When we toured Paul’s farm, it happened to be one of the last cold days of winter this year.  The pigs don’t mind it though, their back fat provides built-in insulation and it was actually a pretty comfortable day for them.  Paul’s farm is similar to the farm I grew up on, plenty of farm cats, a dog, and several outbuildings as well as lots of pigs.  When I asked him how long his family has been involved in farming he said, “It goes way back as far as I can remember”.  I asked him about how many generations and he told me he was the 4^th generation of his family to farm.

Paul was happy to show us around his farm.  This is where he keeps his gestating sows usually bred in November, later on they will be moved to the pasture in the spring to farrow.

Niman Ranch farmers utilize the best animal husbandry practices of the past coupled with modern technologies such as databases for tracking their animal’s growth and productivity and so forth.  Paul and Lenice’s farm is a captivating example, settled in North Iowa surrounded by gently rolling hills and oak savannahs.  My mother grew up in this neck of the woods and always called this cow country because there were quite a few cattle ranchers from here.

Here Paul keeps his sows together along with some boars for breeding purposes.  Raising pigs is easier when they are given the room they need.  Initially, people started raising pigs because the meat was fantastic and there were so many uses for the lard but also, they were lower maintenance farm animals that were almost capable of taking care of themselves.

Last time I visited Paul’s farm I brought my sister, Anne and my daughter, Sophia, with me to see Paul’s new windmill erected to improve their energy efficiency on the farm.  The Menkes have been family friends for a long time and Lenice makes the best cookies.   Sophia played with their cats while Paul explained the importance of the windmill and how it had saved him roughly 70% on his electric bill annually.

We did experience a bit of confusion during our visit that day though.  Paul seemed to be yelling at me and then my sister an awfully lot. We didn’t know it then but his dog’s name is Anne and his cat’s name is Sarah.  So he was calling, “come here Anne” and my sister was very obedient and followed him.  Then he would say, “Sarah get over there” while showing us around the farm.  It was a hilarious confusion that took awhile to figure out.  Here is a picture I took of Anne trying to herd Sarah (a familiar feeling).

All of this attention placed on farm animal husbandry practices is really important,  With every choice you make at the supermarket or at a restaurant you are casting your vote for the farming methods used to bring that food to your table whether you realize it or not. If you have any questions about Niman Ranch animal husbandry practices you will find Niman Ranch protocols right here on our website.

Niman Ranch was built on the philosophy that the eating quality of meat is directly related to animal husbandry.  We strive to provide the best tasting meat in the world and it all starts here on the farm.

With the beginning of a new year I like to take inventory of the previous year. I believe it’s important to reflect and recognize the little things that made us happy during the year. Of course there are always a few things that stand out. One of my favorite memories of 2011 was just a simple little thing. In June, I picked a bowl full of tart cherries at the farm while my daughter was busy climbing the fruiting trees. Cherries don’t hang on the tree forever; there is a small window of opportunity and if you miss it, you’re out of luck. Fortunately for us, our timing was perfect.

After I filled my bowl to the brim with tart cherries I brought them inside and began to whip together a pie. I followed the same techniques my mother has used for the past 15 years. I have made my fair share of pies in the past but there was something about the freshness of the fruit that made me feel more confident than ever.

My pies really are more of a galette, folded toward the center from the edges with some space in the middle where you can see the filling. It came out of the oven gurgling and the crust was golden brown. It looked and smelled toasty and delicious. The scent filled the air and everyone came to the kitchen to see if it was ready. Of course, it had to cool for a few minutes, wearing on everyone’s patience. When the pie was cool enough to eat I brought it out to the porch.

In our family the big pie lover is Sophia. She is 10, soon to be eleven, and has explained to me that her motto in life is, I Like Pie. Sophia took one bite and the look on her face was priceless. It was delightful. Nothing is better than freshly picked tart cherry pie, fresh from the oven. I confess we ate the whole thing.

