Just getting started - Newbie alert :) (2 new questions p9)
- Thread starter AL
- Start date
VickiLynn
Lovin' The Homestead
Welcome, Al
I feel the same way about my chickens. But after the way they trashed my cabbage plants in the garden yesterday, my opinion is starting to change a bit
If you built a chicken yard, raised beds should be a breeze!
I feel the same way about my chickens. But after the way they trashed my cabbage plants in the garden yesterday, my opinion is starting to change a bit
If you built a chicken yard, raised beds should be a breeze!
noobiechickenlady
Almost Self-Reliant
Welcome!! Semi-newbie here myself. Last year was the first time I raised chickens, this year I got 50! 
Just to prove the point of what pioneergirl said, I have some advice!
If you can't do the deed to a meat chicken but want to eat fresh, try to find someone who can and split the wealth so to speak!
DH & I clean every deer a friend of ours harvests (not many, maybe 2 a year, maybe none, but still) and we take everything he doesn't want plus a hindquarter & a backstrap. He likes to hunt, can't bring himself to butcher though, so it all works out
Also have to recomend Backyard Homestead for a jumping off point.
Just to prove the point of what pioneergirl said, I have some advice!
If you can't do the deed to a meat chicken but want to eat fresh, try to find someone who can and split the wealth so to speak!
DH & I clean every deer a friend of ours harvests (not many, maybe 2 a year, maybe none, but still) and we take everything he doesn't want plus a hindquarter & a backstrap. He likes to hunt, can't bring himself to butcher though, so it all works out
Also have to recomend Backyard Homestead for a jumping off point.
tortoise
Wild Hare
Best way to learn those carpentry skills is to ruin a few things in the learning progress.
I'm a 25 yr old single female and renovated a small house. My brothers helped refinish the hardwood floors. I learned how to do plumbing! :/ My dad called it a "heroic effort." My brother tried to "fix" it and made a leak (that wasn't there before! 
)
I never ended up finished but I did a lot and learned more too!
I'm a 25 yr old single female and renovated a small house. My brothers helped refinish the hardwood floors. I learned how to do plumbing! :/ My dad called it a "heroic effort."
My brother tried to "fix" it and made a leak (that wasn't there before! )I never ended up finished but I did a lot and learned more too!
- Thread starter
- #15
AL
Almost Self-Reliant
thanks, all! I have been reading in some of the journals and I think I better stop while I am ahead! Wow.... there are some folks REALLY making this life work. I was so proud of my tomatos and zuccini making well LOL
Right now I am taking baby steps. I want to learn to can so that we have good eats in the event of a hurricane (after Ivan we were without power for over 3 weeks). The next step would be to prepare in the event of a more widespread problem.
My dad would be able to butcher a chicken, but then it would leave the scalding and plucking to me. I might could do it to an anonymous meatie, but not a chicken that jumps in my lap or on my shoulder everytime I visit the chicken yard!
I have seen a lot of posts talking about dandelions. Are these really about just the little yellow flower that turns into the famous "hold it up and blow the seeds off" dandelions??
ETA: I have seen a local ad on our craigslist of someone offering to split the beef of a black angus steer. I don't know enough about it to know if I was getting ripped off or not, so I didn't follow up. Growing up we took steer to be butchered, if we named them my folks made us name them "T-bone" "Hamburger" etc ..... lol
Right now I am taking baby steps. I want to learn to can so that we have good eats in the event of a hurricane (after Ivan we were without power for over 3 weeks). The next step would be to prepare in the event of a more widespread problem.
My dad would be able to butcher a chicken, but then it would leave the scalding and plucking to me. I might could do it to an anonymous meatie, but not a chicken that jumps in my lap or on my shoulder everytime I visit the chicken yard!
I have seen a lot of posts talking about dandelions. Are these really about just the little yellow flower that turns into the famous "hold it up and blow the seeds off" dandelions??
ETA: I have seen a local ad on our craigslist of someone offering to split the beef of a black angus steer. I don't know enough about it to know if I was getting ripped off or not, so I didn't follow up. Growing up we took steer to be butchered, if we named them my folks made us name them "T-bone" "Hamburger" etc ..... lol
murphysranch
Super Self-Sufficient
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Welcome Al. I just joined last fall, and learn something new everyday! These folks are very friendly and supportive.
Farmfresh
City Biddy
Some people, like me, on this forum are able to harvest chickens without much problem. I have had chickens for about 30 + years and I can even process layers that are past their useful laying days now. It still is a bit hard and still not a job I like, but I CAN do it. Others here are like you, beginners that would find it almost impossible to kill an animal that they have raised or gotten attached to. Either way you will be accepted and befriended on this forum.AL said:
If you stick around here you will be trying things (and succeeding!) that you never imagined you would even tackle! I have been urban homesteading for a LONG time and I learn new things every single day I am on here ... sometimes I even learn a lot from "beginners" like you!
Yes the good old "blow on the fluffy top" dandelion IS the one we are talking about. It was a treasured pot herb LONG before it became a suburban lawn menace. The root is used to brew beer, roasted and ground to make a type of coffee. The flowers are used to brew wine and the leaves, which are the best of all, are very high in Vitamin A, C, potassium and calcium. Much like a spinach leaf. Not only that but animals simply adore eating them. You seldom find dandelion in a pasture because the animals keep them nipped off right down to the ground!
I suggest you do some serious checking into that Craigslist ad for the beef. It might just be a good place to start buying in bulk. Even better do a little research. You just might find a small butcher shop near you that processes beef for the farmers in the area. (Ask the Craigslist ad where the beef was processed and then take a note!)
If you can find a nice local butcher shop to work with, a couple of like minded friends and gather a bit of cash you are on your way to the cheapest best meat you will ever eat. I personally get my beef, pork, and lamb in this manner.
By doing a little work and learning some basics you can then seek out and buy a young meat animal direct from the farmer. (Craigslist is a good source to find those as well.) Most of those farmers are quite willing to deliver the animal to the butcher shop for you as well. Sure you have to do a few phone calls and a little leg work, but in the end when you bring home grassfed T-bones and sirloins for around $3.00 a pound (my average any way) you will be glad you did! Having that like minded friend prevents you from having 800 pounds of meat in your freezer all at once and helps defray the costs. When I have "shared a cow" in the past we split the cost of the cow and then the butcher shop custom cut each side for us personally and we each paid our own butcher bill. It worked great.
By buying in this way you only have to see the meat in live form once or twice, which really helps sometimes. When you pick it up at the butcher shop it is neatly packed, labeled and wrapped for the freezer. Better than going to the store!
There is ONE MAJOR drawback however. Once you start buying your meat like this it is almost impossible to eat store bought "meat" again. It is just disgusting.
noobiechickenlady
Almost Self-Reliant
Echoing what FF posted, I myself cannot harvest our rabbits, although I am trying to gear myself up for it. Do what you can, with what you have and what you are able to do. You can always learn something new when you are ready. Babysteps are good!
Farmfresh
City Biddy
Sometimes it helps if you have an accomplice that is in charge of "making them dead" at first. Learn all of the other steps and then when you are confident in that process it is easier to do the hard part.
tortoise
Wild Hare
Ditto.Farmfresh said:Sometimes it helps if you have an accomplice that is in charge of "making them dead" at first. Learn all of the other steps and then when you are confident in that process it is easier to do the hard part.
