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Some of the things I pick wild include raspberries, blackberries, damsons, hazelnuts, sloe berries, chanterelle mushrooms and wild garlic. In summer, a long hike, returning with fruit to make jam for winter is highly rewarding. It is probably cheaper and quicker to just buy quite decent quality stuff but the taste of freshly made food is almost worth the work! Roll on, summer. We are also often given free range eggs by our neighbours. Living in the wilds has it's advantages.
Posts: 2953 | From: Slightly south of Azkaban. | Registered: Aug 2006
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OMG I lived on a real old fashioned farm growing up. I mean we bought very little from the store. We grew or raised it ALL. Milk, butter, meat, veggies, ALL.
Gradually we have gotten away from a most of that. But still every year we have about a 2 acre garden. Me, Dad, FIL. Yes we all live on the same property. (23 acres) My FIL is old and handicapped so I still take care of him, even if I am divorced. Every year we pull together (kids too it's special family time) planting, weeding, watering, feeding, harvesting and preserving it all. OMG That is the hardest work. But I love it! Nothing in the world like the fresh fruits and veggies that you've grown and put up yourself.
When my kids were little we had a garden, horses, chickens, pigs, cows, guinneas, ducks, peacocks, boar goats (show) and sheep. Of course the many dogs and cats. Ugh!
Now that I'm on my own, we only have a few horses, chickens, peacock, guinneas (that can no way be caught), barn cats, and a dog.
My daughter has an electric incubator in her room, and well.............she raises loads of chicks. She goes down to the auction barn on Wednesdays and sells them before school. We keep some but most she sells. Our favorites are Domineckers (Plymouths)and Rhode Island Reds. They are both beautiful hearty and good layers.
Every winter when it is absolutely the coldest. We have a lot of baby goats. If you know anything about goats and breeding. Then you know its very hard work. Nine times out of 10 you they get sick. Near the end of their pregnancy. We have to go out in the rain and cold every 3 hrs and feed them a mix of molasses, karo, and ? Can't remember but. Anyway, they get very sick. They usually have 3 or 4 kids at a time. It is really hard on the poor momma's. Usually every year we would lose at least one momma and/or a kid. Couldn't tell you how many times we had to do C-sections, or pull out a few babies. All in the raining cold. Yup we did the whole heat lamp, put plastic up, and hay thing to help. I even lost a few towels and blankets each year. But at the time you're just trying to save the poor innocent things. It's a lot of work raising animals. But it's wonderful.
What's really cool is when your kids can tell the grown-ups with a straight face all the details about breeding and care of an animal. Whether that be pulling out a baby, clipping their hooves, worming them, or whatever.
I can remember so many times my kids would be in the barn with baby goats literally jumping up the walls and over their heads. My kids dying laughing. Or them walking around with whatever baby was born at the time. Bottle feeding the goats and calves. Really there is nothing sweeter.
Something else I still get a kick out of is my sons naming a couple of thier animals.
Bacon............pig T-Bone...........cow
LOL I guess they didn't want to forget why we had them. LOL
And my little girl got a Barbidoe sheep. LOL To this day she calls them Barbie doll sheep. We got rid of them. Cuz sheep are just dumb!!!!!!!! LOL
I think we will always have horses and chickens, a few cats to kill the rats and mice in the barns, and a little dog (weenie dog now).
When I was a kid. I loved churning butter with the old fashioned wooden churn.
I love this thread. Bringing back memories.
-------------------- شكرا و أللام عليكم شيبى Posts: 2133 | From: Redneckland | Registered: Oct 2006
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Sheba, we have chickens and dairy goats and cats, too, but no horses!!! If anything I think we would get a couple donkeys to protect the goats from coyotes. We have a huge predator problem here, and the only solution is a good defense and a handy Browning over and under. I love Plymouth Rocks, they do great in the cold and snow. We raise organic slow-growth meat birds too... I still have about 40 in the freezer. I keep bees too and get a hundred pounds of honey a year or so. I wouldn't eat roadkill, unless it was a fresh deer. Rodentia and the like are just too riddled with disease. But we fish year round and can get enough from fresh and salt water fish, oysters, clams, lobsters, blue crab, etc, etc, etc.. to eat from the land a few days a week. I would totally eat grubs if I had to... in Thailand they fry bee larva and eat it like scrambled eggs. Yummy!!!
Posts: 1161 | From: wo xiang xiao bian ji si le | Registered: Oct 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Mrs C: this man cooks road kill!
Okay that is too much. Just nasty.
I ran across an old National Geographic magazine from 1971 at an estate sale.
Walking up with a pile of old books my mother nearly beat me in the street right there for "pushing her limit". I can't help it, this was one of the few sales which the old fart who kicked the bucket had good taste in books.
Besides I clean her house for free.