There were some years in the past when I was too busy to check on the cherry tree and then when I did the birds had already eaten everything. There were also years when the trees didn’t fruit at all. I’m so glad that I was able to use this fruit to create, not only a delicious treat, but a moment that I cherish. I don’t take that cherry tree for granted anymore. Life is a little like that, you have to live in the moment or it will pass you by and if that happens you’ll miss out and you won’t get your cherry pie. If you don’t like cherries there is always Mulberry….Happy New Year and remember to savor every moment.

I’m thankful to have this vast countryside to call home. I grew up here on this farm, and sometimes things were tough. We grew up without air conditioning, a furnace or even a dishwasher. In the winter my sister, Anne, and I wore mittens, bulky wool socks, and a hat along with sweaters to keep warm in bed at night, but we always made the best of it. Like when we got to play with our cousins. We had the most fun with our cousins, Shane and Chris. Together we made up games like Leepo People, where we would run and make a flying leap into a snow drift on the edge of the driveway like super heros as we yelled, “Leepo People” as loud as we could. We caught crawdads in the crick near our farm and floated down that same crick in inner tubes on hot summer days.

After college I moved away to Minneapolis, Los Angeles and even Milwaukee but I always return here to this countryside not just because of my family but, as they say, home is where your heart is and mine is here. I’m thankful for the wonderful memories from growing up on the farm with my sister and cousins and even more thankful to be able to raise my daughter on the farm where I grew up with plenty of freedom and wide open spaces.

What are you thankful for? Do you have photos that capture the spirit of that feeling? If so I would love to see them. Let’s call it a photo contest. Please submit your photos for this contest by uploading them to the Niman Ranch Facebook page and describe how your photograph represents something you are thankful for. The winner’s photo will be featured in our next blog post with their story. I look forward to seeing your wonderful pictures and reading about what makes you feel thankful.

Once we arrived at the farm, everyone scattered, looking at the pigs, taking pictures of the tractors and petting the farm cats. I brought a bucket of apple peelings and treats for the pigs. It’s so fun to feed them. They love sweet things just like us. The kids squealed with delight as our sow, Beautiful, grabbed a whole apple out of our hands and munched it in one bite.

My dad attached a trailer to the back of the tractor and suggested everyone hop on so he could give us a ride to the field. My friend, Carla, let go of the sides as we were riding to the field and said she was, “surfing”. The pigs were curious.

It was a long day of free-ranging kids and pigs. We ended the day with a picnic at the Dream Farm with my parents and their chickens. It was gorgeous as the fall evening sky cast its last rich golden glow of sunshine on us before disappearing below the horizon.

RECIPE for Willis Creamy Polenta:

2 cups of course ground corn meal
4 cups water
2 cups warmed half and half
3 tbsp. butter
1 cup parmesan/ asiago/ cheddar cheese
Pinch sea salt

On the stove in a medium size sauce pan stir together the water and cornmeal turn the burner to high until it reaches a boil stirring constantly. Once it thickens (15 minutes later) Add the warmed half and half butter, cheese and salt as you continue to stir for another 15 minutes turn burner to low and cook another 20 to 30 minutes until it is the desired thickness. (Polenta will thicken upon standing) top with grated parmesan or your favorite cheese and serve.

Several years later now, we celebrated the 13th annual Niman Ranch Farmer Appreciation Dinner held on August 27, 2011. It has become a celebration of the true farm-to-table connection inspired by my father’s experience at Café Rouge. This is the biggest Niman Ranch event all year long. This year featured the following seven highly acclaimed chefs: Chef Curtis Di Fede and Chef Tyler Rodde, Oenotri, Napa, California; Chef Joseph Kudrak, T-bones Chophouse-Red Rock Casino, Spa & Resort, Las Vegas, Nevada; Chef Adam Longworth, Gotham Bar & Grill, New York City, New York; Chef Michael Schwartz, and Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink, Miami, Florida. Together they prepared a six course meal for the 400 people in attendance at the dinner Saturday night. Most of the attendees were Niman Ranch farmers while the rest included friends and customers. The purpose is to celebrate the Niman Ranch hog farmers who have remained steadfast to the tried and true sustainable and humane farming methods employed by generations in their family along with the chefs who value and honor their hard work and stewardship. It is a celebration of heritage.

