075 - Clay & Linda Trainum, Autumn Olive Farms

wtju

Pig Work. Welcome to Episode 75 and a conversation with folks who aren't just giving lip service to food raised in a pure, unprocessed manner, but walking the walk by carrying on a respected tradition of raising heritage Ossabaw and Berkshire pigs humanely in a natural, sustainable way. In a setting that wouldn't have looked unusual hundreds of years ago. Meet Clay and Linda Trainum of Autumn Olive Farms! The Autumn Olive tree and the farm's namesake is native to Virginia, very edible, and high in lycopene. Pigs and goats happen to love it. When Linda and Clay re-established his father's land back in 2008 it was covered in it. The solution? Put Boerbok goats to work. Boerbok is a great and healthy meat source in addition to being a terrific lawnmower and the Trainums used this natural brush clearer to not only free up land but also as the very first source of revenue for the farm by selling their clearing services as well as the meat. Resourcefulness at work and a great example of farming ingenuity. The farm is a glorious example of natural breeding methods, with entire ecosystems dedicated to the craft. My tour, on the back of an ATV no less, saw me rumbling through pastures of ryegrass as well as pine and oak forest. These are for foraging, and so the pigs can keep cool during humid summers. In the winter months, shelters are moved to sunny areas to capture south-facing light. The pigs move about as they please, even banding together to move 500-pound shelters if it's not to their liking. Good quality hay grown on-site is harvested for food and bedding. Everything is done naturally. No heat lamps here. Farrowing is all natural as well, which means newborn piglets are more susceptible to nature’s cycles including weather and hungry, sometimes rabid foxes which are becoming more prevalent thanks to global warming. What struck me? There are close neighbors surrounding this farm. If you've done any traveling in our region, you've smelled an industrial hog farm, probably from miles away. Not so at Autumn Olive where the smell is minimal and the neighbors not only stay on the lookout for wanderers but complain about closing the windows in winter because they can't hear the pigs. And yes, some of the pigs are pets. Sparkles is official Tour Director. But this is a working farm and understanding that is an important part. You can find Autumn Olive products all over our region, including places like Threepenny Café and JM Stock Provisions. It's good stuff people. Forget "The Other White Meat" this pork is colorful with beautiful marbling and an extraordinary flavor. This is pork with TERROIR. You can taste what these pigs have been eating: autumn olive branches, acorns, walnuts, as well as many other naturally-occurring plants on the farm. A true Virginia pork, bred here, on food sources from here. Enjoy the ambient sounds of talkative Berkshire pigs at the end of the episode! Then go get you some at several area restaurants in Charlottesville, Richmond, Maryland, and DC. Details on their website. Cheers!