But there’s just one problem: behind this beautiful dream is the stress of debt. Collection calls constantly bother you. There are bills left unpaid. Looking at your life from the outside, it looks amazing, but there’s stress and tension underneath. Things are barely being held together. With just the smallest stroke of bad luck, things could get even worse.

Why Debt is a Problem

Of course, you can pursue your homesteading dreams while you’re in debt, but debt can hold you back along the way. How? Because debt takes choices from you. Debt is like a greedy taskmaster always placing unreasonable demands on you and cruelly telling you what to do. Unlike financial freedom that asks nothing of you, debt robs you from being able to make any choice that you want.

For example, do you want to take a job that requires fewer hours and less stress so you can spend more time at home on your homestead? Debt says no; you need the overtime pay and the high salary instead. Do you want to change jobs and try something different, instead of staying in a job that you don’t like? Debt says, “No; you can’t even think about it.”

While everyone needs money to survive, debt makes sure that you think of it first and foremost while making your most important life decisions. But there is a way out.

How Much Debt is Too Much?

As you try to get out of debt, you might be tempted to compare yourself to others. Comparison is always a trap and leads to no good. It’s important to be kind and honest with yourself when you think about your situation. You may feel tempted to keep up a certain image around others. After all, nobody wants others to know they’re struggling! But you might be shocked to know that many people have secret struggles with money, so you’re not alone.

In the privacy of your own thoughts, think about your situation. Give yourself the freedom to be candid with yourself, regardless of how bad things might feel. It takes courage to face the truth, even if you’re facing it with no one else around. When you do that, you’ll be able to figure out how to make a brighter future. Ask yourself:

• Could I handle a $500 emergency without going into debt?
• Am I dodging phone calls from collections agencies, or ignoring notices sent to me for debts that I owe?
• If I’m sick, do I avoid taking a sick day because I can’t afford to miss a day of work?
• Do I avoid seeking medical care when it’s truly needed, because I’m afraid that I can’t afford a co-pay?
• Is it a real struggle every week or month to handle the basics: food, rent or mortgage, utility bills, putting gas in my car?
• Am I spending lots of money on things that I truly do not need? If I tried, would it be easy for me to find a little bit of extra money to save this week or this month?

Don’t Dwell on Regret

As you look deeper into your finances, you may feel some regret about how you got into this situation. It may feel very unfair that you got into debt, and you might wish your circumstances were different. Maybe something bad happened to you that wasn’t your fault, and that’s how you got into this position. Maybe you got hurt or lost your job through no fault of your own. These situations don’t feel fair, but we can only do our best to try to get back on track.

You can feel your pain and regret, but don’t get stuck there. Try to focus on what you can do, rather than on what you can’t do. When you approach things in this manner, it gives you a better chance at creating the brighter future that you deserve.

The same goes for any financial mistakes you may have made. Perhaps you know that you could have done things a lot differently. Maybe you made some big mistakes that caused a big mess. Some people get off track because they get stuck in regret, and they decide on purpose to just keep repeating the same mistakes. They decide that they, themselves, are a “lost cause.” What the heck, they reason, it’s too late; I’m a what’s the point? Don’t let negative thinking keep you in a bad position. Decide that you’re worth it; you can have something better! You can clean up the mess and have a more peaceful life.

How Do I Pay Off Debt If I Live Paycheck to Paycheck?

Once you’ve faced the reality of your situation, you can take some steps to change things.

Creativity and open-mindedness can help a lot when you’re making your plan to get out of debt. Here are some things you may try:

• Handling a $500 Emergency: If you would not be able to handle a $500 emergency, set the lowest goal you can for opening a savings account. Make it so low that it’s laughable. Is one dollar not worth it? Make that your goal! Start somewhere! Some banks offer debit cards that will round up your purchase to the nearest dollar to encourage you to save. The change used when your purchase is rounded up will be added to a savings account. This is a very easy way to save money when funds are tight. When you make your goal so low that it’s laughable, you make it impossible to fail.
• Paying Your Mortgage: If you’re having a hard time paying for your mortgage, know that help might be available. Can you ignore debt collectors? If they’re calling about your house payment, it isn’t wise to do this! You can ask about homeowners assistance or hardship programs. If you’re at risk of foreclosure, these programs can help you get back on track. However, if a repayment plan is offered to you, you must pay as agreed. Do not be late! Communicating with your mortgage company is a must if you don’t want to lose your home.
• Cars Are Expensive: If your family is struggling to keep up with the costs of car payments, insurance, gas, and maintenance, you might want to consider becoming a one-car family. While this doesn’t work for everyone, some people find it’s the money-saving solution that makes all the difference.
• Been Sick? If you’re facing a stack of bills from a hospital or a doctor’s office, ask to speak with the financial counseling department. They can usually set you up on a payment plan that is reasonable and within your budget. If your doctor has prescribed you medication that you can’t afford, search online for “patient assistance” and the drug name. There are many websites that will offer information for coupons, discount codes, and other information, depending on the prescription.
• Adding an Income Source: For some people, this is the one thing that makes a big difference. All the budgeting in the world cannot make up for a lack of income. If there isn’t enough money, there simply is not enough money. A new income source could be something fun that you’ll love. Would you enjoy coaching your child’s sports team, or reselling things online? Maybe there are seasonal jobs in your area that you could work for a few hours and have some fun.

Enlarge Your Vision

If you’ve been stuck in debt and just struggling to get by, enlarge your vision. Think about what you really want other than to just get out of this mess. Write down what you want, and you will increase your chances of achieving it.

Everyone’s financial picture is different, and comparing yourself to others will not help you. You might ask yourself, how bad is $50,000 in debt? How bad is $2,000? $10,000? We are all blessed with different skills, abilities, and talents, and applying these to our lives can help us seek out different types of jobs, side gigs, and ways of generating income to pay off our debts and make money. So start with some small steps and think about how you might want your life to change. Are there any talents and abilities you would like to use, any new jobs or endeavors you would like to explore that might help you earn more? Keep your eyes open for any new ways to make money.

Very often, money problems are one of two things: it’s either an income problem or a spending problem. And these days, many people find that their job simply does not provide enough income to pay for their everyday expenses and the debts they have. So, with a little brainstorming, think about how you envision your future, and if there’s anything you want to do that could generate new income for yourself.

Pay Down Something Small

While financial experts may tell you to first pay off the bill with the largest interest rate, it’s important to keep in mind that your mental motivation helps you get out of debt. As someone who’s been in debt, I know paying down your smallest bill first can build motivation and give you that “I can do this!” feeling.

This method can also help you stay organized. I remember having multiple creditors and feeling so overwhelmed with the due dates. It was so difficult and confusing to just keep track of it all. But you will feel a sense of victory when you pay off that first small bill. It feels so good to say, “I did it! I paid that off!”

Your confidence will grow, and your feeling of being able to handle things will grow when you keep going and pay off that second, larger bill. It will take a little longer, but when you have your second highest bill paid down, you’ll feel even more pride in yourself. It’s exciting!

Enjoy the Journey

Depending on your income and your amount of debt, your timeline for getting out of debt may vary. For some people, it might take only a couple of months or just a year to get out of debt. For others, it may take years to get out of debt. To stay motivated, you can reward yourself with small things along the way. Remember that you still deserve to live a happy life while you’re going through this process. Don’t put your life on hold while you’re digging out of debt. Find ways to have fun, even if it’s on a smaller financial scale. For example, maybe a week-long, out-of-state vacation is out of the question. You could decide to take a trip to someplace local to have fun without spending as much money.

Finding free or cheap things to do can also help you stay motivated to spend less money. This can become a lifelong hobby even when your biggest debts are paid off. It becomes very gratifying to have your debt paid off, and to have multiple hobbies you can enjoy that do not cost a lot of money. This becomes a lifestyle change that has many benefits.

Financial Freedom Pays

Nothing feels as good as financial freedom. Once you’ve put in the work of getting out of debt, you’ll feel incredible as more of your happiness, joy, and peace of mind exists simply because you do not have to worry about a lack of money. Many people simply give up because they find the work on this journey to be too hard. However, if you can commit yourself to starting with a clear vision, taking small steps, and staying committed, you can achieve more than you ever thought possible.

The post Digging Your Way Out of Debt appeared first on Homestead.org.

Change Your Mindset.  As I said, homesteading begins in the mind.  Values that you hold dear do not change based on geography.  Obviously, you won’t be able to keep cattle on your homestead in the city, but you could participate in a cow-share.  Make a list of the things you value most about homesteading and create a plan to incorporate those values into everything you do.

Minimalist Mindset.  While minimalism has become something of a buzzword, it is necessary when downsizing.  On a farm, it is fine to collect and store items for projects you plan to get to one day.  Micro-homesteading is not conducive to collecting for the future.  Everything you have, other than sentimental items, should be useful right now.  The list of values will help you decide what you must keep and what you can part with.

Grow Your Own Food.  You can grow a portion of your food wherever you are.  In addition to raised beds, vertical gardening, and microgreens, take advantage of the miniature varieties of vegetables.  From eggplant and tomatoes to snap peas, there are plants available that can be grown successfully in containers.  Instead of going to the supercenter for the things you can’t grow, shop at the local farmers’ markets.

