I have long been a proponent of Grass fed beef, pastured pork, and poultry.

It always thrills me to see studies as they emerge proving out more positive benefits of eating grass fed meat.

A recent article discusses the fact that eating grass fed meat for just a short period of time can raise your blood levels of Omega 3's. Read it here

I have several breakfast selections I rotate through depending on what I feel like eating, how much time I have, etc.

This morning I elected to fry my eggs. The bulk of the pastured eggs I consume are raw. You hear all kinds of things about eating eggs raw and in another article I'll discuss why I eat raw eggs, but for today let's look at using pig lard as a ingredient in your everyday cooking. Like frying eggs.

I dropped about a half a tablespoon or more lard from our pastured pork into the skillet and in a couple minutes I was eating two eggs with real cheese and no bread. I have practically eliminated bread from my diet. Not completely, as I love whole wheat bread, but it happens to be one of the things that adds inches to my waistline so I keep my urge to eat a loaf at a time subdued.

Lard, like most animal fats, have gotten a bad wrap for many years now. I still marvel at the effectiveness of the "low fat" advertising mantra. Today there is so much confusion about fats and oils that many people are sabotaging their health while believing they are doing the right thing.

In 1956, an American Heart Association (AHA) fund-raiser aired on all three major networks. The MC interviewed, among others, Irving Page and Jeremiah Stamler of the AHA, and researcher Ancel Keys. Panelists presented the lipid hypothesis as the cause of the heart disease epidemic and launched the Prudent Diet, one in which corn oil, margarine, chicken and cold cereal replaced butter, lard, beef and eggs. But the television campaign was not an unqualified success because one of the panelists, Dr. Dudley White, disputed his colleagues at the AHA. Dr. White noted that heart disease in the form of myocardial infarction was nonexistent in 1900 when egg consumption was three times what it was in 1956 and when corn oil was unavailable. When pressed to support the Prudent Diet, Dr. White replied: "See here, I began my practice as a cardiologist in 1921 and I never saw an MI patent until 1928. Back in the MI free days before 1920, the fats were butter and lard and I think that we would all benefit from the kind of diet that we had at a time when no one had ever heard the word corn oil."

 So what type of fat is lard?

According to Mary Enig, author of Know Your Fats, lard is about 40 percent saturated, 50 percent monounsaturated, and contains 10 percent polyunsaturated fatty acids. It is also one of our richest dietary sources of vitamin D.

(Research is showing vitamin D to be one of the foundational vitamins to good health.)

Foods containing trans fat sell because the American public is afraid of the alternative—saturated fats found in tallow, lard, butter, palm and coconut oil, fats traditionally used for frying and baking. Yet the scientific literature delineates a number of vital roles for dietary saturated fats—they enhance the immune system, are necessary for healthy bones, provide energy and structural integrity to the cells, protect the liverand enhance the body's use of essential fatty acids. Stearic acid, found in beef tallow and butter, has cholesterol lowering properties and is a preferred food for the heart. As saturated fats are stable, they do not become rancid easily, do not call upon the body's reserves of antioxidants, do not initiate cancer, do not irritate the artery walls.

We have always used lard here at Spring Hill Farms. A growing number of customers are requesting it. At this point the best we can do is give them the actual fat so they can make lard for themselves.

It's a simple process and can be done on the stove in smaller amounts.

If you would be interested in purchasing lard from us let me know. If the demand is large enough perhaps we will add it to our products.

You can buy lard at some grocery stores, but it can have hydrogenated lard it, BHT, Propyl Gallate, and Citric Acid.

You can bet the pig it was made from wasn't on pasture and worse yet probably fed all kinds of things to practically negate the benefits of the lard.

 Keep your eye out we may have a lard rendering here at the house this fall so you can try some for yourself.

 If you're thinking there is no way you are eating animal fats because they aren't healthy for you. I urge to do some research and see for yourself. A good place to start is The Oiling of America.


Until Next Time...


 

 

The demand for grass fed beef is on the rise. Research is proving out that it is healthier for you and even helps fight cancer.

It took a long time to convince me that grass fed beef was better for you than grain fed.

The research that is coming mainstream these days though will convince the most skeptical person.

It's hard to describe the feeling you have sitting down to dinner with those you love and knowing they are eating foods that help keep them healthy rather than making them sick. 

Diet and lifestyle are two of the foundational keys to health. Read Dr Mercola's latest blog about the benefits of grass fed beef. [More]

Eating fresh, local foods is the foundation to health and longevity but is it enough?

If you have enough discipline to never eat processed foods and have done so for most of your life maybe it would be, but most people I know don't fall into that category!

I'm not a big proponent of nutritional supplements but I do think there is a place for them.

The key word is supplement. They should supplement an already good diet to help maintain good health.

Another good use of nutritional supplements is to help you overcome a health issue you may be facing and diet alone isn't getting the results you need to feel better.

Enter - Astaxanthin, the one supplement I believe no one should be without.

The list of benefits from taking Astaxanthin is growing by the day.

