Sugar Camp Branch Farms

11/09/2015

THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS TURKEYS, HAMS, ETC.

So it's time to get the final holiday meats list together. If you want to treat your family to something really extraordinary this year, let me know. We have two types of turkeys available, broad breasted whites and heritage breeds. The broad breasted are the birds you are familiar with from the supermarket. Because our birds are raised roaming in the fresh air and sunshine, moving betwixt the fields and forests and snacking throughout the day, they have a depth of flavor unmatched by conventional birds. The broad breasted grow much faster, so they will be more tender when cooked. The heritage birds have more depth of flavor.

For pricing, the broad breasted will be $4/lb. and should range between 10-14 lbs. with some ranging up to 22-24 lbs. The heritage birds are more likely to come in between 6-10 lbs. with some outliers. They will be $6/lb. (which is a very good deal in the heritage turkey world; production costs and labor expenditures are high). When you order, please let me know which type and approximate size you would like. There are no guarantees we will get the exact size you want, but this will help us better match customers with a turkey that best suits their needs.

A later batch of turkeys will be available for Christmas, but it would be best to place your order now. I expect to sell out of all birds pretty quickly. For the Thanksgiving birds, we will be processing the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Birds will be delivered on Monday and Tuesday with drop off points in Fayetteville, Summersville and Snowshoe. I'll notify everyone of a centralized location where I will set up for a few hours to allow folks to swing by to pick up their birds. We want to allow plenty of time for resting and brining or whatnot. Turkeys will also come with cooking guidelines to help get the best results from your birds.

A limited number of holiday hams are available as well. They are heritage breed pork, cured and smoked by Alleghany Meats in Monterrey, VA. The fat on them creates this ethereal burst of flavor that is hard to beat. It just kind of melts away in your mouth. I'm very proud of my hams. They are $8/lb. and should range between 4 and 8 lbs.

2015 has been my best farming year yet. I've managed to put a lot of healthy, delicious, humanely raised meat on the tables of my fellow West Virginians. It is a beautiful feeling and I appreciate all of the continued support. If you haven't had the chance to sample my work, the holidays are a perfect time to splurge and add your financial support to our burgeoning local food scene. Do get your orders in quickly though because these birds will sell out and you'll be stuck with another bland, spongey supermarket turkey.

10/22/2015

Dear Friends,
I am heading out to Monterey this morning to drop off some pigs and pick up some others and thence to Snowshoe for some deliveries. This means I will have all of my usual and delectable cuts of pork available starting this evening. This includes an array of chops, roasts, ribs and sausages (chorizo included). I will have my coolers full while at Snowshoe this afternoon as well so if anyone up that way is needing some quality meat, now would be a good time. Let me know and I can include you in my rounds. Also, thanks to all for your continued support this year. It's been the best one thus far and I'm grateful for all. When I am not running late, I will publish a more complete inventory with an updated price list.

07/21/2015

The Heritage Chicken Club:
I've been wanting to take my poultry operation in a slightly different direction for a while. As an experiment, I'm going to try out a pastured, heritage breed chicken CSA. Membership entails a $25 deposit with an additional payment of $20 for each of the 5 birds you will receive. It comes out to a flat rate of $25 per bird, regardless of weight.
For the chickens themselves, you will receive the full range of traditional poultry classes (broilers, fryers, roasters, and stewing hens with the possibility of an old rooster thrown in as well). They will be less meaty but far more flavorful than your supermarket birds or even my current pastured birds. They will have a firm, full texture, but with proper cooking should be tender and juicy as well. These will be chickens fit for some very special meals.
The chickens will be from a range of traditional dual-purpose breeds. The possibilities include Delaware, Dorking (red and white), Sussex, Rhode Island Red, Buckeyes and others. I'm trying to find two breeds I most enjoy and consider most worthy of a focused breeding program to increase production qualities, so I'm going to be doing some experimenting with different stock and sources thereof.
At this time, your small broilers will probably be just above 2 lbs. The fryers will be around 3. The older birds will be larger and balance things so you're not paying so much per pound in the end. Each bird will come with information on the breed, its history and importance, the age at which it was dispatched, and appropriate cooking methods and temps for this particular class of fowl. Modern birds grow so fast that the difference between a 3 lb. bird and a 5 lb. bird is a matter of weeks (if that) and has no appreciable impact on flavor or texture. My stewing hens will be totally different birds from my broilers.
This is a project I deeply believe in and would appreciate you passing the word to anyone you think might be interested in these birds. It might take up to a full year to slowly raise and distribute all the birds but I promise it will be worth the wait. You should get a chicken every couple of months. Each one should make your life deeper, richer and just a little more exciting. The first rounds will be ready sometime prior to or around Thanksgiving. Speaking of which, I will be sending out info on signing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys later this evening. Thanks to all and have a lovely day. Oh, and of course, let me know if you want to sign up.

06/10/2015

Fresh Chickens at Snowshoe: I'm heading up to the Fiddlehead this evening to have a delicious dinner and bringing along fresh chickens and pork products for those in need. Let me know if you want a chicken. They are $4/lb. and between 4 and 5 lbs. each. Also, if anyone wants a fresh duck message me and I'll dispatch one for you before I leave. Should be arriving at Snowshoe around 9. All meats as always have been raised out on the pasture and have had happy, healthy lives.

06/10/2015

These are my newest babies at 2 days old. They were born on Sunday.

