FoodNuts!

One of the great things about living out in the country, or in areas where farmland dominates the landscape, is that you have the opportunity to get closer to your food and its sources. Carrots? No problem, ask around and find a guy who is growing them and you’ll have Beta-carotene by the truck load. Tomatoes? Peppers? Scallions? Turnips? Beets? Apples? Pears?  Same thing. Where we live we have found sources for much of what we eat.

About 1 month away from being ready

However, the opportunity to “get close to the source” for some foods may not be ideal for everyone. I imagine that one of these is pork. Yes, I am talking about the whole hog, standing shank deep in mud, its attention constantly on what it is going in the front end, with little regard of what comes out the back end. If one is used to pork only as a pretty cut of meat, on a diaper and shrink wrapped on Styrofoam, seeing pigs au natural may be a bit of a shock. From the cute piglets to the giant sows and boars, they are a site to behold.

Always on the lookout........

Ahh, but what is contained therein? One of the finest of meats, the complete foundation upon which the French art of Charcuterie is built! Hams, bacons, sausages in their multitudes, country to country, around the world.  Smoked meat and fresh meat, pickled pig’s feet and liver sausage. Some won’t eat it; that’s ok, that just means more for us that do!

Just doing what comes naturally

Once a year, we buy ourselves a whole hog. They’ll weigh in at just around 200 lbs, hanging weight for the butcher. Digging around, my wife found a source not far from where we live. They are called “Pigs R Us”. Really though, we call them Randy and Betty. They raise hogs year round, some goats also, but mostly swine. This morning the family went on a little trip to pay for our hog. It was killed and slaughtered on Thursday, and is currently at our butcher, Wards meats, hanging. I could send a check, but I wanted to get some photos. Also, since I am one of the few people that take the offal, I have to head on over to pick this up.

They are cute when they're young!

Randy and Betty use no hormones in raising their pigs, and the pigs are raised on a diet of soured milk, barley and cracked wheat. That’s it. It’s an old-fashioned way of raising, as it guarantees the quality and taste of the meat.

They raise a mix of breeds: Hamshire, Duroc and Landrace. But you’ll buy each individually. They’ll set up the slaughter, and it will then go off to the butcher to hang and be sectioned. It’s all very easy, it can be done over the phone, and the real problem we have found is making sure you have enough freezer space.

Future Charcuterie

If live in the area, and want to buy your own pig for meat, I highly recommend them. They are in Brush Prairie, just northeast of Vancouver Washington. Their phone is 360-892-2913, or 360-931-4427

Share on Facebook