Nourishing My Community

“Strong communities are built around local, real food. Food we trust to nourish our bodies, the farmer and planet.” - Kimbal Musk

I’m writing this newsletter while sitting outside watching sap boil. Nothing feels more like late winter than sitting outside in the chilly weather and smelling the syrup cooking. Today’s high is 56 degrees, there’s not a cloud in the sky, and daffodil shoots are reaching up from the frozen mud. While I know this is one of our many false springs in southeast Ohio, it is a welcome change.

This is also the time of year when I start seriously looking for calves. Since I don’t yet breed on the farm, I have to find stocker calves from other grass-fed operations every year. So far I’ve raised two breeds — lowline black angus and red angus / gelbvieh crosses — and found pros and cons to both of them. The black angus are docile and easy to handle, but struggle in the heat and attract more flies. The red angus are bigger and will provide more meat per animal, but tend to be more flighty and harder to handle. Stay tuned this April for when new baby calves join the herd.

The lowline black angus beef that I sold last month is nourishing 21 customers in pot roasts, burgers, and steaks. I’ve heard from a number of people who have reached out to tell me that the beef is delicious in their favorite stew or that they prepared a tender beef heart for Valentine’s day. Keep the stories coming! I love hearing about these healthy, wholesome meals. I saved a whole beef for my family and have noticed the deep red color and the rich flavor. Grass-fed beef tends to be a darker red with yellowish fat due to the higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals. In fact, there are many health benefits to eating nutrient-dense grass-fed beef — more on that later.

I’m working on listing some recipes on my new website! I’ll be posting my favorite pot roast, by boyfriend CJ’s delicious burger mix, and a flank steak recipe from local chef, Becky, of Pork and Pickles. Do you have a favorite homemade beef recipe? Send it to me and I may put it on my website. Also send me any photos of your meals, I would love to share them with this growing group of followers.

I am proud to be feeding my people. And to be providing meat that’s good for the planet and people. All of my customers are friends and family, so it is a joy to be nourishing my community and myself in this way. Finally — some reflections I shared on Instagram after eating my first meal from my own beef…

”This was the first meat I’ve eaten from an animal I raised myself. As I ate this pot roast, I felt so much more aware of the animalness of the meat. The fact of a whole life lived within the beef in my bowl. Feeling grateful for this animal, who nourishes me after I cared for it.”

Beef orders available for June

My next batch of beef will be available in late June 2022. I’m taking orders now and still have 4 halves available. First come, first served!

Curious to learn more about buying good meat? The Good Meat Breakdown has lots of resources for consumers on how to find it, buy it, store it, and cook it.

MoSo Jewelry

Chek out my MoSo Jewelry Etsy shop for lots of wood and pawpaw earrings. I’m excited to get back into the shop this spring. And I’m honored to be working with wood from Froggy Bottom Guitars! Thanks to my uncle, Michael, for sending the beautiful and exotic wood pieces that remain after a guitar is made

What I’m reading…

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward | A novel. In Jesmyn Ward’s first novel since her National Book Award – winning Salvage the Bones, this singular American writer brings the archetypal road novel into rural twenty-first-century America.

What I’m listening to…

Check out my Winter Spotify playlist.

Nicolette Hahn Niman on the Regenerative Agriculture Club podcast | Niman served as senior attorney for Waterkeeper Alliance, running their campaign to reform the concentrated production of livestock and poultry. In recent years, she has gained a national reputation as an advocate for sustainable food production and improved farm-animal welfare.

Trabian Shorters on the On Being podcast | Shorters is a visionary who has seen and named a task that is necessary for all healing and building, for every vision and plan, whether in a family or a world, to flourish. It’s called Asset Framing.