CB preparing to make squirrel stew all on his own. He never asked me for a bit of help. He brought it over to his cousin’s to share with a loaf of fresh bread. Tonight when I came home from work he was making pumpkin chocolate chip whoppie pies and he even cooked up the pumpkins rather then grabbing a can from the cupboard.
RECENT COMMENT ON MY BLOG….
“I’m curious, how do your kids feel about being such major providers for the family larder? Is it just business as usual or do they have a sense of pride that they helped put meat on the table? Was it hard for your daughter to shoot a deer for the first time or is she more of a practical person about it? Are they so used to life and death on the farm that hunting is sort of an extension on that? I know that’s a lot of questions, but my kids are talking about learning to hunt and I guess I’m wondering about the psychological aspect of it. I never went hunting with my father, just fishing, so I don’t have my own experiences to fall back on.”
FG cooking deer steak. We’ve been eating in nearly every day.
MY RESPONSE TO THE COMMENT ABOVE :
GREAT QUESTIONS!! My kids take much pride in providing for our family. They are actively involved in many aspects of putting food on the table from picking eggs, feeding and watering animals, hunting and foraging, and helping my husband process some of the livestock we raise. It is normal life for them. Our children thrive in this homesteading environment. My daughter did cry after shooting the deer but mostly out of excitement. I think she was unsure of herself, unsure that she could kill a deer so she was overwhelmed with emotion. I also think anytime you take the life of another there is a humbling moment and damn there should be. Hunting I guess is an extension of what we do and it is something my husband is passionate about therefore my kids are. It is sad that as a society we have taken the faces of the animals away from meat in the supermarket. In my eyes children of today should all learn these basic survival skills as someday they made need to know them.
So well put. Perhaps if the kids of today didn't lead such "sanitized" lives they would have more respect for life.
ReplyDeleteVery well put for a non-hunter. As a hunter for over 40 years, I can say that unless you are blessed with an instant death, it is never easy watching an animal die. And as a hobby farmer I can also say that even after raising an animal for the sole purpose of feeding your family, when the time comes to kill it, it isn't easy either. It is something that needs to be done as quickly and humanely as possible. If you can raise your own meat on the farm then hunting comes easy. The difference is that you get to spend some quiet time in the woods looking for game and then decide if you want to kill it after you find it.
ReplyDeleteI've enjoyed reading your post. I will look forward to keeping up with what going on with you guys.
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