Show me the 'real' bacon!!!

Real bacon! We raised our Berkshire-breed (heritage breed!) pigs on our farm this summer. Here is the first bacon picture.

Have you tasted real bacon before? Our small, local processing / butchering facility 5 miles down the road handled the processing of our pigs. This 'real' bacon is so different from what you get in a grocery store! Smoked and cured with cane and maple sugars.

For info on purchasing our naturally-raised meats, you can visit our web site at www.wishfulacresfarm.com .

Our sandwich-cut deli ham!

Our farm-raised pork "sandwich ham" cuts. Just as delicious as they are beautiful. Wow, yes, it is possible to find deli meat that actually resembles real meat cuts. To view our available pork cuts & pricing, view our web site at www.wishfulacresfarm.com and click on the "Meats" tab.

Pork cuts now available for purchase!

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Those of you who live nearby, here is your chance to get your hands on some truly delicious pork.  Berkshire Pork!  For those wondering, Berkshire is to pork what Angus is to beef.  So wonderful: juicy & fabulously delicious.

This pork was raised right here on our farm, many of you saw the pictures & postings of our pigs as they grew this summer.  They were raised outdoors with plenty of room to roam & a shelter for protection. 

The pigs were processed at our nearby award-winning meat processor just 5 miles down the road from our farm (real, old-fashioned local butchering/processing shops do still exist here in the Midwest as a service to the nearby farmers..... and they do it all, from butchering, to cutting, aging, sausage-making, smoking/curing.  And the taste when things are done this way, unless you've had pork from a tiny processor, I can't even explain it... it tastes so out of this world compared to pork in a grocery store.  Especially the cuts that are cured or ground, like the bacon, hams, ham hocks, and sausages.  Truly Delicious.

To view the available frozen cuts and our pricing, you can visit the Natural Meats page on our web site.

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Vanload of pork

And this is what 4 pigs' worth of pork products looks like! The 4 Berkshire hogs raised on our farm this summer... are now bacon, sausage, bratwurst, ham, roasts, chops, loins!

Goodbye pigs

We said goodbye to our 4 girls today. Girl pigs, that is!

This was our first year raising hogs, we started with 4 weaned heritage-breed pigs purchased from a nearby farmer friend way back in early May.

They turned out to surprise us all. After a fiasco their first weekend here (the great escape, we'll call it), they were easy-mannered & easy to care for.

In 2 weeks time, they will be returned to our farm in the form of frozen cuts of pork. They're being processed at my favorite small, family-owned meat processor just 5 miles down the road. They do a great job of ethical processing & awesome award-winning methods of making sausage, bratwurst, chops, roasts, and bacon.

Those interested in purchasing some Berkshire pork, watch our blog for detains soon.

We look forward to raising a few pigs again next year. And we look forward to meals of our own farm-raised pork this fall & winter.
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Hog heaven!

Our Berkshire pigs are raised outdoors on pasture. This gives them the ability to do what they love. In hot weather, that's mud baths!
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We'll be selling this heritage-variety pork by the cut beginning this fall in our Farm Store.
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www.wishfulacresfarm.com

Pigs + Wishful Acres Farm's spinach = blissful happiness

Our Berkshire pigs love snacking on the Wishful Acres Farm spinach! Wow, I can't even imagine how wonderful the pork from these pastured pigs will taste, when they are supplemented with vegetables like ours! :-)
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www.wishfulacresfarm.com
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What a face!

These Berkshire piglets sure are cute!
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Heritage-breed pigs arrive at Wishful Acres Farm!

We had a long day today! We brought 4 heritage-breed piglets to our farm. Then had to build their fenced-in area when we got them home (procrastination is a bad thing on a farm). The piglets will be raised on pasture, and we should have the most delicious pork available for our customers to purchase this fall.
www.WishfulAcresFarm.com

Raising pigs!

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I decided a couple of months ago that we are going to raise pigs this year.  Just a handful, enough to feed our family and a bit extra to sell to our farm's customers.

Almost all pork is now raised in confinement barns.... another CAFO (confined animal feedlot operation) scenario, just like the caged chickens & confined cows.  I would guess 99% of pork is raised this way, and definitely 100% of regular grocery-store pork.

We'll be raising our pigs differently - outdoors, with access to the fresh air & sunshine, allowed to live a good life and act like the piggies they are. 

So, once I decided to raise pigs, I began researching - reading lots of books.  I decided we'll start with feeder pigs - basically these are weaned baby pigs (about 2 months old), purchased from another farm, and "fed out" on our farm until they reach market weight.

No problem, right?  Wrong.  I had a heck of a time finding feeder pigs!  It turns out that most farmers aren't raising hogs anymore... it's all gone the industrial farm route (huge confinement operations).  Now, I was put in contact with a few of these farmers and spoke with them.  They're neighbors, farmers trying to make a living, and of course I respect that.  However, a hybrid pig bred for confinement just wasn't what I was looking for.

So I contacted a farmer about 1 hour away.  I had visited his farm last fall to view his pastured chickens & turkeys, he's in line with the same type of farming we do here at Wishful Acres.  I knew he also raised cows & hogs, I had purchased some of his pork when I was there and it was the best pork I'd ever had.

I knew the breed of pig I wanted: English heritage Berkshire!  If you're unfamiliar, Berkshire is to pork what Angus is to beef.  The highest quality, most delicious pork... it even looks different from traditional pork - the fat is marbled throughout the meat like a good beef steak.  And the taste... delicious!  Especially the pork raised in good, humane, outdoor conditions.  What a difference!

Turns out this farm is raising a Berkshire breed crossed with another couple of heritage breeds.  And... we'll be buying a handful of feeder pigs from him!  The lovely heritage Berkshire / Duroc / White Chester crossed pigs will make their appearance here on our farm in early May!

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Anyone raising pigs?

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We're expanding the livestock area of our farm in 2012.  A lot!  We'll be raising meat chickens & turkeys, in addition to our current flock of laying chickens.

So... one area I'm starting to think of, and read about.... pastured pork.  Anyone out there raising hogs?  From what I'm reading, they'll fit well with our current farm operation.  And I know one thing... we all love pork in this house!  And lard...  :-)

We'll be raising them outdoors, on pasture if possible, but definitely outdoors with a shelter.  No confinement on this farm!!!  :-)

I had begun my research actually thinking of raising goats.  But, the more I read & learned, the more I realized goats just aren't a good fit for us right now.  Pigs, however, just may be....