Grow Miniature Fruit Trees.  To save even more space, espalier those trees to your backyard fence.

Every Yard Needs a Hedge.  Hedges are great for privacy and provide food and shelter for birds and other wildlife.  Create your privacy hedge with blueberry or blackberry bushes.

Grow an Edible Landscape.  Kale comes in varieties pretty enough to stick in a flower bed.  Grow beans up an outside wall, and mushrooms such as the Giant Wine Cap can grow under your hedges.

Save Those Seeds.  It takes practically no space at all to save seeds.  Since you have gone through the trouble of finding the perfect varieties for your homestead in the city, you may as well save the seeds for next year.

Compost.  It is amazing how many by-products gets thrown out of the kitchen.  Composting these odds and ends decreases the amount of trash you produce and provides you with free soil amendments for your garden.  Compost is especially great for container gardens.

Forage Green City Spaces.  Once a forager, always a forager.  It may seem there is nothing but asphalt surrounding you, but cities maintain green spaces and, if you look hard enough, they have wild spaces as well.  A quick internet search will give you an idea of the wild edibles in your area.  Many cities also offer wild edible guided tours.

Eat Seasonally.  Growing your own food, shopping at farmers’ markets, and foraging wild edibles go a long way toward keeping the diet seasonal, and local.  From the first hunter-gatherers to our grandparents, staying in tune with the seasons was a way of life.  Getting away from that has hurt us physically and mentally.

Eat Like a Homesteader.  Of course, this means cooking from scratch.  Whether you are a meat-eater, vegetarian, or vegan, everything you make in your kitchen is healthier than what you can buy from the fast food or sit-down restaurant down the street.  Not a good cook?  Master two simple recipes and add a new recipe to your repertoire each month.

Build an Outdoor Kitchen.  If you live in a tiny space, cooking can really heat it up quickly.  You don’t need to build an entire outdoor kitchen, but an outdoor stove is always nice and doesn’t take up too much space.  Building a small outdoor pizza oven is fun to do with kids.

Make Your Own Cheese and Yogurt.  It is unbelievable how much better homemade yogurt is than store-bought.  There are a number of online tutorials, but making your own yogurt mainly requires you to heat up milk.  Making soft cheese doesn’t involve much more.

Learn Basic Fermenting.  Cheese and yogurt require one type of fermentation, which you are going to find quite simple to master.  When you have an abundance of cucumbers or cabbage, try your hand at a different fermentation process and make pickles or sauerkraut.

Make Your Own Stock.  Cooking with homemade stock makes the most basic foods delicious.  It also cuts down on the waste that comes from your kitchen.

Decrease Your Energy Usage.  Getting and staying off the grid is a goal for many homesteaders.  The key to successfully living off the grid is to practice.  Your electric bill will tell you how much energy you use each month, making it easy to measure the effectiveness of any energy changes you implement.  Start with simple things like turning lights off, going without air conditioning, and using manual appliances.

Line Dry Your Clothes.  There is really no reason to use a dryer for every load of clothes that are washed.  Hang a line.  Use a drying rack if your neighborhood does not allow a clothesline.

Simple Solar Projects.  A step or two above line-drying your laundry, solar power is intimidating for a lot of people.  Learning how to harness solar energy is a perfect project for homesteaders.  Don’t get trapped thinking you need to start with a solar farm.  Learn the basics with a small solar project, such as a phone charger.

Be Waterwise.  You may not be in a position to dig a well, but you can be aware of the amount of water you are using and the amount you are wasting.  Simple rainwater collection systems are simple to build and can be designed to fit the space you have available.  Collecting and using greywater prevents waste.  You can create a simple irrigation system for your garden using plastic jugs.

Build a Small Aquaponics System.  This may seem too large for a backyard, but you can customize the size for your needs.  An aquaponics system raises fish as well as vegetables, which is a smart use of a small space.

Raise Quail.  If you simply cannot imagine homesteading without animals, try raising quail.  Quail are quiet and low maintenance.  They also grow to their full size quickly, providing you with meat in 6-8 weeks.

Or Bees.  Not only could the bee population use a little help, but beekeeping will also provide you and your friends with honey and beeswax, and they take up a minimal amount of real estate.

Keep it Non-Toxic.  If you are worried about the toxins in the environment, or in your home, consider making your own non-toxic detergents and household cleaners.  They clean just as well as commercial brands, and you have the security of knowing exactly what the ingredients are.

Get Really Clean.  Bath soaps, salts, shampoos, and lotions are very simple to make.  Like non-toxic cleaners, you can feel comfortable with the ingredients.  You can also customize the scents and colors, getting precisely what you want every time.  Not only are bath products practical, but they are also a big hit at farmers’ markets and craft fairs.

Find Your Tribe.  The city, with all its people, can be surprisingly lonely.  Take or teach classes to quickly find people whose interests align with yours.  It’s too easy to give up if you feel like you are on this journey alone.

Become an Expert.  This is a bonus, and one of the biggest benefits of downsizing.  A tiny space could be viewed as a negative, but because your space is so small, you are in a great position to focus on one thing and become an expert.  Refer back to your list of values and think about what you are most interested in learning more about.  Expertise is hard to find, and you will be sought out, regardless of the micro-niche you pursue.

The post 25 Ways to Homestead in the City appeared first on Homestead.org.

Sow Cover Crops

Homesteaders and small farmers, who need as much space in production as possible, often overlook cover crops. However, they can be a great, affordable way to add organic matter and improve clay soil. There are many cover crops, and all have unique pros and cons.

Buckwheat

Buckwheat is one of the best cover crops for adding tons of organic matter. It’s a warm-season crop that grows quickly. You can terminate or cut about 6 weeks after planting. For the best soil nutrition, cut it about 7 to 10 days after flowering, but before it goes to seed unless you want it to self-sow. Once cut, you can transplant directly into the bed and use the buckwheat as mulch.

Daikon Radishes

When gardeners think about how to break up compacted clay soil, they often think about garden forks or tillers, but these plants will do the heavy lifting for you. Daikon radishes produce strong, large roots that will bust hardpans and break up compacted clay soil. As they rot, they add organic matter and create pockets for air and water to seep into the soil. In many climates, they’re a great winter cover crop.

Clover

White, red, and crimson clover are among the best-known cover crops. They produce a prodigious amount of organic matter and are nitrogen-fixing legumes. This means that they have a beneficial relationship with bacteria, allowing them to pull nitrogen from the air and into the soil where it becomes usable for other crops. The best time to plant clover will depend on the variety and your USDA gardening zone. You can sow clover in late summer and fall or in very early spring.

Rye

Rye is another great cover crop for breaking up compacted beds. Its extensive root system helps break up hardpans and improve soil structure. It also adds potassium, phosphorus, and organic matter to the soil. Usually, I recommend sowing rye in the fall as a winter cover crop and terminating it in spring.

Winter Wheat

Winter wheat is an excellent cover crop choice for adding tons of organic matter to the soil during the off-season. As the name suggests, winter wheat is best sown in the fall as a winter cover crop. In spring or early summer, you can cut the wheat and have a natural straw mulch to transplant other crops into.

Use Organic Mulch

Another affordable way to lighten clay soil is to use organic mulch. Organic mulches like leaf mold, wood chips, pine needles, straw, hay, and grass clippings do triple duty in the garden. While in place, they help keep the soil cool and moist and prevent weeds. As they break down, they add organic matter to the soil, which helps lighten heavy clay, providing better drainage and making it easier to work.

Produce Your Own Compost

Compost is probably the best organic matter for clay soil. It is also among the most affordable. You can create a DIY compost for clay soil right at home.

To make compost, you need a simple bin or even just a designated location. Then you can start collecting materials. When we think about compost, we think about “green” or nitrogen-rich materials and “brown” or carbon-rich materials. To make compost, you want a 1:1 ratio of these.

Green materials include items like:

• Vegetable and fruit scraps
• Grass clippings
• Coffee grounds
• Weeds
• Livestock manure

Brown materials include items like:

• Fallen leaves
• Hay or straw
• Brown cardboard or shredded paper (non-glossy)
• Wood chips or sawdust
• Corn stalks

The larger the pile you’re able to build, the better. A larger pile will create heat and break down more quickly. To maintain your compost for faster decomposition, turn it with a pitchfork every few weeks. Water the pile during dry spells, keeping it moist but not water-logged.

Add Amendments

Clay soil pH may vary with region. In much of the Southeast, clay soils tend to be acidic, while clay soils in the Midwest are typically neutral to slightly alkaline. As pH also plays a critical role in plant health, it’s important to get your soil tested and amend it accordingly. Most vegetable crops thrive in soil that’s slightly acidic to neutral, with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. If you have acidic soil, you may need to use an amendment like lime to raise the pH, while if you have alkaline soil, you may need to lower the pH with an amendment like sulfur.

While compost may be the single best organic amendment for lightening heavy clay soil, some gardeners may also have good luck with gypsum. In sodium-rich clay soils, particularly those west of the Rockies, the calcium in gypsum can replace sodium ions and break apart dense clay particles, improving drainage.

