This podcast is for anyone desiring to learn more about the human process of traditional, ethical, economic and delicious livestock processing and eating.
Brandon and Lauren Sheard, co-hosts and owners of Farmstead Meatsmith--their small-scale, custom processing and education business--talk all things meat related: from practical knowledge to the philosophical inspiration behind growing, harvesting and eating meat.
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Episode 100: Farming, Wine, & Modernity with Kelsey Beck Fernandez of Finca Fernandez, Part 2
Wednesday, September 11, 2024 • Duration 01:13:11
In this episode, Kelsey and Brandon chat about biodynamic agriculture, tradition, loss of culture, Kelsey's experience at our Foie Gras class with Backwater Foie Gras, growing regional grape varieties, wine in the Mass, the Protestant Reformation, differences between Protestants and Catholics, authority vs. power, and living in a nation of tyrants.
Timestamps/Topics for Episode 100:
0:00 Biodynamic agriculture & paganism
3:42 The diversion of agriculture equals diversion of culture
8:15 Traditions is 'that which is passed down'
11:54 Were born materialists
16:15 Kelsey's experience at our Foie Gras class with Backwater Foie Gras
26:11 Regional grapes & changing your likes and dislikes
36:49 Wine in the Mass
42:38 The Protestant Reformation & differences between Protestants and Catholics
54:20 Authority vs. power
1:01:50 We get the leaders we deserve & how to live under tyrants
Looking for more Meatsmith knowledge? Join our online membership or come to an in-person class:
Hands-On Harvest Classes - Come to one of our harvest classes on our homestead in Oklahoma. We offer pork, beef, lamb, and goose harvest classes in the Spring and Fall. Spots are limited to just eight students per class to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! Farmsteadmeatsmith.com/upcoming-classes/
Meatsmith Membership - We created an online community and resource for homesteaders and farmers. It serves all those who want to cook and eat well. We offer the fruit of our labors (and our kitchen) from more than fifteen years of experience, and our Membership community of more than six hundred is an invaluable digital resource. The only one of its kind in the country, Meatsmith Membership provides an earnest and winsome approach to domestic livestock raising, slaughter, butchery, curing, cookery, and charcuterie. Join today and partner with us in growing your home around the harvest. Monthly memberships are $17.49/month plus a $29.99 signup fee. Or purchase an Annual membership for $189.49/year with no signup fee, saving you $50.38. There’s a 7-day free trial for Annual memberships. Farmsteadmeatsmith.com/membership/
Episode 99: Farming, Wine, & Modernity with Kelsey Beck Fernandez of Finca Fernandez, Part 1
Friday, September 6, 2024 • Duration 01:09:34
In this episode, Kelsey and Brandon chat about farming and processing livestock in urban California, wine culture in Europe vs. the US, Kelsey's Family Pig class experience, and his first solo pig slaughter.
Looking for more Meatsmith knowledge? Join our online membership or come to an in-person class:
Hands-On Harvest Classes - Come to one of our harvest classes on our homestead in Oklahoma. We offer pork, beef, lamb, and goose harvest classes in the Spring and Fall. Spots are limited to just eight students per class to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! Farmsteadmeatsmith.com/upcoming-classes/
Meatsmith Membership - We created an online community and resource for homesteaders and farmers. It serves all those who want to cook and eat well. We offer the fruit of our labors (and our kitchen) from more than fifteen years of experience, and our Membership community of more than six hundred is an invaluable digital resource. The only one of its kind in the country, Meatsmith Membership provides an earnest and winsome approach to domestic livestock raising, slaughter, butchery, curing, cookery, and charcuterie. Join today and partner with us in growing your home around the harvest. Monthly memberships are $17.49/month plus a $29.99 signup fee. Or purchase an Annual membership for $189.49/year with no signup fee, saving you $50.38. There’s a 7-day free trial for Annual memberships. Farmsteadmeatsmith.com/membership/
Timestamps/Topics for Episode 99:
0:00 Graduate school connection to Kelsey Beck Fernandez (Faith vs. Atheism)
10:29 Getting into homesteading via wine production in California
17:27 Sourdough, 2020, and moving further into homesteading
20:53 Kelsey coming to our Family Pig Harvest class
Episode 98: Catholic Farm Dad Stuff with Mark Wertin, Part 2
Thursday, July 11, 2024 • Duration 50:26
In this episode, Mark and Brandon chat more about smartphones, the value of mundane farm tasks, breeding Jersey milk cows and bulls, fencing for cows, and teaching folks (and your kids) to shoot pigs. Also, Mark wrote and performed a beautiful sonnet about shooting pigs for Brandon.
