Spring Harvest Workshop: Slaughter - Butchery - Processing - Cookery

I'm excited to announce that the Holistic Hog and Crosstown Farms will be offering our first weekend harvest workshop SOON. March 23rd and 24th, two full days covering how to raise pigs, slaughter and dress, gourmet prep of organ meats, butchering, curing, smoking, preserving and lavish meat cookery. This is an experience of transforming life from the pasture to our bodies.

(This is Patches, she will be our Teacher!)

Here is the link for the FB event to see more info - http://www.facebook.com/events/190195071104476/

To register please call Celeste Wade of Crosstown Farms at 360-515-5018 or e-mail crosstownfarms@yahoo.com

Registration and payment can be done online at www.crosstownfarmsandrabbits.weebly.com on the "How to Get Involved" page.

First Come First Serve

Alrighty then. We're raising pigs. Beautiful, organic, heritage, compassionately pastured pigs. Below is an e-mail I have sent everyone I could think of to get the word out about buying pork, workshops and classes and gourmet harvest dinners. Please read it and comment if you want more information! I'll keep as much info on the blog and FB page as I can.

Dear Friends,

I hope this message finds you relaxed and happy. I'm starting a business - the Holistic Hog! I'll be raising organic pastured pigs this season and want to know: would you like to buy some? I'll only be raising 6 so the pigs will be first come first serve, starting with a deposit to help buy the piglets and first round of feed.

Three pigs will be heritage Berkshire and three will be Berkshire/Hampshire/Landrace crosses. And I’ll be raising them in Olympia!!! So you can easily come visit your pig if you so desire. I will also include tickets to our weekend Nose-to-Tail Fall Harvest workshop in September, more details about the workshop below.

Even if you aren’t interested in buying a half or whole pig I’d still love to include you in this adventure. I’ll have a blog here, a FB page here - and offer workshops, visits and dinners along the way. So, first thing’s first...

How do I purchase some pork?
The pigs, available by the half or whole animal, will be ready for harvest this coming September 2013. The pork will be $6/lb, with the average weight of a whole pig being 200lbs, 100lbs for half. A $150 deposit secures your order with the rest due when you pick up your pork. Payment plans are welcome and flexible :-). Please fill out and return the attached order form to me (e-mail or mail) and mail the deposit to:

James O’Keeffe
1511 Wilson St. SE
Olympia, WA 98501

You can process your whole or half pig through your favorite butcher or you can process it with us during the Nose-to-Tail Fall Harvest workshop. Either way, this is a great way to save considerably on premium meat, support your local economy and taste the revelation of lovingly pastured organic pork (we plan on finishing them with plenty of apples and beets!)

What is the Holistic Hog?
The Holistic Hog is a revolutionary food business that sells very local, very loved pigs and teaches workshops on how to raise, slaughter, butcher, process and cook pork and other meats. We will also organize special fine-dining dinners featuring hyper-local produce and freshly butchered animals prepared by impressive local chefs, check our Facebook page to stay in the loop.

Vision
It’s simple - Have a loving relationship with the food we eat. 

We do that by personally getting to know ourselves, our food, food providers and food preparers. We also teach skills essential for establishing loving relationships between eaters and their food.

How is this business operation different?
Well, I don't own any land. Instead, I am using a business model designed for small scale urban agriculture. First, I connect with homeowners who have land they want to turn into a garden or pasture, but don't have enough free time, knowledge or funding to make it happen.

The farmer, me, then designs, builds, maintains, markets and sells the extra produce or meat. In other words, I steward the land for homeowners with the land and desire, but not the time, to garden or raise animals.

Please contact me if you are interested in raising animals or growing food on your property and would like to make it happen!

Workshop: Nose-to-Tail Fall Harvest
One bonus Holistic Hog offers to buyers is a chance to be a part of the journey from pasture to plate. In the fall Holistic Hog will put on several Nose-to-Tail Fall Harvest workshops. Here’s a rough idea of what comprises the weekend:

Friday

Community Feast and Lecture/Discussion on the 'Nature of Food'

Saturday

Harvesting workshop: Preparation, Slaughter, Scald and Scrape or Skinning, Dressing

Cooking with Organ Meats: Includes Dinner

Sunday

Butchering workshop: Quartering, Special Cuts, Hands-on optional

Curing, Smoking and Preserving

Nose to Tail Dining: Cooking the many different cuts, includes dinner

Thanks for taking the time to read this long letter! I appreciate any response you may have, whether it is simply a comment or a request for pork. Lastly, please let your friends know about this and let me know if you'd prefer to not recieve e-mail updates. Wishing you all a great day!

With energy and sincerity,
James O’Keeffe
Owner - Holistic Hog
253-376-0199

Why raise pigs? Why participate in small scale hyper-local agriculture?
I want to know the plants and animals that I eat to create myself every day. I would like to see and feel that flow of life more clearly. I also desire the skills of harvesting, both plants and animals. I want to share this experience and these skills with my friends and family, neighbors and community. This is why I will raise pigs this year.

My main reason for developing local food production is because it makes me happier. Happy to see people in my community growing and sharing healthy food that tastes beautiful. I want small local food economies to stop larger scale industrial agriculture. This is why I believe so strongly in raising and including compassionately raised animals in our diet. I think the best way to bring down large evil factory farms that torture animals is by investing in a system that is fundamentally opposed to torturing animals.

Why stop industrial agriculture? It's killing our planet, and much of it is making us sick. Large human controlled mono-crops disrupt ecosystems and human systems, reduce biodiversity, put many farmers out of work and drive existing farmers into massive debt (to develop big ag infrastructure)...not to mention depleting the thin layer of topsoil that feeds us. Small scale local agriculture is a step in the right direction. Using Joel Salatin as a model we have the ability to feed 313 million USAmericans using small scale local agriculture. Through biodynamic farming and rotational grazing we can feed our crazy population while building top-soil, eating organic meat and vegetables and creating tons of employment!

That's the right direction for agriculture at least. I'm not saying agriculture is a good idea, it's just the only one that I'm truly comfortable relying on for the time being. Next steps for me will be learning rewilding skills.

WELCOME

Hello and welcome to the Holistic Hog website! Here I will document the journey of 6 pigs from their cute and beautiful infancy through to fall harvest and their transfer into our local food network. If you are purchasing a 1/2 or whole pig, please call 253.376.0199 or e-mail jrokeeffe@gmail.com for an order form and confirmation details. Stay tuned for pics and to follow us through the process!

James