Being slightly more self sufficent - what Ive been up to...

Chasingmytail said:

Taking into account I'm a townie and most of what I learnt is from youtube/books. Really like the American homestead they are much more switched on and practical.

Apart from raising the odd animal for our own freezer...

Raised a handful of Le Bresse eating chickens - Will buy day olds prob Sasso slow growing in spring over hatching own.
Growing my own to as much as poss but needs a lot of tweaking for next year.
Made bacon from pigs
Raise small flock of layers (sell most eggs)
Milking house cow for milk
Making yogurt
Started making butter from cream as above (seeing that we spend at least £10pw on butter this is a saving)

Next step is to make real cheese however the cave style cheese will have to wait for now. Watching Curd Nerd on YouTube learning loads.

My aim is to learn skills and save money while improving nutrition

Anyone else trying homesteading?

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Done all that +
made my own beer (from scratch), wine & moonshine
sausages/black pudding/brawn and every other thing you can make from pigs
smoked meat
cheeses
cured plenty of skins
made my own nets for rabbiting etc
---still have a good veg garden but don't have the facilities to have a pig in the back garden like we used to

The first ''homesteader'' i met near Eureka Ks many moons ago bought almost nothing & could make just about anything from any old rubbish (he also grew weed in his own wind/solar powered hydroponic unit)

Couple of years ago i was at the bottom end of the rockies and went to visit some homesteaders/ sheep breeders (who turned out to have 4 ewes and no ram) and they were certainly getting ready for the end of times ---gates , fences , guns everywhere

It's really satisfying producing what you eat but it can take up a lot of your time ----but i do miss home made butter

Chasingmytail said:

I'm currently having a go at feta.

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Are you using sheep/goat milk or cows?

I listen to a podcast by an American bloke who only buys veg and hunts elk with a bow and arrow a few times a year with his pals. They only eat meat they have killed themselves

Probably 80 percent of the meat we eat, I kill.
Always seems to taste a lot better given a chance to hang, plus we are right on the coast here and I like an excuse to fish and dive
To be honest I give half of my catch away but that gives me an excuse to get more

Have been very slack in the garden this year though.