Comments on: Buying Local, Buying Raw

By: Mrs. D

Mrs. D — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:51:15 +0000

Just notice the comment from Caroline on raising meat chickens. We have done this for years and though it is a hard job and takes a couple days hard work to get them into the freezer I would recommend it. We have done this for 7 years now. We anually raise 40 – 50 meat birds. Plucking isn’t too bad, but you can construct your own plucker from a variable speed drill.

http://board.hobbyfarms.com/Topic4918-5-1.aspx

We used one of these last year for the first time and it worked awesome.

I think I will blog about this soon so if you want to check it out you can.

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:20:51 +0000

Wow! What a great day! My wife and I visited a dairy and they told us that they could only sell or give milk to those that participated in the cow share program, due to MI laws. We didn’t sign up for the program, but we did sign up for cheese making classes. That was fun. You have motivated me to get out and see what is around me. I’d love to find a local butcher to buy meat and even beef lard for soap making and other stuff.

By: Mrs. D

Mrs. D — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:17:46 +0000

Yea Kendra. I am so happy that you found a source for raw milk. Farmers in our state at least are allowed to sell a portion of their raw milk. They are limited to how many gallons they can sell this way which is one reason they do not advertise. Usually our farmers have enough business for raw milk without advertising. I know the farmer we were buying from in VT asked us not to tell anyone else because someone we had told about the milk was buying too many gal/week. You can check your states regulations on this probably published online. Where we get milk now there are very few customers for this farmer so we could get quite a bit of raw milk, and we usually exchange fresh vegetables with them. We still pay them for the milk though since it is their way of making a living. It pays to be really good to your local farmer… bring them treats once in a while too

Sounds like a very prosperous day. We would love to find a source for whole wheat flour. The flour we purchase from King Arthur which is right nearby, is running 4 – 5.00/5lb bag and we go through about 2 bags per week. If I could find a bulk flour supply it sure would cut down on my grocery bill. I don’t have a grinder and really don’t have the time to grind my own, unfortunately.

Hope we all have successful gardens this year!!!

God Bless,
Mrs. D

By: Diana Tyree

Diana Tyree — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:24:07 +0000

I trade my homemade bread for a gallon of raw cow milk. We have two young dairy goats that we are hoping to milk. We had bought a goat in milk and she only lived about two weeks and got sick and died, that was dissapointing because we had waited for years to get one. I stood there and cried as my husband and son dug the hole and then used the skid loader to pick her up to bury her. It wasn’t that I was so attached but it was like a dream had died. You have to prepare yourself for heartache if you want to homestead, but there are many blessings also. My husband is a beekeeper and I would tell you to find a local beekeeper who does raw honey and buy it by the gallon or 5 gallon buckets. Our gallons are 25.00 and the buckets are 85.00- 100.00 depending if they’re 5 gall. or 4.25 gall. so you get one gall. free. Also it is not recomended to use the microwave for softening honey as it destroys the nutrients, actually it does that to anything you use it on. I’ve also heard of some honey containers exploding in the microwave. Diana

By: Liz J

Liz J — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:06:18 +0000

I don’t have any place local for fresh milk or meat, but I did go to Whole Foods with a friend, and got some raw honey ~ yes, delicious! I am happily hooked on the stuff, and it’s healthy too

By: tarena

tarena — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 02:46:41 +0000

SO PROUD of you!!!!
Real food is SOOOO good, isn’t it?!!!
Did you see the posts I did recently on all this?…you would love it!
Enjoy!!!!!