Do not add sand to clay soil. Unfortunately, this gardening myth has gone around on the internet: sand will lighten your clay soil and allow it to drain better. In reality, sand mixed with clay will harden to a near brick-like substance.

Avoid Compaction

Heavy clay soils are prone to compaction. This is when soil particles are compressed together, reducing the pore space that allows air and water through. Machinery, heavy foot traffic, or intense rain on bare soil can all contribute to compaction.

To minimize soil compaction in your garden, try to stay out of your growing areas as much as possible. A great way to do this is to use permanent beds; they don’t need to be raised, just permanently outlined beds with mulch pathways between them. Staying out of your garden is especially important when the soil is wet, as it’s more prone to compaction at this stage. Using mulches or cover crops like those mentioned above can also reduce compaction from rain.

Use No-Till Agriculture

Another way you can help avoid compaction and soil disturbance is to switch to no-till agriculture. Folks often see tilling as a quick solution to heavy soil, as it breaks it up and makes it more manageable for planting, but some studies have shown that over time, it has the opposite effect. Tilling can disturb natural soil layers, compact soil, and kill beneficial insects, microorganisms, and fungi.

No-till experts like Charles Dowding recommend no-till for clay. Adding organic matter to the surface of heavy clay soils can be a great way to improve them. It encourages soil life, like fungi and earthworms, to move through the soil, naturally breaking it up and aerating the ground.

Raised Bed Alternatives

While there are vegetables that grow in clay soil, like pole beans and cabbage, other more sensitive crops, like garlic and carrots, can fail to thrive. Garlic and other alliums hate having wet feet and need good drainage. Carrots and other root crops need loose, soft soil for full root development.

If you want great harvests of clay-sensitive crops right away, you can add raised beds to your garden and fill them with compost or garden soil from a nearby dealer.

Heavy clay soil can be a challenge for vegetable gardeners, but there are many ways to improve it. Using some of these techniques will help you add organic matter, lighten your soil, and improve drainage.

The post How to Improve Heavy Clay Soil appeared first on Homestead.org.

We dive in despite the dangers, believing we’re well-informed. But some threats are so obscure we fail to notice them.

Alpha-gal syndrome is one of these. As positive cases rise around the world, this mysterious illness is morphing into a homesteading hazard everyone needs to know about.

It’s vital to learn who is at risk for alpha-gal, watch for symptoms, and take the proper steps before and after diagnosis. That way, we can stay ahead of the curve to protect ourselves, our families, and our homesteads.

What is Alpha-Gal Syndrome?

Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) is an allergy to galactose-α-1,3-galactose, a carbohydrate molecule found in all non-primate mammals.

Basically, it’s a meat allergy. For many, it’s a meat and dairy allergy. In some cases, it’s an allergy to leather, soap, and other products containing mere traces of mammal.

Unlike other allergies bestowed upon us seemingly at random, AGS is contracted. People usually get it from the bite of a Lone Star tick, though other tick species have also been associated with the syndrome.

As the tick feeds on mammals like deer and squirrels, it draws in the alpha-gal carbohydrate, which circulates through its system and remains in its saliva. It might inject us with a bit of that alpha-gal when it bites us.

For many people, this isn’t an issue. However, some immune systems recognize alpha-gal as a threat and produce antibodies against it. This is called sensitization, and it usually takes between one and three months for complete sensitization to occur.

Once we’re sensitized, those antibodies can activate when we take in more alpha-gal (i.e., eating meat), and our immune systems produce an allergic reaction.

Homesteads at Risk

So, who is at risk for alpha-gal? Well, we are.

Those living in rural areas are more likely to be exposed to ticks. In the US, cases of AGS are concentrated in the southeast. With mild winters and an abundance of blood-suckers, these woods are alive with potential.

However, residents of all areas need to stay vigilant. The multitudes of summertime ticks aren’t dying off as they have in previous years. As winters get milder and milder, tickborne diseases become more common. All are insidious for homesteaders, but alpha-gal syndrome is uniquely nasty.

It can cause us to become allergic to our animals, dairy, and even things like lard and leather. Not only do many of us need meat as a food source, but we also rely on meat byproducts to produce income and make our lifestyle work.

Luckily, there are ways to protect against AGS — and ways to manage it after diagnosis, so you can keep on living your best homesteading life.

Protecting Yourself and Your Family

Any homesteader may be a person who is at risk for alpha-gal. Many of us work with tick-laden livestock or outside in the woods, with bugs running rampant.

While some people take precautions to avoid getting bit, many don’t. Between errands and endless chores, paying attention to insects always seems to fall by the wayside.

During the summer in rural Arkansas, I get bitten by multiple ticks every single day despite giving myself a cursory spritz of bug spray in the morning. And this is normal for lots of people. It doesn’t mean you have somehow failed morally; it just means you’re busy.

However, it’s never too late to start protecting yourself. The first step is to avoid getting bitten in the first place.

Here are my cardinal rules for avoiding tick bites:

1. Treat work clothes with permethrin.
2. Apply bug spray to exposed skin. You should do this every two hours when working outside for long periods. Deet is king, but there are also natural products out there.
3. Wear long pants even in the summertime. Make sure they’re loose and light.
4. Tape your socks. Ticks crawl below pant fabric and up your legs, and wrapping tape around your ankles will stop them from their bloodthirsty journey.
5. Check yourself. We don’t know how long it takes a tick to transmit AGS, so pulling one off doesn’t necessarily make you safe. Still, it’s good to know when you were bitten and take note of the day. If you begin having symptoms, you’ll have data to back up your suspicions.

Repeated tick bites increase your chances for alpha-gal sensitization. They can also worsen current symptoms and decrease your likelihood of becoming de-sensitized over time.

So, even if you already have AGS, you still need to avoid getting bit.

Knowing What to Look For

Alpha-gal can be difficult to spot. Since it takes time to develop, most people don’t immediately make the connection between an allergic reaction and a tick bite they got months ago. And while peanuts and shellfish can cause anaphylaxis in minutes, AGS takes two to six hours to trigger a reaction.

Reactions can be confusing (and terrifying) since many people don’t know why the symptoms are occurring. For some, it can be incredibly dangerous. Symptoms can be mild, but they can also be severe and life-threatening.

Reactions are different for everyone. People have reported the hives, throat swelling, and intense itching characteristic of many allergies. But, unique symptoms like extreme GI distress, muscle cramping, and intense abdominal pain are extremely common. Anaphylaxis can also occur.

Symptoms get weird. Nail cracking, hair loss, joint swelling, weight loss, vertigo, tinnitus, and muscle wastage are all too common when the condition progresses. Some people become reactive to touching, inhaling, or even being close to mammals. Some become reactive to pets, friends, family, and partners working with or consuming mammals.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to mitigate unpleasantness. Discovering the alpha-gal early is key for good outcomes.

Here’s what to look out for in both the adults and children on your homestead:

• Random stomach upset or GI distress
• Arthritis-like flare-ups
• Mystery hives, rashes, and swelling
• Food aversions
• Allergy symptoms appearing at random
• Midnight anaphylaxis or nighttime symptoms

It’s important to note that research on AGS is sorely lacking, and everyone has different symptoms. The progression of the disease also varies.

If you suspect you or a member of your household has contracted AGS, take them in for testing immediately. For some, continuing to eat meat or be exposed to mammalian products will make the symptoms much worse and may cause long-term damage.

What to Do After Diagnosis

Getting diagnosed with AGS is difficult for anyone, but it’s especially burdensome for homesteaders. Mammalian triggers are commonplace for us — how can you navigate life allergic to your homestead?

Since the syndrome is so new, doctors may not offer any advice beyond “avoid your triggers.” But since triggers are different for everyone, how do you know what to avoid?

The good news is you’re not alone. Getting the support you need, learning your triggers, and taking steps to mitigate your reactions are all things you can do to stay in control of your life.

Get Support

Telling friends, family, and partners is crucial. These people are your primary support network. They can offer a shoulder to lean on, help you research vital information, and even advocate on your behalf in a medical emergency.

If you homestead together, your partner is yet another person who is at risk for alpha-gal — and one you need to educate. They mustn’t endanger you with triggers, and they must also avoid contracting alpha-gal syndrome themselves.

Unfortunately, not everyone has a great support network in place. Even if you do, empathy and true understanding could be lacking. It’s important that your people understand how serious the condition is and the changes that need to happen.

It’s vital to contact others with AGS when you first get diagnosed, especially other homesteaders. The advice you’ll get from medical websites (and sometimes medical professionals) is full of gaps and may not apply to your specific situation.

Solid, concrete advice from people living the same lifestyle can make all the difference in your success as a homesteader with alpha-gal.

You might feel stranded in a rural area, but there are many online support groups to turn to. Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit communities have been lifesavers for me.

Learn Your Triggers

Most doctors advise newly diagnosed patients to stop eating all mammalian meat. This includes beef, pork, venison, rabbit, goat, and sheep. If it has fins or feathers, it doesn’t have alpha-gal, so it’s safe — though obviously, things like whales and dolphins are exceptions.

