Both Sides of the Fork

Much like fall, spring is a very busy time on a livestock/crop farm. Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is to decide what to do first. When the weather warms and the fields dry it is time to put the crop in the ground. Time is of the essence when it comes to planting. There are weeks were you may only get a few hours in the fields due to weather. An dry, early spring is no indication of a dry later spring. Despite the pressures of planting, the crops are not the first priority of the day.                                                                                                                    The pigs always get top billing. Chores, weaning, breeding, load for market, all get don...

How many times have you said to yourself or to others that there is a need to get back to basics? A return to the basics can help us realign with the fundamental principles of the task at hand. It’s generally very helpful. When I was struggling in a sport, I often backtracked to the fundamentals to discovered my point of error. Other’s use it in work, family life, and in cooking. Unfortunately, I believe that we have remained a bit too basic in our approach to pork. Go to a retail store and you will see the same cuts that have been available for the past 30 years. You will see chops, shoulder and loin roasts, tenderloins, ham steaks, etc. Now there is nothing wrong with those cuts as they present a myriad of cooking opportunities. But the wonderful pig produces so much more! Take for example some of the dishes we served this week at a pork education event. We made street tacos out of pork steaks (it’s the Spinalis muscle if you want to get technical). We made Chulet...

Welcome back (we’ve made some changes)! First off, we (my father and I) would like to apologize for not writing a single blog post for the past 15 months. In our defense, the family has been going through some significant changes. In those 15 months the three boys – myself, Ryan, and Trent – graduated from college, high school, and grade school, respectively. Kate married Adam, became a Howerzyl, and moved to Orange City, Iowa. Ryan and Trent changed schools with Ryan attending Trinity Christian College and Trent starting at Pella Christian. Meanwhile, I graduated from Dordt, moved to Des Moines, and started my professional career as an intern at the National Pork Board in their domestic marketing department. So needless to say, change is in the air! Now I should probably explain how this blog is changing. We stopped turning out the blog due to Dad’s busyness with the farm and me no longer working there. I am now living in in downtown Des Moines; working as the marketing ...

The Iowa weather machine has struck again. Last week this time I was writing about how cold it was (it was -20 a few nights) – now it currently is resting at a balmy 45 degrees! Anomalous weather patterns are not uncommon for Iowa; a few examples include an inch of rain on Christmas and snow in May. Despite the climate, things are getting back to normal after a hectic holiday season. (Here is a picture from the summer to remind you how warm it will be in a few months.)  The Christmas decorations are all packed away for the year and my two brothers have returned to their academic duties. Basketball games, speech practices, and meetings have resumed their control of the schedule. I personally do not have to start classes until the 16 th , so I’m still doing my part on the farm as well as helping mom whenever she needs a hand with the wedding business. I must say it is quite it less difficult preparing to go back to Dordt for my final semester than any other one before it. La...

Happy New Year everybody! To celebrate, may I interest you in some incredibly cold weather? For those of you that haven’t been around the Midwest the past week, temperatures have hung around in the negatives for a majority of the time. I guess I shouldn’t be complaining – it did get to 18 degrees yesterday. So with an expected wind chill of -18 tonight, you’re probably wondering how we keep everything running smoothly on the farm with such cold temperatures. Well, similar to the steamy highs of the summer, it isn’t easy. Fortunately for us, all of our pigs live inside. This means they are not exposed to the cold for any prolonged period of time. In the buildings they are able to generate enough body heat to keep the entire herd warm through the winter months. One of our farrowing buildings has a sensor system that automatically adjusts vents to control air flow and temperature (it’s pretty cool). The difficultly of keeping things warm doesn’t lie in the buildings, howev...

Christmas has finally arrived here at VG Farms. It is finally white and actually looks like Christmas. Before I go on, let me issue an apology for the lack of blog posts these past few weeks. Between my end-of-semester finals and my father’s busy work-load, it has been difficult to find the time to write. So consider this special Christmas edition a gift from us to you. As any family does, the Van Gilst’s hold several Christmas traditions. Some are small and informal – like watching National Lampoons Christmas Vacation at least a half dozen times. Others are a bit more significant – such as gathering with each side of the family (Van Gilst and Branderhorst) to celebrate the holidays alongside grandparents, aunts and uncles, and an endless supply of cousins. We watch the Iowa Hawkeyes play in their bowl game (fingers crossed for a victory in a few days) and occasionally us boys will head off to Iowa City to catch some hoops. Whatever it may be, there is never a dull moment ov...