Gaston Guibert

Hey George, how did the hog raising work out this year? Revisiting your last post of the general plan, you should be right around slaughtering time now. How did the various tree crops work out, particularly the pecan and acorn stage? Did you have to supplement their diets much? Any odd problems with the pigs and foraging, like your earlier discovery that they weren't fond of white oak acorns? I hope this project works out for you, I'm many years from being able to attempt something similar, so living vicariously through you is as good as it gets for now.

I've been obsessing over this very topic lately, happy to find an old discussion on it.

"… if a hog is raised, slaughtered and cured in a manner entirely consistent with what would result in Jamon Iberico de Belotta but for subtracting acorns and adding in pecans, would the end result have a taste consistent with Jamon Inerico de Belotta?"


George-

Generally consistent in taste, perhaps, but I don't think the exact flavor of jamon iberico de belotta could be reproduced outside of Spain. The "problem" wouldn't so much be the feed difference (pecans vs. native spanish acorns) in my opinion, but the whole environment they live in. You could control for as many variables as possible, breed, salting, aging, humidity, air temp., feed, etc., but ultimately I think some foods are really a product of the local land. This is true of many cheeses, wild plants, etc., and I think it's true of some traditional cured meats as well. There are just too many variables to control for outside of a laboratory, and when people have been creating a product for many hundreds of years in a particular place, there can be no true recreation of that product elsewhere.

Now, I don't really see this as a problem. If you take the general process of making great jamon iberico in the traditional way, and apply it to your pecan-fed pigs on your land, you will probably wind up with a fabulous piece of cured pig ass. The pecans will be fattier than spanish acorns, the pigs will dig up your local root vegetables instead of mediterranean varieties, breathe the air in your neck of the woods instead of spanish sea breezes, they'll even eat your soil to a certain degree… and of course there's the aging, which as much as we'd like to believe is merely a product of humidity and temperature, is influenced by more subtle environmental factors than we could possibly surmise. In short, your jamon will reflect your terroir, and may well taste better to you than jamon iberico de belotta. Even though I think recreating the precise flavors/textures etc. of a product such as jamon iberico is impossible, doesn't mean I don't think it's worthwhile to pay great attention to the other culture's methods of production. Their tricks of the trade have everything to do with the fantastic final product, and many of them may apply to your situation. But you also might find after years of aging hams that you're better off changing the recipe so to speak, perhaps that will mean more/less salt in the initial drying, different curing temperatures/humidity, different slaughtering time even, who knows what your environment will demand.

A somewhat relevant side story:
Last summer I lived in a small valley in northern Italy, close to the alps. The area is noted for it's salame, which has been produced in a certain way for countless generations. I worked on a small organic farm where they raised a small number of hogs primarily for salame production, and helped take care of the animals for a month before slaughtering day. They were fed a basic grain/corn feed each morning, and turned out into the local woods during the day to forage for nuts, roots, bugs, etc. We took them to the local slaughterhouse, where a few dozen pigs from another local farm were being slaughtered the same day. The pigs from the other farm were raised on commercial feed, and didn't get to exercise outside in the woods. The difference in the meat, visually, was incredible. Our pigs bore dark red flesh, almost the color of a ripe tomato. The other pigs muscles were a pale pink. The next day, both batches of pork were ground, mixed with the time tested mix of herbs, spices and wine, and cased for hanging. I got to sample both batches of meat (raw pork, a first but how could I say no with these haggard old italian butchers insisting and eating next to me) after being mixed with the spices. etc, and the difference in flavor was tremendous. These were pigs of the same breed, raised in the same valley, processed into salami and aged at the exact same facility. The only difference was that one group got to forage in the woods every day, while the other stayed in their pens.

This doesn't even scratch the surface of differences in cured meats. Salame made the next valley over from pigs foraging in their local woods tasted very, very different from ours. Even under very, very similar conditions, I think your hams will come out more distinct from jamon iberico than one would expect.

Also, what's your plan for curing your jamon? The conservative approach would be to create a sterile environment similar to industrial operations, which I suppose would be necessary if you're producing for sale. Personally, I would prefer to build a root cellar with earthen plastered walls and/or local rock, especially for pork curing. Many italian salumi are still aged in ancient caves, where they take on the local flavors. I've seen this in sardinia, where mountain people still live like their great-great grandparents did. Incredible cured pork products and cheeses there. If you're lucky, the bacteria and fungi (particularly mold) inhabiting your local soil would be beneficial to aging pork. If not, you could identify some other strains of mold used in pork curing which survive well in your temperature/humidity situation and inoculate your aging cellar with said mold.

Best of luck with your project! I've salivated over the thought of American, pecan-fed, cured pork before and am delighted to read about someone in the process of creating it. With your knowledge of the jamon iberico raising/curing process and your land assets, it sounds like you're well on your way to creating a classic american cured meat.

