I come from a much earlier era than most of you.
Most recently I've combined households with 3 other women. The youngest is 55 and the oldest is 79. I turned 61 in March.
Since we live in the SW Utah desert and our nearest town is 17 miles from us, our goal is to raise as much of our food as possible. That includes meat, vegetables, and fruit.
So far, we have a lamb named "Freezer" 'cause that's where he's going. Last year we raised a couple to sell. A friend bought both and then graciously gave us both the chops and one leg from one of them. So far, we've eaten the chops, and they were incredibly good.
We also have 7 ewes (6 Black Merino and 1 PolyPay), a Black Merino ram, and two ewe lambs to add to our flock. Our plans include raising our own meat, and having market lambs as well as fleece.
We have 35 chicks (should yield 18-20 hens) which will provide eggs and meat. We will sell our excess eggs, and eat the meat, even the hens as we cull them over a 3 year period.
We're about to plant our first real garden. Last year was a test... not successful at all. Most stuff went into the ground too early and froze. The later things didn't ripen before our first frost, as our growing season is barely 100 days.
I have butchered animals for years. In fact, I owned a specialty meat processing facility for 16 years.
One thing I can share with folks is that the better you care for your animals, and the more careful and humane you are when you butcher, the better the meat will be.
