grasspunk

This Farmer’s Breakfast

Mushrooms, leeks, eggs, tomatoes, garlic, leftover pork sausagey bits and a large chunk of lard. Served with salt, pepper, crème fraîche and some Tunisian chili paste. Variations include whatever is leftover in meats and veggies, grass-fed beef liver, bacon and sometimes duck fat, butter or beef dripping. Washed down with good ole boy filter coffee.

That fine winter plant, Alfalfa

This is an odd one. I was wandering by the Vila paddock this morning and I noticed that it was greener than expected. What weeds were growing over the winter while the alfalfa/lucerne was sleeping? Maybe the orchard grass/cocksfoot/dactyle had started early? Well, no. That’s alfalfa growing in January. Elsewhere on the farm it isContinueContinue reading “That fine winter plant, Alfalfa”

Crimson Clover, over and over

At the end of September I seeded the Colorado paddock to annual ryegrass and crimson clover. It was an experiment to see what we could get for winter growth. Both plants are supposed to grow over winter, and with the warm periods we get here we could get enough growth to increase our winter grazing.ContinueContinue reading “Crimson Clover, over and over”

Cows like flowers

It has not been a cold winter yet here in the Gers. There have been a few frosty mornings but no real killing frost. Some of our weeds have taken advantage of this to produce flowers in mid-January. In amongst the wild geranium is this lovely dandelion. Cows like dandelions (and wild geranium). Some ofContinueContinue reading “Cows like flowers”

3 x entrecôte = fore rib roast

The butcher made us six rib roasts for our customers. That’s a fore rib roast to the Brits and a standing rib roast to the Americans. [Note that some Americans with lovely Southern accents give ‘rib’ two syllables.] In French terms, this is a roast made from the entrecôte of the animal. They don’t usuallyContinueContinue reading “3 x entrecôte = fore rib roast”

Young beef, get out of my pan

For those interested, here are the numbers from the recent veal/young beef. It had a carcass weight of 154kg at a little over 7 months. From that carcass the butcher made 108kg of cuts, a rendering of 70%. Note that the cuts include the jarret which includes the shin bone thus adding to the weight.ContinueContinue reading “Young beef, get out of my pan”

A quick inspection of the butcher’s room

We have beef that is dry-aging at the butcher’s premises in Auch, so I checked it out when picking up the mince. The butcher remarked that the carcass had a good layer of fat, which made it a surprise to him when I mentioned it was grass-finished. He also commented that the carcass was small,ContinueContinue reading “A quick inspection of the butcher’s room”

Vine ridges and wiring insulators

After plowing, disking three times, seeding, rolling and early growth, you can still see the vine ridges on the California paddock. Even after a year’s lucerne growth they show through in Vila. In the mess pre-wiring insulators to thread on the fence wire. Roll out a length of wire along the posts, thread on aContinueContinue reading “Vine ridges and wiring insulators”

Cold morning cows and kids

It has been too long since a cow photo graced the pages of grasspunk. Here are Twistie and 31 the Perfect Heifer. Hopefully both are five months pregnant. We’ll know in four months time. While waiting for the school bus, the kids and I play Red Light, Green Light. The first person to see theContinueContinue reading “Cold morning cows and kids”

Fencing Gascon Style

First make a bunch of fence posts by chopping off the top of old vine posts from the last vineyard you displaced. You chop off the tops because otherwise the posts are too long and the cows like to scratch on them. Bruce the saw and a pile of post tops. The fun here isContinueContinue reading “Fencing Gascon Style”