This weekend-long journey really began on Friday when our guest chefs, special guests and loyal customers were invited to tour the Willis Family Farm to see where some of their Niman Ranch pork comes from and what sustainability looks like to us. It was so exciting to see the bus come through our little town of Thornton, Iowa and make its’ way to our farm.

During the tour, everyone was put to work including my daughter, Sophia, now 10 years old, who seems to enjoy giving farm tours more and more each year. She showed the guests our pigs in the pasture as we talked about the sustainable farming practices we employ here on our farm, such as using our livestock as part of our crop rotation to enrich the soil. Our pigs are allowed to root and roam outdoors in the pasture with plenty of bedding and shelter as well. We explained a bit about breeding and our combination of select heritage breeds to create the Niman Ranch flavor profile and how the treatment of the animals is just as important when it comes to flavor.

Afterward we drove up the road to the“dream farm” for an outdoor dinner in our three-sided shed overlooking a plot of land that we have restored to its natural state: tall-grass prairie and wetlands. The delicious meal was prepared by our family and friends. My dad was excited to show off his heirloom variety tomatoes and laid them out on a picnic table for tasting. Our friends Bill and Mary Ann Korleski roasted a whole hog from our farm for this special occasion and beautifully presented it with an apple in its mouth. They have the best smokehouse around and helps to create the applewood smokiness we love about Niman Ranch bacon. It was a lot of fun to visit with such a variety of people many who had never been to Iowa before. We had a hayride through the 140 acres of prairie and got the tractor stuck in a rut, just before sundown. It wasn’t what we had planned but made for an exciting hike back through the thicket.

In Des Moines the next morning some of the chefs headed to the Farmers Market for last minute inspiration while others began working on their dishes in the kitchen. It was so exciting to see them at work. The food they prepared for us couldn’t have been better, but more than that, their camaraderie was felt by all. As Niman Ranch’s CEO, Jeff Swain, said,“it always feels like a big family reunion.” We were all so excited to see who would win the awards for outstanding pork and which farmer’s children would be presented with the Next Generation Scholarship, a scholarship designed to help them pursue an education in hopes they might return home and apply that knowledge to their families sustainable farming practices.

Tracy Ryder, CEO of Edible Publications, and Fred Kirschenmann, Distinguished Fellow for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, spoke to the crowded ballroom. They each gave inspirational speeches reaffirming the work of Niman Ranch farmers and emphasizing the importance of sustainable farming practices and it’s affect on our landscape, environmentally and socially.

All of those in attendance felt like part of the Niman Ranch family, as our best customers and friends showed their support through their generous contributions to the Next Generation Scholarship Fund which totaled $30,000 this year. Eating brings people together and understanding where that food comes from deepens that connection. Thank you to all of you who came to Iowa to show your appreciation for what we do on the farm every day. We want you to know how much we appreciate all of you who support us and make it possible for us to continue our families’ tradition of farming.

The first thing you will see is that it’s all about traditional family farmers treating animals humanely, protecting the land and our vital natural resources.  This commitment to sustainability is easily seen in the photos posted here from some of the different farms in the Niman Ranch network.  The picture of two mother pigs or sows in the foreground surrounded by their piglets in the pasture was taken here on the Willis Farm.  We really liked this picture because you can see how the pigs are able to move freely in the pasture while the corn field behind them was planted on the ground where the pigs had been the previous year.   This is part of the rotational system we use that enhances and replenishes the land.

