We exist to produce humane and sustainable beef that symbiotically works to restore the land to health, educate people and bring back the integral connection between the food producer and consumer.
04/13/2022
Two of our most popular jars.
Cowboy Candy consists of caramelized red onions and jalapeños in a sweet brine.
For those that can handle the heat, Cowboy Candy with a Kick has added habaneros.
Both are delicious on burgers, sandwiches, tacos, nachos, and more.
We have a dedicated fan that eats Cowboy Candy with a Kick mixed with cottage cheese!
What is your favorite way to eat Cowboy Candy?
Uptown Farmers Market
Gilbert Farmers Market
Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market
Heirloom Farmers Markets
04/09/2022
Today is Market Day AND Auction Day.
Fresh, crunchy pickles are available at all markets today.
And…
Our kids are auctioning off their 4H lambs this morning at
Our buyer “thank you” gifts are PICKLES (of course!).
If you aren’t able to be at the auction this morning and want to make a donation, send us a message!
Thank you for your support this weekend. 🐑
04/06/2022
A busy, early morning washing lambs, last minute shearing, and fluffing legs (it’s a real thing).
The kids will be in the show ring in a few hours! 🤩
04/03/2022
People! It’s FAIR week!
What does this mean?
This week is a whirlwind of learning, patience, and fun.
It means 4H lambs travel to the county fairgrounds on Tuesday and get weighed and checked in. The kids situate their lambs in stalls and organize all of their items for the week.
Tuesday and Wednesday kids spend the morning readying their animals for the show ring later in the day.
Saturday is Auction Day. This day lambs are show ready and enter the ring in hopes of a high bid for their animal.
Sunday is tough.
Sunday we wait….. we wait to find out when their lambs will be loaded on a trailer and driven away.
On this day, the lamb barn is full of tears, hugs, exhaustion, and cleaning.
03/27/2022
Thanks for a fabulous market weekend!
03/19/2022
SPECIAL for this weekend’s markets.
LEAN, grass fed ground beef available for $9/lb (95/5).
Preorders Available.
Make it a great day!
03/17/2022
Annie is just as happy as the kids are about spring break. Riding in the back of the truck is everyone’s happy place.
New additions heading out to the ranch tomorrow. Everyone on the ranch has a job - people, livestock, dogs. Our new additions have their work cut out for them!
03/11/2022
A busy week of restocking all the pickled veggies.
If you miss us at a market, make sure and stock up at one of these locally owned businesses:
Steadfast Farm
Culture Clash Greek Yogurt
Rusty Nail Meats
Arcadia Meat Market
03/09/2022
Our Carne Asada Kit is marinating in our pickled red onions, garlic, pickled jalapeños, soy sauce, fresh lemon and lime juice.
Sear the carne asada in a cast iron after marinating for 12 hours.
Carne Asada Kits available at the markets this weekend.
Uptown Farmers Market
Gilbert Farmers Market
Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market
02/22/2022
More Piglets!
Everyone is healthy and happy.
First time mama did a great job after a very long labor.
Mama is careful around the piglets and has the sweetest oinks when she talks to them.
4 healthy piglets.
02/01/2022
Friends!
Funny thing… there are three eggs out there in the community that are super special - kind of like W***y Wonka and the Golden Ticket. Three eggs and trust me, you will know if you have them.
We use ceramic eggs to show the girls where to lay eggs. If they see ceramic eggs in the nesting boxes, they will lay in the same location.
We are missing three ceramic eggs and are pretty certain they went out last weekend accidentally at the farmers markets.
If you are a proud recipient of these eggs, please let us know.
REWARD for returning our ceramic eggs! 😉
Good Luck.
01/29/2022
This beauty is PORK BELLY and it’s available at farmer’s markets this morning.
Gilbert Farmers Market
Uptown Farmers Market
Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market
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We are a family in the business of raising, processing, and directly selling hearty, wholesome pasture-raised meats in ways that would be familiar to our grandfathers. We are, in short, reinventing local, small-scale agriculture in a way that respects land, animals, and people.
We believe that responsible, small-scale agriculture is a critical, and currently largely missing key to a responsible economy. Our mission is the production of humane and sustainable beef. We know that managing land well can restore the biodiversity that our landscapes are losing at a frightening rate. We have a biological plan to manage our land holistically, all our decisions are goal driven to ensure that they are socially, economically and environmentally sound. We are dedicated to improving our watersheds, our animals' lives, and the connection between urban consumers and rural producers.
We share our ranch with a variety of wildlife: mule deer, javelina, quail, rabbits and rattlesnakes, to name just a few. Coyotes, bobcats, and the occasional mountain lion are an important part of the balance. We feel that this balance is far more important than any economic loss we may incur losing a calf or two to a predator. Therefore, unless an animal is rabid or deviant, we do not control them.
Paul Schwennesen returned to Double Check Ranch after ten years in the Air Force and completing his graduate work, taking over much of the "business" in December, 2007 and have been steadily growing it ever since in an effort to make the operation sustain two families. Their three children, Katherine, Timothy and Anne are blossoming in the lifestyle. Eric and Jean Schwennesen began marketing grassfed beef nearly two decades ago, long before "grassfed" was "in." They have turned much of the day-to-day processing and marketing over to Paul while they focus their attention on production and land management.
The ranch headquarters lies on the western side of the Lower San Pedro River valley, facing east across the vast lands of the San Carlos Apache Nation. This is the heart of the region made famous during the U.S. Cavalry’s 1873-1880 western campaign under General George Crook. The land lies in the remarkable transition zone between Sonoran Desert, Chihuahuan Grassland, and Oak Woodland, fringed by the gallery forests of the Lower San Pedro River.
The other half of the operation is located at Cold Creek Ranch on the New Mexico border along the Mogollon Rim just east of Clifton. Together roughly 12,000 acres are under the direct management and care of the Double Check Ranch family enterprise. We attempt to supply as much of the beef as we can directly from our herd and our land, but demand is such that for years we've been sourcing cattle from a network of friends, neighbors, and regional ranches that raise to our specifications.
