Markets in March

The year is just flying past.....I have so much I need to do and so little time to do it! It's market time again this weekend, so if you are in Yeppoon or Rockhampton, come along on Saturday or Sunday respectively and get some of our meat.

We will have the usual Beef and Goat, but limited cuts of pork. Our pig numbers were down a little bit so for this market we will have plenty of bacon, but no loin chops, belly roasts, butterfly steaks or spare ribs. We will only have a little bit of ham, roasts, usa ribs (plenty), shanks (who's tried these?), mince and diced.

Next market, which is scheduled for the 19th and 20th of March, we will have plenty of pork available again (they've grown a little bit more!) Also, a reminder for GLADSTONE customers - please get your orders in as soon as possible, as your delivery is on that same weekend. I only have one order so far, and so I will need a lot more if I'm to go down there. I would love it by Sunday if possible, as that will make it easier for me to work out how many pigs I will need to take to the butcher next week.

Good News!!! Blue Truffle is now using our ham, so please go along and support them (and us). I think it's really exciting to see a local establishment using local meat - even more so because it's our local meat! They are also one of the best places to eat in Rockhampton, so even more reason to go along and support them!

Remember by supporting us, you are helping to support a local food economy as well as supporting ethically raised and sustainably farmed meat. I'll finish this post off with some pictures taken recently - the pigs are loving the green grass!

Weaners out in the paddock

a fairly new mum sitting up to have a chat with me

the Dry sows at feed time. 

February update

We have had some absolutely lovely rain! It did mean a mix up with the markets - Rocky one week and then Yeppoon the following week (last weekend). The travelling for two weekends in a row, makes me realise that I don't think I could do weekly markets - I just don't get enough work done at home!

We've got heaps of grass, which the pigs are really enjoying! It's amazing how much grass they eat - they are like cows when they get into a new paddock - head down and munching. Lovely to see.....
We ended up with 250mm of rain over about 10 days and when it comes like that, a lot of it soaks in. Our dams did fill too and the Dawson River is running, so there is no shortage of water, which is lucky because it's coming in hot again and we need to keep the wallows up to the pigs.

I will be in Rocky and Yeppoon again this weekend. If you would like to put an order in, there is time if you do it by 7pm. I will then finalise the list and send it to the butcher. I'm really sorry, but there won't be any belly's or spare ribs, they've all been ordered. We should have plenty of other meat, although no goat this week either.

I also must regretfully let Gladstone people know that I couldn't get down there this weekend. I'm really sorry, but we will work towards the third weekend in March, so if you are from Gladstone and would like to put an order in, please do so immediately.

Oh, and good news.......the Blue Truffle will be using our ham after this weekend!!! So please support them, they have been trying to get me to supply them with meat for ages and we've finally managed to get them some. It's difficult for small producers to supply restaurants, but both the Blue Truffle and Us have been trying to work together for a while....Restaurants that support local producers need to be supported too.

Just a reminder if you are going to order, there is no longer an order form, please email me with your requests. There's a link here.

It's raining, it's pouring, all the pigs are snoring!

We are currently getting some absolutely beautiful rain......well, it was beautiful. I don't like to sound like I'm not appreciative, but we've probably had enough now thanks! It has been lovely though and I must say that the temperature has finally dropped and it's even quite pleasant. So far we are up to about 250mm.

One of the drawbacks to all this rain however, is that I will not be going to the Yeppoon markets tomorrow (Saturday 6th February). At this stage I still hope to come into Rocky for the Kern Arcade Carpark Markets on Sunday. This will be good for Rocky customers, as it means that you will have first choice of all the meat for a change. We will have beef, goat, pork, bacon and ham, so Rocky customers will get the prime cuts that usually get taken by all the Yeppoon people.

If....the rain continues and the roads become or are likely to become unpassable, I will postpone the trip for a week. Which means I will come in next weekend - Saturday and Sunday 13/14th February.

Please "Like" our facebook page to be kept up to date - as I will post on there what I am up to tomorrow. Hopefully this link will take you there, if not just search for us.  Dawson-Valley-Free-Range

Two of the sows enjoying the rain and green grass.

The finisher pigs trying to get out of the rain.

Changes to ordering + a yummy meal idea

I have just changed the ordering process......the online form has not really been good for me - I find that I miss more orders than I get and it's just not worth it. So, if you would like to order, you have two options - Email me with the list of what you want or email me and ask for an order form. If we ever build a proper web site, I'll have another go at an online ordering system. You can click on the Pricelist tab to see what sort of cuts are available and the prices.

ALSO....I will be in Yeppoon/Rockhampton on the 6/7th of February. I have decided that after my sell out over last weekend, that I would do two markets in February, so I'll be there in less than 3 weeks. Please order ASAP if you intend ordering.

Last weekend I was in Rockhampton for the markets and I stayed with my sister Rita. It's always a great chance to catch-up and as usual, we spent most of our free time talking about food, or eating food. This is a common thing with all my family when we get together as we are all foodies. Rita and I are on the same wave length with our food philosophy and we really enjoy cooking together - well I enjoy cooking with her because she's one of those people that clean as they go...and I am not!

