NEW PHILADELPHIA In this age of the do-it-yourselfer, a lot of people aren't satisfied with just going to the grocery store and buying a food item off the shelf.
NEW PHILADELPHIA In this age of the do-it-yourselfer, a lot of people aren't satisfied with just going to the grocery store and buying a food item off the shelf.
They want to be involved in its production, have a hands-on experience.
That's where Six Buckets Farm comes in.
The farm, located on state Route 416 near Tuscarawas, is operated by Seth and Lyndsey Teter. They have about 200 free-range pigs living on their farm. They know all the steps involved in butchering a hog, and now they have begun offering classes to those who would like to learn how to do it.
"There are actually a lot of people who want to learn that skill," Lyndsey said. "So they get a pig from us, and we plop it on the table and show them how."
The Teters are conducting classes in the Columbus area this summer, but starting in the fall, they will be offering them at a house across the road from their farm.
The class lasts all day. "We have a whole pig here," she said. "I'll cut up one side, and they cut up the other side."
They usually have eight students in a class, and they divide up the meat when the butchering process is done.
"The main thing is helping them to understand they can do it, because they're so intimidated by it," Seth said. "When we set that whole pig down in front of them, they have no idea what's going on. As soon as we start cutting into it, they can say, oh, there's the pork chop, there's the belly. That's going to be bacon. Then it all starts to make sense to them."
"It's exciting every single time, even though we do it all the time," Lyndsey said.
The Teters have had a wide variety of people take the class — men who like to barbecue and homesteading-type families who want to gain the skills. Some wives will buy the class as a gift for their husband.
They even had a vegetarian take the course.
"She didn't eat meat, but she was fascinated by the anatomy and the dissection," Seth said.
Added Lyndsey, "She was one of the better students."
Anyone interested in registering for a class can go to the Teters' website, sixbucketsfarm.com.
Reach Jon at 330-364-8415 or at jon.baker@timesreporter.com.
On Twitter: @jbakerTR