Looking for more Meatsmith knowledge? Join our online membership or come to an in-person class:
Hands-On Harvest Classes - Come to one of our harvest classes on our homestead in Oklahoma. We offer pork, beef, lamb, and goose harvest classes in the Spring and Fall. Spots are limited to just eight students per class to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! Farmsteadmeatsmith.com/upcoming-classes/
Meatsmith Membership - We created an online community and resource for homesteaders and farmers. It serves all those who want to cook and eat well. We offer the fruit of our labors (and our kitchen) from more than fifteen years of experience, and our Membership community of more than six hundred is an invaluable digital resource. The only one of its kind in the country, Meatsmith Membership provides an earnest and winsome approach to domestic livestock raising, slaughter, butchery, curing, cookery, and charcuterie. Join today and partner with us in growing your home around the harvest. Monthly memberships are $17.49/month plus a $29.99 signup fee. Or purchase an Annual membership for $189.49/year with no signup fee, saving you $50.38. There’s a 7-day free trial for Annual memberships.
Timestamps/Topics for Episode 98:
0:00 The value of the mundane repetitive farm chores
14:16 Breeding Jersey milk cows and bulls
25:22 Fencing for cows
36:20 Teaching kids to slaughter livestock
43:44 Let Thy Belly Meet The Earth! Sonnet Mark wrote Brandon
Episode 97: Catholic Farm Dad Stuff with Mark Wertin, Part 1
Tuesday, July 2, 2024 • Duration 01:12:04
In this episode, we chat about Mark's beginnings in farming and his experience as a dairyman, teaching children and preserving their innocence, and how smartphones are demonic.
Hands-On Harvest Classes - Come to one of our harvest classes on our homestead in Oklahoma. We're currently offering a 3-day pork class (Sept 12th-14th), a 3-day lamb class (Oct 3rd-5th), a 2-day goose class (Nov 15th-16th), and a 2-day beef class (Dec 6th-7th). Spots are limited to just eight students per class, so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today!
Episode 94: Agrarian Thomistic Philosophy with Dr Richard Meloche, Part 2
Friday, May 17, 2024 • Duration 01:03:54
Agrarian Thomistic Philosophy with Dr Richard Meloche, Part 2
In this episode, we continue our conversation with Dr. Richard Meloche on the use of natural elements in liturgies, the epistemological benefits of rural living, the loss of imagination and unique individuals due to technology, encountering Resistance in reality, indifference, setting artificial limits, and the beauty of natural order.
Announcements:
Come to a 3-Day Family Lamb Harvest class, June 20-22 or October 3-5, whereyou will use only your hands to turn four sheep into kitchen-sized lamb cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. The main difference between the Family Lamb and Family Pig is the skinning of sheep. Removing the hide from sheep, deer, elk, etc, ought to be learned by hand for an efficient and satisfying harvest. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/product/3-day-complete-lamb-harvest-course/
Our one and only St Martinmas Goose Harvest class will be November 15-16. Just eight students will transform a small flock into undiluted goods for the family table through the culinary traditions of the premodern peasant. The goal of this earnest, hands-on course is to impart the actual virtue of goose provender, from kill to confit. Sign up today at https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/product/martinmas-goose-harvest/.
Meatsmith Membership A gift that gives all year long! More than 45 Harvest Films, Brandon's Harvest Journal, and our community FaceBook group. 60-day free trial available! Use the Newsletter Special option on our sign-up page and apply the coupon code 60daytrial at checkout. Sign up today at .
Episode 96: St Thomas & the Ends of Labor, Part 2
Saturday, May 4, 2024 • Duration 01:10:36
In this episode, we chat about symbolism and learning through analogy, rational creatures participating in the eternal law, Reason in exchange for physical protection, and the Four Ends of Labor.
