Aubyn and Tristan may be the friendly ranchers you visit at your local farmers’ market, but we’ve got a mighty team standing behind us that makes everything go. There’s no way we could leave the farm for days at a time if we didn’t have reliable, responsible folks looking after the livestock and systems. This year’s staff has some returning superstars and some brand-new ringers, and they helped move the ranch forward more than ever before. We worked long days (and nights) together, through all kinds of conditions, and we did it with a smile on our faces. In the spirit of this season of gratitude, we’d like to introduce you to our awesome staff, to whom we are exceedingly grateful.
Beef is back — but why in July?
It’s late July, and we’re back into our BC Certified Organic and AWA Certified Grassfed beef! Like everything we produce at Spray Creek Ranch, beef is a seasonal product. Luckily, we have vac-packing and freezers to extend the enjoyment. But why don’t we have steaks available until July? Read on, dear eater, and then heat up that grill.
The Reverse Sear
If you ask me, the reverse sear is the way to cook any steak or chops. Using this method will make a good steak even better, and can turn a ‘tougher’ steak into a gourmet experience. Best of all, it is about as easy as it could possibly be.
Aubyn’s Simple Pâté
Lately, I’ve had so many customers ask for tips on cooking liver after their doctor has recommended that they start eating more organ meats. For those who aren’t used to the flavour of liver or even think they don’t like it, I always recommend trying a pâté. However, if you search your recipe book collection or the internet for liver pâté recipes you’ll find yourself overwhelmed with all sorts of ideas ranging from boring and bland to unrealistically complex. My go-to pâté recipe is simple, totally delicious, flexible depending on what you’ve got in the garden or the fridge, and appetizing even to offal-skeptics. My 1.5 year old son eats it by the spoonful!
Conference Season
Through the winter months, our primary tasks are to:
• keep the water running,
• over-commit to volunteer efforts, and
• knit tiny chicken sweaters from organic wool.
We also make time to continue the unending process of learning that goes hand-in-hand with being a regenerative farmer.
Meat From Here (and why we volunteer)
If you know Tristan, you know that when he’s not farming, he’s thinking about farming, and that extends to his favourite hobby – volunteering. Recently, he was overheard in town describing himself as a ‘professional volunteer’. He spends a lot of his time working to create opportunities in regenerative agriculture across BC through his work with agricultural non-profits, especially in the winter months. Why, you might ask?
Ranch Hand – Rewarding work and diverse experiences in a rugged and beautiful setting
Ready to work hard with a great crew on an innovative regenerative agriculture project? Join us in improving the land while providing local markets with diverse meats of unparalleled quality.
*UPDATE* – We have hired our staff for 2019. Thanks for your interest!
Tips for the Perfect Holiday Turkey
Brining and roasting tips to make you a hero at the holiday table.
Stockpile Grazing and other Winter Wonders at Spray Creek Ranch
Winter is here and the farmers are spending a bit more time inside, catching up on bookkeeping and volunteer commitments, but the animals remain out on pasture all year (barn? what’s a barn?). All summer we plan our grazing carefully to allow for the most ‘stockpile’ come winter, so that our animals are truly pasture-raised year-round.
Staff Appreciation Week 2018
You check in with Tristan and Aubyn at the markets every other week, and you see and hear lots about all our animals and how we raise them. But have we told you about our amazing employees? We doubled the amount of food we produced this year, and we couldn’t have done it without a little help from our friends. In the spirit of this season of gratitude, we’d like to introduce you to our awesome staff, to whom we are exceedingly grateful.
