accurate, and Mike went down with that one shot. The second guy stepped in and did his part; cleanly slitting the jugular right before Mike's body went into spasms. When shooting hogs and cows, there is ONE small spot that you have to hit if you want an instantaneous death. You draw an imaginary 'X' on the face. Ear to eyeball. And right in the middle of that X, just off center, is that one spot. 

Sausage was not bothered in the least by the sudden demise of his pal. The smell of hot blood excited him and he began looking for where the smell was coming from. Two minutes later, he too went down. 

The rest of the work went fast. The carcasses were hosed clean, and then the two men began working on skinning. They made it look so easy... I was envious of their little slaughtering rig and their wicked sharp knives. I leaned against the barn wall and quietly watched; only occasionally saying something, or laughing along with the butcher at something. He kept reiterating that it was 100% okay to ask questions if I had any; but being the quiet person that I am, I didn't have any to ask, save for how long they've been doing this and why they started; so I stayed quiet, enjoyed watching them work, and took mental notes of their methods. 

So, I do have to admit something... I may "enjoy" butchering/slaughtering, but no matter how many animals I do, the eyeballs always creep me out. Blood doesn't bug me, killing them doesn't phase me, gutting is no problem, but those eyeballs? Creepy. And once the hogs were were skinned, but their heads still remained on... Well, I tried not to look at that end of the carcass. Ever seen the eye of a pig? It looks like a human eye. Seriously. And with the head having been skinned too, it made a rather gruesome sight that took a couple minutes to get used it. 

Gore aside, I liked watching the butchers pull out all sorts of handy doodads to do their job. I think the coolest thing they pulled out was something that looked like a chainsaw and they used that little thing to zip right down the spine. *insert swoon* I've had to split a few carcasses before, but I always had to use a handsaw. It's slow, exhausting work. Made even more tedious by a slightly dull saw that had teeth too small for the job. -_- So watching them use their chainsaw deal had me smiling in envy. Now THAT'S a fun toy! 

Forty minutes. That's all it took. Mike and Sausage went from squealing on the hoof, to hanging carcasses that frankly looked nothing like a pig. The butchers packed up and I smiled at the simplicity of my morning. There wasn't even a mess for me to clean up. Not a single trace that they had been here. They took the carcasses back to their shop where they'll hang for a week or so, then be cut up and I'll go and pick up all that lovely meat. 

And I'm sure you've noticed by now that there aren't any pictures. :-/ I thought about bringing the camera out, but decided not to. This time anyway. Let's ease our way into this butchering stuff... I don't need any flack about graphic images right now. 

My little brothers who named Mike and Sausage told me yesterday that they want pink pigs next time. And their names have to be Bob and Bacon. I smiled and told them I'd see what I could do...

Not a bad gig, this hog stuff... I think I kinda' like it. :)

Tomorrow

I had chicken blood spattered all over my arms and skirt this afternoon, when a family member came running up with the phone in her hand. "It's for you!" She mouthed dramatically, and motioned me over. I was in the middle of butchering some chickens. Sigh... Did I really have to stop what I was doing? Guess so.

Turns out that it was the mobile butcher, calling to ask if we could reschedule the hog slaughtering from Friday to tomorrow morning. 

I fleetingly smirked at the irony of the situation as I spoke with the butcher while trying to rub dried chicken blood off my free arm. Two days in a row of slaughtering; I was game for it. I told him yes, and agreed to meet him in my driveway at 9am the next day.

Oh Mike and Sausage... You've been fun boys, but you're getting to big for me. It's time to go to freezer camp.

I haven't decided yet if I'll keep the camera handy tomorrow, but I'm sure I'll have stories to tell. :) This will be my first hog slaughtering, and I'm looking forward to it.

Yep, That's Me

*Gasp* "It's beautiful! I want it! It'd be the perfect birthday present, too... Just look at it: sleek, modern, well designed, it's got everything! Can I put it on my birthday wish list?"

Okay, three guesses as to what I was swooning over last night, using those words.

Three guesses.

 A barn? A piece of farm equipment? A fancy little car? A swimming pool? (let's not note that that's actually four guesses right there...)

No, nope, no. And I'm most likely shooting down your guesses too. ;)

Dear friends, I was swooning over something I would love to have, but could never afford. 

Believe it or not, it was a USDA certified mobile slaughtering unit. Click the link (highlighted words) to see that gorgeous beast!

Isn't she lovely? Okay, the price isn't so lovely, sitting at $205,000, but folks we're talking 3 tons of carcass capacity in the cooler!!!! Three tons!! The interior pictures are enough to make me drool; it's got everything in there. And it's USDA inspected! Which means anyone who owns that monster can butcher animals and the resulting meat will be state inspected and legal to sell off the farm. These days, if you want meat that's legal to sell, you have to haul your animal a long distance, to a stressful environment, and face a long day getting the job done. All for a sticker on your package that says the meat is USDA inspected.

With this baby though, the slaughterhouse comes to you. Your animal never has to leave its home. Doesn't have to experience the stress of transportation.

So yeah... Last night at 9pm I was swooning over a semi truck and trailer that's been outfitted for butchers. 

An acquaintance on facebook thought my excitement was comical and said to me, "Only a farm girl would swoon over a mobile slaughter truck with 3 ton fridge capacity..."

Yep, that's me. :)

I Had An Idea

So in case you hadn't noticed by now, I dream big. You probably came to that conclusion some time ago, but I figured I should throw it out there for those who are new, or hadn't caught onto that fact yet. Hehe. Sometimes my plans work out well, sometimes I learn what not to do, and sometimes I find that an idea has to go on a backburner for awhile, even though I may not want to.

Such was the case with one idea that I've been holding close for a few months now.

Back in October, I watched a beautiful video by the Farmstead Meatsmith about cutting up a side of pork. If you haven't seen that video yet, I would highly recommend watching it (click the second highlighted part of the previous sentence). Watching Brandon do his work, in the way that he does, was absolutely inspiring to see. He takes what most people see only as a gruesome and gory task (slaughtering/butchering) into something beautiful. This guy is more than a butcher. He's an artist. And one who knows what his passion in life is.

I watched all the Farmstead Meatsmith videos that I could. I read his entire website over. This guy was quickly ranking himself among my heroes in life.

A couple weeks after watching that first video, I brought home my first pair of pigs. They were only 10 weeks old, but I already knew who I wanted to butcher them.

I had an idea. 

I wanted the Farmstead Meatsmith to come out and teach a butchering class to a group of locals, using my two hogs.

Two months ago, I contacted Brandon and his wife about my idea. Would they be willing to travel all the way down here to my neck of the woods to teach a class, and butcher a pair of Tamworth hogs? They were more than willing. They were excited by the idea and gave me some dates to choose from. It looked like April 12th and 13th were going to be our days. It was going to be a 2-day event, and folks would get to learn how to slaughter a hog, and then everyone would get to learn hands-on how to cut a side of pork up. I was so excited about it all that I was fairly giddy. Dairying may be my top interest in life, but butchery has an extremely close second-place in my heart. Something about it just feels right to me; working with raw meat, making it into edible cuts and providing high quality protein for people. 

Then disaster struck. My cow got sick and then died. Leaving me with vet bills to pay, and a sudden lack of a way to pay my butchers. I had to call the event off... I will be using a normal butcher this time, who will do the job quickly and cheaply, but it won't be the same.

All is not lost though... I told Brandon that perhaps we can resume our plan in the fall. I'll have more hogs to butcher by then, and perhaps I'll have the funds to bring the Farmstead Meatsmith down. I sure hope so. I don't give up on an idea easily, that's for certain.