What did you do in the garden today?

[igorsMistress]

Yup they always dredge up this dribble to deter folks from homesteading and making use of their own resources. Imagine being a young child in FFA asking his mother to raise livestock after she reads this recycled news article. Someone wants to discourage us from it or from taking up the hobby.

I look at it as a slap on the head to the folks who don't use that head to think. I'm not anal about washing my hands, but if I handle my birds or the hose outside I wash up. I also compost the hell out of chicken manure before I use it in the garden.

 

[Sueby]

Oh & I agree on big Ag not wanting people to start raising their own, or buying from the local farmers. Because of the news that meat plants were shut down due to COVID the waiting lists to get a local raised cow are unreal, normally a week or 2 wait has turned into 'I may have one by fall'...They surely don't want that happening! But I do think it is good for people just starting out to know that there are some precautions you should take. Like I always wear 'chicken shoes' when going out there & wash my hands after working with them, etc, but I had NO idea I should be wearing a mask when cleaning the coop until my sisters boss got so sick & ended up in the hospital with parrot pneumonia. Not a common thing, but a thing nonetheless.

@Wee Farmer Sarah can't wait for your pics too! & jealous of your teeny bit of rain, lol.

 

[Sueby]

@FastEddy22 - neat!!

 

[Acre4Me]

normally a week or 2 wait has turned into 'I may have one by fall'

Happened to us! We should be getting our split half in September!!! and I called weeks and weeks ago. However, we had been discussing getting a half or quarter for a couple of years and had decided to order one this year before Covid, but when the shortages hit, I called at that time.

 

[littledog]

Big Ag doesn't want the poor ill informed consumer to go and raise our own food. All the money they have invested in better chemicals to produce more food needs to be recovered, regardless of the impact on public health. I've never gotten salmonella or e coli from any of my home grown produce or eggs. Now there are parasites in bagged lettuce mixes. Eeuuuw! And most small farmers who raise small herds of livestock that is mostly grass fed and free range beef, lamb, pigs and turkeys are doing so humanely thus adding to the cost of their product. But big Ag doesn't want you to know that either. So I'll keep on doing my thing with homegrown eggs and fresh produce from my own backyard. Have a great day everyone!

Yes! And the big secret they don't want people to know, is that buying humanely-raised meat from local farmers is not more expensive, often it's cheaper! We buy 1/2 pasture-raised hog every year from a local farmer. I used to think I was paying more but that it was worth it for better-tasting, healthier meat from a more humane system, plus supporting my local community. Then out of curiosity, I was pricing different cuts of pork, ham and bacon in the supermarket and when I added it all up, I'm actually paying quite a bit less, who knew?

Imagine being a young child in FFA asking his mother to raise livestock after she reads this recycled news article. Someone wants to discourage us from it or from taking up the hobby.

Absolutely true. Where is our next generation of farmers supposed to come from, when Big Ag and the media who depends on their advertising dollars, tries to make livestock raising sound scary? It seems like they want all livestock owned by a few large companies, with the actual work done by low-paid grunt labor - what an abusive system for both animals and humans.
Our local FFA didn't get to sell their animals at the fair this year because of covid, so they did an online auction, and we got a 135 lb. meat sheep for way less than buying it at the store, and the kids still got to make a profit. Not only were we happy to support those hard-working FFA kids, this is the first time in years I've even been able to afford to eat lamb.

 

[igorsMistress]

Good morning gardeners, it's a lovely morning here. I used my new sprinkler to water the grass and the soaker hose for the oleanders, it frees up a lot of time but sometimes I forget they're running. I tried cutting off some fronds hanging over the wall from my neighbors palm but they're too high up and awkward so will have to wait for help. The sun garden is coming along, blocks are almost done being set in place and I've tossed in a bunch of hay, soil and bunny poop. Sometimes I'll toss in a handful of scratch or mealworms to get the chickens in there mixing it up; I love having their help most of the time. So far everything seems to be making it despite the heat, which has been brutal this week. I have grape tomatoes, celery and sweet peppers in the dehydrator, next will be onions, then some hamburger jerky. Hubs wants to try pemmican this winter so we need to make a trip to the butcher for some fat to render when we pick up bones for the pups. Ants continue to be an issue in the dog yard, I didn't spray the whole thing but maybe I should. Anyway, sorry to ramble. It took me almost an hour to write all this because the pups wanted to play Have a great day all!

 

[Sueby]

Hamburger jerky??!! Off to google......

Think you can do it without a gun?

 

[igorsMistress]

Hamburger jerky??!! Off to google......

Think you can do it without a gun?

yes'm hamburger jerky. My mom gave me a dehydrator cookbook that has a few recipes in it. I dehydrate a LOT because I can store more in less space than with canning.

I have grown garlic once and it wasn't a huge success but I have some coming to try again this Fall. When and why do you cut the scapes?

 

[igorsMistress]

Hamburger jerky??!! Off to google......

Think you can do it without a gun?

Yes, no gun, in my book it says to roll it out like a pie crust and then use a pizza cutter to score before drying.

 

[Sueby]

Awesome, I ordered some curing salts because it will make me feel better, even though my dehydrator goes over 165. I'm going to make some as soon as that gets here! Do you have a specific recipe you love?

Garlic scapes - you cut them because it redirects the energy from producing the flowers to growing the bulbs instead. Plus the scapes are supposed to be super delish! Mine popped up a couple weeks ago, you will know because they look different from the leaves & curl around & have a flower pod at the end. Stole a pic from google: