The icebox cometh

Went to visit some friends yesterday - they had just taken their 40+ chickens to be slaughtered.  Feast day is Monday.  Got a call from my farmer a few minutes ago.  We are due for 100 lbs. of pork (1/2 of a pig), 6 chickens and a turkey sometime around the Labour Day weekend.

Food seems to be a common topic of conversation at gatherings these days - how long chickens take to grow, how much they eat, how much meat do you actually need to get through the winter?

We also got a 1/4 side of beef from Nick's family farm a couple of weeks ago, so we're almost set.  We'll have some 'special' cuts to set aside - our first locally grown turkey (Thanksgiving), a brine-smoked ham (Christmas or Easter), and those lovely roast chickens for family dinners when the snow has returned.

Here's what we will get from our half of a pig - give or take a bit depending on the actual weight at slaughtering:

7-8 packages (1lb. each) deliciously smoked bacon (the best I've ever eaten, no joke)
3-4 shoulder roasts (approx. 3lbs each)
2-3 hind end roasts
1 ham (from the hind end, with small bone)
1 loin roast
10 pkgs. pork chops (from the loin, 2 per pkg.)
1 pkg. long pork ribs (party food!)
sausage - from the leftovers.

I've asked the butcher to leave a bit more fat on this time - this seals in the flavours while it cooks and will give me some nice lard to work with for the occasional biscuits or pies.  It's so nice to hear from the people who grow your food, and be able to ask the butcher to leave in the bones and more fat, so that the food will taste delicious and be more nourishing.  I know winter is long but with a store like this I think I can make it through.

I might add that the wholesale price we pay for hamburger is nearly half of what they charge at the corporate grocery store.  And I know there's no pink slime in this beef.  Happy eating!