Ovis Hill Trip: New Beef Share, Bone Broth, & Salad

I couldn't wait to get to the Ovis Hill Farm market yesterday. We'd been out of eggs for two whole days, and I was missing them badly. We also signed up for a new beef share. We still have quite a bit of roasts and steaks from our last full beef share, so this time we went with a half beef share. We signed up quickly before the next price increase, and for $290, we will receive approx 1/8 of a grass-fed cow: between 8-9 lbs per month, over 6 months. This comes out to about $5.67/lb for roasts, steaks, hamburger, and stew beef. I think that's a great deal for high-quality meats. We think the grass-fed beef is incredibly tasty. And the meat share works out especially well for us since we don't have a lot of freezer space. We just love it! And the produce is always great, too: organic, local, and super fresh. I've never had freshly picked apples and pears, and they were so crisp and juicy. Yummy!

Today's trip includes:

• 8 dozen pastured eggs, $4ea
• lamb soup bones, $2/lb
• organic Asian salad greens, $3.50
• organic bell pepper, $1.50
• almost organic local, fresh pears from NC $2.50
• almost organic local, fresh apples from NC: golden delicious, gala, and fuji $2/lb
• low-pasteurized grass-fed milk $6.50
• Half Beef Share #1: 1 lb stew beef, 2 lb hamburger, 3 lb sirloin steaks, 2.5 lb roast $48.33 

Total cost: $106.31


I've been trying to figure out how to make good bone broth, and so I've been experimenting with different bones and cuts of meats. So far, I've used lamb soup bones, beef dog bones, and chicken backs, all from pastured/grass-fed animals. I've had the most luck with the lamb soup bones. Here's what my second batch of lamb broth looked like:

This was about 2 lbs of lamb soup bones, 1/4 c apple cider vinegar, salt, and a handful of veggies scraps from the freezer (onion, celery, and carrot ends), all cooked in the crock pot on low for about 3 days. My other broth attempts had no gelatin, but we drank them anyway as they still has some good nutrients in them. After the broths cool in fridge, I scoop the fat off the top and save for roasting vegetables. Delicious!

After a full afternoon of shopping, the girls and I got home right at supper time. I threw sausages on the foreman while I put away groceries, and started washing those beautiful Asian salad greens. Keith came home and took over the salad prep. Here's what he came up with:

Isn't that a beautiful salad?! And it was crazy good! That's fresh Asian salad greens, bell pepper, and gala apple from Ovis Hill, organic spinach, raw almonds, and canned olives from Costco, muscadine grapes from our CSA basket, and a quick dressing made of evoo, balsamic vinegar, s&p, cinnamon, and a little almond milk. My oldest and I couldn't get enough of that salad, we ate probably 3 helpings, or more. Good stuff!