White Oak Pastures gets right to the point of knife necessities at their Butchering Workshop -- in the butchering room -- on Saturday, August 22 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Learn butchering techniques including how to keep knives properly sharpened to slice the best cuts, how to break down a side of beef, carve out five different cuts of meat and how to age beef cuts to obtain the best flavor. Meaty tidbit: White Oak Pastures is the only farm in the U.S. that pasture raises and hand-butchers 10 red meat and poultry species as well as produces pastured eggs and certified organic vegetables. Limited to 10 participants. Purchase your spot now for $100. Includes lunch in The Pavilion.
Also on Saturday, May 2, celebrate May Day White Oak Pastures style down on the farm in Bluffton, Georgia. From 3-4 p.m., meet and greet the farm crew and your fellow May Day merrymakers, eat appetizers and enjoy drinks in the Pavilion. Embark on a two-part farm tour from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Return to the Pavilion to appease farm-fed cravings with a four-course garden- and pasture-to-plate dinner featuring White Oak Pastures raised meats and seasonal vegetables, a cash bar and live music from 6:30-9:30 p.m. No maypole, but feel free to improvise a May Day dance if you’re so inclined. Tour, dinner and music, $75 per person; dinner and music only, $65 per person; tour only, $20 per person. Make reservations online or by calling 229-641-2081.
In the White Oak Pastures circle of life, what goes around comes around. The grass is greener at Will Harris’ Bluffton, Georgia farm because rotational grazing nourishes the grass-fed cattle and lamb and pastured poultry, hogs and rabbits while returning a steady flow of rich nutrients to the soil. No chemicals needed. Harris discusses how he uses rotational grazing to sustain his land and animals at a Rotational Grazing Workshop on Saturday, April 11 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Discussions will cover grass types, fencing, water considerations, species symbiosis, haylage and other store feeds, guardian animals and even marketing. A quick romp through the farm’s history shows the value of rotational grazing. Captain James Edward Harris founded White Oak Pastures in 1866, raising livestock and poultry to feed his family and workers. After World War II, industrial farming became standard practice as Will Bell Harris raised calves for centralized slaughter miles away. In 1995, Will Harris consciously decided to jump off that treadmill and plow forward, transforming his family’s five-generation-held farm into Georgia’s largest USDA certified organic farm, where animals roam from birth until they are slaughtered in on-property, zero-waste red and white meat abattoirs. Harris continues to renew White Oak Pastures through sustainable land practices, stewardship and humane animal stockmanship. White Oak Pastures is the only farm in the United States that pasture-raises and hand-butchers 10 red meat and poultry species along with producing pastured eggs and certified-organic vegetables. Workshop fee is $100 per person and includes lunch in the Pavilion. Class size limited to 25 people. Reservations are required; call 229-641-2081 or book online.
Learn
the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty facts about composting at the White Oak Pastures composting workshop on Saturday, February 7.
Done correctly, composting is stink-free, easy and economical, and it
diminishes waste while building a nutritional jackpot for your plants. Early
birds, show up at 10 a.m. for the optional farm tour. The workshop officially
begins with a noon lunch in the Pavilion. Guests rake in heaps of fun after
lunch when class digs into the nuances of composting, including an overview of
composting and basic requirements, how compost heaps work and various designs,
methods and monitoring. After guests warm to those topics, the agenda moves on
to black soldier fly biology and vermicomposting (don't try to worm your way
out of that one). A Q&A session wraps up the pile of information relayed
during this fruitful day on the farm. $60 class fee includes lunch and optional
farm tour. Class size limited to 25 students. Call 229-641-2081 for more
information or to reserve a seat.
Sprawling White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia is home to
more than grass-fed beef, pastured poultry and organically raised produce.
America's bird, the majestic and strong bald eagle, finds this sustainable,
idyllic habitat to its liking. Georgia Department of Natural Resources Eagle
Coordinator Jim Ozier leads an all-American day of educational talks, bird
watching walks and observations of bald eagle natural habitats on the farm on
Saturday, January 31. The morning takes wing with a White Oak Pastures tour at
10 a.m. that nests at the Pavilion for a noon lunch before buckling down for the
bald eagle workshop at 1 p.m. $65 per person includes lunch. Groups of 10 or
more receive a discounted rate of $50 per person. For more information or to
make reservation, please call 229-641-2081.