Now that out website is up and running here is a brief outline of some of the highlights.  On the left-hand side of the screen are different categories to choose from; About Niman Ranch, Raising Practices, Our Products, For Chefs & Grocers, Niman Ranch Community and Niman Ranch Online Store.  These categories help you to navigate to find the information you are looking for, whether you want to find out more about Niman Ranch meat flavor and quality or how the animals have been raised you can find it here.  Some of my favorite new aspects of the website can be found at the bottom of the page where you can easily find the latest news and update through  the twitter, facebook and community tab live feeds. 

The Niman Ranch Community Tab is where you will find my blog about what is happening on the Willis Farm or perhaps another one of the farms in the Niman Ranch network.  I am going to include some links that will make it easier to keep track of news from the farm, Photos, Slideshows, videos as well as  links to my Facebook and Flikr page, links to other Niman Ranch farmer’s pages and  my favorite resources found on the internet.    

I plan to update the blog post with “News from the Farm “at least once monthly.  Sometimes it can get kind of hectic on the farm and it’s hard to set aside time to write about it but I promise I will do my best.  After all, it’s what Niman Ranch is all about.

I ran into Chef Martin Murphy of Canoe Club (Hanover, New Hampshire), one of the featured chefs at the Niman Ranch Farmer appreciation dinner, on a Saturday afternoon at the Gateway Market in Des Moines and he told me he brought butter from New Hampshire to share with everyone.  He said, “We have to break bread as family.”  And he was right.

That’s what food does.  It brings us together as one. As heard during recent Rosh Hashana services, “There is holiness when we share our bread, our ideas, our enthusiasm.” For this, I give thanks.

The first time I was in Iowa, Paul Willis took me to see his hens. He put a warm egg into my hand and I don’t know if he knew at the time – it was the closest I’d ever felt to the origins of my food.  Paul gave me some eggs and sopressetta to take home with me.  I savored it for weeks. Each night I would cut a small piece of meat and eat it with a peach or some cantaloupe.  When I was sad, it took me back to a place of joy.

We know food has the power to do this.  It show its power when we slow down and connect to what Slow Food founder, Carlo Petrini, calls, “the primacy of sensory experience” and “the immense heritage of wisdom relating to the cultivation of fruits and vegetables.”    

This is what Chef Sara Jenkins from Porchetta (New York City, NY) did when she shipped Niman pork sandwiches to our troops overseas. She gave them a taste of home.

Here are some sobering statistics about our food system today:

¾ of the corn and soy consumed in the US is GMO.  We rely on 15 plants and 8 animal species for most of our food even though in the history of agriculture over 7,000 species have been grown for food.

According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, for over 20 years farmers have received 18 to 19 cents for every dollar spent in a conventional grocery. 

One child in every four is overweight or obese. For African-American and Hispanic children that number rises to one in two. Today’s kids are the first in over two centuries expected to have a shorter life span than their parents.

A recent Census Bureau/ USDA survey correlates with what we just learned about poverty.  In 2009, one in four respondents in households with kids reported not having enough money for their food needs.  The highest rates of food insecurity are in the South, Southwest and California.

In light of all this information, it is an act of courage to do something differently – or cycle back to the legacy of what we were raised with: to raise animals traditionally and humanely.  It is an act of courage for chefs and grocers to seek out these products and buck a system that demands faster, cheaper food. This cheap food comes at an exorbitant price – to people, to our soil and water and other natural resources—and to workers who are not paid a sustainable wage and may work under unsafe conditions.  It is an act of courage to take back our food system: to save our seeds, to grow something ourselves – and/ or support the people who do.

I am lucky to come from a family that is strongly connected to food. I remembered this when sitting with Chef Jon Shook from Animal (Los Angeles, CA) the other night. I asked where he learned to love food.   He explained that in his family home, mashed potatoes came from a box and how his relationship with food changed when he started working in restaurants.

My grandmother would take me to markets where she’d haggle over the price of okra or mangoes.  I would sit beside her as she ground spices with a small mortar & pestle.  On occasion, in moments when a family member was deemed especially trustworthy, she’d pull what looked like a set of warden’s keys from somewhere deep in her bosom and ask you to pull something precious and expensive out of the locked pantry. Sultanas—fat, juicy raisins—or cajus—pale, meaty cashews.