Anyhow a great article on what is called "ocean foragers". This old man and his family prepared a feast off of what was found in the low tide on on the shores of New Foundland (sp? screw the spelling its canaade) But it looked scrumptous. Sea Urchins steamed on mussle shells burrowed in giant sea kelp. The whole damn article looked great.
Cripes every time my uncle the "naturalist" took us out into the woods to fix his electric fences he'd have us try something "natural" that gave me the shits for days.
Posts: 3168 | From: If you don't like it, don't look or read it! | Registered: Oct 2006
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Cool QB. Isn't looking out your kitchen window while washing dishes, or sitting outside with your morning coffee and watching the chickens so relaxing? I love it. But, the horses are my favorites. I love their personalities. But, I was riding horses before I could walk, so they've always been a part of my life. Have friends in Pro Rodeo too. And we go on trail rides with friends and family. So that makes its double the fun. Someone in the family always does one of the big ones to HLSR each year. Hard but cool.
I agree with the roadkill thing. Nasty We hunt too. I love Axis deer meat. yum But my kids hunt squirrel, elk, whitetail, and rabbit too. I cook the rabbit, elk, deer, and eat it. Never the squirrel. Tree rat. yuk The rule is.........you can hunt but you have to eat what you kill. So they do.
There is a special dog (cant remember the name) that is so good for protecting livestock. Goats especially. I had a friend who had ostriches for that. Worked great. lol Donkeys work too.
Would love to try your honey. I'm so afraid to go near bee's lol
We only go fishing a couple of times a year in the summer or spring. Don't know why. We love it. All of us. We usually take the camper up to a lake and sleep or swim all day and fish all night. We bring home loads of fish. Once my ex met a pro basser there. He taught him all kinds of secrets. That man comes home with never under 20 fish each time since he met that guy. Unless he goes when its too rough, wrong time of day, or something like that.
I haven't fished since I caught a 2 1/2 foot long alligator gar. OMG it scared me to death. That nasty thing came up snapped at me and bit the line. Should have seen the size of his eyes. LOL It wouldn't even fit in the net. LOL We were all freaking out. My hubby would have left to pee at that particular time.
Anyway. We trapped him on the pier with a net and my son stood on him till dad got back. Dad finally showed up and killed him and threw him back in. ugh totally creeped me out.
Haven't been fishing since. LOL
-------------------- شكرا و أللام عليكم شيبى Posts: 2133 | From: Redneckland | Registered: Oct 2006
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Sheba, I'm up in Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, so we don't have too many snakes. The feed will definitely bring some rats around, and if I had time I would sit out and shoot them with an air rifle. Instead I poison them when it seems they've moved close to the chicken house again. I have about 60 chickens right now, so its a lot of scratch and stuff to bring varmints around. Our pests here are coyotes, foxes, hawks and owls. But the coyotes will wipe out a whole flock in one night. Grrrrrrr. I have a remington 22 that works pretty good for pests, its a bolt action, which I actually like and it has a scope. We don't have the kind of space around here to blast off shotguns very often. You can get away with it, but only every once in a while. That gar sounds completely hilarious. I've seen pictures of them. I specialize in catching striped bass in the surf, but fishing for different stuff is fun and educational. About "ifyakillityaeatit" - a friend of mine is teaching his young son gun safety and shooting. The boy was taking a lot of shots at ducks and missing them. So, he started to ask his dad about what else he could shoot at. The dad reminded him - "If you kill it, you have to eat it." After they sat for a while longer waiting for game the son asked, "Hey Dad, how does a blue jay taste?" His dad just laughed and they went home - duck track stew for dinner again. I thought that was pretty cute.
Posts: 1161 | From: wo xiang xiao bian ji si le | Registered: Oct 2005
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wow QB can you teatch me some of this sakills for shooting wow i think you like your chicken , but if you kill what you eat it ? this for you and every one if you shoot it you have to butchering it okay so you can eat it clean
Posts: 88 | From: cairo | Registered: Feb 2007
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when i was a kid we grew all our own veg/salad etc shot rabbit, caught fish etc. we worked on a farm and lived in what once was farm cottages.
even now i live in london, but i grow loads of fruit in my garden and i have a HUGE allotment. (well i did till recently... moving).
QueenBee knows how envious i am of her already, sheba.. you too! my husband is at the farm now as i type! (but its a london farm, so its mainly horses) his daughter has her own horse.
were moving out of london so we can get back to small holding life, i cant wait!
im SOOOOOOO jealous of the peacocks! my MIL and SIL have them where they live in spain... my MIL does the best impression of them.. that mee yawww call. it will forever remind me of her... id love to have them!!!
mind you, this house is like a zoo as it is... a dog called trigger, parrott called del boy, bearded dragon called uncle albert, a giant rabbit called rodney and two rats called boycee and marlene!
