Categories: Health
Our Grass Fed And Finished Philosophy
Our beef is entirely 100% GRASS FED and FINISHED. Unlike many producer’s we choose NOT to feed any grain to our animals at ANY stage of the growing process.
Don’t all cows eat grass ? Why are our cows different ?
Grass is the natural food of cows. So why if we want a natural end product would we change what is natural to the animal ? Grain feeding is done to rapidly increase the growth rate of the animal and increase it’s final carcass weight. Grain feeding is unnatural to cows. It changes their physiological form and can cause numerous health issues to the animal. These health issues then require medical treatment which once again is unnatural to the animal. Grain is also full of harmful sprays and chemicals, in fact the grain is sprayed prior to harvest to increase it’s weight. As you can see, grain feeding is about speeding up the process. Our’s is about slowing it down and letting it grow naturally. A lot of healthy, grass fed cattle are fed grain towards the end of their lives to fatten them up which means they are not entirely grass fed and finished.Why Chemical Free ?
After having dodged the bullet of bowel cancer five years ago we decided as food producers we wanted to produce the ‘cleanest’ chemical free grass fed and finished beef possible. Whether it is ever scientifically proven or not, (YET) we believe there is a transmission of chemicals from the soil to the animal and from the animal to the consumer. Being ‘clean’ matters to us, it’s something we are very passionate about. Our soils are fertilized with organic chicken manure twice a year. No synthetic fertilizers or chemicals are ever used on our grazing or hay paddocks. We take this stuff very seriously !!It’s ‘The Little Things’ that matter most !
Underneath the soil are the ‘little guys’. The invertebrates, the microbes, the earthworms, the dung beetles (apologies if I left out anyone) working together as nature does to maintain soil health and correct imbalances. By spraying harmful chemicals above the soil we wipe out these little guys underneath the soil and we take away the soil’s ability to maintain it’s own good health. These ‘little guys’ matter to us and we want them to go about their job like they would whether we were here or not. Our properties are also being used as trial properties for Dung Beetles Australia. We are proud custodians of thousands of happy poop eaters !!I never thought I would ever say this but ‘The fire was the easy part’. I don’t know how many times I have said this since we got burnt out on 20th of December, 2019.
The night of the fire was a terrifying experience. We had chosen to stay and defend our home, we were the only ones on our road that did. We were incredibly fortunate to have about a dozen helpers arrive just in the nick of time. At 5pm we thought we were safe, the fire was heading in another direction. But by 7pm the wind had changed and before we knew it we were in the firing line. It had been an incredibly hot day, way over 40 degrees, in fact the entire week had been stinking hot. As the fire front approached us we were so lucky to have the aerial water bombers slow the fire front down. There were 4 lots of two drops but then as it got dark they had to land and we were left to fight it on the ground.
Farmer’s in their utes seemed to come out of nowhere. We didn’t even know who some of the people were until a couple of days after. We were blessed in so many ways and we have so many people to thank for helping us that night. We were totally surrounded by fires on all sides. After the fire jumped the road our crew then headed to save neighbours houses and sheds. What a night, it was nothing short of exhausting.
The next morning we awoke to some pretty terrible sights. We stood on our verandah and just cried. Our entire property was blackened. Stumps were still burning all over the property – they actually burnt for many weeks afterwards. The smell of burnt ground and trees was so incredibly strong. We had no power for 5 days, no landlines or internet for 14 weeks. We had lost all our organic pastures, all our freshly cut hay, all our fencing, all our waterlines and troughs. The whole lot was gone. BUT we had our house and sheds. We cannot fathom what it would have been like to loose everything as so many people did. If we had left the property we would have lost it all. Our decision to stay – would we do it again ? Absolutely we would. We would however be more prepared and I think you really can’t have an effective fire plan until you have lived through a fire.
The rebuilding of our property has taken nearly 15 months. Our lives seemed to attract numerous complications post fire. Fencing materials were in short supply because of the high demand. We had to fight our insurance company for loss of income, this took us nearly 6 months. We had a legal battle with a neighbour who was refusing to reinstate the boundary fence in the same manner that it was prior to the fire – it settled out of court 10 months after the fire. Covid hit and it’s numerous complications for small businesses. Health issues appeared for Wayne and he had several hospital visits. The list goes on.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger……………… That just couldn’t be truer. Here we are, armed with knowledge and experience that we didn’t have before. We have learnt new coping skills and we have learnt the closeness of a small community. We have received love and support from so many people. We are truly thankful. We survived and so did Carnevore’ !! It’s onwards and upward from here.
Categories: Recipes
How to cook the perfect steak
There’s nothing better than the perfect steak is there !!
Tender, juicy, flavoursome – YUM
Cooking steak to perfection can be a delicate operation. Especially if you are not using a good quality brand of steak to start with. At Carnevore’ what’s great about our steak’s is they are ALL good. And, even better, they are all good for you !! It’s not just the all time favourites like Scotch Fillet or Porterhouse that cook up well. It’s all of them. Rump, T-Bone, Topside - STOP IT – your making me hungry !
Here’s what we do, and we aren’t saying this is the only way to cook a good steak but it works every time for us.