Our grass farm is a relatively new operation. Our first calves ever (as a result of the introduction of our own bull--some of our initial herd had already been impregnated) started dropping in August and it's been a delight to watch them romp and frolic on the property.

When you begin an operation like this, a program designed to foster the land and allow nature to do it's job, you get to see some pretty interesting things. Frolicking cattle, cows bellering greetings at your arrival (never failing to make me think of what a brontosauraus might have sounded like), animals big enough to stomp you into the earth wanting nothing more than to nudge gently against you in hopes of a treat.

The photo above was taken from my car as I left the farm the day before yesterday. I'd been out photographing the Monarch Migration on our creek. I was beside myself with joy to see this bird at such ease, walking on the ground, surrounded by five or six of our cattle. As I got closer to the bird it leapt on to the back of this beeve for protection.

I've been here since 1989 and have been fishing, hunting, and photographing on Pinto Farm all that time. We only began our cattle operation in 2008. This egret is something I've never seen before on our property. It's not just any egret, it's a Cattle Egret! It was so elegant. I had no idea what it was, I thought at first it must be some kind of heron but then it came to me that it must be an egret of some sort. My friend Jean confirmed this for me; long time rancher, bird watcher, and observer of nature that she is.

If I correctly understood what I read about cattle egrets, then 59% of the average cattle egret's diet is horseflies. They also eat grasshoppers, crickets, and a few other unwanted farm pests. One of the fantastic things about pasture raised animals and a grass farm designed to mimic nature is that it attracts birds of all types. Birds are nature's pest control. I'll eagerly be watching for more of these magnificent birds on the property. If I were a cow, egrets would be my best friends. Imagine having a companion follow you everywhere you go, perhaps by riding on your back or shoulders, and keeping your hide nearly free of annoying pests! And all without chemicals! Ahhh, nature at it's best.

I'll be doing a random drawing for two winners next week. To get your name in the pot, just leave a comment here or email me. This drawing is for people living in the U.S. only, please. Each winner will receive two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce directly from the company.

To read more about the product, check out Their Website.

It's some tasty stuff, I promise! Big thanks to Al at Country Bob's for sending me two bottles of the sauce and letting me offer a this give-away. How fun to be able to do this!

Read my review of the product HERE.

Cows are happiest with their heads buried in the sward. I went out the other day to look at our cows and snapped a few photos. They were too busy grazing on fresh grass to pay me too much attention.








This grass may not look so remarkable to you, but considering the drought we've been in, this is downright lush! We'll have our irrigation system set up within another month or so, and we are very excited! Our pasture raised cattle enjoy roaming over quite a bit more property than we'd like at the moment, but it's the only way to make sure they have access to all the fresh "salad" they need to be happy and healthy. Once the irrigation system is set up, they'll have lusher grasses to feed on and we'll begin implementing our paddock system which means they won't be roaming as much but they'll have lusher, richer, more nutritious grasses to graze on. Oddly enough, cows eat better when they are in a paddock (huge paddocks, and a new one every day mind you) than when they are roaming several hundred acres. Competitive, I guess!

As good as the meat is now, I'm curious to see how much the taste of it improves when they don't have to wander quite so far to graze. For more photos or information, visit Our Website. We're also HERE on Facebook and you can get instant updates from us by following Us On Twitter.

Cooking Grass Fed Beef:

Want a tip on cooking a fantastic steak on the stove top? I do this frequently with everything from round steak to flank steak to T-bones. If you don't have a good vent-a-hood, you will likely fill your house with a bit more smoke than you like and you may prefer to avoid this technique unless your windows are open, but a smoking hot iron skillet makes a fantastic indoor steak.

Grass fed beef is so good and flavorful that I don't marinate the steaks or do anything much at all to them except maybe trim them up a bit. I never cut the fat off (because I like the fat) but if there is fat around the steak it's wise to make slits along it so the meat doesn't curl up as it cooks--then it won't cook evenly. The fat will cook faster than the meat and will try to curl up like bacon if you haven't made the slits, curling the steak along with it.

So, your iron skillet is on the stove on medium high to high heat. Throw salt right into the pan, as much as you think you would have used to season the steak if you were using it directly on the meat. Let the pan heat 5 to 7 minutes. The salt will season the meat perfectly and will actually make cleaning up the pan a little easier (so will a little water poured into it while it's still hot). When the pan is ready, throw your steak into the pan, raw and unadulterated. Don't touch it until it's time to turn it. I like my meat rare, so I don't usually have to wait long. Flip it, let it finish up, then lay it on a plate and cover it with another plate (turned upside down) and let it sit for two minutes before serving. This allows the juices to disperse evenly through the meat and makes for a juicier steak. Hubby prefers Worcestershire Sauce on his steak, I'll never understand that man. Myself, I like a dab of butter, coconut oil, or maybe some horseradish. Just a bit, mind you, I love the taste of grass fed beef and don't like covering it up with anything.

A word on the flavor of grass fed beef. I thought I knew how flavorful it was until I was making a roast, rotisserie style, and forgot to add salt to the meat. I had rubbed it with olive oil and let it marinade in beer overnight, then covered it with fresh crushed pepper before cooking it. But I just plain forgot to use salt. I LOVE salt and I eat way too much of it. I think I've developed a resistance to the taste of it and find myself using more and more of it. But on this roast, even leftover a couple of days later, I didn't miss the salt at all. Flavor flavor flavor, that's one of the wonderful things about pasture raised beef.