MEAT
Homestead Meats
We raise our market animals on grass pastures in the sunshine and open air as part of a diverse, old-fashioned farm culture that includes horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, produce crops, perennial wildflowers and native prairie plants. Every species supports and is supported by the others in some way. We shepherd the animals and they supply us with meat, eggs, milk and fiber, but they also feed the paddocks and gardens with manure. The sheep and goats control the brush and weeds, our pigs till up future crop plots, chickens clean parasites off the ground, the dogs keep everyone safe from predators and the cats take care of the mice and moles. It’s beautiful, efficient and sustainable. The result is tender, juicy, nutritious meat grown without hormones or chemicals. If you’ve never tried this sort of meat from healthy animals naturally raised on a small scale without crowding or inside confinement, we think you should treat yourself and experience the difference.
Are Circle M Meats Organic?
Our vegetables are 100% organically grown, but we have chosen not to participate in the national organic certification program for several reasons. The first is that we are a very small operation and feel that we’d rather not add the certification cost and paperwork to our workload at this time. The second is that we have chosen Local over Organic to feed our animals. Our farming neighbors grow conventional grains and we want to support them rather than ship in organic grains from far away. Frankly, we do feel uneasy about using GMO crops to feed our animals, and most of our neighbors are growing GMO grains. But we work very hard to provide our animals with pasture for the majority of their food, so their consumption of grains is minimal. Our focus is on keeping our animals primarily grass-fed and raising them very humanely – more humanely, we think, than many large-scale farms that are feeding tightly-confined animals organic grains. We are building relationships with nearby farmers who can provide us with healthier food options for our animals and currently have seasonal access to organic hay for winter feed.
We raise our market animals on grass pastures in the sunshine and open air as part of a diverse, old-fashioned farm culture that includes horses, cows, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, produce crops, perennial wildflowers and native prairie plants. Every species supports and is supported by the others in some way. We shepherd the animals and they supply us with meat, eggs, milk and fiber, but they also feed the paddocks and gardens with manure. The sheep and goats control the brush and weeds, our pigs till up future crop plots, chickens clean parasites off the ground, the dogs keep everyone safe from predators and the cats take care of the mice and moles. It’s beautiful, efficient and sustainable. The result is tender, juicy, nutritious meat grown without hormones or chemicals. If you’ve never tried this sort of meat from healthy animals naturally raised on a small scale without crowding or inside confinement, we think you should treat yourself and experience the difference.
Are Circle M Meats Organic?
Our vegetables are 100% organically grown, but we have chosen not to participate in the national organic certification program for several reasons. The first is that we are a very small operation and feel that we’d rather not add the certification cost and paperwork to our workload at this time. The second is that we have chosen Local over Organic to feed our animals. Our farming neighbors grow conventional grains and we want to support them rather than ship in organic grains from far away. Frankly, we do feel uneasy about using GMO crops to feed our animals, and most of our neighbors are growing GMO grains. But we work very hard to provide our animals with pasture for the majority of their food, so their consumption of grains is minimal. Our focus is on keeping our animals primarily grass-fed and raising them very humanely – more humanely, we think, than many large-scale farms that are feeding tightly-confined animals organic grains. We are building relationships with nearby farmers who can provide us with healthier food options for our animals and currently have seasonal access to organic hay for winter feed.
Pasture BeefIn addition to foraging on the mix of grass, legumes and native plants that populate the pastures, our beef steers also receive a daily supplement of locally grown mixed grains. Our ratio of small grain intake to large forage intake maintains a high level of omega-3 fatty acids, while also providing a lean and flavorful alternative to conventional beef fattened exclusively on corn and soy. We think you’ll find our young beef fabulously tasty and tender, from stew meat to steaks.
Sold out for 2014. |
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Garden PorkOur pigs live in the garden. Or, more precisely, in next year’s garden. Pigs love to root and chew, and as such, are the world’s most efficient tillers and weeders! We take advantage of their natural inclinations and they, in turn, get the first pick of all the garden trimmings. As we work in the current gardens, we throw all of the compost over the fence to the pigs, which they promptly eat, compost, apply to the soil and work back into the ground with their tiny little hooves. They also receive locally grown mixed grains. Unlike conventionally-raised pigs confined in concrete stalls, these garden porkers spend their days in the sunshine doing what they were made to do and obviously have a lovely, muddy time. Our little herd lives on new ground every year, which keeps them healthy without drugs, and we have freshly tilled and composted garden plots to work in each spring. The results are lean, tender pork and delicious organically grown vegetables. But fresh-air living isn’t the only thing that sets our pigs apart. They are special from the time they are born, because we raise heritage pure-bred Berkshire hogs. We’ve experimented with a number of different breeds over the years here at Circle M, but once we tried Berkshires, we’ve never gone back. We were inspired to try them because we kept seeing them mentioned by chefs at high-end restaurants, and boy, were they right! These hogs are friendly foragers, but they also make amazing meat. Dark pink in color and exceptionally tender and flavorful, Berkshire pork is a taste treat you won’t soon forget. Our customers certainly don’t. This year our bacon sold out in under 24 hours. Available in November, 2014. |
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Meadow LambWe primarily raise sheep for fiber and those fantastic little poops which are like vitamins for the soil. But we do have a few lambs each year that we raise for the delicious, tender and extremely lean meat. Sheep rotate through our pastures after the more discriminating cows have had first pick of the grasses. Sheep follow because they are exuberant browsers, relishing everything from native meadow plants and wildflowers to invasive pests like honeysuckle and multi-flora rose. Watching sheep gingerly get their lips around prickly thistle or stinging nettle is amusing entertainment on a hot summer day. Perhaps it’s the diversity of diet that creates such unique taste in the lamb. There is really no other meat quite like it.
Whole Lamb - Available only occasionally, price varies seasonally. Please contact us to see whether we have animals at the size you require. |
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Gourmet ChevonYou’ve likely not heard of this, and that’s because here in America we rarely eat it. It’s goat meat, an incredibly tender and flavorful staple of diets all over the world. Goat meat and milk are consumed more than any other animal products worldwide, and with good reason! Goats convert low-quality forage (grasses and brush) into low-fat, high-flavor meat. If you are looking for a grass-fed, lean protein high in omega-threes, you should give chevon a try. Our goats are Alpine and La Mancha crosses, the females providing milk, the males providing meat. These delightful animals rotate through our mixed-species pastures with the sheep, often climbing right up into the hedgerow trees to nibble on a tasty leaf or sliver of bark. There is archaeological evidence that goats were the earliest animals domesticated, and we have found this ancient delicacy to be a thoroughly scrumptious addition to the modern health-conscious diet.
Whole Goat - Available only occasionally. Please contact us to see if we have a size available to meet your needs. |
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Free-Range PoultryWhen you visit our farm the first thing you’ll be likely to notice is that we have lots of birds! Our flocks include chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys. They wander at will through the pastures, ponds and hedgerows. Not efficient for production, but we get a lot of joy out of seeing them scattered around the farm. Of course, we’re thrilled that they taste great, too!
Running Chicken Farm will be providing our customers with chicken this year via our CSA Partner Shares program. |
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