Monday, March 7, 2011

Full Freezers

We picked up the remains of our pig last week. Love the look of these sweetly wrapped morsels of goodness.
We run three freezers and they are completely full. Actually I did not have enough room for all the pig fat. If any of you locals are interested in some to make lard with and/or for bird treats come on over.
With the price of gas steadily rising I have heard that the price of food will double in price.
I cannot even imagine as there are so many in this country that are going without.
Maybe it will eventually be less expensive to raise your own and more people will go back to it?
That would be nice!
P.S. The picture on my header is a dish I made after getting the idea from a fellow blogger, Amaranthian. Love her blog, lots of great culinary ideas! Besides being tasty it only required one pan. Cook up the bacon, set aside, cook up grated potatoes in the grease, then cook your eggs atop. Note to others: don't take a shower while your taters are cooking :)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

We used to have meat from our neighbor's pigs and sheep but that was before we became vegetarians though.

Amy

Adkins Family farm said...

Nice, it feels great to have all that food in these unstable times. It looks like you have some good eating in your future.

katiegirl said...

Woohoo! Nothing better than stocked freezers of home grown meat! And I'm drooling over that banner pic....yum!

doglady said...

Today, I counted 15 different brands and flavors of frozen waffles. I those are the things that double in price I'm for it. People need to go back to cooking from scratch and if they don't know how they need to be taught. The idea of purchasing reheatable pancakes and waffles is appalling.

Anonymous said...

Hello, You have a very nice blog. We travel to Acadia National Park every 2-3 years as we absolutely love it.
Is it expensive to run 3 freezers?
Have you ever heard of a Baptist minister named Lindsey Williams? He claims he was a pilot and minister on the Alaskan pipeline 30 years ago, and from this developed a very close friendship with the "elite" of the oil industry.
He has been given insider info from the oil elite about how they manipulate oil prices. He has correctly told in advance when oil prices would go up or down in a major way and by how much.
Here is what he is saying now. He says back when Kissinger was in the White House, a deal was struck with the (then poor) Arab nations (all agreed but Iraq and Iran). The deal was the American oil companies would buy most of their oil from the Arab countries and restrict oil production in the US if the Arab countries put a certain percentage of their profits into US debt (treasuries).
The American oil companies knew there were huge reserves of oil in the US, but they didn't want to tap fully into those until oil hit $200/barrel.
During all of those years, the US oil companies have gotten the Arabs to sell their oil to us at an average price of below $50/barrel. The Arab oil has been greatly depleted, and now it is time to bring prices up to $200.
He told over four months ago that there would be unrest in the Middle East, and that would be the catalyst to start the rise in oil prices to the majic $200 level.
He claims all the revolts in the Middle East are being manipulated by the CIA.
The last domino to fall will the Saudi Arabia, and at that point oil could go over $200/barrel. He claims gas prices will be $5/gallon this year and over $7/gallon next year. This is a permanent change.
The US government, due to the economic crisis that will result from these prices, will open up oil drilling in the environmentally sensitive areas of Alaska, and a huge oil area in North Dakota. There are also other major oil reserves in the US that have been tapped and sealed off waiting for the price to hit $200.
All of this is interesting stuff. Supposedly this guy has been right for years on the next big moves.
For us, we can drive a lot less and bicycle more. Where we will get hit will be heating oil, and as you said, groceries will double.
We live in suburbia on 1/2 acre, so no livestock for us. I do have a nice vegetable garden and fruit bushes, but they just supplement the groceries for a few months.
Keep writing in your blog. It is really nice.
Lynne in MD

Anonymous said...

Hi - this is Coco's sister again - if you're ever interested in selling any of that beef - let me know. you can reach me at nicky621@myfairpoint.net

Anonymous said...

oh & I meant to say, we love to make bird treats & would love some of your pig fat if you have any left......where is your farm? thanks, Nicky

Justine said...

Wow how nice it must be to have a full freezer stocked up! Did you lose power in the ice storm yesterday? What do you do when you do lose power do the freezers stay cold? I cant wait to start livestock! Congratulations on the accomplishment of all that pork!

doglady said...

Lindsey Williams was on Coast to Coast last week. While it wouldn't surprise me to have our CIA involved, I'm not sure he is all that credible. Coast to Coast often has some real crackpots on the show. With that said, it certainly wouldn't hurt to be in as self sufficient position as you possibly can be.
I live next to ANP and you are right it is a lovely area. We are hoping many visit this year.

Country Girl said...

GP, my best friend is vegetarian. I have only had sheep once before but would love to try again.

DL, I feel your pain. But a couple years back I occassionally bought the waffles for my kids...lol. Until MM bought me a waffle maker. NOTHING like homemade! My kids agree to that but change takes time!

Wow Lynne, I do not follow that stuff as close as I should. It frustrates me to no end. I love Acadia, only been there once hope to go again this year. The freezers do not seem too be bad on the electricity. When I unplug one it is not all that noticeable. We keep them in our shed so they don't work so hard with cooler weather. My pool pump on the other hand kills my electricity bill. That is SO coming down when the kids are grown.

Nicky, I will e-mail you.

Justine we didn't loose power. We should have a genterator but we don't. If we lost electricity for any amount of time we'd have to pack it snow and/or doing a whole lot of canning. We really should get one!

Amanda :: Grace & Gusto said...

I'm so jealous of all that porky goodness! One of these days, we're going to start raising our own chickens, and then hopefully expand to cows and/or pigs. Being self-sufficient is definitely the way to go, bad economy or not. It's healthier, cheaper, and satisfying!

And thank you for the mention, I am so happy you liked that recipe! :)

Jake and Katy said...

I love your blog. It is very encouraging as my husband and I take the plunge of going off grid to being somewhat self sufficient. Thanks for the inspiration! We are at the beginning of our journey. our blog is http://www.transitioningoffgrid.blogspot.com/

Country Girl said...

Amaranthian, once you start growing your own it is hard to go back!

Thanks Katy,
I just tried to comment on your blog but it said "only members can comment " on your blog so you may need to change your settings.....here is what I wrote....."Yeah I have to agree w/ you on the yurt. I could use for camp but not home. My husband likes the old metal grain bins people convert into homes. We live in an old farm house which I love. If the kids are grown I'd be all good with a small cabin in the woods. Thanks for the sweet comment. I will peep in again to follow your progress. Good Luck! ~Kim"

Teri @ Love From the Farm said...

We are sending our pigs to the butcher in the next week, then will cut and wrap ourselves. There is something so comforting about having a full freezer - I'm with you - worried about food prices and figuring I'll have to learn to garden year-round to be able to afford food for our family of 6. Our Safeway produce manager told me recently that the company had announced there will be 50% price increases across the board. Yikes. I enjoy your blog! Teri

amy manning said...

Hello there, we recently picked up our pig too. You or your readers may be interested in reading our experience with our first pig. http://www.mysuburbanhomestead.com/reflections-pigraising-experience/