Unfortunately, AGS triggers go beyond consuming mammals. Animal byproducts are used to manufacture many products, from lotion to clothing. Bovine bone char is used widely in processing commercial cane sugar, and animal-derived magnesium stearate is used in common OTC pharmaceuticals like Tylenol.

Of course, you may not react to any of that. Some do, but it’s highly individual.

Instead of throwing away hundreds of dollars worth of food and products immediately, keep a diary and write down everything you consume. Pay attention to your reactions and narrow down your triggers, eliminating foods and products when you find what’s making you react.

Remember that reactions can expand to include things you were not previously sensitive to. Sometimes it gets better (especially if you manage to avoid all your triggers), and sometimes it gets worse.

The AGS community is quick to point out that this is an “anytime” allergy rather than an “every time” allergy. You may get hives from a grilled cheese one day and have no reaction the next, and vice versa.

This is a confusing time, but it will improve as you become more accustomed to the changes you must make. An outlook of positivity is vital. Fortunately, this is one thing that homesteaders excel in.

Make Adjustments

We’re a creative bunch, and we aren’t going to let an allergy stop us. Giving up your lifestyle is not an option, but making adjustments to improve the quality of your life and keep your health intact is.

I’ve spoken to many ingenious homesteaders affected by AGS who manage to survive, thrive, and innovate despite the diagnosis. It will take adjustments and hard work, but you’re already an expert in both.

Manage Livestock. Are you reacting to your animals? If you rely on them to work your land, invest in complete-coverage work clothes or ask another person to help manage them so you aren’t constantly exposed. If you use them for food, sell them and get new ones — they no longer function for you.

Replace rabbits with chickens, build a stock pond for fish, and get hyped for duck season instead of deer season. Consider selling AGS-safe meat and eggs to the community. Organic fowl can be profitable, and many birds eat ticks, so it’s a double-whammy win.

Manage labor. Are you being exposed to tick bites because of gardening or outdoor chores? Switch chores with your partner or other family members to minimize the potential danger of another bite.

If you live alone or other family members are incapacitated, consider trading neighbors for services. One woman in my community cooks and cleans for another family in exchange for harvesting and watering her garden.

Manage medications. Are you reacting to prescription medication? Get in contact with a compound pharmacy. These outlets can mix custom-blended drugs without AGS triggers to suit your needs. While traveling to a compound pharmacy is inconvenient, it may be necessary.

If you’re reacting to OTC meds, research viable alternatives. For example, many types of Motrin have magnesium stearate, but some varieties of Bayer’s do not. Always read the complete list of ingredients and ask around in your support groups to see what works for others.

Manage products. Are you reacting to personal hygiene or home cleaning products? With alpha-gal syndrome, finding safe soaps, moisturizers, toothpastes, and household cleaning products can be difficult. Consider switching to a vegan brand or, better yet, make your own cleaning products.

Chicken and duck fat can be used to make soap. Charcoal and baking soda can be used to make toothpaste. You can also market your recipes to your community once you perfect them. Since AGS is spreading, there may be considerable interest.

Stay practical. Remember that you control where you go, what you eat, and the products you use. However, you can’t anticipate everything. Stay prepared by packing a go-bag and tossing it in the car whenever you leave the house.

Here’s what to include:

• EpiPen or prescribed epinephrine medication in case of anaphylaxis
• AGS-safe antihistamine medication in case of mild reaction
• AGS information card, including emergency contacts and allergen information
• Safe snack foods or drinks in case you get hungry or thirsty
• Anything else that makes travel a bit easier for you

Manage relationships. AGS is an isolating illness. You may be unable to participate in family dinners, holidays, gatherings, and activities like you used to.

Your kids’ favorite meal could become impossible for you to cook. Bonding with a friend over a mocha might become a minefield of triggers. Those sensitive to meat and dairy must bring their own food to any event, and fume-reactive people may not be able to attend at all.

It’s easy to fall into a depressive mindset, especially if you’re ultra-reactive. In turn, the change in mood and lifestyle can be challenging for your friends and family to deal with.

Remember, it’s ultimately up to you to know and communicate your needs. You deserve to live a safe life full of support, but you have to make that happen.

Find joy. Instead of watching the world pass you by, look for substitutions and forge new ways to connect with friends and family. As veganism and vegetarianism are becoming more popular, there are tons of meat and dairy-free alternative foods out there waiting to be discovered.

I broke down crying the first time I went grocery shopping after AGS. Realizing what a massive change this diagnosis required was overwhelming.

But when I communicated my anxiety to my family, a wonderful thing happened: we piled into the truck, and they took me food shopping at a specialty store several hours away. Now, it’s almost a game to find new safe foods. Trying new things is fun for everyone; it brings us closer together.

While overhauling your diet and lifestyle is hard, it also has a silver lining: bringing the focus back to basic nutrition. Eating an AGS-safe diet will likely lower your processed food intake, and avoiding red meat can lower cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health.

I know many people who have lost weight, lowered inflammation, and improved their bloodwork considerably with an AGS-safe diet. It’s essential to focus on these wins.

An alpha-gal syndrome diagnosis is not the end of your life or lifestyle. Yes, this time is fraught with change and uncertainty — but if you’re willing to adapt ferociously, it’s the beginning of an entirely new adventure.

With a bit of elbow grease, you’ll come out victorious on the other side.

The post Alpha-Gal Syndrome: Navigating Life Allergic to Your Homestead appeared first on Homestead.org.

Here’s what you’ll need (to make about 2 quarts):

• 1 1/2 c. chopped cranberries (or cut into quarters if you’re worried about aesthetics)
• 1 1/2 c. seedless grapes, (red, green, or both) halved
• 1 apple, chopped
• 1 c. celery, chopped
• 1/3 c. raisins
• 1/3 c. dried cranberries
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
• 1-2 T. sugar (or to taste)
• 1 container (5.3 oz) vanilla yogurt
• 1/3 c. mayonnaise
• 2 t. orange zest
• 2-4 T. juice from the orange
• 1/4 t. nutmeg

This really can’t be simpler and is pretty hard to mess up, but a couple tips will help.  Zest the orange first, then squeeze a few tablespoons of juice into a large bowl.

Chop the apple and add the pieces directly to the orange juice and toss.  The acid in the juice will keep the apples from browning.

Then, add all the other fruit, celery, and the nuts.  Then, in a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, mayo, sugar, nutmeg, and orange zest.  If you prefer, use only yogurt, just make sure you have a cup worth of dressing.  I chose to supplement with mayo to avoid buying more yogurt than I needed.

Pour the dressing over the cranberry Waldorf salad and toss to coat thoroughly.  Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours before serving.

The post Cranberry Waldorf Salad appeared first on Homestead.org.

In 1966, he sold everything, packed us up, and moved to rural Wisconsin to build a life for us with his bare hands.  I was four years old when the adventure began, and we bought the worn-out 80-acre farm near Cadot, Wisconsin.  To earn a little money to survive, my dad was a Fuller Brush salesman, going door-to-door selling fine brushes for every purpose imaginable.  On the farm, we grew soybeans, had a few dairy cows, chickens, and meat rabbits.

After months of eating everything possible, my mother could make from soybeans, how I wished they’d grown corn or wheat instead—anything but soybeans!  I remember the soybean “cornbread” my mother was so proud of.  I felt bad, but I just barely swallowed it.  Mom was just trying to keep us fed, and we didn’t cooperate very well at times.  During the summer, we kids always asked to eat outside.  There was this particular board lying on the ground near the back porch; we stuffed anything we couldn’t stomach under that board.  For me, that was usually the asparagus.  We might have starved except for the eggs we ate at breakfast.  I loved eggs.  An unexpected reprieve came one day when Mom took me to a PTA meeting, and I won the door prize.  A brownie mix was never more cherished than the one I received as my prize that night.

The land was too poor and didn’t produce well, so after two years my dad moved us to 40 acres near Bruce, Wisconsin.  The land was mostly wooded, but had maybe ten acres in the front that was hayfield and pasture.  There were three buildings on the property; one was a large building we called the machine shed.  We camped out in it when we first arrived.  My dad put some holes in a large metal can and turned it upside down over a small campfire for a cookstove.  There was also a small cabin we were told used to be the county jail.  I sure got teased at school, “You’re living in a jail; you’re living in a jail, nah-nah, nah, nah, nah-nah…”  You get the idea.  Homesteading produces some pretty tough kids!  The third, and final, building was the outhouse.

That first summer in Bruce was a race against time.  About half an acre of tough sod had to be broken up for a vegetable garden.  The pole barn for hay storage, the barn for animals, and our house had to be built.  The garden had to be grown, hay cut and stacked, vegetables canned, meat processed, and firewood cut and stacked.  We had about three months to do it.  For the foundation of our house, we collected rocks from the piles all the farmers had at the edge of their fields.  The lumber and some of the nails came from an ancient farmhouse we got permission to tear down to reclaim the wood.  In that old house, the nails were square, and some areas were held together with wooden pegs.  We kids, my brother (9), my sister (7), and I (6), had the job of pulling the nails out of all those old boards so they could be used again.  I enjoyed pounding out and straightening nails.  We wouldn’t have finished the house in time if Dad’s cousin Norris hadn’t shown up riding his motorcycle all the way from Vermont.  He was tall, dark, and my first crush at the ripe old age of 6.  Because of Norris, we had a house to move into before winter.

