Peak adulting is being excited about a new stock pot. Peak farming may be getting excited about rain and a cancellation at the meat processor.
We bought a weanling last winter (side note, when buying at auction, if you don’t want horned cows, pay close attention!) to raise and eat; and were really hoping for an appointment this fall with the processor, despite our first go round ending up with a 9ish month wait time.
Never did we realize exactly how in demand small scale meat processors are. Maybe it’s a sign of the times, maybe they’ve always been popular, but a month starting with “M” 2022 was the first available scheduled appointment when I called early-mid 2021. Unfortunate when you don’t want to overwinter an animal. However, there is a magical cancellation list! If someone calls to cancel last minute, they go down that list to see if anyone has an animal available on short notice.
Now, like everybody, I am popular on the spam robocallers list. So if you’re not programmed into my phone, I may not answer. But this week I took a chance and hit that green button to hear about a cancellation for a new processor we are trying out. Fortunately, T-Bone was ready to go with no recent shots or other treatments that would make him inedible. Perfect timing because my steak selection is getting thin!
Raising your own meat is challenging in so many ways, but rewarding in even more, and maybe that is why the wait times are so long.
I have truly learned my lesson, we have an appointment for October 2022 with the processing plant. Well worry about finding the cow later.
Sourwood Hill 