Welcome and welcome back new and returning CSA members. What a ride this winter has been. Cold, dry, then snow, snow, cold again, glorious spring and more snow! Yeah moisture! But, boy-o-boy, let’s warm up a little to get growing already! Spring crops are in the ground waiting for warm days.
We are excited for the 2013 season and hope you are, too. We have a few new changes in the CSA. We are partnering with a few other farms and ranchers. There are some people and products we love and we want to provide you the option of buying ethically grown or raised products you might not otherwise be able to obtain.
One of the products we want to offer you is Natural Homestead Beef raised by Frank Silva.
Frank sells his beef at the Boulder and Longmont Farmers’ Markets. He also sells to some local restaurants. Frank’s booth has been next to ours at the Boulder Farmers’ Market for years and because of this we have long talks with Frank, between helping customers. We hear him speak passionately about his animals’ welfare. We hear and share his worry about water and drought conditions.
I can speak from happy personal experience to the fantastic flavor, and quality of Frank’s beef. It sounds cliché to say that I can taste the care Frank puts into his product. But, I can. The same way I think our vegetables from Red Wagon taste better than vegetables from other farms, because of the time and care we put into our crops.
Frank raises Highland cattle that are descended from a tradition Scottish breed. They are slow to mature, and because of the slow maturity rate, the flavor of the beef is more developed than faster maturing breeds.
Frank’s cattle are of course ethically pasture raised and traditionally finished. I prefer traditionally finished beef to grass finished. I find traditionally finished beef to have superior beef flavor to harsher grass finished flavor. Also, I find the meat texture is more pleasant and tender than grass finish, which I find often unpleasantly firm.
So what is ‘traditionally finished’? To Frank it means the cattle have free access to alfalfa, grass hay, brewer’s mash (Frank has a contract with Coors to use their brewer’s mash) and sunflower seeds. Yum that, I want that for breakfast….and one of Frank’s burgers for dinner!
Here is Frank’s website. Check it out. There is lots of info there, email him or me if you have any questions.
When you sign up for our CSA there is an ‘options’ page. You will see the beef packages what Frank is offering on that page. Since this is our first year offering ‘add-ons’ other than fruit, we are asking for feedback and suggestions, now or anytime, if there is something you would rather see offered. Different sizes? Different cuts? Please let us know.
In the next couple weeks I’ll do a few more blogs telling you a little more about some of the other products we are offering. If you have questions in the meantime, please post them in the comment section here. If you have a question, maybe someone else does too, so please share them.
See you at your CSA pickup soon!