Announcements:
Our Fall Family Pig Harvest class will be September 12-14. Join us to use just your hands (and a sharp knife) to turn two pigs into kitchen-sized pork cures, cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/the-family-pig/
Come to a 3-Day Family Lamb Harvest class, June 20-22 or October 3-5, whereyou will use only your hands to turn four sheep into kitchen-sized lamb cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. The main difference between the Family Lamb and Family Pig is the skinning of sheep. Removing the hide from sheep, deer, elk, etc, ought to be learned by hand for an efficient and satisfying harvest. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/product/3-day-complete-lamb-harvest-course/
Our one and only St Martinmas Goose Harvest class will be November 15-16. Just eight students will transform a small flock into undiluted goods for the family table through the culinary traditions of the premodern peasant. The goal of this earnest, hands-on course is to impart the actual virtue of goose provender, from kill to confit. Sign up today at https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/product/martinmas-goose-harvest/.
Meatsmith Membership A gift that gives all year long! More than 45 Harvest Films, Brandon's Harvest Journal, and our community FaceBook group. 60-day free trial available! Use the Newsletter Special option on our sign-up page and apply the coupon code at checkout. Sign up today at .
Episode 95: St Thomas & the Ends of Labor, Part 1
Friday, April 26, 2024 • Duration 52:51
In this episode, we chat about our new baby, our kids keeping the fast, Easter week, St Thomas Aquinas's 'all knowledge comes through the senses' and De Regno, and reason vs. instinct.
Announcements:
Come to the last 3-Day Family Pig Harvest class of the season, May 16-18, whereyou will use only your hands to turn two pigs into kitchen-sized pork cures, cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/the-family-pig/
Come to a 3-Day Family Lamb Harvest class, June 20-22 or October 3-5, whereyou will use only your hands to turn four sheep into kitchen-sized lamb cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. The main difference between the Family Lamb and Family Pig is the skinning of sheep. Removing the hide from sheep, deer, elk, etc, ought to be learned by hand for an efficient and satisfying harvest. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/product/3-day-complete-lamb-harvest-course/
Our one and only St Martinmas Goose Harvest class will be November 15-16. Just eight students will transform a small flock into undiluted goods for the family table through the culinary traditions of the premodern peasant. The goal of this earnest, hands-on course is to impart the actual virtue of goose provender, from kill to confit. Sign up today at https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/product/martinmas-goose-harvest/.
Meatsmith Membership A gift that gives all year long! More than 45 Harvest Films, Brandon's Harvest Journal, and our community FaceBook group. 60-day free trial available! Use the Newsletter Special option on our sign-up page and apply the coupon code at checkout. Sign up today at .
Episode 93: Agrarian Thomistic Philosophy with Dr Richard Meloche, Part 1
Thursday, March 21, 2024 • Duration 01:31:55
In episode 93, we chat with Dr. Richard Meloche of the Alcuin Institute about the music in our home, Thomistic philosophy, 'coming to farming' for the food, the spiritual parfait of Grace and Nature, textual references to 'The Good Life,' and why the rural life is the best way to obtain the necessary bodily goods.
Announcements:
Come to a 3-Day Family Pig Harvest class, April 25-27, May 2-4, or May 16-18, whereyou will use only your hands to turn two pigs into kitchen-sized pork cures, cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/the-family-pig/
Come to a 3-Day Family Lamb Harvest class, June 20-22 or October 3-5, whereyou will use only your hands to turn four sheep into kitchen-sized lamb cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. The main difference between the Family Lamb and Family Pig is the skinning of sheep. Removing the hide from sheep, deer, elk, etc, ought to be learned by hand for an efficient and satisfying harvest. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/product/3-day-complete-lamb-harvest-course/
Meatsmith Membership A gift that gives all year long! More than 45 Harvest Films, Brandon's Harvest Journal, and our community FaceBook group. 60-day free trial available! Use the Newsletter Special option on our sign-up page and apply the coupon code 60daytrial at checkout. Sign up today at FarmsteadMeatsmith.com/product/membership/.
