Getting our Locally Grown Pork, Part 2

Friday afternoon, we received word from Maureen Knapp of Cobblestone Valley Farm that our 1/2 pig processing was complete and that we could stop by at our convenience to pick it up. So we set up a time to head up over to Preble, NY for the pick up this past Saturday. Our pork had been processed to our preferences by Purdy and Sons. In a previous post, I shared how the process worked. Below I shared what we received in our order:

23 pork chops (of which half were smoked)
3 smoked ham steaks
4 varying sized smoked hams
7 - 1lb packs of smoked bacon
8 - 1lb. packs of breakfast sausage
2 - 3 lb pork butt roasts
1 – 2.5 lb. pack St. Louis Style ribs
2 – 2 lb. packs of country style ribs
1 - 4 lb. sirloin pork roast

From the Knapp family, we also purchase our Thanksgiving and summer turkeys and chickens when they are processed. We have found all the meat to be tasty and of high quality. The chicken, and turkey are certified organic. The Knapps do not certify their pork or beef, but they follow organic and humane principles to raise animals. For more information about their products and how to purchase, please go to their website.

Chicken Pickup Day

Friends and colleagues have often asked me where to go to find locally grown meat in Cortland County. As I’ve mentioned in earlier postings about our pork purchases (pork part 1 and pork part 2 ), we purchase most of our locally grown meat and eggs from Cobblestone Valley Farm in Preble, NY. The Knapp family provides us with local, healthy, humanely raised beef, pork, chicken and turkey.

Today’s visit to Cobblestone Valley Farm was to pick up our freshly processed organic chickens. I'll be cutting up these whole chickens into pieces to use for making chicken salad, chicken speidies, and fried chicken before I put any of the meat in the freezer. I'll also be making a large pot of chicken stock with some veggies to freeze for making soup later in the season. If you've never cut apart a whole chicken before, here is a YouTube video that shows you how to do it. (BTW - my chicken pieces tend to look a little mutilated after I cut them up. But each time I do it, the pieces look a little more recognizable.)



Some friends, Cindy Benton, Susan Stratton and her daughter Kendra met us at the farm to look around, learn the process, pick up some meat, and meet Maureen Knapp. Pat and John Pinto, also friends of ours, happened to stop by while we were there to pick up their chickens.

In addition to picking up our fresh chickens, we also purchased eggs, a “grilling special” which included 1 lb. of ground beef, 1 lb. of hotdogs, and 1 lb. of hamburgers, and a additional 3 lbs of hot dogs (can you tell we are expecting a LOT of company of the next few weeks – and I plan on grilling outside?) The hot dogs are new this year and in addition to being high quality, healthy beef, are nitrate free (oh and they are real tasty, too). We also picked up a new item they are offering - ring bologna, that is also full of flavor. It is precooked and tastes a lot like beef stick or summer sausage.

In addition to getting our meat and eggs from Cobblestone Valley, we also pick their organic strawberries and get organic compost for our garden. It is wonderful that we have famers such as Maureen and Paul Knapp in our area. They are wonderful resources for connecting local foods advocates, and have hosted a number of NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association) activities and school field trips to their farm.

If you are interested in purchasing from the Knapps, please take a look at their website and send them an email.

Archive of Local Food Menus

Below is an archive of local food menus.

June 27, 2009 local dinner menu:

BBQ Cobblestone Valley Chicken (with Dinosaur BBQ sauce from Syracuse, NY); salad from our garden including lettuce, spinach, turnips, and radishes; and dessert from the East Side Bakery.

April 27, 2009 local dinner menu:

Roasted Cobblestone Valley Chicken (marinated in Salamida's State Fair Lemon Garlicious Johnson City, NY), broccoli from our 2008 garden (frozen), and fresh asparagus from the 2009 garden.

March 13, 2009 local lunch menu:

Grilled Cheese made with homemade mozzarella cheese and butter from Twin Oaks Dairy raw organic milk (Truxton, NY) and olive and herb bread from Lisa's Pane di Casa (Cortland, NY). Minestrone Soup made from canned, frozen, and dried veggies from our garden.


February 22, 2009 local breakfast menu:

New Hope Mills Buckwheat pancakes (Moravia, NY) with local blueberries picked last summer; Delavan Farms Maple Syrup (Cincinnatus, NY); and Cobblestone Valley Farm pork sausage (Preble, NY).


January 25, 2009 local dinner menu:

Homemade Cuban rolls using flour from New Hope Mills (Moravia, NY); Pork BBQ using Cobblestone Valley Farm pork (Preble, NY) and Dinosaur BBQ sauce (Syracuse, NY); butternut squash grown in our garden; broccoli (frozen) also grown in our garden; and Applesauce made from NYS Cortland apples purchased from Hollenbeck's Cider Mill (Virgil, NY).

Getting our Locally Grown Pork, Part 1

This is our second year to order a locally raised hog from the Knapp family at Cobblestone Valley Farm. We are indeed very lucky to have met Maureen and Paul Knapp a few years ago. Currently we buy most of our meat and eggs (and strawberries) from their farm. They are wonderful stewards of the land; provide superb local and organic products; generously share their knowledge with area school groups, college classes, and the general public; and take great care in tending and nurturing their pigs, cows, chickens, and turkeys.  

A half hog provides our family and visitors with more than enough quality, locally grown pork for the year. This year was very exciting as the Knapps decided to work with a new processor, Purdy and Sons’ Foods, Inc. located in Sherburne. Purdy and Sons’ Foods, pride themselves in having daily USDA Federal Inspections; using smaller sized delivery trucks to reduce their carbon emissions; and providing fresh, local, and organic meats to the area.

