It has become quite chic to elucidate on all things local, please forgive the digression, but the above photo is our grassfed lamb burgers with homemade tzatziki and River Berry Farm lettuce with our own winter-stored fabulous baking potatoes.
We like to call our lamb, Basque Style. Basque style lamb is similar to the lamb produced in the mountainous Basque region of Spain. They are raised on pasture and harvested smaller than American lamb (which is feedlot finished similar to beef). It is therefore more lean than standard American lamb. Grazing our diverse pastures contributes to lamb that is delicate, tender and full of varietal flavors.
Our lambs are completely pasture-raised. They are free ranging and are never confined. Moving to new pastures each day provides optimum nutrition and flavor. They forage for grasses, legumes and even wild herbs like thyme and dandelion!
They nurse their mothers’ own rich milk and are supplemented with whey (a bonus from our cheesemaking process) and natural minerals. The result? Tender, lean and delicate due to the diverse diet they eat. We do not use any antibiotics, hormones or genetically engineered products.
One has to ask, how long can the feedlot-raised meats paradigm last? Given the price of fuel and the cost of raising grains in the midwest, then shipping it to areas far away. Well, I won't go into a diatribe on animal welfare, carbon footprints and the untold LACK of health benefits of grain fed meats. I will leave that to better writers and more comprehensive science-based sites on the internet like Eatwild, NY Times writer Jo Robinson's site dedicated to grassfed meats and dairy products and their health benefits. What a wealth of knowledge on her site!
Back to our lamb. Called “Among the best spring lamb...” by Williams-Sonoma TASTE magazine (2000), it is truly of the land and reflects our own terroir in the foot hills of the Green Mountains of Vermont.
So please join us at farmers market to try some, or by special appointment here at the farm for purchase. We offer both meat cuts and whole lamb shares. Yes, it sounds contradictory. Perhaps gone are the days when folks referred to 'freezer lamb'..........now everything is called a share-blame that on CSA's. Ha! I'll take it.
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