Friends. This picture below took 3 years to capture. This picture is the result of blood, sweat, and most certainly tears.
That Porterhouse steak came from this guy (pictured below).
Precious Norm. He was born on our homestead just 22 months ago. Took us 4 months to breed his mother, another 9 months of growing him, and then he was born just 22 months ago. Just 22 months. The last 3 months have been excruciatingly looooong. Waiting for the night we all enjoyed a nice big, plump beef steak.
Does it seem like I’m being dramatic? Not in the least bit. This is HUGE. 3 years ago we started on a journey to raise our own food. What started out with one Jersey cow and 7 chickens led to a cascading change of events in our lives. Their band name is Big Til and The Chickens, just in case you were wondering.
We really owe it all to Tilly and Norm. We’ve learned so much, been through hell and back.
And the last 4 months? Forget about it. Its been hard. And we’ve been hungry. Or is it hangry…..
But back to the big ol’ Porterhouse steak. It is Norm’s. And it is delicious. So delicious I can’t even describe it. Is it cause I’m hungry? Maybe. Is it because we raised him ourselves? Maybe. But I’ll argue on any day, from this day forward, that Jersey beef is the best of the best. So tender, so marbled, it just falls apart. Yes Norm, you are delicious. And you were the biggest, sweetest boy around. You’re mama did good and she should be proud.
And I am ever, EVER so thankful for the food that has blessed this home.
It wasn’t easy knowing that Norknock AKA Norm, in the end, would be in our freezer. Our children loved on him, we halter broke him, we weaned him against his best efforts (he was trying to nurse his mama just a month before his departure!), he got into places he shouldn’t, and we drank his sweet mama’s milk everyday.
Norm lived a very very good life. He nursed on his mama out on the pasture til 9 months old. And then he spent the next 13 months out on green pastures with all the other cows.
I realize I can easily go to the store and buy an expensive cut of grassfed beef. But that’s not the point here. The point is knowing where your food comes from, having a hand in raising it, and taking responsibility and respect for the kill. I didn’t shoot him but I called the shot on this one. And that’s a heavy load to bear my friends.
Dear friends, if it’s your dream to homestead and raise your own meat, take it from one who stepped into the trenches….you can make it happen. It won’t happen overnight and it’ll be painful at times but always rewarding in the end. ALWAYS. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you’ll eventually get there.
Sweet Norm, I hope it was a good ride buddy. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for giving your life and blessing ours.
The post Three Years In The Making appeared first on The Browning Homestead.