Episode 92: The Virtue of Culling, Part 2
Tuesday, December 26, 2023 • Duration 34:49
In this episode, we chat about affection for extraneous livestock, raising longhorns for our classes, how temperament is the most important thing with cows, harvesting a cow out of a ditch, culling fencing jumping cows (and their horns), and Wallace's Three Hearts Pilgrimage.
Announcements:
Come to the 2-Day The Art of Foie Gras class in Louisiana this January 19-20. You'll learn the art of goose harvesting from Brandon and the art of gavage from Ross McKnight of Backwater Foie Gras. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://backwaterfoiegras.com/foiegrasclass
Come to a 3-Day Family Pig Harvest class, April 25-27, May 2-4, or May 16-18, whereyou will use only your hands to turn two pigs into kitchen-sized pork cures, cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/the-family-pig/
Come to a 3-Day Family Lamb Harvest class, June 20-22 or October 3-5, whereyou will use only your hands to turn four sheep into kitchen-sized lamb cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. The main difference between the Family Lamb and Family Pig is the skinning of sheep. Removing the hide from sheep, deer, elk, etc, ought to be learned by hand for an efficient and satisfying harvest. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/product/3-day-complete-lamb-harvest-course/
A gift that gives all year long! More than 45 Harvest Films, Brandon's Harvest Journal, and our community FaceBook group. 60-day free trial available! Use the Newsletter Special option on our sign-up page and apply the coupon code at checkout. Sign up today at .
Episode 91: The Virtue of Culling, Part 1
Sunday, December 24, 2023 • Duration 38:04
In this episode, we chat about the time of year to harvest pigs, the Mangalitza pig breed, our longhorn escapade, fast vs. slow stitch animals, and extraneous livestock.
Announcements:
Come to the 2-Day The Art of Foie Gras class in Louisiana this January 19-20. You'll learn the art of goose harvesting from Brandon and the art of gavage from Ross McKnight of Backwater Foie Gras. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://backwaterfoiegras.com/foiegrasclass
Our Fall classes have SOLD OUT. Come to a 3-Day Family Pig Harvest class, April 25-27, May 2-4, or May 16-18, whereyou will use only your hands to turn two pigs into kitchen-sized pork cures, cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/the-family-pig/
Come to a 3-Day Family Lamb Harvest class, June 20-22 or October 3-5, whereyou will use only your hands to turn four sheep into kitchen-sized lamb cuts, sausage, and charcuterie. The main difference between the Family Lamb and Family Pig is the skinning of sheep. Removing the hide from sheep, deer, elk, etc, ought to be learned by hand for an efficient and satisfying harvest. Spots are limited to just eight students so as to keep the hands-on experience undiluted. Jump on this chance and sign up today! https://farmsteadmeatsmith.com/product/3-day-complete-lamb-harvest-course/
Meatsmith Membership A gift that gives all year long! More than 45 Harvest Films, Brandon's Harvest Journal, and our community FaceBook group. 60-day free trial available! Use the Newsletter Special option on our sign-up page and apply the coupon code at checkout. Sign up today at .
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28:53 Our classes are life-changing
33:56 Kelsey's first pig slaughter
41:55 Reckless inefficiencies of food production
49:20 Trying to make sense of reality
54:28 The Family is the irreducible unit of society
58:04 Challenging your likes and dislikes with bacon and wine
Meatsmith Membership - We created an online community and resource for homesteaders and farmers. It serves all those who want to cook and eat well. We offer the fruit of our labors (and our kitchen) from more than fifteen years of experience, and our Membership community of more than six hundred is an invaluable digital resource. The only one of its kind in the country, Meatsmith Membership provides an earnest and winsome approach to domestic livestock raising, slaughter, butchery, curing, cookery, and charcuterie. Join today and partner with us in growing your home around the harvest. Monthly memberships are $17.49/month plus a $29.99 signup fee. Or purchase an Annual membership for $189.49/year with no signup fee, saving you $50.38. There’s a 7-day free trial for Annual memberships.
Support our podcast on Patreon! Production of each episode takes hours of work, filming, and editing. Becoming a patron can help us keep our episode quality high and allow us to continue filming. Become a patron today at https://www.patreon.com/meatsmith.
