The Rabbit Operation at Liberty Delight Farms

I started writing Dishing the Dirt almost exactly a year ago. The purpose was to visit farms and tell the stories of the farmers. I also wanted to share some great recipes using items from the markets. It’s been a great year and I’m so grateful for the people who follow and read my blog regularly. You are the reason I do this.My very first post last year was about Liberty Delight Farm in Reisterstown, MD. I got a great tour from the farm’s owner, Shane Hughes, and learned so much about what it takes to maintain a farm. I would go on to visit many other of our fabulous farms, but I always looked at my first visit as a starting point and just built on my knowledge from there. Shane taught me the ins and outs of cow breeding, what it takes to raise healthy animals, and the dedication that is necessary to manage and own such a large farm operation.At last year’s visit, Shane was just starting to raise rabbits. There were five or six of them at the time. He showed me the skeleton of a building that he and his staff were constructing that would eventually house their next project, the Rabbit Operation. I returned to Shane’s farm last week, one year later, with my best friend, and found that they had built an amazing house to raise healthy, well cared for rabbits.The operation has grown immensely in just a year - there are now nearly 150 rabbits! The rabbits range in age from a little over a year to just a few days old. I can’t tell you how great it was to hold a two-week-old rabbit in my arms! I was careful not to get too attached…Some people aren’t too keen on introducing a “new” meat into their meal routine. But rabbit is not as new as you might think - back in the 1940s and ‘50s, rabbit meat was nearly as common as chicken meat! Shane told me that the market for rabbit meat has grown substantially in the Washington, DC area. People are becoming accustomed to rabbit on menus in our restaurants. Shane sells many of his rabbits to these restaurants, some requiring 20 or more a week to keep up with demand! Here are some reasons why rabbit meat is a good choice:

• It is one of the most sustainable forms of meat. Rabbits reproduce like...rabbits - therefore it is easy for farmers to continuously maintain a high level of output.
• Rabbit meat has a high percentage of digestible protein and contains significantly less fat when compared to other meat.
• Low sodium and low cholesterol levels mean that rabbit meat is a great option for those trying to maintain a heart healthy diet.
• It’s fun to try new things! I’m looking forward to creating dishes with rabbit meat and bringing you great, creative recipes in the near future.

While we were there, we took another little tour of the farm and checked out the two month old piglets. You really haven’t experienced the sight of farm animals until you’ve seen little pigs like this playing around, jumping on each other, and just generally acting like happy little creatures. It is so clear that Shane and his workers go to extensive lengths to make sure their animals are well cared for and happy. The smell of the pig sty, however, is something I could do without. In Shane’s words “pigs smell much better as bacon!”I loved revisiting Liberty Delight Farms. Stop by their stand at all three markets and have a chat with any of their great staff. Check out the rabbit meat too and try creating something delicious with it. I’m really interested to see what everyone has to say about their recipes with this “new” meat.