The house Dad built from the rocks and old boards. Standing in front, from right to left: my brother wearing his straw cowboy hat, my dad, my mom, and me. My sister took the picture.

The job we kids hated the most was getting the sod out of the ornery half-acre that was to be our vegetable garden.  We contrived all sorts of methods to make the work easier.  One of us would sit on the garden rake, and someone else would pull.  Being the youngest, I remember sitting on the rake, but I don’t think I had to pull it.  We kids did a lot of leaning on the rake; I remember that, for sure!  Somehow we got it done.

Mom recalls that we lived on berries that first summer.  If there hadn’t been a bumper crop of wild raspberries and strawberries, we’d have starved.  I remember the chokecherry tree.  There was nothing like that pucker to please a kid’s mouth.  When the vegetables grew, we ate some of them right out of the garden.  Ever have corn straight off the stalk or beans right off the bush?  And those sweet sugar peas!  We’d finally gotten to heaven when the garden came in.  Mom canned every vegetable in sight and went to canning mutton and goat meat as well.   We were so thankful to have food; to this day I clean every crumb of food off my plate.

Mom tried her hand at hunting mushrooms.  We kids didn’t like them very well, but they were exciting.  After eating them for dinner, we always spent the rest of the evening watching to see if anyone was going to keel over.

We had no electricity or running water, though Dad put a pump in the kitchen, so we didn’t have to carry water in.  Mom had to cook and bake using a woodstove.  We burned a kerosene lamp for light in the evening.  We had a tiny transistor radio my dad figured out how to run off a car battery; we fell asleep to my parents listening to the radio every night.  It was a comfort to hear the quiet droning of the radio preacher.

The outhouse sat on a picturesque hillside in the shade of overhanging trees.  In the winter we developed bladders of steel as no one wanted to venture out and sit our delicate parts on a seat that was -40 degrees.  Perhaps in the outhouse, with the additional heat of the compost below, it was a milder -30, but the effect was the same.  In the summer it was decidedly more comfortable, but then I worried about the spiders below and feared they’d crawl on my behind while I was minding my own business.  I did find the outhouse a convenient place to stash papers from school that hadn’t turned out that well.  My worst subject in first grade was coloring.  I was so embarrassed when I got a “D” on coloring the number four.  Down the outhouse it went!  A good outhouse can solve a lot of rather messy problems.

There’s something very pleasant about sugaring time.  The maple syrup cooking in the pan fills the air with a wonderful fragrance.  These sweet smells were also noticed and enjoyed by neighboring varmints.  We had to keep a close watch so that our pans did not get raided overnight.  I remember more than once the pungent smell of skunk mixing with the sweet syrup smells drifting through the air.  From time to time, I’d wake at night and realize Dad was on the low, barn roof with his rifle, because a bear was coming in too close.

Our recreation consisted of climbing trees; stomping through the woods; going across the field and dipping our straw cowboy hats in the spring, drinking that cold water right out of our hats, and splashing the rest on our hot faces; hunting wildflowers; riding our bikes; swimming in the “crick”; making forts, tree houses and rafts; sewing; and reading.  Mom reading to us in the evening before bed was a highlight.

She only read us biographies, classic stories, Jane Austen, and Zane Grey westerns.  We read of world leaders, explorers, frontiersmen, pioneers, anthropologists, statesmen, scientists, musicians, and cowboys.  She didn’t read us children’s books, so she had to skip a page every so often.  We were always extremely curious about those skipped pages.

On weekends, days off, and bad weather, my sister and I also enjoyed sewing.  We spent hours designing and cutting out clothes to sew for our dolls.  We all enjoyed the solitude of the woods around us and were rarely, if ever, bored.  We almost always had some idea or other we were cooking up in our brains.  Honestly, I don’t remember being bored until we moved to the city some years later.

I didn’t know it at the time, but thousands of others all across the U.S. were moving back to rural areas in what became known as “The Back-to-the-Land Movement of the 1960s and 70s.”  The movement back to rural locations was so large during that period that it was noticeable on the census records.  Some estimates say about one million people were involved.  They left the materialism and consumerism of the cities, seeking a more self-sufficient lifestyle living on the land.  Numerous rural areas were permanently changed by this influx of people.  Many small organic farms sprang up and remain in production today.  In the late 1970s, the back-to-the-land movement merged with the expanding environmental movement, which emphasized holistic lifestyles and sustainable living.

Why did all these people head for the hills and valleys?  Some feel the roots of the movement can be traced back to about 1800, and Thomas Jefferson’s agrarian democratic vision for America and Thoreau’s emphasis on self-reliance were influencing factors in the mid-1800s.  We know many were inspired by books such as The Egg and I, written in 1947 by Betty MacDonald, in which she tells of her time on a small farm in Washington state.  Other popular books were: At Home in the Woods, written in 1951, and We Like It Wild, written in 1963, both by Bradford Angier.  Helen and Scott Nearing made, perhaps, the biggest impression with the publication of their book Living the Good Life, in 1954.  The Nearings told the story of their move to rural Vermont and their simple self-sufficient life.  The book I remember the most was How to Get Out of the Rat Race and Live on $10 a Month, by George Leonard Herter & Berthe E. Herter, published in 1970.  Our parents had $50 coming in each month from land they’d sold, and we were extremely poor.  I’m not sure how it was to be done on $10, but Dad enjoyed thinking about the possibilities.

The current movement to return to our agricultural roots has this common thread: take back some control over our food supply and energy sources.  This desire is being expressed in quite diverse ways.  Some are beginning a new life at the end of a country road, with a full-scale homesteading operation, complete with alternative energy they produce for themselves.  On the other end of the spectrum are those with a few containers on the balcony of their urban apartment for growing greens and other vegetables for their own table.  It is, in part, fueled by a desire to be more independent and less vulnerable, in response to polluted food supplies and questionable future stability around us.  For my husband and me, the motivation was to provide clean, healthy food for our children.

I gravitated back to my roots and began homesteading in 2005, with the beginning of our garden.  It was only 7’x7′, with a few tomatoes, zucchini, and strawberries, but it was our homestead in embryonic form.  We increased the size of the garden each year and also added dozens of berry plants and fruit trees.  My goal was to have fruit ripening over as long a season as possible.  We succeeded in finding fruit to ripen from May through November, most of which is beginning to bear at least a light crop.

Our homesteading effort was not planned out like my dad’s; we pretty much fell into it a little at a time.  We were living on a few acres in the country, not really thinking about much of anything.  We were just busy with work and raising our small children.  One day, while listening to the radio talk about how bad the commercially grown meats were for our kids, my husband Tim and I both said, “We can’t keep feeding that to our kids.”

We knew how to raise chickens since we’d done it once a few years back.  The next spring we raised 50 meat chickens and 15 laying hens.  A few months later we added Muscovy ducks and Royal Palm turkeys, also for meat.  The next year we added dairy goats, honey bees, a pony, and a whiz-bang chicken plucker.

By this time we had also earned a reputation for knowing anything and everything about farm life, animals, trees, gardens, and bees.  It was a reputation rather larger than the reality; though I did spend a few hundred hours researching to gain a basic understanding of how to care for the plants, animals, and bees we were raising.  The learning time felt very intense and somewhat out of control.  We did take on a lot in a short time once we started adding farm animals.  Seeing what it took to do this really raised my respect level of what my parents were doing all those years ago.  Living closer to the land is viewed as a simple life, but my experience has been anything but simple.  I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard in all my life!  We made the mistake of adding too many things too quickly and not realizing how much work it would all take.  Not only the daily care, but building shelters and putting up fencing.  It all worked out in the end, but to have thought it through a little more ahead of time would have been helpful.

As a second-generation homesteader, I think about the quality of life homesteading is giving our kids.  We spend time in the evenings reading books to the kids and playing games together.  We homeschool, and they are reading quality books and having time for solid educational experiences.  We have minimized electronic entertainment, but have allowed it in our home.  I see our kids unplugging themselves from the focus on electronic devices as they’re getting older.  Seeing this helps me not wrestle so much over that issue.

Our children care for their assigned animals each day.  They learn we still have to do chores, even if it’s raining and we don’t feel like going outside.  They see baby goats born each spring and spend time holding them to make sure they grow up trusting people.  They learn to be patient and not get angry when animals don’t cooperate—we have goats, need I say more?  They see hens sitting on eggs and raising their chicks.  They see roosters protecting their flocks and calling them to eat, saving the best food for their ladies.

They experience eating the food they helped grow in the garden.  We like to count how many things we’re eating for dinner that we grew ourselves.  They know where chicken, milk, and eggs come from.  As parents, we learned to temper our practical nature with compassion for our children’s feelings; we learned to let our children keep their favorites and not eat them for dinner!  They learn so much about real life, from birth through old age and, finally, death.  Their hearts are tender and feel compassion when anything is suffering.  They took turns bottle-feeding a goat kid twice a day for three months because its mother didn’t think she could raise triplets and rejected little Cherry.  They feel loss when a baby duck gets stepped on in the barnyard and dies.  They are excited about simple things they see around them.  Our children are easy to please and a joy to be with.  I am thankful for this experience we’re having together on our little homestead.

