Pigs

Growing up I was never a big fan of pork. However they were prepared, pork chops usually came out with a bland flavor and texture similar to cardboard. The Holiday ham was good to look at, but once I got past the salt and cloves there wasn't much flavor that jumped out. Every once in a while a dish would stand out, like the smoked, dry cured Virginia Bacon I picked up in Williamsburg, but in general I've passed over the pork section of supermarket for most of my life. At some point I realized I was missing out on something.

A few years ago I started reading about heritage pigs and began to consider raising our own. Our farm is mostly wooded and there is little space for grazing animals, so pigs make a lot of sense for our landscape. I found an opportunity to have a wonderful pork loin from a Berkshire / Tamworth cross when I was on a business trip and that made up my mind. It was like nothing I had tasted before. It was juicy, filled with sweet balanced flavor and had the texture of a tender steak. I was hooked and set on a path to recapture the lost flavor of pork.

Currently, we are building two herds of heritage pigs and are in the process of establishing quality breeding lines for Berkshire and Ossabaw Island pigs. We will be selling piglets and meat once the herds are established and producing.