A day at Rocky Ridge Ranch

I would like to talk about a place where all you get to eat is organic grains, peas, lentils, apples, amaranth, kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, giant zucchini, all types of squash, wheat and other organic vegetables and grains.  Vegetarian's dream right! How about if you're a meat lover and the meat you eat has been raised on all these items? The unequaled slice of prosciutto comes from Italy (parma).  The hogs eat acorns and grass. Gary at Rocky Ridge Ranch north of Reardan, WA. raises Berkshire hogs and feeds them this exact menu. All ingredients are organically grown on the farm and count for a good portion of both his Berkshires and Angus beef diets. The Berkshire is a heritage breed of hog that is prized for its belly "bacon", yum! We at Santé live to break down the Berkshire. Every two weeks we receive a whole hog to process and the meat is very consistent, with delicious flavor. The bellies have the perfect ratio of meat to fat, the jowls are perfect for guanciale and the hams make the "Parma" like prosciutto that is impressive, trust me I know. I have tried at least ten American made conventionally raised and cured hams and they are just not the same. These hogs eat well at medium rare and are perfect for a BBQ.  The diet the Berkshires have is directly related to the flavor and eating ability. Truly amazing. 

Gary is raising at least 30 Berkshires for me next year and if you would like to have one click here. 

You can meet Gary and his wife at the community building during farmers market hours. I spent the day on the ranch with Gary and experienced his life as a farmer. He's not just a farmer, but an all American man that did a tour in Vietnam, came home, bought land and turned it into a farm. Great American cowboy dream. Without using chemicals to sustain his farm, he deals with the harsh climate that the organics have to live in. He is a man that's doing us all a favor by doing his hogs a favor and feeding them food they are supposed to eat.