Posts: 549 | From: charm el feikh? | Registered: Apr 2006
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i still walk along the hedgerows picking berries to make jam.
mushroom picking is great fun!
as for the road kill thing... it looked ok! it had to be fresh (no flies on it) and not stiff yet. the organs had to be intact so the flesh wasnt contaminated etc. he ate badgers and squirels etc. but not rat.
Posts: 549 | From: charm el feikh? | Registered: Apr 2006
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quote: when i was a kid we grew all our own veg/salad etc shot rabbit, caught fish etc. we worked on a farm and lived in what once was farm cottages.
even now i live in london, but i grow loads of fruit in my garden and i have a HUGE allotment. (well i did till recently... moving).
QueenBee knows how envious i am of her already, sheba.. you too! my husband is at the farm now as i type! (but its a london farm, so its mainly horses) his daughter has her own horse.
were moving out of london so we can get back to small holding life, i cant wait!
im SOOOOOOO jealous of the peacocks! my MIL and SIL have them where they live in spain... my MIL does the best impression of them.. that mee yawww call. it will forever remind me of her... id love to have them!!!
mind you, this house is like a zoo as it is... a dog called trigger, parrott called del boy, bearded dragon called uncle albert, a giant rabbit called rodney and two rats called boycee and marlene!
That made me smile. OMG I would love to see her immitate a peacock. LOL My dad loves peacocks. We all live on the same property. His land. I live on mine that is willed to me. But of course pay for it and all that. I moved my FIL in behind me. So he can have some independence but still be cared for. So it's nice around here. When we get a pet, they are usually shared by all. My dad loved the peacocks. So I bought him a male once. That thing would wait for him on his porch rail. When he came out of house, he would fly up and sit on his shoulder or head. LOL Except when my dad wouldn't let him. Then he would walk behind him every where he went. Really cute. He would even walk him to his truck. Follow him out the driveway. Then walk all the way back up and wait by porch again. We don't have him anymore as he got overprotective and we had to sell him. He would attack the people that came near my dad. So that was hard for him, but had to be done. Anyway.....just a story I thought you might like.
Rodney: LOL We once had a rooster. a polish cross, with the big hairdo. He reminded us of Rod Stewart. His hair and the way he strutted. LOL Thought you might get a kick out of that. But a coon got him.
I love the names that kids pick for their pets. Uncle Albert makes me smile.
What kind of horse she have? We only have left;
Shalimar------Arabian/Quarter Chestnut/blonde mane sassy.....attitude.........but we love her. and fun to ride. FAST! Great barrel horse
Little Bar Hand (Bay)--------Quarter/high bred cutting horse was hit by diesel when a baby. Nose is crooked. So he's not a good performance horse. Got him for $400. Best horse we ever had. A real teddy bear.
Lightning------Quarter/shiny black strange horse....don't think we'll keep him
Colt------1/4 Arabian, 1/4 Tennessee Walker, 1/2 Quarter Looks like a bay Shalimar's baby.....4 now lol momma messes him up......but he's our baby......born Christmas Eve
Mr. Putt Putt-------Shetland cross. White Old We lost him recently. My daughters Christmas present when she was small. OHHHHHHHH she loved him. But he was old when we got him. He was soooooooo slow. Would buck if you tried to make him run. LOL Unless you were carrying feed. Then he would run you over. LOL See why we called him putt putt? LOL
Anyway, I think those that are missing out on these things are missing a lot. I wish more people had the chance to experience, or at least let their kids experience the joys of a farm.
Good luck on your move.
Posts: 2133 | From: Redneckland | Registered: Oct 2006
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Haha, our White Rock rooster now is named "Johnny," but we also had "Henry," "Whitey," and "Jimmy" among others. My daughter seems to give the roosters tough guy names, which is fitting. She just named a goat "Chocolate" - a dark brown Nubian. We imported a Saanen to freshen her for a little experimental mix and he's been hanging out (literally) at our house for the last month, chasing the girls around. Anyway, we're eager to get her bred so we can "milk chocolate." heehee Then we'll drink Chocolate milk! Actually we are using the milk to make fresh Chevre.
Posts: 1161 | From: wo xiang xiao bian ji si le | Registered: Oct 2005
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hi queenbee are you have a farm ? i like the people like the quite animals , hahaha and i like this way too , to have mix milk it's good idea , so you can feed the chicken tomatos so we can get mix egg too , haha , you are so funny
Posts: 88 | From: cairo | Registered: Feb 2007
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You aren't really in Cairo, Soma, are you....? You remind me of someone.....
Posts: 1161 | From: wo xiang xiao bian ji si le | Registered: Oct 2005
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remind you of who? hahaha i told you i'm from TUKH in cairo , so what you think who i am
Posts: 88 | From: cairo | Registered: Feb 2007
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Roll on, summer. We are also often given free range eggs by our neighbours. Living in the wilds has it's advantages.
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