Ban Dinh

Carla Burke - we bought the Lodge in 8 and 11 inches 2 years ago. I had heard that the finishes were less than optimal and sure enough, they were rougher than the premium pans. However, because we were prepared for this, we did some polishing prior to seasoning. The results we very good. We still use at least one of the pans daily.
The difference in price point makes the Lodge a better buy, IMO.
My cast iron skillet I now use mainly for baking

Here is a link to a video from Smithsonian on non-GMO N fixing corn. The article was published in 2018. Pretty interesting, no gene splicing or other unnatural manipulations.
https://youtu.be/5A-FMRqictE.

Here is a link to the article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/corn-future-hundreds-years-old-and-makes-its-own-mucus-180969972/

Very timely thread! We moved to our new place early this year. We have 10 acres that's mostly pasture-ish rather than te mostly wooded 44 acres atour previous place. I took firewood for granted as for the 19 years we were there, I never had to fall a live tree for firewood. There were plenty of dead elms, either standing or down, and more than enough blow-downs. I wish I had that wood here. Filling the heating oil tank a couple of weeks ago was a terrible shock.
So, I need to establish a woodlot asap! I see ash has been mentioned. Here in SWPA, most of our ash trees have been killed, courtesy of the emerald ash borer. I was thinking of black locust, as I do have a few of those growing, but am open to any viable option.

It’s been a year or so since I started this thread. I have some time (currently snowed in) so I thought I would follow up. As it turned out, those oats were the last thing I received from the food bank. They had a change in management.
So, the majority of the quick oats went into 2 Berkshire/Mangalista pigs, which are delicious even if they don’t develop very big hams.
I solved the problem of having to haul water in the winter by partially fermenting the oats (just a 24 hour soak) and feeding them very wet. This “porridge” was their sole source of water and they did fine on it. I was concerned about the low protein level of the oats so I did supplement their porridge with some soybean oil meal. Just single 50# bag of the SOM was all the purchased feed I had into them.
The chicken would eat the oats if I added just enough water to make kind of a cake. They would not touch them dry.
We do have a feeder steer that has been getting a small amount of the oats, but not much really. Just using up the last of them and we prefer grass fed beef. I did try oatmeal pie, though I still find it intriguing.
I miss getting the cast-offs from the food bank but it was good while it lasted.

Never have I heard before of oatmeal pie, but I'm going to try it.
Raising mealworms seems like a good way to turn low-protein oats into high protein chicken feed.
Composting if all else fails, never a landfill once I get my hands on anything edible of decomposable.

Douglas Alpenstock - I didn't think about pet shelters. I do have a contact at the local Humane Society I'll ask. I they can't use any maybe she'll no someone else who can.
I did think of alcohol but I'm not set up to distill and all of the beer recipes I found also called for barley. I'm gluten free by necessity so that's out. Unless someone has a good GF oat-based beer or ale recipe.
I am watching the local ads for a feeder pig or 2, though I don't like hauling water for them in the winter.
And I am willing to consume some directly myself but nearly enough to make a dent!
But I appreciate the ideas.

Our local food bank occasionally calls me when they have foods they cannot distribute for human consumption. Recently I picked up over 2,200 pounds of quick oats, the type that cooks in 1 minute. As it happens, I don't have much in the way of livestock to feed at the moment so I am looking for ideas to put them to use. I did post in our community Facebook page but was only able to give away about 70 pounds.
I have a small chicken flock (14 birds), 2 pet mini pigs, 2 geese, 1 sheep, 1 standard donkey (retired guardian) and 1 feeder steer.
I welcome all suggestions to avoid wasting these. Oh, BTW, the food bank still has another 3 tons or so. The reason they aren't distributing them is because they supposedly have weevils. I personally opened over 200 packages yesterday and saw none.

My current issue also has to do with homesteading and children but slightly different. We have been on our property for over 16 years. Our son was 2 when we bought the place and our daughter came along a few years later. We probably bought bigger than we should have, slightly less than 44 acres of very hilly woods with very little flat land. Like many others on this thread we experienced the struggle with slowed homestead development due to prioritizing time with the kids (no regrets). One thing leading to another, I now have an 18 year old and a 14 year old who have no real interest in things homesteading. Oh, they like to walk in the woods now and again, and they like the fresh eggs and the bacon but they don't get involved by choice. My wife always supported my dream of homesteading but the reality is that it has been my dream, not one that she shares. I gave up my herd of Katahdin sheep and my dairy goats a few years ago because it was simply too much work for me to do decently (I do work full time teaching at a local state college). Now having recently turned 56 and with some post-Lyme health issues, I am considering selling the place and downsizing. I hate the idea of doing that but how much work can one middle aged man do without jeopardizing health and wellness? I want to continue to keep bees and a few hens at the very least. The thought of living close enough to neighbors to hear their conversations distresses me greatly.
On reading through this post, I see that I've just been venting. So here's a question - is anyone else in a similar situations and if so, what have you done in response?

Well, it's been a decade or more since this topic started. One point mentioned many times in the thread was that it would take 10-12 years to get fruit from apple trees started from seed.
Paul Wheaton - did you plant those seeds 10-12 years ago? If so, what came of them?
Inquiring minds want to know.

Like Dan Boone, I frequent sales, with estate auctions being preferred. I usually buy "vintage" yard equipment that was manufactured years ago to different standards and is still good for many years. Maybe the previous owners also bought junk, but got rid of it when it failed so it doesn't show up at the estate auction.