We have two freezers full of lamb, chicken, corn, broccoli, cabbage and tomatoes, 30+ quarts of canned beans, a big bag of potatoes in the cellar and a very nice crop of celery yet to be harvested along with a big pile of dried beans to be threshed. It's a nice feeling going into winter with all this stored food. Certainly we have the option of buying what we need as we need it but having it already and especially having produced it ourselves makes all the hard work worthwhile.
I was reviewing the "books" this week and see that the lamb we sold this year almost paid for all our hay for the coming winter. That's not bad when you figure we kept two lambs and a hogget for ourselves. The chicken project worked well. The demand outstripped our supply (assuming everyone who placed an order ends up actually buying). On the economic side, $2.50 per pound provides a nice profit margin. A 5-pound bird sells for $12.50. In our experience, it ate about $6 worth of organic grain plus $0.65 for the chick. Basically, Jennifer and I made a combined $25-$30 per hour for butchering if we figure nothing for our labor in actually raising the birds. Since we would have done this anyway to raise chicken for our own table (priceless) that labor is not accounted for. For more information see Gene Logsdon's writings about "pastoral economics" vs. "industrial economics."
Last but not least, I was talking to Mike, who owns Border's Market when I picked up my lamb last night and I think I may have found a source for fat grass-fed beef. Most of the beef we've had has been quite lean. Since we've begun trying to eat in a nutrient-dense, traditional manner, I've become sensitive to eating meat that is too lean. I want grass-fed beef but it must be finished, i.e. fat. Mike gave me the contact info for a customer of his that is doing just that. If you're a farmer in north central Ohio in need of butcher, I can't recommend Border's in Plymouth highly enough. They are one of the only ones left doing on-farm slaughter which, in my opinion, is the most humane, natural way to bring an animal from the pasture to the table.
Friday 28 September 2007
Friday 14 September 2007
Late Summer Update
Random thoughts on what's happening now at Liberty Farm.
The garden is on it's way out. Beans are canned, corn, broccoli, cabbage and tomatoes are frozen, kraut and kimchi and made, etc. We still have lots of tomatoes to work with and our dry beans are drying. The potatoes are still in the ground. I really don't want to harvest them until the temperature drops in our cellar. That way they will keep better. I'm not sure how well they will keep in the ground. We'll see.
Pastures look great. I want to apply 2 tons of lime per acre in October. There are some weeds that need to be mowed and I want to trim under the fence one more time.
Speaking of fence, I've made several half-assed repairs this summer that need to be corrected. My goal is to replace all of our steel line posts with fiberglass and corner posts with wood. I would recommend that anyone building an electric fence avoid steel altogether. One problem with one wire on one post and you've got a dead short.
Lamb butchering is scheduled for 9/24 and I have photos of the chicken butchering to post. My youngest son has been proudly telling people that he helped gut a chicken.
BTW- the chicken is sold out! I vastly underestimated the demand. Next year we'll definitely be raising more.
Be well.
The garden is on it's way out. Beans are canned, corn, broccoli, cabbage and tomatoes are frozen, kraut and kimchi and made, etc. We still have lots of tomatoes to work with and our dry beans are drying. The potatoes are still in the ground. I really don't want to harvest them until the temperature drops in our cellar. That way they will keep better. I'm not sure how well they will keep in the ground. We'll see.
Pastures look great. I want to apply 2 tons of lime per acre in October. There are some weeds that need to be mowed and I want to trim under the fence one more time.
Speaking of fence, I've made several half-assed repairs this summer that need to be corrected. My goal is to replace all of our steel line posts with fiberglass and corner posts with wood. I would recommend that anyone building an electric fence avoid steel altogether. One problem with one wire on one post and you've got a dead short.
Lamb butchering is scheduled for 9/24 and I have photos of the chicken butchering to post. My youngest son has been proudly telling people that he helped gut a chicken.
BTW- the chicken is sold out! I vastly underestimated the demand. Next year we'll definitely be raising more.
Be well.
Saturday 1 September 2007
Food and Water...
...not necessarily related.
Food
We've been doing a lot of fermenting lately. Above is a yogurt cheese made from homemade yogurt. Just pour the room temperature yogurt into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Tie up the cheesecloth and hang it to drain. 12 hours for a creamy, spreadable cheese and 24 for a more dry crumbly cheese.
Below is kimchi - cabbage, carrots, green onions, garlic, ginger and chile pepper flakes. Just add salt and a bit of whey for a starter and pound. Pack it into the jars and press until the liquid covers all the veggies. We fermented this for 3 days ate room temp and then moved to the fridge for aging.
We've also made sauerkraut and pickled green beans. I have a Belgian Trippel aging in the secondary fermenter in the dining room and a gallon of kombucha on the kitchen counter. Our house is a den of yeast and bacteria.
Water
This photo shows the intersection of Sixth and Diamond streets in Mansfield on August 21st. Our machine shop sits just behind the red brick building with the billboard on the right. You may have seen this view on CNN. The Post Office is just out of the frame on the right.
We had 30 inches of water inside our building. 20-odd baked out electric motors later, and we are back in full production. Which explains why I haven't posted the last couple weeks.
Food
We've been doing a lot of fermenting lately. Above is a yogurt cheese made from homemade yogurt. Just pour the room temperature yogurt into a cheesecloth-lined colander. Tie up the cheesecloth and hang it to drain. 12 hours for a creamy, spreadable cheese and 24 for a more dry crumbly cheese.
Below is kimchi - cabbage, carrots, green onions, garlic, ginger and chile pepper flakes. Just add salt and a bit of whey for a starter and pound. Pack it into the jars and press until the liquid covers all the veggies. We fermented this for 3 days ate room temp and then moved to the fridge for aging.
We've also made sauerkraut and pickled green beans. I have a Belgian Trippel aging in the secondary fermenter in the dining room and a gallon of kombucha on the kitchen counter. Our house is a den of yeast and bacteria.
Water
This photo shows the intersection of Sixth and Diamond streets in Mansfield on August 21st. Our machine shop sits just behind the red brick building with the billboard on the right. You may have seen this view on CNN. The Post Office is just out of the frame on the right.
We had 30 inches of water inside our building. 20-odd baked out electric motors later, and we are back in full production. Which explains why I haven't posted the last couple weeks.
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