Friendly Hello from NC Fl..

[Farmer Connie]

Long time lurker just signed up. Just wanted to say a quick hello and thanks for having me. I am looking fwd to absorbing all this site has to offer as well as contributing as well.
I'm a member of TEG, BYH & BYC. And now here!

I'm married with 2 grown up kids & 1 grandson. My DH & I have a small farm and we breed Nigerian Goats, Breed Heritage Pigs, Breed Chickens and recently hung up our Turkey breeding for a new adventure with Ducks. Which started yesterday.
Always try to keep myself busy so the rusting slows down just a tad.
Again, thank you for having me and I'll jump into the forums shortly.
-connie

 

[Farmer Connie]

Hey! I know you! hehe..View attachment 6376

Hello my friend! Congrats on the new herfords!
Just got these processed into premo freezer stock..

Gloucestershire splashed w/Hampshire-Berkshire Heritage.
Translation= cured pork belly on the water pot smoker driving the neighbors stir crazy for 12 hours straight

.

Happy to see your here @baymule , it will help me feel like at home. Thank you to all whom put up with my "show & tell". I have too much to show & so hard sometimes to not tell.
I am reluctant to post our BLT sandwiches we made for din din this evening.

​

 

[CrealCritter]

Glad to see that all threads turn to a discussion about food if left long enough.

Welcome

 

[Britesea]

Welcome!

 

[Farmer Connie]

Tell me about your water pot smoker.

It is just your average run of the mill Brinkman (charcoal version) water pot smoker. Steams as it slow cooks. For the p/belly DH added apple juice/water 50-50 with apple wedges and onion petals to the water pot. Meat was rub cured for 8 days, turning it over once a day. washed off the cure/dried it thoroughly and rubbed light brown sugar deep into the p/belly prior to smoking it. Makes it caramelize as well as drip sugar into the water to add even more flavor to the steam.
Hurricane Irma was nice enough to provide us with plenty of Hickory firewood for plenty more smoking events. In the top background of this photo displays 'Irma's Gift". Wasn't free firewood. Replacing the fence lines was costly. At least we got plenty of grilling wood, an optimist would say.

Your bacon looks fabulous.

Part of that bacon slab was cast iron skillet fried and placed between slices of the homemade bread I baked that day. Delicious Honey Loafs..

I like your loading ramp too. Is it portable? Can you take some more pictures of it?

That ramp belongs to our processor. Photos taken upon dropping off the porkers. It is basically built from 2X8's and maybe 6-ish feet long. 2 no-flat tires under the center of the apparatus fashioned such as a "see-saw" method to allow the ramp to be applicable to various heights on each of the ends. Also has metal hanger clips on each end to latch onto the trailer and receiving pen.
We use steel corrugated car ramps to load the trailers with panels fastened to our pens when we load at home. This particular ramp he has at his business,is a very good idea and well built. I wouldn't mind having one.

Perhaps one day if we build one we could share the plans and show the completed project on this website?

When we cook whole hogs, we (DH) will butcher. But processing and packaging, nothing beats a professional job. Especially someone as clean, honest and knowledgeable as our processor.

Again, I'm glad our paths crossed again @baymule , always a pleasure seeing your presence..
gotta run!
Thanks again to everyone!

 

[Farmer Connie]

Glad to see that all threads turn to a discussion about food if left long enough.

Welcome

I have 5000 gigs more on tap!//lol. we are obsessed photographers with 6 hard drives full of current events jammed packed w/everything. Brings a whole new meaning to the computer terminology of the slave drive(s).
We are major self sustainable.. nice to flash back to see long forgotten achievements. Helps us to remind ourselves why we are so sore at the end of the day.. I am looking fwd to sharing our archives.

 

[Farmer Connie]

Yes... I have to constantly delete photos off my phone in order to make room for new ones. They say a picture speaks a thousand words. I believe this to be true but honestly the words spoken are reminders of good, bad and all points in between.

That is a good example how technology has turned for the worse. Since everything has gone digital, the art of photography has been forever changed. For one thing, photos are lost. Each time your computer crashes, phone breaks or like what you quoted.. delete to create more space. We are spoiled with the luxury of instantly seeing our pictures which causes us to procrastinate to back them up on disc or flash drive. But even on a disc, the cd/dvd has an expiration / shelf life date.
On the other hand, we have cases and boxes full of 35mm & 110 prints from back in the exposure days. Those are priceless. My most treasured possessions. Moments captured of our family, growing, aging, progressing. When Hurricane Irma hit, I was more worried about my film print tubs that any other item, including the house.
As we age and time goes on, memories fade. But photography is there to refresh our memories. The good times, bad times and long forgotten moments that we used to cherish, but cherished once again, because we just saw that long lost memory in a photograph..

 

[Farmer Connie]

hello welcome aboard!

Hi Connie! Welcome from Texas - and good to see you over here.

Welcome from NC Alabama.

Welcome from NH! What kind of pigs do you have?

Welcome!

Great to have you here!

Hi Connie! I'm glad you joined us officially! I'm excited to hear how your farm is going and learn from you too!

(My new Babies)​

Thank you everybody! I'm just settling in. I can't wait to be on a contribution level.
I have some stuff to share. First I'm going to be reading a little to absorb the theme and learn the ropes from the members of the site community. Thanks again for the warm & friendly hello..

 

[baymule]

Thanks for the bacon info. Your bacon looks so good, I could lick the computer screen! I want to build a portable loading ramp, when I do, I’ll make a thread on it.

 

[sumi]

I am looking fwd to sharing our archives.

I'd love to see that! Baymule started a thread here for us awhile ago, showing and telling how they build up their farm and everything they've done on it. It's wonderful to see the process and how hard work pays off