Lau Family Farm, LLC grass-fed meats available on May 30
Lori Anne Lau
LAU FAMILY FARM, LLC
Grass-Fed and Finished * No Antibiotics * No Hormone Implants
We are planning to be at the Cache Valley Gardener’s Market on May 30th. The market is at the Logan Courthouse along Main Street from 9 to 1 pm.
We’ll also be meeting customers in SLC and Ogden on May 30th. We’ll be at Caputo’s Deli from 1 to 3 pm, and then in Ogden from 5 to 6 pm.
Our next trips to Logan will be on June 6th, 20th and 27th. Our first SLC market will be on June 13th.
§ We have gift certificates available, for an amount of your choosing!
§ We have 4 beef bundles and 3 lamb bundles available currently. The beef bundles have recently been revised (see below).
§ We have a few of types of lamb sausages available- garlic and rosemary, lamb and apple, Italian lamb with sun-dried tomatoes and merguez, as well as lamb salami. We have uncased packages of many of the lamb sausage varieties for those who are trying to avoid pork.
§ We also have beef andouille, beef sweet Italian, and beef bratwurst sausages.
§ We have quite a few lamb hearts, kidneys and livers available. We also have a good supply of beef fat at the moment.
Revised Bit of Everything bundle- Approx $180 after 10% discount
2 lbs Grilling Steaks (New York Strip, T-bone, or Rib Eye) (approx 1.75 to 2.5 lbs)
1-3 Oven Roasts (Top Sirloin, Sirloin Tip, London Broil or Tri-Tip) approx 4 to 5 lbs
1-3 Slow Cooking Roast (Chuck Roast, Eye of Round, or Brisket) approx 4 to 5 lb
3-4 lb Marinating/Moderately Tender Steaks (Petite Sirloin, Top Sirloin, Flank, Skirt, Ranch, Chuck, or Cube Steaks)
1-3 lbs Convenience Cuts or Bone-in Cuts (Stew Cubes, Kabob Cubes, Boneless Short Ribs or Steak (stir fry) Strips, Meaty Soup Bones aka sliced shanks or Ribs)
10 pkgs Ground Beef (Ten approx 1 lb packages of our standard 90% lean burger, or patties)
Revised Slow Cooking Bundle-Approx $100 after 10% discount
1-3 Slow Cooking Roasts (Chuck Roast, Eye of Round or Brisket) approx 4 to 5 lbs
3-4 lb Marinating/Moderately Tender Steaks (Petite Sirloin, Top Sirloin, Flank, Skirt, Ranch, Chuck, or Cube Steaks)
2 pkgs Convenience Cuts or Bone-in Cuts (Stew Cubes, Kabob Cubes, Boneless Short Ribs or Steak (stir-fry) Strips, Meaty Soup Bones, Ribs) approx 1.8 to 2.2 lbs
5 pkgs Ground Beef (Five approx 1 lb packages of our standard 90% lean burger)
Revised Grill Lovers Bundle-Approx 115 after 10% discount
2 lbs Grilling Steaks (New York Strip, T-bone, or Rib Eye) (approx 1.75 to 2.5 lbs)
1-2.5 lbs Steaks (Flank, Skirt, Hanging Tender, Flat Iron or Top Sirloin steaks)
1-3 Oven Roasts (Top Siroloin, Sirloin Tip, London Broil, or Tri-Tip) approx 4 to 5 lbs
5 pkgs Ground Beef (Five approx 1 lb packages of our standard 90% lean burger or patties).
Lambing has just about finished up. We have a handful of yearling ewe lambs that look like they will lamb in the next couple of weeks, and only one mature ewe that hasn’t lambed yet. The rest of the girls got after it and around 70 ewes lambed in about 17 days. I think the most we had in a day was 6 ewes lambing, which is far less chaotic than the 9 to 10, in one day we’ve had in the past. The craziest thing is that we had approx 15-16 sets of TRIPLETS this year. I believe when we had 100 ewes lambing we topped out at 13 sets, so this is a record breaking year in that regard. We also did really well in htat we have only lost about 6 lambs, and so far I have given 6 lambs to my friend Judy for her to raise on goat milk. I only had to do serious midwifery (rearrange lambs in the birth canal so they could be delivered about 2-3 times but I’m happy to say I was successful each time I intervened. Lambs are generally born with both front legs and then the nose coming first. Occasionally they will be born hind legs first. Every so often a lamb will try to come with just one, or no, legs coming first. The front legs being tucked back makes the shoulders too large to pass thru the birth canal easily. Without intervention the lamb would either die before the ewe could push it out, or she would never deliver and the ewe and lambs may all die from infection. It’s a great feeling when you are able to reorganize the limbs and safely deliver the lamb, and those behind it, alive. One of the keys to this year’s success was intervening early enough. As with most things its hard to know just when to try to figure out why no lambs are appearing, and this year I had the good fortune of being able to lay hands on the ewes that needed help in a timely manner. There have been times in past years, when I was unable to get the ewe confined so that I could check for problems, until someone else was available to help, and that has sometimes had negative consequences. I’m not quite sure why I didn’t give away more of the 3rd lamb from each set of triplets, or one twin of ewes with insufficient milk for 2, but I didn’t so now I’m making milk and delivering it 2-3 times a day for my fleet of little babies. They aren’t too enthused with the idea of drinking cold milk from the bucket…but hopefully I’l get them switched over before Saturday so I don’t have to find someone to feed for me. Back on Mother’s Day we decided (mostly me) that I just wouldn’t be ready to start the season on the 16th of May. The extra week has been a major blessing!