For us, homesteading is about living closer to reality and to the beauty of how Mother Nature made things to work together.  It’s about being rich in ways money can’t buy.  It’s about strength and insight you can’t get at the gym or sitting in a class.  It’s about solving problems and finding solutions you never saw before.  Ours might be a little more modern than my parents’ homestead, but the underlying experience is the same.  I am blessed to be a second-generation homesteader.  I am thankful to be giving this experience to my children.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-to-the-land_movement
http://cr.middlebury.edu/es/altenergylife/history.htm
http://farmbrarian.com/tag/back-to-the-land-movement/

The post Reflections of a Second-Generation Homesteader appeared first on Homestead.org.

Just as an aside, I’ve always found it interesting how many people don’t realize that a cow must have a calf before she can give milk.  Don’t they teach high school biology anymore?

We knew we’d have to acquire a bull when we first bought our Irish Dexters.  Two cows with calves at their side (a heifer and bull calf, but no matter how precocious he might turn out to be, we needed a bull that was up to the job now) and three heifers made up all of our vast herd and our vast experience.  At least we could console ourselves with the fact that given Dexters are the world’s smallest naturally-occurring breed of cattle, the bull couldn’t be as intimidating as his larger, Continental brethren.

A bull is a management problem.  Unlike his (usually) more docile female counterparts, you can never trust a bull.  There are many stories of the benign bull who was “always so good-natured” that the farmer would let his grandchildren play beneath his hooves.  I can only surmise that these fabled children’s mothers were never around when this happened, or that if they were, said Grandfather got an earful in a hurry.  I would have to say, though, that for every fuzzy-warm bull story I’ve heard (and I suspect they’re just that, bull stories) there are ten or so vicious stories about rogue bulls.

I can’t tell you how many I’ve heard about close calls with the herd sire.  Dairy bulls are universally known for turning bad-tempered, like a switch being flicked, at around the age of two.  Their cold, speculative glances follow you as you do your work.  Biding their time, they watch and wait for the unfortunate (for you) occasion when you aren’t watching.  Beef bulls tend to be a bit more easy-going (a lucky thing when an animal weighs two tons and can run faster than you), some retaining their indifferent or, at best, benevolent attitudes, their whole working lives.  In general, if there is to be a negative shift in attitudes, it begins gradually around the age of two or three and gets progressively worse.  The moral of the story is: Never Trust an Intact Male Animal, and you should be okay (it can perhaps be argued that this maxim holds true across all mammalian species, but it’s irrefutable in the barnyard).

New to farming (and cattle), we planned everything out beforehand. We’re nothing, if not thorough.  We fenced off roughly 20 acres of land for pasture (an epic worthy of its own tale) and turned one corner of our odd L-shaped fields into the “Bull Pen”.  We ran five strands of barbed wire, and then, because we thought we might use the area for sheep later, put page-wire over the whole thing for good measure.  We used rods and rods of the stuff (rods being the quaint, almost biblical-sounding term for a fencing unit measuring 16.5 feet of length), making what we felt to be an inescapable prison for the bull we didn’t even own yet.

We didn’t start out with the idea of buying a registered bull, as we planned on primarily marketing the Dexters as beef.  That $200 piece of paper with the fancy writing and seal on it wouldn’t add flavor, so we thought it unnecessary for our operation.  However, the downside of our cute little cows is that you can really only use a Dexter bull in good conscience as a sire, to avoid imperiling the mother when she calves, and Dexter blood in this neck of the woods was as scarce as the proverbial hen’s teeth.

Our cattle were mostly purebred but unpapered (which roughly meant it was anybody’s guess if they were what we thought they were), but even so, the pool to choose a sire from was very small.  Everyone who owned Dexters in the province had bought or sold from everybody else, so finding a bull that wasn’t a father-uncle or a son-nephew was tough.  Our herd was comprised of only two of the accepted three colors (we had black and dun), and so when we finally found our red bull, we knew we had to have him.  Even though my husband is of Mennonite background and me of Spanish, we tried very hard to give herd names that reflected the cows’ Irish ancestry, and so Fergus became the red bull’s name.  My son wanted to name him after a popular energy drink, but remembering the rest of the jingle, I shuddered; there was no way I wanted this bull to give me wings!

He was 15 months old when we brought him home.  As he leapt from the trailer into his new paddock, shaking his curving horns and bellowing, I said a mental prayer that he wouldn’t go through the fence, which is precisely what he proceeded to do.  He ran non-stop, and when reaching the border fence with the cows’ paddock (our first planning error, giving him this flimsy barrier directly between him and much procreation), he gathered his large frame and gave a spectacular jump, clearing the whole affair.

If I hadn’t seen it, I never would have believed it, although I’ve since read about a young Norwegian girl whose parents wouldn’t buy her a horse so she trained a Hereford cow to jump.

Mouths agape, we watched him lunging around, sniffing and pushing the cows, at a loss for words but, even more importantly, ideas.  How could we lure him back?  He seemed very excited to find himself in the midst of females, and the cows (mostly virgin heifers) trotted around excitedly, casting him come-hither looks over their broad rumps.

Grabbing a pail of grain (because if there’s anything farming had taught me up to this point, it was that almost nothing will hold an animal’s attention over grain, especially an animal that is primarily grass-fed) and steeling my nerves, I entered the cows’ paddock with the unknown bull, my husband beside me.  Shaking the pail brought all of the bovines running towards me, Fergus included.  It was obvious he had learned what The Pail (I’m sure the animals attach enough importance to it to merit capitalization) was at his old farm, as he used his greater bulk and longer horns to shove aside the girls he had been trying to impress just a moment ago.

While I tried not to weep with fear, he stuck his broad head into the bucket and almost pulled it from my grasp as he began to noisily crunch the grain.  My husband ran ahead to man the gate, and I slowly backed up with the whole herd following closely.  The cows were looking hopefully at me in case I sprouted extra arms and buckets, and Fergus, his head buried deep in the pail, unaware that we were approaching the gate.  The Gods of Farming (or of Dumb Luck) had been smiling on me when I’d hurriedly scooped up that barley, just as we entered the Bull Pen and my husband closed the gate behind us, Fergus stopped crunching.  With a surprised snort in my face (blowing chaff and best-not-to-think-about-it wetness onto my right eye and cheek) he jerked his head from the bucket and looked around bewildered.

At this point, not wishing to remain and see if he bore me ill will as the depriver of female company, I scooted behind him and clambered over the gate like a monkey with its tail on fire.  My husband smiled appreciatively and complimented my spryness while I panted, annoyed for no real reason except that I felt it shouldn’t have been me having to do the acrobatics.  The cows began to jostle us, trying to get a closer look at the new man through the gate, and we watched Fergus turn his red bulk to face us.  He looked us up and down (and found us wanting, I think) and after licking through the gate ineffectually at his many wives, turned to explore his new surroundings.

No animal should ever be kept by itself, so we’d planned on putting a new donkey we had bought, by the name of Clara, in with him.  As she was proving to be a bit of a handful, we thought they’d get along famously.  Not currently up to the task of trying to get her in the Bull Pen without Fergus getting out (Fergus’ potential escape was only a minor difficulty as we reckoned it; Clara was the real problem), we broke for lunch.

After a quick and unsatisfying sandwich (unsatisfying because any pleasure in the meal was soured by the fact that we could think of no easy way to get Clara in without Fergus getting out, as he’d most certainly come to the gate when we were trying to open it) and an all too brief time sitting, we pulled on our boots and went back out.  I think I knew what we’d find before we arrived because, strangely, I wasn’t surprised in the least to see Fergus back amongst the cows.  He must have cleared the fence again, as nowhere did we see any telltale sagging.  This bull must have been part thoroughbred, we cursed, as we backtracked to the shop for electric fencing materials.

While Fergus enjoyed his new wives, my husband and I spent the rest of the day (during which it began to sleet, of course) stringing up a top wire of electric fencing.  The misery was compounded when we realized, after hammering about 20 insulators on, that the wire would end up touching the page wire in places and we had to remove all the insulators, hammer on spacers, and then reattach the whole works.  We finished with the early setting sun, and decided that any harm done by having Fergus in with the cows a bit early couldn’t really be compounded by letting him spend the night with them, and so we trudged off to hot showers and early sleep.

The next morning after breakfast, we managed the whole affair much easier than we’d imagined.  By first luring Fergus in, and then strategically placing myself along a far end of the Bull Pen, I kept Fergus occupied with a seemingly non-stop stream of crushed barley, while on the other end my husband used the same trick to lure Clara the donkey in.  I could hear my husband cursing roundly as he fought to allow only Clara in and exclude the cows.  Then we waited and watched.  Before long Fergus had cleaned up all the last bits of grain and ambled sedately to the gate separating him from his girls.  Finding the gate closed, he went to the dividing fence and stretched his nose out to investigate the new top wire.  We heard a satisfying snap, and he jerked his head back in surprise.  He narrowed his eyes and stretched his head forward again, and again was shocked.  He exhaled noisily, and we could see the wheels turning thickly in his dim mind.  He seemed to shrug as if to say, “Right, you’ve got me for now…” and went off to explore his new home.

