Cowpow and Pig Gig

Mar 22, 2025

Amber Nordahl

You made it another week. Great! Lots to share since I have proclaimed it: National Ag Week. So sit a bit, and enjoy a visit to the ranch.

Life on the Ranch

This is the Cowpow part:
You saw the heifers earlier this week. Here are the cows enjoying their alfalfa.

Remember they need extra protein to digest the grass they are eating this time of year. The calves they are carrying are starting a growth spurt about now too.

"Sprinter."

That is what a Gramma of one of my friends called this season. When it can't decide if it is going to be spring or winter.

Regardless the season, the cows still graze and enjoy moving around. Grass was made to stand tall and cows were made to walk. They are a natural combination.

What's for Supper?

Meat, potatoes and gravy has always been a favorite here, and this week we proved that still holds true.

Mashed potatoes especially.

Biscuits with melted butter and T-J honey.

Lettuce salad in a bowl of it's own, so it doesn't get mixed up with the gravy.

Green Pistachio pudding for dessert, since it was a Holiday week.

What did you have, send us a picture if you want and we can share it.

Beef Shares and Ground Beef

We are still trying to think of ways to serve you better.

A share of beef in the freezer would offer peace of mind about having great tasting beef, that is healthy for you and your family, and you would know it came from Stillwater County Montana.

It is a big purchase and if you haven't tried our beef before, you may wonder if you'll like it.

Well we have a solution for that:

We are going to GIVE AWAY 10 lbs of Premium Ground Beef on March 28th. Free to 1 lucky winner and we will even ship it to your house or deliver in person if you live close by.

There is a button below to enter. It will take you to a page that explains the drawing. After you enter with your email, it takes you to a special offer page where you can buy 10 lbs of ground beef, if you want.

There is no purchase necessary to enter, and there is an offer for ground beef at a reduced price because you did enter. You win either way.

So Sign Up!

Click Here to Enter the Beef Giveaway

Pig Parade

This is the Pig gig part:

Deposits for pork will open on March 28th.

For those of you that got pork last year, and for those of you that have gotten a share of beef or will be getting a share of beef in June and July, we will OPEN UP for deposits early.

That way you will have a day to speak for what you need. You will be getting an email with the link, or you can call too.

For those of you that are new to our family of "Meat Eaters", these are 4-H pigs raised by 4-H members in our county. They are ranch-raised and do not have the mRNA vaccines
big pork facilities give their pigs for swine flu. Healthy pigs raised outside in the fresh air.

Kids ages 9-17 raise these pigs and show them at the 4-H fair. There is a sale at the fair then, and business' buy the pigs to support the kids, the kids usually put the money in their college fund. When the business' don't want to have the meat from a pig, those pigs become resale pigs. The resale pigs are then sold to someone by silent auction. We can bid on the resale pigs and pay that money to the 4-H Council. Again it stays in our county and goes towards the 4-H program. We bid higher to win the bid on the resale pigs. They are worth it.

So that is where the pigs come from. They go to the butcher at Stillwater Packing, just like our beef. We pay for the pigs, pay the butcher, and get the pigs to you, our customers.

If you have not had home grown pork before, or the famous Cottage Bacon, you are in for a treat. The ham steaks and bacon have an organic cure, no nitrates. Sausage comes in bulk, 1 lb pkgs: Breakfast, Italian and Hot Italian.

Here is a picture of pork chops from Jillyn that joined in on the pig parade last year.