My grandmother passed away five years ago. I miss her bellowing laugh, her full embrace and her cooking.  In every bite, there was love.  And that has carried on with my mom, my aunts and uncles, and my sister.

This is what food does. When we break bread as a family, doesn’t matter what race or sexuality we are.  When we give things, we share in a tradition that belongs to every faith.

I don’t want to get all American pastoral on you and make it sound like all of this is easy or glamorous. It is not. I know from my students at KU who grew up on farms and ranches that it is relentless work.

The seedlings of change and courage in businesses like Niman Ranch should not be the exception. Farmers and ranchers being paid a premium price for their food should not be an exception. Animals, produce, soil and seed not to mention people being treated with integrity and dignity should not be an exception.

Together, we can all work to ensure that people who are hungry are fed and that a system that is broken is healed.

We need everyone to participate.

We need to lobby Congress for stricter regulations around our supply chain and reasonable use of antibiotics in livestock and against GMO salmonella.  Go to FoodDemocracyNow.Org to learn more about what you can do.

We need the food journalists and bloggers—myself included—to not only talk about what’s on our plates, but about how it got there.

We need to feed ourselves better—and take care of each other.  As Gwendolyn Brooks writes:

We are each other’s harvest,

We are each other’s business,

We are each other’s magnitude and bond.

Every spring when the rhubarb comes up it is hard not to be reminded of Garrison Keillor’s Rhubarb Pie song.  Everyone seems to have their own patch of Rhubarb and that means lots of Rhubarb Pie!  We love warm Rhubarb Pie fresh from the oven with a scoop of old fashioned vanilla ice cream.  My mother, Phyllis, says it’s all in the crust and the best crusts are made with lard.  We like to use our own lard from our very own Niman Ranch pigs.    Making Rhubarb pie is like a competitive sport.  We all have our own way of doing it and of course we think ours is the best.  Here is my mother’s recipe off the top of her head this morning.

Rhubarb Pie

Crust…

3 cups of flour

1 cup of lard

1 tsp salt

Enough ice water to form pie dough… add gradually… then divide into 4 equal sized balls

Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour before rolling out the dough.  (makes 4 crusts)

Phyllis’ tip: Roll out the crust until it feels as thick as the ear of a newborn baby pig.

Filling…

4 cups Rhubarb

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup minute tapioca

dash of cinnamon

grate of nutmeg

1 1/2 tbsp of butter cut into five pieces and dotted across the top of the pie filling to hit the five points of a star.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Yesterday was a perfect spring day, except that we were out of cat food.  I had been watching my granddaughter, Sophia (who is 9 years old), for the day.    I asked her if she wanted to go to Mason City to go shopping and pick up some cat food to which she replied, “Can we go to Tractor Supply Co and get some baby chickens?”   Here is where the real story begins.  Baby chickens are quite the responsibility and I wasn’t sure I was up to the task.  They need heat, a safe place to sleep out of reach from natural predators as well as food and water.  We already have two flocks of chickens in our yard now with two separate houses.  Where would we put these new babies if I agreed to allow Sophia to get them? 

I thought about bribing her with a new Barbie instead, but then I realized that she needed these baby chicks.  She needed that experience of caring for them, taming them, and loving them.  Our other baby chicks have always had their mother hens to keep them safe.  Sophia would be able to have her chance to experience real responsibility with these new babies.  She would serve as their mother hen. 

 We stopped at Tractor Supply Co. in Mason City and I told her we would just look and if we decided to get some chicks we wouldn’t get more than three for sure.  We didn’t need any and I thought that Grandpa might be furious with me if we came home with more than that.  He had said that he didn’t want me to buy any chicks at this time because we have hens that will be hatching baby chicks out later this spring.   However, Sophia had birthday money she wanted to spend.  When we entered the store we heard peeping and it lured us toward a tank in the back that held 6 yellow fuzzy baby chicks.  We bought all six.   We were told at the counter that they are all Bantams.  We don’t currently have that kind so it will be easy to tell which Sophia’s are when they grow up and join the rest of the flock. 