Timestamps/Topics for Episode 94:
0:00 Intro
1:01 Working with the potency of nature
9:26 The use of natural elements in liturgies
12:58 Epistemological benefits of rural living
21:19 The loss of imagination and unique individuals through technology
26:33 Ordered towards relation vs. every man seeking their own benefit
39:41 Encountering Resistance in reality, indifference, & setting artificial limits
Support our podcast on Patreon! Production of each episode takes hours of work, filming, and editing. Becoming a patron can help us keep our episode quality high and allow us to continue filming. Become a patron today at https://www.patreon.com/meatsmith.
Timestamps/Topics for Episode 96:
0:00 Intro
1:00 We learn through analogy
17:07 Rational creatures participate in the eternal law
25:10 Humans lack physical protection but we have Reason
29:41 The Four Ends of Labor
33:13 The primary end of all manual labor serves food production
37:42 The secondary end of labor is to remove idleness
45:22 Morality is simply practical Reason
52:40 Agriculture has a built-in limitation on concupiscence
Support our podcast on Patreon! Production of each episode takes hours of work, filming, and editing. Becoming a patron can help us keep our episode quality high and allow us to continue filming. Become a patron today at https://www.patreon.com/meatsmith.
Timestamps/Topics for Episode 95:
0:00 We're about to have a baby
3:00 Our kids are keeping the Feast
5:24 Slaughtering a lamb for Easter Week
12:55 In every account of the Resurrection, they're preparing and eating food
22:00 Homeschooling at the dinner table
27:54 St Thomas Aquinas on manual labor
29:00 Family Pig & our most potent sense: touch
42:09 De Regno (On Kingship) by St Thomas Aquinas - Reason vs. instinct
Support our podcast on Patreon! Production of each episode takes hours of work, filming, and editing. Becoming a patron can help us keep our episode quality high and allow us to continue filming. Become a patron today at https://www.patreon.com/meatsmith.
Timestamps/Topics for Episode 93:
0:00 Denying proper tools for music & the kitchen
8:49 The promise of flavor is nutrition
11:15 Introducing our guest Dr. Richard Meloche & Thomistic philosophy
16:34 Why we call it The Family Pig & household economy
25:25 St Thomas Aquinas's works & farm philosophy
35:30 The camaraderie of The Family Pig
40:45 How we met Dr. Meloche & 'coming to farming' for the food
55:26 The spiritual parfait of Grace and Nature
1:05:16 Textual references to 'The Good Life' & necessary bodily goods
1:12:51 Why the rural life is the best way to obtain the necessary bodily goods
1:22:40 Cookbooks written about peasant agriculture traditions
Support our podcast on Patreon! Production of each episode takes hours of work, filming, and editing. Becoming a patron can help us keep our episode quality high and allow us to continue filming. Become a patron today at https://www.patreon.com/meatsmith.
Ellen Bloomfield, Monica Allen, Will Eichler, Tim Jones, Dennis M Carlson, Matthew Klimczak, Nate Crown, Tim Colton, Jeremy Wood, Warren Lund, Dohrman Farm, Ps42, Danielle, Alan Fortini-Campbell, Meghan Hickman
Become a Patron by going to Patreon.com/meatsmith.
Support our podcast on Patreon! Production of each episode takes hours of work, filming, and editing. Becoming a patron can help us keep our episode quality high and allow us to continue filming. Become a patron today at https://www.patreon.com/meatsmith.
Timestamps/Topics for Episode 91:
0:00 Intro & Family Pig classes
3:52 THE time of year to harvest pigs
6:13 Mangalitza pigs
11:51 Our Longhorn escapade
26:56 Fast vs slow twitch animals
30:38 Extraneous livestock
Thank you, Patrons!
Ellen Bloomfield, Monica Allen, Will Eichler, Tim Jones, Dennis M Carlson, Matthew Klimczak, Nate Crown, Tim Colton, Jeremy Wood, Warren Lund, Dohrman Farm, Ps42, Danielle, Alan Fortini-Campbell, Meghan Hickman
Become a Patron by going to Patreon.com/meatsmith.
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