Baymule’s 2020 Garden

[baymule]

I’ve been one of those people wondering how I’m going to make it, stretching every dollar to feed my kids. I hunted sales and what I called the dead meat counter-the marked down out of date meat. Believe me, I totally get the CAFO animal meat. Without it, there would have been darn little meat in my house.

A feral hog or deer carcass was reason to celebrate and I made use of every bit. I’ve tried to have a garden most of my life or I went to pick your own or friends/family shared their extra. A few times I was able to raise my own beef, then chicken and now, anything I want.

@Ridgerunner yes, there are people who want to know that the meat they eat came from a happy animal that was allowed to act out its natural tendencies and behaviors. I text them pictures of “their” animal. Not bragging, but the meat I raise does taste better than store bought. And people are willing to pay more for it. For specialty raised meat, price wise I’m on the lower end, but that is what my market will bear.

 

[Carol Dee]

@baymule I think the lean times make us appreciate the good times more when they finally roll round. Many wild game meals and a few ROAD KILLS! Always a garden. Grass Feed Beef is big thing hear. Premium prices!!!

 

[flowerbug]

@baymule I think the lean times make us appreciate the good times more when they finally roll round. Many wild game meals and a few ROAD KILLS! Always a garden. Grass Feed Beef is big thing hear. Premium prices!!!

grass fed beef was what we were used to as kids. it is different and tastes different. i'm not sure many people consider it better though, but i guess that is a different topic alltogether.

we had a few NY Strip steaks yesterday that Mom snagged from the expired bin for $4 each. very tender meat, but fairly tasteless. i think i burned out my tastebuds eating hummus full of raw garlic the past few weeks...

we grew up fairly poor, we did not starve but there were times we were hungry and i did bite my siblings once in a while. we get along fine now...

as for wild game, yeah we had some of that at times, but i'm pretty sure that Dad spent way more on licenses, equipment, etc. and of course beer than we ever got in return.

 

[ninnymary]

Bay, have you ever thought of slaughtering your own pigs? Is that too much for a single person or couple to do?

I remember as a young child visiting family in Mexico. For special celebrations or just to get meat people would slaughter a pig. The people were too poor or the village too small to have a processing plant. They did it themselves. I remember watching them skin a pig and the cracklings that were made. Boy were they delicious on a warm corn tortilla with some spicy salsa.

Mary

 

[digitS']

I can understand "a LOT" of work raising animals. It also requires knowledge, skill, diligence, and a good measure of attentiveness.

We raised the beef (nearly all grass over) and they went off to Farmers Pack. That place was exactly what the name suggests. I felt something like an employee, at a pre-teen age, except that we brought our own packaging material. This must have been before food handlers licenses and I doubt that anything like this has existed in the US for 50 years.

Mom and Dad were pre-teens when the Depression hit. However, Mom used to make the joke that she didn't know when that was because her family was always depressed . They made the mistake of trying to move off the farm during the Roaring Twenties and had to move right back on it!

Wealth and prosperity? I was recently reading about the "worldwide 1%" (compared to the bottom 50%). What defines an international 1%'er? An annual income above $109,000. Honestly, I was surprised that it was so low but there you go, a US perspective.

Given any sort of adjustments for inflation, I can say that there is no chance that my ancestors over the last 100 years were within even that global 1%. I can still clearly remember my father and mother discussing the need for the family to purchase bread because my brother and I were carrying our lunches to school. Eating at the cafeteria was not within the budget but bread for sandwiches had to be.

Mom's attitude was always that if you were eating right, you are more than halfway to a Good Life. (Things like clothing - she had another saying that you "couldn't see patches on a flying horse" .) I guess that I have followed her idea on good food, a good diet. The 2020 closing of restaurants had little personal effect on me but I know that it did on local agriculture. Supply chains, contracts, industry couldn't be shifted quickly.

Steve

 

[baymule]

Bay, have you ever thought of slaughtering your own pigs? Is that too much for a single person or couple to do?