 Grandpa wasn’t angry with me either.  He was as excited as Sophia was and went about setting up a tank with golden fresh straw, special baby chick feeders and waters and rigged it with a heat lamp so they would be cozy and warm.   Sarah called me that night and said that Sophia was so happy about her new baby chicks she even told her that it had been the best day of her life!  It really was the perfect spring day with brand new baby chicks for my granddaughter. 

 It’s officially spring!  Here on our farm  we’ve been seeing the signs that spring was on the way for a couple of weeks now.  We’ve spotted the first Sandhill Cranes on the pasture and an early Robin flying through the backyard.  The Bluebirds have been staking their claims on the birdhouses that we have provided for them and two of our Chantecler chickens have gone broody and are sitting on a clutch of eggs.  In the garden, the crocuses are in bloom and the daffodils and tulips are starting to emerge.   For me, the beginning of spring is bittersweet.  After the long winter I’m certainly ready to welcome this change and look forward to the growing season that is ahead.   At the same time, however, I realize we are about to become extremely busy with field work and planting!  We’ll be putting some long hours in the next few months, so right now we try to concentrate on enjoying the weather and spending as much time together as possible.

One of the things that we enjoy doing as a family i s taking a walk here on the farm lanes.  After dinner, I almost always hear, “Mom can we go for a walk?”  Usually it’s initiated by 8- year- old Emma, who lives to collect beautiful rocks and fossils, a walk provides her with the perfect occasion to do such a thing.  There is always something to delight each of us on these little adventures!

Before leaving the yard we are joined by Tilly, our pet goat, who along the path discovers her favorite treat: tasty oak leaves that are lying on the ground from the previous fall.   Our leisurely stroll always begins with Ellie, our 4-year-old, drawing curious stares from the cows, as she cheerfully stomps through the mud puddles that have been left behind by our recent rapid snow melt.  She is going to be extremely disappointed when the lanes inevitably dry up…but I won’t!  Our cows contentedly continue to eat and watch us until we are out of their sight  . 

Next we will visit the ewes, their lambs, and Poncho, the guardian donkey.  Poncho always demands a few scratches behind the ear before we can move on and if he’s ignored we are met with some very impatient and noisy braying.  The ewes will usually come for a brief visit before returning to their meals. Meanwhile, their lambs join into a group and participate in their version of follow the leader, jumping imaginary objects in their path. This always gives us all a chuckle.

As we head up hill, our almost 10-year-old, Drew, overturns rocks and pieces of wood in hopes of unearthing worms.  Lately, this has been a very productive endeavor.   He has fishing on his mind but the ice has not yet melted from the lakes.   We continue down the lane and start to get close to the field that the pigs are in.   We always announce ourselves by calling, “Hey piggy pigs!”  Happily they come trotting across the field, grunting all the way.  They greet us for a short time and return to their business; getting something to eat, playing in their bedding, nibbling some grass or scampering across the field.   The sun is setting, so we decide that it’s time to wander back to the house.

This all sounds like pure recreation right?  Actually, these visits are a vital part of our job as farmers.  It’s an opportunity to observe our animals with a mind that is not distracted by the daily chores that need to be done.  We’ve already taken care of feeding, bedding and checking waters and this gives us a chance to have one last look to make sure that nothing was forgotten or missed during the day.  Observing the animals in their natural state is a valuable tool for us.  It helps us pick up on the small, often subtle, clues that someone might not be feeling well or that a feeder or waterer is not working properly.  They will let us know if we pay attention!  We also feel that socializing with them minimizes their stress when we have to work with them or if they are exposed to a new situation. 

This is one of the farm chores that I find the most pleasurable, especially when we can all do it together!