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Meat Shares are now Available! |
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We are offering pig, chicken, goat, and turkey shares. You are buying the animal, and we are raising them for you! No muck boots; no cold, rainy Oregon mornings with a head lamp on traipsing through the pasture; no herding turkeys into the coop at night; and no need for "pet-sitters"! Let us do the work for you.
The reward? Some of the most delicious and nutritious meat available anywhere, grown locally and humanely, with love. Your deposit helps defray the cost of the feed and other expenses, such as fencing and building materials. By purchasing shares, you are contributing to the life of the farm- and not just financially. It also creates a personal connection to the food you eat, the farm where it was raised, and to the people who are tending it.
Click the PDF icon to the right of each meat listing to download the appropriate order form. The free Adobe Acrobat Reader required to view.
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 Pork
Our pigs are raised in the pasture, spending their days rooting in the ground, eating grass (free of chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers, etc...), and sometimes simply relaxing! They sleep in a warm shelter, cozy in a giant bed of straw. We feed them lots of vegetables and fruits raised here on the farm, goat milk and whey from our dairy, eggs from our chickens, and a small amount of grains purchased locally. They are never given hormones or antibiotics.
Separating live animals from their herd and transporting them can be very traumatic. The pigs are slaughtered here in the field by a professional. It is done in a humane and efficient way. They are then brought to the butcher shop, and custom cut, cured, smoked, and wrapped according to your specifications.
The Tamworth is a heritage breed producing the best bacon in the U.S., a direct descendant of the wild boars which roamed the forests of Staffordshire. They are sometimes called the Aristocrats of the swine world, are intelligent and friendly, outdoorsy and athletic. They make excellent land tillers, and are working on prepping an area in the lower pasture for a market garden next season! The breed is listed as "Threatened" in the United States.
From the Tamworth Swine Association: "The Tamworth is an English breed of hog that was of distinctly bacon-type. The first Tamworths were brought to the United States in 1882 by Thomas Bennett of Rossville, Illinois. The Tamworth was slower in becoming as popular with the American hog producer as the thicker breeds, although there have been some strong advocates of the breed. Tamworth are very deep-sided hogs and are uniform in their depth of side. They have a muscular top and long rump. The ham is muscular with a firm lean rump. Trim jowl, trim underline and depth of side."
Whole and half shares (whole pig or half pig) are available. Weights, of course, vary. Usually the hanging weights (weight after head and internal organs, or oddments*, are removed) are between 170-240 pounds.
Tamworth Heritage Pigs - $5.00/lb hanging weight
plus slaughter fee ($50/pig) and processing fee ($.56 /lb)
Smoking and curing fees will be extra, about $.70/lb
Half share, deposit: $150
Whole share, deposit: $300
Chester White Tamworth Cross Pigs - $4.25/lb hanging weight
plus slaughter fee ($50/pig) and processing fee ($.56 /lb)
Smoking and curing fees will be extra, about $.70/lb.
Half share, deposit: $150
Whole share, deposit: $300
Please call or email first to confirm availability. Place your order today and pay the deposit to reserve your share. As the time nears, we’ll contact you to confirm the butcher date and discuss processing. You will instruct the butcher directly as to how you would like it prepared. When we know the hanging weight we will collect the balance, including the slaughter fee. You will pay the butchering fees directly to Gene's Meat Market. We will then contact you about delivery.
*Oddments are the parts that are not typical commercial cuts, the cuts of the pig that are not considered "prime". They include the hock, jowl, tail, bones, back fat, heart, liver, kidney, trotters (feet), head, and so on. These really are excellent fare and can be used for soups, stews, stir fry and many other dishes. If you do not want the oddments of your pig, just let us know.
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Chicken
We purchase the baby chicks from a nearby farm that raises chickens and turkeys. They start their lives here in a roomy coop with heat lamp, until they are feathered enough to live outside. They have a grassy pasture, and a warm coop at night. They are never given hormones or antibiotics.
Whole Cornish Cross chickens
Price: $5 per pound
Weights vary from about 4-6 pounds.
Deposit: $10
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Goat
Our dairy goats are bred to keep them producing milk. As a result, we are raising the kids for meat. Goat meat, aka chevon or cabrito, is one of the most highly consumed red meats in the world. It is higher in protein and iron and lower in fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than beef, pork, lamb, chicken, or turkey. Goat meat is also high in vitamin B12 and has balanced amino acids. Since goats are ruminants, goat meat is also a good source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and is heart-friendly. We like to call it "the other red meat."
Most of our dairy goats are Oberhasli, and the buck is Boer. Boers came from South Africa, and were bred solely for meat production. The Boer goat is considered far superior to any other goat for meat.
Whole or half shares, Goat
Price: $6.50 per pound
plus slaughter fee ($50/goat) and processing fee ($.56 /lb).
Half share, deposit: $50
Whole share, deposit: $75
(Weights vary from about 35-55 pounds.)
