Buy Local Food In Kitsap

As roasts, chops and steaks are expertly cut and wrapped, packages of meat, sausage, country bacon, jerky, pepperoni and many other products fly out of the fresh and frozen cases at Farmer George’s on Bethel Avenue in Port Orchard.

Joe Keehn of Farmer George and Pet Steer "Judas"

For owners, Joe and Denise Keehn of Port Orchard, this is a frantic time of year. The Keehn family is known far and wide for its many years of  ownership and superb operation of Farmer George’s retail store and meat services. As Joe’s grandparents and parents did before him, the couple puts in long hours and seven-day work weeks while performing the many tasks required of a family business like this.

Vivian Jordan Takes Your Order For Local Meat

To make an appointment for animal slaughter and processing or to make inquiries about products and services, call Farmer George’s at (360) 876-3186 or stop by the store at 3870 Bethel Rd. SE, Port Orchard  Mon – Sat,  10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Joe’s grandfather, the original Farmer George, started the business in 1960.  Joe says he learned everything about the meat business from the ground up from his grandfather and his father and uncle who were butchers and meat cutters.

“ I did about everything from raking the sawdust to making deliveries when I was a kid,” says Joe with a grin.

Right now, in addition to the usual bustling business,  Thanksgiving turkey orders are piling up (Farmer George’s has both fresh and smoked) orders for such holiday specialties as prime rib, ham and crown pork are well under way.

To add to the frenzy, hunters are bringing in their field-dressed elk and deer for processing.

Joe said he expected to have about 40 deer and elk arrive at the shop just from this past weekend alone.  Because they are so busy, people need to make an appointment to have their game animals processed.  Keehn says some people make an appointment a year in advance.

“We can do just about everything you want with large game animals – we expect them field-dressed but can skin, hang, custom cut and wrap, put up freezer packs, smoke  and make sausage and jerky, “ says Keehn.

But this isn’t the only thing that’s keeping him busy this time of year.  Many people ask for home slaughter of swine, lambs, beef cattle, and goats all year round and this is prime time for them too.

“I probably do more than a thousand home or farm slaughters every year,” Joe says.

In addition to these jobs, he now has the ability to do USDA approved animal slaughter performed at the Puget Sound Meat Cooperative’s traveling meat processing unit.  This long-needed service can enable people to have their approved farm-raised beef, swine, and goats and lamb available to sell at market if processing is performed by this unit.  This week Joe used the processing unit for some local beef at a couple of stations in South Kitsap that have been approved for use by the processing unit. After the slaughter, he’ll take the meat to his shop for the hanging, cutting and wrapping. Advance appointments need to be made for this service as the traveling processing unit services six counties.

“Now that we have this unit, more people should start raising beef again as it will once again become profitable,” says Keehn. “If someone raises an animal, we can now get it approved and do all the work right here so they can sell the product commercially.”

Back on the 28-acre farm he purchased in 1989, a steady rain pelts down as Joe returns from running down one of his bulls. He feeds his 27 Black Angus beef cattle, two Hereford cows, 15 sheep and seven sows.  A large sow suckles a bunch of week-old pigs and a big flock of Canadian geese have parked out in the field.  Keehn also has several bulls and boars he rents out as breeding service animals.  And standing at the back of the barn is his “pet” Holstein steer, Judas.  This gigantic 5-year old is probably one of the biggest cows you’ll ever see – Keehn says it stand six feet high at his rear quarters and when his huge head is raised it’s a lot higher than that.

Joe and Denise started their own meat shop in 1984 and his grandfather nearly sold the business to someone else but when that fell through Joe had the opportunity to buy it in 1988.  He eventually he sold his Purdy shop to devote all of his time to Farmer George’s.  The couple’s two grown daughters have gone into other businesses, (Amber has her own hair salon and Lauren has just completed her welding apprenticeship), but the Keehns say Lauren still helps out at the store on occasion.

While Joe attends to the farm and slaughter and processing duties, Denise runs the retail shop, which also includes the hanging room, part of the cutting and processing area and the smokers.  Vivian Jordan, a 28-year employee of Farmer George’s, is a big help at the shop. She says many of their customers have been coming to the place since the original Farmer George started it in 1960.

Residents of the Keehn Farm

“The Keehn family has been great to work for and I think (Farmer George’s) has the best meat in Kitsap. Plus they have a lot of wonderful products they’ve made such as their potato and apple sausage, country bacon, and jerky,” says Jordan.

To make an appointment for animal slaughter and processing or to make inquiries about products and services, call Farmer George’s at (360) 876-3186 or stop by the store at 3870 Bethel Rd. SE, Port Orchard  Mon – Sat,  10 a.m. – 6 p.m.