Around 2/3 of our mother cows have calved so far, with another 15-20 head to go. Thankfully calving this time of year means that the cows rarely need help getting their calves going, but every now and again a calf will forget to put its legs out first and we have to intervene. So far, knock on every wood surface handy, we haven’t had to help any of the first calf heifers or do other midwifery. We’ve also had pretty good luck and nearly all the calves have been delivered alive and healthy. We’ve had two sets of twins born. The indications are that both of the first set were stillborn, but the second pair was okay. One of the calves was rejected/forgotten by the mother so we’ve ended up with a bottle calf. Katie, the calf, is most likely a “free martin”, as her twin was a bull calf. In cattle the twins share a placenta, and so the male calf’s hormones affect the development of the female calves reproductive organs. I’ve heard of a few twin heifer calves who were able to breed but it is uncommon. So Katie will probably be a meat animal, but we might expose her to the bull next summer and she if she can conceive. I’ve been advised that we should bottle feed her for at least 4 months, and 3 to 4 times a day instead of the 2 months and 2 feedings per day the milk replacer suggests. Feeding her for at least two more months than the lambs will be a trial but I can see that she’ll do much better than if she is weaned 5 months earlier than her mother would have…
After a wet fall, and a dry winter, we are getting plenty of moisture of late. John got our grass crop planted, and some oats for hay but he needs some dry days to be able to plant the rest of Mrs P’s grain, and our alfalfa hay planted. We’ve gotten the meat steers moved to the meadow and they are happy to have grass to graze instead of more hay. The heifer calves will go as soon as the road is passable with the trailer again. The gal who leases pasture from us wants to bring her animals ASAP since she the land she was leasing for spring grazing was sold, but I’m not sure our dirt road is up to having several loaded trucks pass over it…hopefully by Monday it will be.
The ewes and lambs are happily grazing one of our alfalfa hay fields and going back for a bit of hay intermittently. We lost one ewe to bloat, but hopefully the bloat guard block will continue to work. Sometime soon I’d expect the flora in the ewe’s rumens to have adjusted to the high quality feed, reducing the risk of frothy bloat, but we’ll keep offering blocks of salt that have an ingredient that minimizes the risk of bloat. It has been so wet, and the lambs came so fast, that we have yet to trim any of the ewe’s feet, and now the oldest lambs are past due for their first vaccination as well. Hopefully we can get the vaccination done this weekend, and at least start on the feet trimming.
John and Tom have begun the process of going around and checking and repairing all of our perimeter and interior fences, but there are quite a few more lengths to check. Our animals are drinking form our pond and creek, but we’ll have to get the solar water pumps running before Nancy’s cattle arrive, as the creek in the meadow is currently dry. Since the ground is so wet it will be relatively easy to get posts in the ground if John feels we need to replace any this spring.
Becca has only 2 more days of 7th grade, and the last day they take a field trip to go swimming…so it doesn’t really count. Tom will have 3 days of classes after Memorial Day, with the last two being his first round of finals. Tom is now a licensed driver, able to drive during day light hours, and with just one non-family member in the car. The old truck is nearly ready…electrical issues are being addressed by our mechanic since they are beyond John and Tom’s skills.
Tom was chosen to be one of the officers for his local FFA chapter. He says they are hoping to raise enough money for the group to go to the national FFA meeting next winter…I haven’t heard what the fund raising plans are yet. He’s also running for sophomore class officer. He was glad his sister had scrapbooking skills to offer when it was time to make his candidate posters.
Becca was happy to make the 8th grade cheerleading team, and even happier to be selected by her peers as one of the team captains. She’s started 14U softball practice, with games beginning soon in Pocatello. She and 4 of her friends made up a great lip sync performance to a Spice Girl song…they did a great job at the jr high lip sync show, and raised a lot of money for new playground structures at their school. She’s gearing up for the annual state wide meeting of Job’s Daughters next month as well.
My dad is recently returned from a trip to Hawaii, and is doing very well. I’m worried about John’s dad…hoping his cough doesn’t become pneumonia. I’m trying to get over there to do dishes and laundry more frequently since he just doesn’t seem to have his “normal” get up and go. He seems increasingly dissatisfied with what he is able to do for himself. Hopefully he’ll have a pleasant summer and be a bit happier. On another gloomy note the vet tells me Jade, our 14 year old border collie, is in kidney failure. He is decidedly different this spring, but he still gets excited anytime the tractor or 4-wheeler starts. I’m hoping for one more summer with the old fellow.
There is never any shortage of things to be done around here…I’m looking at a big box of receipts and bills that need to be entered and filed. (I think I have kept all the bills paid this year-which is a step in the right direction.) As usual, we have managed to procrastinate on getting ready for market season, and our new banners are not yet designed and ordered. I’ve got a couple more days to get our prices for the coming season finalized, and I’m going to need every one of them.
Thank you for your support
Lau Family Farm, LLC
Grass Fed Beef, Lamb & Wool...A Natural Choice
PO Box 337
Soda Springs, ID 83276
208-709-4981 (cell)
