Matthew Kinnersly

We grow rabbits for meat. The plan is that they end up in the freezer, but some of them die earlier, from illness, predators, misadventure, and even old age. Those, we bury. Other than treating them with respect, the idea is that they go back to the soil, because everything good goes back to the soil. We've long noticed that areas where we've buried a few rabbits have lots of worms. So, other than contributing their nutrients to the soil, they share those same nutrients with lots of grateful worms, who are attracted to the area, proliferate and, of course, give back to the soil.
Even if you don't have access to your own animals in need of burial, it might be worth bringing back roadkill animals to bury in your land. At least you'd be salvaging something from the tragedy, and it all looks the same from a worm's perspective.
I'd caution against using any parts of industrially-grown animals, because they'll be filled with pollutants you don't want in your soil. That's a tragedy you can't salvage anything from, not even food.

I prefer a heavy stainless steel pan (easier to clean), and an egg whisk for stirring. Oven roasting failed hard.
Just a couple of points to add, because I think everyone else covered the important stuff.
1. If you're crunching the numbers to compare the economics of roasting your own green beans with buying pre-roasted stuff, bear in mind that roasting dries the beans, so they lose weight. Your 1,000g of green beans will probably only get you about 700g of roasted coffee. At least in Japan, it's still totally worth it to buy green and roast at home.
2. When you roast a batch, it's easy to produce multiple levels of roast in one cycle. When I get the beans in my pan to the basic target darkness, I pour about 80% of them into a metal colander to dump heat and sift out the burnt skins. The rest stays in the pan for a few more minutes to get really dark. That way, every time I grind beans, I can blend a mix of roasts that suits what I fancy right then, milder or darker/smokier.
3. Apparently caffeine in the beans isn't very heat-resistant, so the harder you roast the beans, the less caffeine you have left, for better or worse.
That's it.

Matt

Hi Bobby
We're working to regenerate some depleted land in Niigata Prefecture. In our experience, the best way to get loads of great compost is to grow rabbits and feed them stuff you forage from unused land. You can load up with reeds, kudzu vines (high protein!), veg leftovers, tree branches, and whatever else you can find on unpolluted ground that the rabbits will eat. The rabbits aren't stupid - they won't eat stuff that harms them, so you can offer them things and see what works. They turn all this free feed into organic meat (and pelts) plus loads of compost from their manure mixed with floor bedding, and they're happy with the diet. You're also helping to prevent idle land vanishing under waves of kudzu vine etc. Everybody wins.
Chickens are also a good source of compost, but more complicated.
If you learn the wild foods that work for humans, you can forage for food for youself at the same time. I'm sure your old lady would be happy to teach you what to pick, and where to pick it without offending anyone.

Good luck!

Matt