Beyond Farmer’s Markets (Sheep Thrills Farm, AZ)
Food is the ambrosia of the soul.
They it’s what makes you, and certainly it feeds not only the stomach, but also the heart and mind. In Paul I found an epicurean soul-mate, so much so that we’ll often sit around and reminisce about the past in terms of meals. “oh, honey, it was the time we had that goat’s cheese and beet salad Mendicino”, or “that was the evening we had the truffle gnocchi in San Francisco”. At which point those moments will come flying back with crystal clarity accompanied by a soupcon of taste and a just a dash of appropriate drool.
We’ve already touched on this flavourful subject in the blog here and here, but in Northern Arizona we took the study a step further. I’m always on the lookout for excellent ingredients and thanks to the wonder of Google and just a touch of luck I stumbled across Kathy and Sheep Thrills Farm. Kathy and Rob raise grass-fed Shetland sheep in their lovely farm on the natural wetlands of Kachina, just south of Flagstaff. For those not in the know, grass is exactly what these animals are meant to eat, and it’s a universe away from the grain-fed feedlot meat that we find in most of our supermarkets. Grass-fed meat is not only organic, it’s truly free-range and completely natural ontop of the fact that the animals help to sustain our ever-important topsoil. We’ve become quite passionate about it and will go far and wide to seek out this quality of humanely raised animals.
We enjoyed several wonderful chats, exchanged life stories and had the joy of seeing Kathy’s animals roaming on her property as they’re meant to do. From her efforts we had a memorable roast, and the most delicious eggs from her pastured hens. Both will be events to remember from our stay in Munds.
Here’s a link to Kathy’s blog on her farm:
http://sheepthrillsfarm.com/
And, for those wanting to learn more about grass-fed meats, see here:
http://www.eatwild.com/
We so enjoyed your visit as well as the feedback on our meat/egg products, Nina. What we eat is so important to keep body and soul together. I love your eloquent prose on how foods bring back memories – so much so as we do equate the smell and taste of foods to joyful events in our families, or bringing back good memories of fun times with friends.
And remember to stop in whenever your are this way. äter gott!