The Accidental Agrarian

Aspiring to the Agrarian Life

French Leave

Podchef | February 11, 2011

I’ve come to France‚ÄîGascony to be exact‚Äîto learn a bit about French farming systems for pork, duck, & goose production. I am also hoping to work closely with French butchers and small producers in my brief time here. Meanwhile I’ve been eating great food, seeing fantastic markets, pairing foods and wines and hatching plans of [...]

La Veal en Ros?©

Podchef | January 13, 2011

It has been six months since Maple was born. In that time he lead a grand life, in the high style….for a male dairy calf, that is. Hazel, his mother, was ill just after his birth‚Äîketosis‚Äîso we weaned him a week earlier than were going to. At first we bottle fed Maple, but within the [...]

Winter Workshops

Podchef | September 28, 2010

This Autumn and early Winter I have some great things planned at Claddagh Farm…. Not only are we continuing the harvest and getting ready to process our first crop of Claddagh Farm rabbits, but we are entering Workshop season…. To kick things off I will be offering a Porkshop–a pork slaughter & butchery workshop mid-late [...]

Sweet Success

Podchef | September 21, 2010

When we moved to Claddagh Farm, some of the first livestock I wanted to get was some bees. I was forunate enough to meet Ed Wynn, a local school teacher and avid beekeeper, who helped me realize I didn’t have time, money or energy for bees my first, second, or maybe even third year getting [...]

Apples Aplenty

Podchef | September 9, 2010

It’s been funny weather today. First, hot and sunny, then a heavy downpour. After milking this morning I launched into a project I’ve been itching to do, but haven’t had the time, inclination or the equipment. That all changed with the temporary loan of a GPS system. It took me most of the morning, and [...]

Duck from Start to Finish

Podchef | January 7, 2010

Well…perhaps not start, after all I didn’t breed ducks to lay the eggs which were hatched to get these ducklings, but you get the drift. On the morning of a mad September day I hatched out a scheme to raise a flock of ducks with the express purpose of getting some fellow cooks together to [...]

Of Pigs & Ducks & Far Off Things

Podchef | November 2, 2009

Whew! I’m finally feeling like I have a little chance to breath. Last week I slaughtered our annual pig and this weekend I butchered and processed it. Right now I am in a tiny window of rest before the remaining 7 pigs I have been raising are slaughtered here on the farm and taken away [...]

Duckfest 2010 Name That Duckling

Podchef | September 23, 2009

I’m not quite sure how this happened. I seem to get myself stuck in the middle of things quite often. Perhaps I am too good natured. Perhaps I am too game for fun & a lark. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. All I know is I find myself raising ducklings this Autumn when not a duck had [...]

A Meaty Problem

Podchef | August 19, 2009

As a small-scale, artisanal pork producer I work hard to raise a quality product for my customers. From start to finish it takes almost a year for me to raise pork to the quality I like to offer. This often means coaxing piglets through February frosts, seeing to their comfort on a scorching July day, [...]

The Backyard Revolution

Podchef | March 19, 2009

When the Industrial Revolution began to take hold, countless country bumpkins flocked to the cities, lured by the promise of money, a better life, some sort of future out of the dung heap. What they found was enslavement, death, disease, and crippling poverty at the hands of often cruel masters who grew wealthy on the [...]