Podcast 703 - Permaculture Smackdown 31 - Strategies for growing enough food for your family- Part 3

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Summary

part 3 of a 3 part podcast

Continuing the discussion about growing food for a family.

Paul mentions that butter takes a lot of making, and asks Liz how she makes butter.  Liz describes the process and comments that the diet the cows eat affects the quality of the butter.  Beau doesn't make much butter but he describes the butter churn and butter press which he has from his great grandparents.  These were their primary source of money.  

Liz preserves a lot of meat by freezing.  Paul isn't over keen on freezing which costs money.  Liz and Beau discuss non-refrigerated meat preservation.  Liz isn't currently interested in the extra work that involves.  Beau makes the point that currently the energy cost of freezing isn't too high; if it cost more or your supply isn't reliable they agree that would be an incentive to explore more traditional preservation.

Paul makes the point that dairy is not really for beginners, and Liz agrees, it is a lot of work and a lot to learn.

Beau agrees with Paul that chickens are a good way into raising animals for meat.  He comments that you have to be careful where you learn about chicken keeping, some advice on the web is labor intensive and costly.  You can also start small, with just a few chickens.  Samantha comments that rabbits are good.

Paul recommends that even if you have plenty of land, start with a quarter acre to focus your gardening.  That's plenty of work to start with.

To finish with they talk about different methods of food storage and preservation.

Relevant Threads

Gardening for Beginners forum

Chickens forum

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This podcast was made possible thanks to:

Dr. Hugh Gill Kultur
Kyle Aster
Sasquatch
Bill Crim
G Cooper
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Bill Erickson
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Sean Benedict
Rita Bliden
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Dr. Jackie
Cindi Duehmig
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Banter Couch
Rebekah Harmon
Chris Holtslag
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Paul Tipper