Please call or email first to confirm availability. Place your order today and pay the deposit to reserve your share. As the time nears, we’ll contact you to confirm the butcher date and discuss processing. You will instruct the butcher directly as to how you would like it prepared. When we know the hanging weight we will collect the balance, including the slaughter fee. You will pay the butchering fees directly to Gene's Meat Market. We will then contact you about delivery.
*Oddments are the parts that are not typical commercial cuts, the cuts of the goat that are not considered "prime". These really are excellent fare and can be used for soups, stews, stir fry and many other dishes. If you do not want the oddments of your goat, just let us know.
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Turkey
The turkey chicks come from the same farm that hatches the chickens. They are all heritage breeds. These are free range turkeys, with an outdoor roost and coop for safety at night. They like to roost around the pond, so we have the pleasure of carrying them to the roost by hand every night! We'll be working on that system, but I must admit, hugging a turkey is one of those "chores" I truly enjoy.
Whole Heritage Turkeys
Price: $5.50 per pound for toms
Price: $6.50 per pound for hens
Hens: 8-14 pounds
Toms: 14-20 pounds
Deposit: $25
You may specify the size you like (e.g. “we prefer smaller birds”) when you call or email to reserve. We’ll do our best to accommodate you. Turkey is frozen and includes neck and giblets. We currently have three Heritage breeds of turkeys:
Bourbon Red Turkey
The Bourbon Red turkey is named for Bourbon County in Kentucky’s Bluegrass region where it originated in the late 1800’s. It was developed by J. F. Barbee from crosses between Buff, Bronze, and White Holland turkeys though the initial steps actually took place in Pennsylvania, where Buff turkeys of darker red hues – called Tuscarora or Tuscawara – were bred and then taken west with settlers bound for Ohio and Kentucky. These dark Buff turkeys would be the primary foundation for the new variety. The breed's feathers are a dark chestnut base color, with white tails and flight feathers.
In the past, the breed has alternatively been called Kentucky Reds and Bourbon Butternuts. The bird originated in Kentucky and Pennsylvania in the late 19th century, and was created by crossing Buff, Standard Bronze, and White Holland turkeys. It was first recognized as turkey variety by the American Poultry Association in 1909.
It was selectively bred for utility traits as a meat bird, and was an important variety in the turkey industry throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Like most turkey breeds, it declined after this point with the commercial adoption of the Broad Breasted White. Populations began to recover in the early 21st century, and today it is one of the most popular heritage turkey breeds in the U.S. Despite its relative popularity as a heritage breed, it is still listed as "watch" by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, entailing that there are fewer than 5,000 breeding birds in the States. The Bourbon Red is also included in Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, a catalog of heritage American foods in danger of extinction.
Source: Wikipedia
Narragansett
The Narragansett is named for Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. This old breed is a cross between the turkeys that were native to the North East and the European turkeys that the colonial settlers brought with them. This breed has been around since the 1600s and was officially recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1874.
The Narragansett weighs 16 to 22 pounds. It thrives on very little commercial food, being adept at finding its own meals if allowed to free range. The meat is considered superior in flavor to most other turkeys. They have a calm temperament and are friendly. These birds helped early settlers survive in the wilderness.
Bronze
Bronze turkeys are the product of crossing domestic turkeys brought from Europe by colonists (which had been exported to Europe years before) with the Wild Turkey. These matings produced a bird that was larger and more robust than the European turkeys, and tamer than wild turkeys. Though the Bronze turkey type was created in the 18th century, the actual name was not used until the 1830s, when a strain developed in the U.S. state of Rhode Island was named the Point Judith Bronze. The name later spread to be used in reference to the breed as a whole, and was in the process simplified to just "Bronze." In the British Isles, the Bronze was associated with Cambridge, and was called the Cambridge Bronze, but again this name has been simplified to just "Bronze."
The Bronze was first admitted in to the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection in 1874. Later, beginning in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, some Bronze turkeys were selected for larger size.[3] These much bigger birds became known as the Broad Breasted Bronze, to differentiate them from the original type of bird which was bred to the breeds' Standard of Perfection, and so was called the Standard (or Unimproved) Bronze.
Apart from the difference in size, the plumage of the Standard Bronze is usually lighter and more lustrous than that of the Broad Breasted. Both have a brown color which is highlighted by shades of copper and blue-green, and the plumage overall is very similar to that of the Wild Turkey.
The Broad Breasted Bronze went on to dominate the commercial turkey industry for twenty years after its development, until the Broad Breasted White became the breed of choice. Due to their size, they have lost the ability to mate naturally, and Broad Breasted Bronzes in existence today are maintained entirely by artificial insemination. Having retained the ability to reproduce naturally (among other traits), the Standard Bronze is considered to be a variety of heritage turkey.
Today, both the Standard and Broad Breasted Bronze turkeys are listed on the ALBC's conservation priority list. The Standard is listed as "Critical", but the exact numbers of Broad Breasted are currently unclear. Standard Bronzes have additionally been included in Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste, a catalog of heritage foods in danger of extinction.
Source: Wikipedia
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© 2011 • GeerCrest Farm, LLC |
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