My first night in town (Friday night) I walked through the front door into a cloud of deliciousness - spicy Mexican flavours.....yum.....Burrito's for dinner! Rita is a fan of the Skinny Mixers and so the mince was cooked in the thermomix and she was still rolling out the burritos, previously mixed in the thermomix. These burrito's were different to the ones I usually make as Rita reckons that they freeze and defrost better. I will have to compare and maybe that will be another post. Either way, home made burritos are so much nicer than store bought (obviously....)

Saturday night we cooked pork shanks. These are so under-rated! I always have heaps left so I thought I'd show Rita how nice they can be. We used a recipe from the Skinny Mixers, A Little Taste of Asia "Sticky Szechauan Pork Belly". Only we used pork shanks and didn't do it in the thermomix. I won't give you the actual recipe, because it's well worth buying the e-book yourself (if you do have it, just do the ingredients for the stock). It was basically soy sauce, sugar, ACV, ginger, garlic, onion, star anise, cinnamon stick, szechuan peppercorns, cloves, cummin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander root and stems, and water.

Poor over the shanks, cover and place in a moderate oven for about an hour. Turn them around a bit and cook for another 1/2 hour covered. Then remove the cover, crank up the heat and cook for another 1/2 hour (2 hours in total should do it!) - this time, try and stand the shanks up so most of the rind is out of the sauce so that it can kind of crackle up. Drain off the sauce and place in a saucepan to thicken with a little corn or arrowroot flour.

Cut the meat off the bones for serving. We served ours with rice cooked in the thermomix and some fresh out of the garden vegetables that were steamed in the varoma while the rice cooked. One of our bigger shanks is enough for two people. Leftovers are always good if you do more.

This was simply DELICIOUS!!!

Back to work

We had a "kind of" break over Christmas - we had a two week spell from having to take pigs to Biggenden and we also had two of our kids around to help out, so Kim and I did manage to get two days of doing very little! Bliss!!!!

Now it's time to start up again. Our first market for the year is coming up - Yeppoon 16th January and Rockhampton 17th January. However, once again, we are a little short of pigs and other animals too for that matter, so we'll do one market in January and one market in February. We won't be going to Gladstone until the 20th February, sorry guys!

We will only have pork available for the January market, but hope to have beef and goat for the February one. Demand for our pork has continued and we are still having trouble keeping enough pigs to sell direct to our customers through the local markets. It's a good problem to have, however makes it frustrating trying to keep everyone happy all the time.

We have recently received some rain - almost an inch all up, so once again there is a green pick. This has been the usual thing lately - we get enough rain to get some green grass and then it comes in hot and it burns the grass off. The last rain event did bring some much needed rain to a lot of farmers and graziers west of us, so that was really good!  The pigs are enjoying the green grass and are usually seen contentedly grazing over the paddocks - when they are not trying to cool down in a mud wallow.

See you soon,

Happy Christmas!

Well, it's that time of  the year again.....who is like me and hasn't done a thing towards Christmas preparation? I'm sure it will all come together eventually - well it usually does.

If you are looking for a present for that hard-to-buy-for person, how about a Gift Voucher from Dawson Valley Free Range? We can do any amount that you like and then the recipient can order whatever they like to that value.

I love the idea of supporting local businesses, and if you do too, this is a good idea! Also we will have some of our soap for sale, which could be another gift idea.......I will have some certificates available to fill out at the markets, but if you know that you would like to get one, please email me ahead of time and I can bring one with me.

This will be our last market for the year and we won't be back until the 17th of January, so if you want to stock up, please get your orders in by Sunday night.

Kim and I would like to give a big Thank you to all our supporters this past year. I especially appreciate your understanding when we stuff up an order or don't have what you want or would like. Our life does seem to get busy at times and I don't always get to spend enough time in the office doing the planning! We are very grateful!

So all the best for the holiday season and we hope that you spend the time how you want! Whether that be with family or friends. Take care if you are travelling and we look forward to a busy year ahead!

Markets in December

We have only got two markets left for 2015! The weekends of the 5/6 December and 19/20 December we will be in Yeppoon and Rockhampton. Gladstone delivery will be on the 19th December. Please get your orders in. I will need the orders for the next market by Sunday night, and the orders for the following (and last) market would be great as soon as possible. Especially if you want any special requests for Christmas.

Sad news......most of you would be aware by now, but we won't have any hams for Christmas this year. We will be building up our pig numbers next year, so will definitely have them for Christmas 2016!!! We have had so much trouble this year with our supply keeping up with demand (it just isn't!) so I do apologise for all the times that we run out of meat at the markets. It's a good thing for the long term, just not very good when we disappoint you, our customers.

The beef has been getting very good feedback, so that's been really good to hear. We will have plenty of beef this time as we have done a bigger beast! We will also have goat along with the usual porky products.

We've had some lovely rain over the last month, so the place is looking pretty green - although the heat lately is starting to zap some of the grass. This paddock below has been left empty to freshen up since the beginning of the rain, but we are now putting weaners into it. We have them fenced in a small area first, but will open it up today to let them have the whole paddock. When the piglets get weaned from their mothers, they need to be confined for a couple of weeks, otherwise they would escape back to mum.