In the end, Fergus found his way over the fence many times, and as far as I know, the cows always welcomed him with whatever the bovine equivalent of “open arms” would be.  The electric fence was only a psychological barrier (and the page-wire/barbed combo was not enough of a physical one).  If an animal wants to get to the other side bad enough (and Fergus’ libido drove him onwards) he’ll steel himself for the quick jolt and continue on over.  Once they learn that fences are mere suggestions that need not be followed, it’s hopeless (short of building a bovine Alcatraz).  We had a terrible calving season in which it was anybody’s guess who would calve when, and by January we decided Fergus had to go.

But that’s another story.

The post Fergus the Red appeared first on Homestead.org.

Even if you do not grow pumpkins on your homestead, they can be picked up at deep discounts right before and after Halloween at your local farmers market.  Don’t be afraid of getting too much.  You can preserve your own pumpkin and have a supply year-round.

Homemade Canned Pumpkin

• pumpkin, any size
• water
• zest and juice of one lemon

1. Wash the pumpkin to remove any dirt.  Cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds.  Peel the skin from the flesh.
2. Cut the pumpkin flesh into small cubes.  Place them in a large pot.  Add water to two inches below the pumpkin.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Lower heat and simmer for one hour, until you can easily pierce the pumpkin with a fork.
3. Let the pumpkin drain in a colander.  Once drained, puree the pumpkin in batches in a blender until it is the consistency of applesauce.
4. Put the pureed pumpkin back in the pot and bring it to a simmer.  Cook for another 15 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Remove from heat.  Add the lemon zest and juice and stir to blend.
5. Ladle into sterilized jars and tighten lids to finger tight.  Process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Because pumpkin desserts are what we are most familiar with, that is where we are going to start.  This pumpkin poke cake is super easy, as it begins with a cake mix, and the pumpkin pie recipe is a delicious twist on a classic.

Pumpkin Caramel Poke Cake

• 1 box spice mix cake
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup water
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup caramel sauce
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tablespoons milk
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 ½ cup whipped topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9 x 13” cake pan.
2. Mix together cake mix, pumpkin, water, eggs, and oil until smooth.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
3. While the cake is still hot, poke holes in the cake with the end of a wooden spoon.  Heat ½ cup of caramel to warm and pour over the holes in the cake.  Let the cake cool completely.
4. Cream together the cream cheese, milk, and powdered sugar until creamy.  Fold in the whipped topping.  Spread over the cake.
5. Drizzle the rest of the caramel over the cake.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pie

• 9-inch pie crust
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 14 ounces pumpkin puree
• 12 ounces evaporated milk
• 3 cups packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves
• pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prebake the pie shell for 15 minutes.
2. In a double boiler, melt semisweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and butter.  Stir frequently until smooth.  Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.  Fold in melted chocolate.   Pour the mixture into your prepared crust.  Bake until the center is almost set, approximately one hour.

Now that you have two fantastic desserts, have you ever thought of having pumpkin for breakfast?  The pumpkin granola is a sweet and salty mix that can be eaten with milk like cereal or tossed over some yogurt.  The recipe makes approximately nine cups.  Pumpkin breakfast sausage is surprisingly delicious.  You can double the recipe, as they lend themselves really well to freezing.

Pumpkin Granola

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together.  Whisk the wet ingredients and spices together.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir to thoroughly combine.
3. Divide mixture between two large rimmed sheet pans.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Stir and bake another 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven.  The granola will continue to crisp up as it cools.

Pumpkin Breakfast Sausage

• 1 pound lean ground pork
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne or red pepper flakes
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon sage
• ½ teaspoon salt

1. Combine all ingredients.  Form into equal-sized patties.
2. Heat skillet over medium-high heat and lightly coat with oil.
3. Sear patties 3-4 minutes per side, until cooked through.

Some of the most interesting and delicious pumpkin recipes are savory.  Savory pumpkin recipes are standard in other parts of the world.  The simplest place to start is with pumpkin soup.  From there we will progress to empanadas and curry.

Pumpkin Soup

• 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 garlic clove
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 10 peppercorns

1. Heat chicken or vegetable stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
2. Puree one cup at a time in a blender.
3. Return to pot and bring to a boil again.  Reduce heat to low and simmer another 30 minutes, uncovered.  Stir in heavy cream.
4. Ladle into bowls and top with chopped parsley.

Cheesy Pumpkin Empanadas

Dough:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ Tablespoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 9 Tablespoons cold vegetable shortening or lard
• 2/3 – 1 cup milk

Filling:

1. 1 Tablespoon vegetable shortening or lard
2. 1 cup chopped onion
3. 1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar
4. ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
5. ½ teaspoon salt
6. 2 cups pumpkin puree
7. ½ cup ricotta cheese
8. 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
9. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Add cold shortening.  Process until evenly blended.  Pulse while adding milk, one tablespoon at a time.  Add just enough milk to hold the dough together when pressed together.  Shape dough into 3 equal-sized balls.  Flatten each ball into a disk and cover with plastic wrap.  Chill for 30 minutes.
10. To prepare filling, heat vegetable shortening or lard in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook the onion until tender.  Stir in brown sugar, thyme and salt until evenly blended.  Stir in pumpkin, ricotta cheese, and parmesan cheese.
11. Heat one inch of vegetable oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.  Divide each ball of dough into four equal-sized pieces.  Roll each piece into a 6’ circle.  Brush edges with water.  Spoon ¼ cup of filling on one side of each circle.  Fold the dough over the filling and seal edges with a fork, or by crimping the dough together as you would a pie crust.
12. Cook in hot oil for 4-5 minutes, until golden brown, turning halfway through cooking time.  Drain on paper towels and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Curry with Chicken

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1” pieces
• 1 medium onion, choppedd2 medium carrots, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 2 Tablespoons freshly ground ginger
• 1 Tablespoon ground turmeric
• 1 cup cubed pumpkin
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 2” pieces
• 2 Tablespoons red curry paste
• 13.5 ounces full fat coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon lime juice
• fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add chicken cubes and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cook until chicken is cooked through, about five minutes.  Remove chicken from pan.
2. Add remaining oil in a pot.  Cook the onion and carrots five minutes, or until tender.  Add garlic, ginger, and turmeric.  Stir to blend.
3. Add pumpkin, bell pepper, and green beans.  Cook one minute.  Add cooked chicken, red curry paste, and water.  Stir to combine well.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 10-15 minutes, until pumpkin is tender and the sauce has thickened.
5. Remove from heat.  Add lime juice.  Top with cilantro and serve with rice.

Pumpkin is so nutritious and versatile that it is a shame to only eat it once or twice a year in a holiday pie.  This season I encourage you to try not only these pumpkin recipes but also to create your own family favorites.  If you don’t have pumpkin, most varieties of winter squash will stand in nicely.  Happy autumn!

Check out Pumpkin Palooza 2: Five More Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Recipes.  You might also like these pumpkin recipes:

Mom’s Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Pie Rice Krispie Treats

The post Pumpkin Palooza: Sweet & Savory Pumpkin Recipes to Try This Fall appeared first on Homestead.org.

Here’s what you’ll need:

For the filling:

• 1/2 to 1 lb. ground beef (or turkey, or replace with another can of beans to make it meatless)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 small bell pepper, diced
• 1 can kidney beans, undrained
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tomato, diced (or use canned, or Rotel)
• 1/2 c. frozen corn (or a 7.75 oz. can, drained)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 T. cumin
• 2 T. chili powder
• Diced jalapeño, canned chipotles, or whatever you like for a little heat, if desired
• 1 t. salt
• 2 T. red wine vinegar
• 1 c. grated cheese, divided

For the cornbread:

• 1 c. cornmeal
• 1 c. flour, all or part wheat, whole, rye, etc. ( I used 1/2 c. AP flour and 1/2 c. whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 t. baking powder
• 3 T. melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. milk

Start out by turning the oven to 425F. Then, in a large skillet or pot, cook the hamburger until mostly browned and then add the onion and bell pepper with a pinch of salt.  Cook over medium heat until the peppers are tender and the onions are translucent.

Next, add the spices (and chiles, if using), garlic, corn, tomatoes, and beans to the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes on medium-low.  Taste for salt and spiciness and adjust accordingly.

Turn off the heat and stir in the black olives and half of the cheese.  Set aside.

Prepare the cornbread batter and spread half of it in the bottom of a sprayed 9×13 baking dish.  Then, spread the meat and veggie filling over the batter.  Finally, spread the remaining batter over the top of the filling as evenly as possible.  Because the batter can be kind of thick, I usually have to evenly place dollops of it and then spread them together with a spatula.

Bake for 15 minutes.  Take it out, top it with the remaining cheese, and bake an additional 10 minutes.  Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

The post Tamale Pie appeared first on Homestead.org.

He wants to know the best and most bloodless way to dispatch the bird.

“You put it in a plastic bag and leave it in the freezer overnight.  The bird will eventually fall asleep and freeze to death, silently and peacefully.