I remember as a young child visiting family in Mexico. For special celebrations or just to get meat people would slaughter a pig. The people were too poor or the village too small to have a processing plant. They did it themselves. I remember watching them skin a pig and the cracklings that were made. Boy were they delicious on a warm corn tortilla with some spicy salsa.

Mary

In 2017 we raised 3 hogs, 1 for us, 2 for neighbors. I had a slaughter date, but they were ready NOW and the slaughter date was 2-3 months away. The pigs were eating 50 pounds a day and it was time for them to go to freezer camp. So we did it ourselves. Here is a link, it covers from killing to packaging the meat for the freezer.

Feeder Pigs 2017

I raised mine with pasture, excess veggies, bought feed. Then to butcher for a "kill & chill" @ $50 per head. They were killed, washed, dehaired, gutted and hanging when I went to get them. I had them cut off the head, feet, cut into halves, then those into 3rds at back of shoulder, front...

www.backyardherds.com

This year we raised 2 hogs and took to a processor, one for us and one we sold. The processor doesn't make bacon or ham, so we are going to cure and smoke the bacon. Home smoked bacon is the BEST!

 

[AMKuska]

I don't mind butchering animals after they're already dead, but I hate killing them. Way too much blood and it goes everywhere and gets on everything. >.< I really admire you getting through that.

 

[baymule]

FINALLY! The sweet corn I planted was ready. I planted 95 seeds, almost all came up. Then I lost half of them while we were gone Labor Day weekend. Bummer.

So I went to the garden to pick corn. I had lots of help from Sheba, our Anatolian pup.

I dropped the tailgate on the truck, got a board to chop on, cleaver, couple of knives, pan to put the corn in and a tub to drop the shucks in. I got busy. I chop both ends with the cleaver, then rip the shucks off. I’m fast and can rip through a lot of corn in a short time.

Sheep were out in the yard and Ringo the ram came to investigate. Treats! He dug in. A ewe named Moon Pie joined him and they kept me entertained. I even slowed down, I was getting a kick out of them.

I wound up with 53 ears, some really nice, some small, All had durned worms. GRRR.....

I put them up as cream corn and took the cobs to the steer. I got way laid by Ringo! He had to have some corn cob treats. I tossed the cobs over the fence for Goldie and started back to the house. Here came Ringo! Haha he had to lick the pan! I love Ringo!

 

[Carol Dee]

FINALLY! The sweet corn I planted was ready. I planted 95 seeds, almost all came up. Then I lost half of them while we were gone Labor Day weekend. Bummer.

So I went to the garden to pick corn. I had lost of help from Sheba, our Anatolian pup.

View attachment 37147

View attachment 37148

I dropped the tailgate on the truck, got a board to chop on, cleaver, couple of knives, pan to put the corn in and a tub to drop the shucks in. I got busy. I chop both ends with the cleaver, then rip the shucks off. I’m fast and can rip through a lot of corn in a short time.

Sheep were out in the yard and Ringo the ram came to investigate. Treats! He dug in. A ewe named Moon Pie joined him and they kept me entertained. I even slowed down, I was getting a kick out of them.

View attachment 37149

I wound up with 53 ears, some really nice, some small, All had durned worms. GRRR.....

View attachment 37145

I put them up as cream corn and took the cobs to the steer. I got way laid by Ringo! He had to have some corn cob treats. I tossed the cobs over the fence for Goldie and started back to the house. Here came Ringo! Haha he had to lick the pan! I love Ringo!

View attachment 37146

I know the post is about the corn but.... SHEBA! I think I missed something. When did you get her?

 

[baymule]

I know the post is about the corn but.... SHEBA! I think I missed something. When did you get her?

We got her in May. We now have FIVE BIG DOGS! I didn't set out to be a big dog collector, but it just sorta happened. Life gets really interesting around here.

Sheba-A Marvelous Gift

I was contacted by a person wishing to remain anonymous, with an offer of an Anatolian puppy. As I read the generous offer to BJ, we both burst into tears. Because of Sentry’s hip dysplasia and surgery and our decision not to put him through another surgery, this person felt bad for us. Needless...

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