Hey Mike, thanks for the additions. Deeded access to the property is HUGE, great call. Loved Geoff Lawton's video, I hadn't considered the possibility of creating waterways on the property, that really opens up the board, making more properties homesteadable. In the past couple of days since watching his video, I've been looking at most hillsides totally differently, trying to find the ridges and gullies. If only there were some urban planners with permaculture experience, my city could be full of productive swales! I like your warnings re: BLM land as well, I suppose the ideal neighbor would be a private owner with similar values and no intent to sell to developers then?

Hey All-

Incredible forum here, I've been learning from it here and there for months now. I'd like to draw on the well of knowledge here to learn more about the most pressing issue at my stage of homestead development: buying land. I live in Northern California, where I'll soon be scouring the most rural parts for the right property to begin a sustainable homestead. I have a few qualities in mind that I'll be looking for, but no doubt those of you who are currently living off the land have discovered less obvious aspects of your land that are critical, or perhaps should be avoided. Here I'll list what I'm consciously looking for, and would love to have others add to the list!

1) Water access has got to be the most critical thing. I plan to raise a small herd of goats, as well as chickens, rabbits, and perhaps a pig or two. Not to mention an irrigated garden and orchards (perhaps I can choose the right species to dry farm, but at any rate I'll need plenty of water). Ideally this would be a year round running stream, though a good well drawing from a reasonably well protected aquifer would do as well. On the North Coast, rainfall is currently plentiful, and in some areas perhaps good catchment systems would provide me with enough water year round.

2) Low Property Taxes: I've never bought anything significant in my life, so these are uncharted waters for me. From what I understand, the amount of money I'll have to come up with every year will be a function of the initial sale price, and the particular laws of the county I'm living in? At any rate, I hope this will be one of my few fixed payments to make each year.

3) Weather: Seems a no brainer. I've got to be able to grow what I want to grow, and the animals I want to raise ought to survive in the climate I'm buying in. Most coastal parts of NorCal are awfully mild in the winter (rarely below freezing at night), and get good long, warm summers. I'll want to check out average sunlight hours in the area. Before considering buying in an alpine climate, I'd have to learn more about what crops thrive there.

4) Water/Mineral Rights: From what I understand, some properties are sold while the rights to water, minerals, etc. belong to someone else. This can mean some folks showing up to your homestead years later with the legal right to mine the hell out of your property.

5) Check out the Neighbors Ideally, I think I'm looking for a property bordered by BLM land. These federal lands seem to be fairly untouched for a long time now, as good a bet as any land to remain undeveloped. A wealthy, city-dwelling neighbor who is currently constructing a 50,000 square ft mansion next door would not be such a great sign. In a perfect world, the neighbors are permaculture-loving hippies who are growing all the crops I love but don't have time to grow.

6) Test the Soil Find out the basic composition of the soil, pH, etc. Check out what plants are natively growing on the property. Is the soil currently suitable for the crops you want to grow, or will it need to be remedied?

7) Existing woodland: I'll definitely be looking to construct dwellings on the property from local materials. This will almost certainly require local timber, so some trees on the property is a big plus. Not to mention the wildlife habitat they provide.

Wildlife: In a rural place, a lack of wildlife would be a red flag for me. If I'm looking to tweak an existing ecosystem to serve my needs, there needs to be an already strong, healthy ecosystem in the first place. If there aren't plenty of critters already patrolling the place in the spring and summer, I'd shy away from that given property.

9) Local Building Codes: As a future owner builder, the local laws will affect me greatly, so I'll need to know them before settling in anywhere. So far, it seems like Mendocino County has by far the most liberal laws on building. If you live on the property you own for more than 5 years, you are free to construct any "natural" dwelling, meaning made primarily from materials harvested from local lands, without ever applying for a building permit. Yep that's right, no need to even tell anyone you're building, and it's legal. This law was passed with homesteading hippies in mind. Other counties would be varying degrees of less lenient when it comes to alternative building methods.

10) Local Livestock Slaughter Laws: I've heard that some counties do not allow home processing of livestock? This would be an automatic disqualifier for me, as I'll insist on killing and processing my animals, they won't be sent off property to be handled by anyone else.

11) Potential for Energy Production: Does the site offer renewable energy that could be harnessed? This is partly why I want a year round stream, though I'm open to solar panels and/or a wind turbine, provided there is consistent sunshine and/or winds.

Well, that's my list so far. Before I really begin the land search, I'd like to get a more comprehensive list together of things to consider. If anyone has been living on a property for a couple of decades regretting that little thing they overlooked at purchase time, fire away. Or if there's that little thing you did consider, and you're thrilled about it, let's hear it. Or if you're just setting out like me, and have got some bright ideas I've missed, have at it. I hope this one catches on!