06/06/2015

Fayetteville Market today. I've already set aside a chorizo stash for myself but everyone else would be advised to stock up as well. Lots of other pork products today otherwise. Whole chickens. Ground Beef. It's certain to be lovely.

05/09/2015

Current Pork List:

Chops
Bone-in Loin $9/lb.
Bone-in Sirloin $7/lb.
Boneless Rib $10/lb.

Roasts
Bone-in Boston Butt $6/lb.
Bone-in Shoulder $6/lb.
Boneless Shoulder $8/lb.
Pork Belly $8/lb.

Ribs
Spare $7/lb.
Baby Back $10/lb.

Smoked
Bacon $12/lb.
Canadian Bacon $14/lb.
Jowl $10/lb.
Hocks $7/lb.

Sausages
Breakfast $7/lb.
Spicy Breakfast $7/lb.
Italian $7/lb.
Chorizo $7/lb.
Maple Links $8/lb.

Fresh-rendered lard available at $12/qt.

05/09/2015

Today is the first Fayetteville Farmer's market. I am heading down that way shortly with a beautiful array of pork, chicken and duck. If opportunity allows, please come out and support all of our hardworking local farmers.

01/19/2015

These are my newest babies, just a few days old. They are purebred Wessex Saddlebacks from the last remaining herd outside Australia (to my knowledge). I'm so proud of them and their beautiful mama. It's a story of sadness and joy, though.
Because of their exceptional rarity, I've been a little worked up over this litter. This is my first Wessex litter, from a sow who was pregnant when I bought her. I expected a due date as early as late December, but most likely the first week of January. Time passed, her stomach nearly dragging the ground, but no babies. I started to fret a bit. It got colder. She started her nest building (a usually reliably indicator of imminent farrowing). I stacked hay all around her sleeping area to provide additional windbreak. Then, I was sure she was in labor. She showed all the signs, heavy breathing, grunting, straining. It seemed certain. I stayed up all night checking on her every half hour.
In the morning, I went out and she seemed just the same, flopped on her side, breathing heavily with no piglets in sight. Still, her teats were swollen, but no milk. Another night passed in similar fashion. The next morning she was up eating breakfast and acting as though she hadn't a care in the world.
Somewhere along the way it started to get to me. She built a number of new nests, displayed great restlessness for periods and then settled into what looked in all ways like labor, barring the lack of piglets in the end. Later I'd check and she'd be out for a stroll. I found myself sleeping through alarms and waking in a panic to rush out and see about the piglets. No change. A few times I slept next to her in the straw. She's a very lovable pig and by this point I was frantic with worry.
This went on for a full week. I spoke with the lady from whom I'd purchased these beautiful pigs and apparently dramatic farrowings and extended pre-labors are par for the course with this particular breed. It seems a nearly deliberate act, a pretense to gain attention and special treatment (if so, most effective). Pigs are manipulative.
And then, I sort of broke for a moment, or perhaps relaxed. I stopped believing in the imminence of the piglets. There was no fretting left in me. I watched her build another nest, she tore up hay bales and broke branches off apple trees (all things she'd been doing all week, mind you) and I couldn't see the difference. I went to work. I'd already rearranged a week of my life and I needed some normalcy of routine.
My family check on her, no change. I arrive home not so much later and she'd already had them all and was happily nursing. I knew it was disaster immediately. She'd had access to too much in the way of bedding materials. When she tore into the hay, she piled it three feet high and burrowed down into it, more than anything I could have expected. It was a tangled mess and the piglets couldn't get round to her teats. Or at least not all of them. By the time I had rescued a couple from deep in the hay, I had 8 lovely little healthy piglets. I pulled 6 dead ones from around her, for a total of 14.
Now this is a heartbreaking event to go through. And trying so hard at something, only to fail is not normally the sort of moment in my life I prefer to share. However, I think it's important in farming to deal in realities. I would like my customers to think I take perfect care of my animals at all times and protect them from all manner of danger. I would like my friends to think my life an endless series of small triumphs.
I give it everything I have and sometimes that isn't enough. More often, as in this case, it proves to be too much and all my over-measures merely upset the natural processes over which I'm attempting to exert my stewardship. It doesn't do to make excuses, though. I didn't foresee her destroying the hay, but I was well aware of the dangers of excessive bedding. And there is no doubt in my mind that if I'd been present, I could have saved more piglets. My mom and aunt decided my mistake was to treat her like a queen instead of a pig and there is some truth in that. My Wessex mentor told me to focus on the fact that I was able to care for her and help her yield 14 piglets and keep her in perfect shape all along, and that is also good advice.
In farming, you can't focus too much on the dead and gone. Chores must be done, the other animals have to be tended, sales much be made. Pain accumulates and the addition of a bit more seems but barely noticeable after a day or so. And if you can't move on from failure you have no business farming.
It does no good to ignore failure, though. I learned valuable lessons from these experiences, lessons of pigs and myself. There are mistakes I will never make again. No doubt there are many new mistakes I have yet to make. I realize most of you aren't farmers and perhaps there is nothing here for you to take away. For my farming friends, I hope you can at least relate.

12/03/2014

Newest additions to the farm, these Midget White turkeys will be bred to produce next year's Thanksgiving birds. I love them.

12/02/2014

My pride and joy, the sort of boar that only comes along a few times in a life of pig breeding. I cannot wait to put him to work.

11/15/2014