This week we want to introduce you to another one of the farms that supply us with delicious pasture raised meats. Magruder Ranch is located in Potter Valley in Mendocino County, California. The ranch is currently run by Mac Magruder, his wife, their daughter Grace and a couple of ranch hands. The ranch has been in the Magruder family since 1919, when Mac's great grandfather purchased the land to raise sheep. Mac's grandfather shifted the focus towards pear production and pears remained the focus until Mac took over in the '70s. Mac took out the orchards and has dedicated the ranch to raising Angus cows and mixed breed pigs. Mac has been building his grass fed beef program since the 70's, long before grass fed beef was fashionable, and earned early recognition from bay area taste makers Chez Panisse as well as a handful of other early converts to grass fed beef. We receive a side of Mac's beef every other week and age it for a minimum of two weeks (it has one week of age when we receive it). We cut one quarter cow every Friday for the shop and generally continue to age the short loin (for porterhouses) and rib roast (for ribeyes and cowboy steaks) for another week or two. Mac's beef has a wonderfully full beef flavor, which is further enhanced by the aging that we do at the shop. What you get is a beef that is more rich, nutty, complexly flavored and tender than unaged, grain finished beef. Mac's cows are raised entirely on pasture and eat nothing but grass their entire lives. The cows are rotationally grazed on the farms 2400 acres as well as 7000 acres that the Magruders lease from their neighbors. The ranch sends roughly 175 cows a year to market. 
While pork production has only been going on at the ranch for a handful of years, the pigs Magruder raises are some of our favorite. The pigs are raised on pasture and are a cross between wild boar and either Berkshire or Duroc pigs. The wild boar gives the pigs the instincts necessary to live out of doors and take care of their young, and gives the meat a beautifully dark color and a deep, robust flavor. The pigs are fed spent beer grains from Lagunitas Brewery as well as brewer's yeast, whey, and wheat that the Magruders mill themselves. But probably most important for creating the unique flavor profile that we love is the wild forage that the pigs eat from the 200 acres of oak woodland that they roam. When you conjure up an ideal vision of where your pork comes from, it probably resembles the pig heaven that is Magruder Ranch. We receive two pigs every other week from the Magruder's. The annual pork production is roughly 200 pigs.
We've been working with Mac for most of the time that we've been around as a store and look forward to many more years of bringing his superb meats to our shop for all of you to enjoy. So come by and pick up some chops or a roast and we're sure that it will be some of the finest meat that's ever graced your table.
