Yeap, you heard me – I have a cow now! Well, sort of….. Let me explain.
I am passionate about a number of things – and one of those things is animal welfare. Animal Welfare should be all of your passions too ya know – But I’ll leave that for another day……… Another one of those passions is food. Good food at that. Tasty, nutritious food. And these two passions cant exist comfortably without consideration for the other. And in short – thats why I am investing in a cow!
Black Beef caught my eye many months ago – with their facebook page. Black Beef is a farming Co-operative, whose farmers raise traditional black native cattle, Dexter and Aberdeen Angus, on grassland and rough pasture in Co.Down, N.Ireland. Their cattle are allowed to grow slowly – allowing the meat to develop rich, wonderful notes. And they are fully grass fed – something all cattle should be, and certainly what all cattle would want to be given the choice.
But after liking their page and adding myself to their mailing list I promptly forgot about it. Until a heard a new farmer had taken the tender on the field surrounding field cottage. And those farmers are the Black Beef cooperative! First of all I was happy to have their adorable Dexter Cattle outside my window. Im an animal fan – I like having them around. But secondly, I caught wind of their new initiative for a ‘field to fork’ scheme!
With not so secret dreams of being a small holder – the idea of watching a steer go from a relative youngster to a mature chap ready for the slaughter house appeals to me. Even if many of you may turn your nose up at the idea of being so involved in the entire process – its something that I find very interesting. Mainly from the welfare point of view – I want to be able to see my future beef every step of the way. Knowing he is out in that field, in the sunshine – grazing on the mixed pasture in a family herd makes me happy. But also knowing that all of this will add to the flavour of the finished product – definitely a major bonus!
So a couple of weeks ago now, M & I met with the farmer – Jamie – and chose our steer.
That’s him on the right there – the little one with the mouth full of grass. The big chap on the left – thats what Number 004 should look like in a years time! Hes got a little bit of growing to go 😀 Oh – and dont worry – hes getting a name…. Im thinking Gus!
So here’s to a year of updates 🙂 I hope you’lll enjoy the journey with me! Is rearing your own animals for food something you would like to do? Im hoping I dont find it all a bit to hard come D Day!