The Purdys also use nitrite free smoking methods for the ham and bacon. From what I have read, it seems that there is evidence to connect increased cancer risk with consuming meats preserved with sodium nitrite/nitrate. Apparently this preservation method makes the product pink (think SPAM), supposedly improves the flavor, and to some degree will prevent botulism. According to this 1992 article, some believe the benefits of using nitrates in food preservation out-weigh the potential risks. However more recent articles, such as this published on the Organic Consumers Association website, seem to indicate that there may be more connection to cancer than previously thought. We were very pleased to hear that we had the option to go nitrite free for our smoked hams and bacon this year.

So what might you need to know about having half a pig processed? Here is a synopsis of what we did. Several months ago we sent Cobblestone Valley an email requesting ½ a hog. Maureen then put us on the list. A few days ago, she emailed with some directions about getting it processed, information on processing prices, and a copy of the Purdys’ processing form (with lots of decisions and cuts of meat indicated). In other words, we had to make some decisions as to what to do with the loin, the shoulder butt, the belly, the shoulder picnic, etc. She also gave us contact information so we could speak directly to the butcher at Purdys. This is what I did today. Dan was wonderful to talk with and walked me through each question I had and helped me complete the form. He was gracious in spending so much time to educate me about the process and not once did he sound even the slightest bit exasperated with my lack of meat processing knowledge. He helped me determine what meat to smoke and what to keep fresh, and what sections to use for chops, ribs, roasts, ham steaks, sausage, etc. He even mentioned that since they are a USDA inspected processor, that we could resell the meat.

Soon we will be receiving an email from Maureen letting us know that our processing is complete and will then pick up the meat order. Once that happens, I’ll be sharing that part of the process in another blog entry.

Sunday on the Farm!!!!

If you are looking for a great family activity to do this Sunday (August 22),  please check out "Sunday on the Farm", a driving tour of Cortland County farms.  The tour is from 1 to 5.  Here is a link to their FaceBook event page.

Below is a list of farms and markets that are open to the tour and their address so you can locate them:

Lone Birch Stables and Little York Farms (CNY Beef): 5668 Route 11, Homer, NY 13077
New Hope View Farm: 5937 Route 11, Homer, NY 13077
Cobblestone Valley Farm: 2023 Preble Road, Preble, NY 13141
Currie Valley Dairy: 7369 Route 11, Tully, NY 13159
Gladtime Farm Market: 7612 Route 281, Tully, NY  13159
Reakes Country Goods: 4016 Route 13, Truxton, NY  13158

Cobblestone Valley Farm is where I purchased the organic strawberries in this entry and where we get most of our beef, pork and poultry. Gladtime Farm Market offers a lot of locally grown goods, including some they grow themselves.

Take some time to meet the people and see the farms that grow our local food!!!!

Senator Gillibrand meets with Cortland County Farmers and Residents

The Knapp Family with Senator Gillibrand

This past Friday morning, on a beautiful Central New York day, I had the pleasure of visiting Cobblestone Valley Farm in Preble, NY.  Since the Knapp Family (Maureen, Paul, Casey, Blaise and Evan) provide us with most of our locally grown beef, chicken, turkey, pork and strawberries, we had been to their farm many times. On this day, they were hosting a "listening session" with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand who is serving on the Senate Agriculture committee and conducting a listening tour about agricultural issues that her citizens would like addressed in the next farm bill.  Senator Gillibrand was impressive as she took charge of the meeting and had obviously done her own research on key issues as she responded and questioned individuals as they presented questions and comments.  The Senator was joined by Darrel Aubertine, the Commissioner of the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Casey Knapp introducing Senator Gillibrand

One of the issues raised was federal subsidies for corn-based ethanol - which besides being a food source used for fuel, is also usually grown in non-sustainable manners, is a net energy looser (it takes more energy to make it than we get out of it as a fuel) and as my husband said to the Senator "it is wrecking my chain saw, ruining my gas mileage and I get to PAY for the privilege!" Another issue raised was that of famers needing to be paid enough for their products so they can pay employees a decent wage, pay for their costs of production and make a little profit so that they can continue to grow our food.  Other issues included a request for support for the development of regional food systems and markets, and also labeling of GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) products.

The latter question was asked by Heather Hawkins, co-owner of Green Hills Market in Syracuse.  We chatted for a while afterwards and I was very impressed with her depth of knowledge of healthy foods, and her dedication for her family grocery store to offer quality food.  She went to the Future of Food conference in DC and also watched (as did I) the TEDxManhattan conference in January on Changing the Way We Eat.

Senator Gillibrand and Commissioner Aubertine

I also bumped into Neil Brody Miller who developed the iPhone (iPad/iPod) app called Farmshed.  This free app  as Neil says on his website "puts all of Central New York's local food producers at your fingertips.  Browse through comprehensive directories of regional farms, CSAs, farmers markets, natural food stores, locavore restaurants, and more. .  .  Why Central New York?  Because we live, work, and eat here.  We believe that buying local does a world of good for the region, and that supporting local farmers and food producers puts fresher, more nutritious food on our tables, strengthens community-based economies and local food cultures, and builds closer personal relationships between producers and consumers."  Of course this includes Cortland County!  Neil also said that they were coming out shortly with  a web-based app that would also work on your PC and other portable wireless devices, so check the Farmshed website for more info.