Live Oak School Farm Visit

The 3rd grade class from Live Oak School came for a return visit to the farm this week.  Spring has sprung on the ranch and there was lots to do and see.  Claire, my Milking Shorthorn cow,  patiently let us milk her in front of the kids while her calf, Lily, slept nearby.  Manny and Missy, our bottle baby lambs, mingled with the crowd, happily bounding about with us.  The goat kids received lots of attention (and petting) and the younger chickens gladly let the children hold them, often snoozing off in their arms.  Taylor, one of the farm interns, explained the construction of our Native American earth lodge while the kids listened attentively.  And of course our resident herding dog/ranch boss,  Jack, was there to greet each carload of kids as they arrived.  He ran and romped with the kids and eagerly enjoyed snack time with them.

Not only were the kids undaunted by the mud, they actually embraced it.  As I looked on watching a group of kids  gleefully jumping into the muddy banks of the creekbed, one parent said to me:  "It's primal."  Yay!

Welcome Spring!

I was greeted this morning with the sight of Claire, one of my older Milking Shorthorns, standing on the highest hill on my ranch with a small silhouette beside her.   We were all very happy to meet Claire as she came down the hillside with a pretty, little white heifer calf by her side.  Lily, as I named her, spent the day with her mom, happily nursing and sleeping nearby as Claire grazed the pastures.

On rendering lard

I've taken to rendering lard of late.  Mostly I've been making lard from the kidney fat (aka leaf lard) of pastured pork from Highland Hills Farm.  Soon I will be experimenting with the kidney fat from lamb.  I've was leafing through the pages of a James Beard cookbook from the 1970s when I was in high school.  The book is entitled 100 of the World's Greatest Recipes and many of the recipes call for lard, suet or marrow bones.  I remember at some point cooking with fat a la James Beard falling out of favor and now, thankfully, there seems to be a culinary embrace for fat once again.  Real lard isn't as unhealthy for us as we have all been lead to believe.  And kidney fat lard is the most prized for baking (and makes the best oven-roasted potatoes). 

Rendering lard isn't difficult:  it's just a bit of a time-consuming two-day process.  But in the end, there is that satisfying moment of having participated in some time-honored, ancestral process that goes beyond mere food.  (Plus lots of good, creamy-white lard.)

And yes, I've taken to selling the lard — wrapped up in small 4 oz packages.  It's available both at the Berkeley Farmers Markets and at the farm store.