There may be no other single natural substance that performs so many beneficial biochemical functions as this little-known carotenoid. Its scope is truly amazing. Here are just some of the ways astaxanthin can positively impact your health, according to the latest research:


*The following was taken from Dr Mercola's Site read the full article here.

• Boosting immune function
• Improving cardiovascular health by reducing C-Reactive Proteins (CRP), reducing triglycerides, and increasing beneficial HDL
• GREATLY protecting your eyes from cataracts, macular degeneration, and blindness (which I will discuss at length below)
• Protecting your brain from dementia and Alzheimer's
• Reducing your risk for many types of cancer (including cancers of the breast, colon, bladder and mouth) by stimulating apoptosis (cancer cell death) and inhibiting lipid peroxidation
• Improving recovery from spinal cord and other central nervous system injuries
• Reducing inflammation from all causes, including arthritis and asthma
• Improving endurance, workout performance and recovery
• Helping to stabilize blood sugar, thereby protecting your kidneys
• Relieving indigestion and reflux
• Improving fertility by increasing sperm strength and sperm count
• Actually helping to prevent sunburn, and protecting you from the damaging effects of radiation (i.e., flying in airplanes, x-rays, CT scans, etc.)
• Reducing oxidative damage to your DNA
• Reducing symptoms from pancreatitis, multiple sclerosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson's disease, and Lou Gehrig's disease, and neurodegenerative diseases.

I started taking Astaxanthin because I was suffering from severe lower back pain for almost 3 years. I tried everything chiropractors, stretching, exercise, other supplements, nothing got me complete relief. 

After just 3 weeks of taking Astaxanthin my back pain was totally gone! It has changed my life. No more asking my wife to help me get my shoes on, no more sleepless nights, no more constant pain...I was a new man!

Another benefit I noticed is it is a great natural sunscreen! Contrary to what most dermatologists say, I believe sunshine is good for you.

You don't want to get sunburned but we need sunshine to optimize our vitamin D levels. The research is proving this and most all suncreens you buy in store actaully contain carcinegenics.

I take 8 mg a day and it seems to be enough. If you're going to be in the sun continuously for a long period I would think you may need to take more through the day. Dr. Mercola sells a great natural sunscreen on his site if you are prone to burning.

Dr Mercola has blogged extensively on Astaxanthin. I would urge you to see for yourself if you want all the technical information.

I have had so many friends and family ask me about Astaxanthin that I promised them I would blog about it so they know where to get it.

You can purchase here and receive $5 off your first order! I signed up for their rewards program and receive credits toward my purchases when you purchase products.

Over the next few blogs I'll delve deeper into exactly what I do everyday to maintain optimal health.

My breakfast every morning, foods I refuse to eat, the best dirt for health, all kinds of fun stuff!



Until next time....

PS -Let me know how Astaxanthin improves your life!
 

After several years of contemplating and researching old heritage breed pigs I have purchased a Large Black boar piglet to cross breed with some of our Tamworth pigs.

I first became interested in these pigs after hearing several farmers experiences with the meat quality of this particular cross.

The Tamworth is a very good heritage breed for meat taste and quality. The Large Black is also known for its delicious pork.

Several producers are crossing Large Black boars with Tamworth sows and they all say the meat is better than either the Tamworth or Large Black as a pure breed.

Large Black can get a bit fat and Tamworth pigs lack marbling in the meat.

By crossing the two you get a leaner hog than the Large Black with the excellent marbling qualities lacking in the Tamworth.

The Large Black is listed as "critical" on the ALBC list. This means there are fewer than 200 annual registrations in the United States and estimated global population less than 2,000. registered each year.

We will have piglets in the Spring of 2012.

I'll keep you updated on how things are going with this great addition to Spring Hill Farms.

Until next time...

I have long been a proponent of crops that are not genetically modified in any way. Regardless of whether you might think GM crops are good or bad, the undeniable fact is they are contaminating organic farmer's crops at an alarming rate. Their is no way to contain them.

 If I have bull and refuse to contain him so he ends up at the neighbors farm "imparting his genetics" to the neighbors cows we are going to have trouble!

 Just as a farmer must keep his bull, boar, buck, or stud on the farm and contained, so should these seed companies (and farmers) keep their genetics contained or be shut down. 

 We have no way to refuse GM pollen and so end up with genetics we didn't ask for.

 It's time to send a clear message to GM seed companies...YOU ARE BEING IRRESPONSIBLE TO THE ENTIRE WORLD.

Dr Mercola has an excellent article [More]

A question I always get from farmers who are considering raising hogs on pasture is, "how much will they root?"

What they are really asking is how much damage are they going to inflict on my pastures?

That's a good question with no correct answer "except that depends."

It depends on how wet or dry the ground might be. What type of soil you're dealing with is another factor. The type and quality of forage available, coupled with how much or how little grain you are supplementing the pigs.

And last but not least, is the breed and age of hog you have running on the pasture.