The chicken owner goes home and proceeds to follow the butcher’s instructions.

He says goodbye to his bird, finally gets it into the bag, and slams the freezer door shut, vowing not to look inside until the next morning.

But once the dawn begins the pet owner hears a startling noise.  He can’t quite identify it.  He goes down to check and hears it coming from his kitchen.

Fearing the worst, he opens the freezer door to a “COCK-A-DOODLE DOO!” from his beloved and very much alive bird, as it sticks its icicle-encrusted beak and head out of the plastic bag.

Thankfully, many urban chicken keepers don’t have to relive that scenario and are now learning how to turn their stocks into food themselves.

“You are taking a life.  Do not forget that.”

The gray Portland skies start to open up and temps dipped into the 60s even in mid-July as bird master, Chance, inserted the bird upside down into the custom metal cone, held its beak, and drew a clean two cuts across the neck.

The blood did not spray wildly, there was no fountain of gore, just a quick downward gush and steady drip for about a minute and a half.

“And be sure you thank your animal for the life they are giving you,” Chance added.

We are at an urban-farm store on the east side of the Willamette River, just blocks from downtown Portland, Oregon, for the first class on how to kill and clean your city chicken.

Outside, Chance handles the bird carcass by its tied legs, hanging it on one of many hooks on the rebar frame, jammed into the ground over a pile of coop-grade wood chips.

This bird he and his wife, Rois, have brought along is Amelia, one of Rois’  favorite laying hens.  It was only the first of many animals suspended upside down so they could bleed out evenly, allowing for a much easier cleaning of the bird.

The killing cone-bleed-out method’s main purpose is to prevent the animal’s death from being a shock to the system, it is less a violent jolt than it is a quick and almost painless death.

This prevents neurotoxins from being released from the spinal cord into the bloodstream, a fact that many attribute to tougher and more bitter meat on an animal.

In the cone method, the birds calm down and go into an almost trance-like state.  (Razor Family Farms has a good step-by-step site on how to build your own.)

You’ll want them to be solid enough to hold bigger birds, so some sheet metal, aluminum or tailored traffic cones are a good bet.

Chance grips the bird’s beak and gives it a slight pull, then he slides his handmade knife against each of the bloodlines and the dark red drips onto a sawdust pile as the watching crowd goes silent.

“Thank you, Amelia,” a voice speaks from the back.

Next up is our first student, Amber.  She un-boxes her hen, they tie the feet together and drop her into the killing cone.

“She won’t hold still enough.”  Amber is struggling to expose the neck for the cut.  After some help from Chance, she runs the blade across the bird’s neck.

It’s sharp enough to slit the skin, but not deep enough for the kill.

“Don’t saw back and forth,” one student suggests.

“It’s just like in the movies,” Chance adds, making the throat-slitting motion with his finger below the chin.

Amber gets the first vein, then the next, and the bird bleeds out, an involuntary post-mortem flap of the wings and “bu-CAWK” as she is carried to the hook frame.

There’s no running around, like the old saying goes.

Pretty soon the students are getting the feel for the kill, bleeding out the birds and beginning the de-feathering process of dunking the chickens in a big vat of boiled water, pulling the tail feathers first, then pulling heaping handfuls into the garbage can until it looks like, well, a bloody rubber chicken.

They are rinsed and dropped into a cooler of ice.

Portland city laws allow for up to three chickens within city limits—no roosters, in this city known for its proximity and love of nature and outdoor recreation.

The urban chickening has been revived in the eco-obsessed 21st century, alongside the Rose City’s vegetarian and vegan restaurant and retail scene.  Nearby cities Forest Grove and Salem, Oregon’s capitol city, are also considering relaxing rules on chickens in the city.

Now there’s even a goat tour, as the barnyard extends to some city rooftops.  The goats are used for milk and cheese, weeding, and companionship.

Yahoo! Green was one of many environmental organizations praising Portland, ranking the Rose City number one. “Portland is also at the forefront of local food movements.  The city has 13 farmers’ market locations and an amazing diversity of fruit, berries, vegetables, and nursery plants grown locally.”

Popular Science added to the chorus: “Half its power comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.”

Sustainlane.com also voted Portland the greenest city in the USA and GoVeg.com ranked Portland the number one vegetarian friendliest city.

If the eggs came first, people were soon trying to figure out what to do with the chickens, but pulling off a class on how to slaughter the birds in an animal/vegetarian-friendly town like Portland would definitely require some sensibility.

Controversy erupted in 2010 when Reed College senior Gabriel Holt started publicizing a planned class he called “Chokin’ the Chicken” at his home—with a subsequent barbecue to follow.

He hoped to teach the humane slaughter method and have a closer connection to their food as a part of their annual week of alternative education for non-credit courses.

The plan was quickly picked up and disseminated by Portland’s more radical faction Indymedia affiliate, including the group In Defense of Animals.

Holt said he got several threatening e-mails and messages.  The following weekend, Holt’s birds and his housemate’s hens were stolen out of his yard, the birds never to be found.

“It’s not just for eggs—some people, not a lot, but some folks, are getting their hands a little bloody and raising meat chickens.  They figure that they eat chicken so they may as well be able to kill it themselves,” store owner Robert Litt tells me.

As the day progressed, it became clear that these urban farmers were quite comfortable—and even getting better at—the kill.  By the time the birds had been de-feathered, it was just another day on the farm.

The naked, headless carcasses were lined up on Chance’s wooden table, ready to be gutted.  He used a butcher knife and a handmade boning knife.

Inside many of the birds are un-hatched eggs—something most here have never seen before and about a close a reminder of the circle of life as one is likely to find.

Chance advises everyone to remove a small gland on the bird’s tail, lest it spill open and spoil the meat.  “It would be like opening up a sweat gland all over your food,” he says.

Chance said he learned by watching Rois’ father slaughter the birds on their Oregon farm.  Their family has been perfecting the urban farm life, in blacksmithing, gardening, canning, recipes, cooking and general homesteading for a few years west of Portland.  Their blog contains running details on all of these things, as well as many links to fellow forgers, farmers and free-living country folk.

Next, the students remove the entrails, keeping the livers, hearts, and gizzards.  Inside the gizzards is the grit the birds have eaten, rocks, and shell fragments.  The lungs, stomach, and intestines go into the gut bucket.  Many keep the feet and necks for soup stock.

“It’s all about doing things yourself because you can learn to do it right.”

For the urban-farm store, it’s more than technique and skill.  There’s an element of concern for animal well-being that should appeal to even the vegetarian-vegan crowd.

“Because there is really no need for humans to eat chickens or other animals, we see it to be completely unnecessary to kill the animals,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesperson Ashley Byrne said.  “I don’t think anyone would kill their dog or cat by bleeding it out.”

That said, Byrne agreed the chickens were getting a better deal than they would at many mass-factory farms.

“It’s not as gruesome as a slaughterhouse, their lives are vastly better than the life of a chicken on a factory farm where they live their lives in darkness,” Bryne added.

According to a group calling itself United Poultry Concerns, the mass kills of the chicken industry shock and traumatize the birds.

Once they have been bound and shocked by an electrical charge, they are hung upside down—similar to the cone method, yet many do not die from the initial throat cut and drown in their own blood.  This, the group says, leads the birds to struggle until death.

I say this not as a specific criticism of the industry—only to draw a comparison.

Oregon poultry producer KooKoolan Farms in Yamhill County say the birds are much more subject to stress and disease in confinement-based farms, leading to a life of stress, before a traumatic death.

The United Poultry Concerns in fact calls for more regulations on the killing of poultry to be made into federal laws—which arguably could make business harder for the small farmer or breeder—but that is a separate topic for another time.

Kookoolan says there has been a 98 percent drop in the number of non-industrial chicken producers in the past 50 years as consumption has increased.  However, the fact that urban chicken killing classes are now starting to sell out could be indicative of a reversal.

Now, many more in Portland are breeding for eggs and even meat.  The Oregon State University extension service is hosting classes on farms around the city on raising meat birds and hosting free-range flocks.  Portland city regulations allow for three birds in a yard—no roosters.  More are allowed for the price of a permit.  The city hosts an annual “Tour de Coops” in the summer for a peek into the city barnyards.

“We’re doing this [class] to be more humane than the alternative,” says Litt.  “What we say to vegetarians is that, through the class, we wanted people to come face to face with the act of killing which should make them more sensitive to animals’ emotions and value.  From there they can make an informed decision for themselves based on the experience.”

For those urban poultry keepers who choose to restock their broods and want to avoid the Reaper altogether, Urban Farm Store farmer and bird expert Pete Porath has turned his farm to a retirement home for old hens.

As featured in the New York Times, Porath takes in poultry and fowl that are no longer laying birds to give them a more pastoral existence.  Porath raises chicks, ducks, and turkeys at his property near Estacada and cares for those old hens city dwellers have brought to him.  The “retirees” eat pests, and are used for breeding, compost, yard maintenance, where they are treated as pets the Times reported.

All in the continuing cycle of life on the farm—whether in the city or the country.

The post Processing Poultry: City Folk Learn to Dispatch and Dress Chickens appeared first on Homestead.org.