We have been selling shares of sheep and cattle over the years. Selling meat requires a USDA slaughterhouse. Animals are taken away from their herd and hauled in scary vehicles to strange and scary places to die. If you buy a share of one of our cows, she gets to die calmly in the pasture with her herd.
We have no lamb available this year (we inadvertently kept the coyotes and then the bald eagles fed) but will have a number of beef shares available. A share is 1/6 of an animal, which results in approximately 100 pounds in the freezer. One shelf in our standard upright freezer or most of a refrigerator freezer.
Unfortunately, we oversold, oops! and only had one share for us. I planned for two, but I’m now hoarding (?) the little we have to last till July. I’m reserving three this year!
This season we will have 24 shares and half are spoken for. Last year we had 12.
This is our CSA, Community Supported Agriculture, the second best way to get high-quality, nutrient-dense food, the best way is to grow your own and harvest it a few minutes before consumption. Although with 1500lb animals it’s hard to get enough folks together to consume it in one go.
We buy cows, not hormone-infused steers, from a local cattle rancher, that are culled from his herd due to inadequate maternal abilities. These animals have been raised on forage, not corn and soybeans. We put them into our organic pastures and get them plump, sleek, shiny, and contented. They are rotated to a fresh paddock every day. The best-tasting beef in my experience comes from mature female animals. A view shared by most cattle ranchers. The share in our freezer is from Anonymous, an 8-year-old cow with reproductive failure. We prefer 4 to 8-year-old animals, flavor comes with time and a diverse diet. My first experience with this type of beef was when a neighbor gave me some cuts from a 12-year-old cow that developed birthing issues. I didn’t know beef could taste like that!
We have most of last year’s buyers lined up already, but we can increase the number of cattle for this season.