I have read and spoke to farmers who say Tamworth hogs root more than other hogs they have had in the past. Sometimes they have other heritage breed pigs along with Tamworth and they say the Tamworth root more.

Tamworth pigs are very active compared to other breeds of swine I have raised. That probably has something to do with it. A hog laying around more probably won't root as much.

I'm not completely convinced they root more but one thing I am convinced of...all hogs root to some degree.

Then add to it that as they increase in weight they are walking around on four pretty small feet! If it's wet they are going to tear up your pasture!

My experience is they root more when it's wet so you're getting a double whammy! Walking around cuts up the sod and then they all have their noses buried about six inches deep!

One conclusion I've come to is you will be reseeding some parts of your pasture from time to time.

The best way to minimize pasture damage is to have a lot or two that you can move them to if it begins to rain long enough to saturate the pasture for a period of time.

Another thing to remember is that you  must keep an eye on forage conditions in the pasture. Move them to new grass before they decide there is more to eat below the ground than above it! 

A group of pigs on limited feed can take down a significant amount of forage in just a few days so it's critical to be ready to move when necessary. Don't wait to build more fence when they need moved. By the time you get it completed your pigs may have plowed the pasture they are in.

The key to successful pig pasturing is not to run more pigs on your farm than the grass can handle. How many pigs can an acre handle? Well that depends....

Maybe we'll talk about that sometime!

Until next time...

Here at Spring Hill Farms we don't like buying $4 a gallon gas anymore than you do.

We don't like buying gasoline or diesel at any price as far as that goes. That's one of the main reasons we employed Tamworth pigs to renovate our 25 year old over grown land back in 2004.

I had been trying to figure out how we were going to bring the briar infested land back to producing something more than multi-flora rose, rabbits and deer. 

Being raised on a farm I knew pigs had a bull dozer/industrial roto-tiller on the front and a manure spreader on the back. Of course in between is a whole bunch of good eatin'.

So why spend hundreds of dollars per hour to hire a dozer to clear the land? The only reason I could come up with was it would be faster and admittedly easier. Hire the dozer, go in afterwards and broadcast seed.

But I wasn't in a hurry and it looked like there was a good bit of vegetation the pigs could utilize.

Now for the part the dozer and equipment couldn't accomplish.

The pigs would add fertility to the soil as they cleared it. The pigs would also root the soil and loosen it up verses pack it down like the equipment would tend to do. And finally, I've have never had bacon from a bull dozer!

So after I considered both options, I decided pigs were the way to clear land here at Spring Hill Farms.

If you think about it, it's much like farmers would have done before heavy equipment and cheap fuel. As farmers we are going to have to look at how things were done in the past and leverage them with the knowledge and some of the equipment we have now. (Like electric fence.)

We try to find ways to incorporate our animals natural behaviors into working for us. That philosophy is the exact opposite of the farmer who puts his hogs on concrete so they don't root.

The closer we can mimic natural patterns, the better it is for us, and the animals.

Until next time... 

Pigs eat a lot of grass. Especially a bunch of
Tamworth pigs that get fed limited amounts of grain.

In order to keep our pastures full of good grass we sometimes over seed with different types of grasses.

I ascribe to the saying "manage fescue and encourage clover."


What that means is some grasses such as fescue, are pretty aggressive when it comes to taking over a stand of grass. Clover on the other hand will normally die out after several years due to the fescue and other grasses crowding it out. Even if that's not the case clover still dies out after several years and needs replanting.

This particular pasture we are working on is really what most people would call their back yard. I want to utilize all the land I own. So I ask myself "why mow all this every week when I could ease some pigs up in here for a few days of intensive grazing?"

I then posed the same question to my wife! After all, it's gonna take some talking to get pigs within twenty feet of the back of her house.

Which brings up another point...Do you think I'd have a chance if she thought she was gonna smell pig manure?

When you look at pictures of our farm you notice we have neighbors on top of us. Our property is narrow and deep. Minimum amount of road frontage and goes back forever. There have been something like 18 houses built within the last five years around us. 

If you look in this picture we are actually going behind my father-in-laws house because he likes to mow about as much as I do!

It is critical that we manage these lots so as to not offend anyone with sites or smells.

Most people who drive by our farm have no idea the number of pigs running around. Many don't know we even have pigs!

Compare that the old pre-1950's model of running pigs outside where everyone knew it because they could smell them a mile away. People are amazed when they come to visit at how they can't smell the pigs.

How do you accomplish this?

1) Move your pigs often to new grass.

2) Don't try to raise more pigs than your land can support.

I'll be talking about this more in future blogs. I have a lot of people who want to see how we manage these pigs here at the farm. I plan to video and blog some of this through the summer.

This ground was horrible when we first started running hogs and poultry over it. Slow but sure it just keeps getting better as we allow the pigs and chickens to fertilize it.

Until next time...

Here's a video with me narrating. Also known as rambling.

My last post was about the push to get government to release farmers from the CRP program so they could put acres set aside in the program back into grain production.

Here's a good video talking about the pros and cons of tilling the soil.