This is Peachnochio!
Hopefully someday we will have that kind of tomato crop here.....again. There are many cases of canned tomatoes in the basement from before my time in this family, but we have had problems with a virus I believe for as long as I can remember that takes out half the plants ...or more....every year. The next plan is to grow the maters in virus free soil in raised beds.
We ended up getting three cows this year. We have not bought butter in many months, as we have figured out how to culture and churn the cream. We also made a lot of cheese with the sheep milk.
There are a lot of rib and loin chops cut out of the backbone, rib racks for grilling, shanks, and necks.
How many do you have to put up to last a year?We raise sheep that are a mix of breeds. Predominately Katahdin and Dorper there is also some St Croix and East Freisian in the mix. They are super easy to keep. No shearing with the hair breeds and even the crosses often shed. They rarely need their hooves done, they are good mothers. Good milkers too and they make gourmet quality meat and milk out of even strong flavored weeds! Not too big to process at home. Our boys can get one hanging in 30 to 45 minutes, and to cut them up takes about the same. They fatten on just forage. No grain needed. On top of that they are gentle and friendly.
In short, they are perfect backyard or small farm livestock.
That wet little lamb in the picture below was the third this good old ewe had that year. She is so friendly now she almost hugs me, getting so close her chest is touching mine and the side of her head is against my ear before she is happy. She loves to be pet and scratched. Her sis standing there didn't make the cut this year. Itty bitty titties aren't good if you end up hand milking.
One MUST keep in mind they ALL taste good!
Cuter with hair, easier to eat without it.
We cut the meat of the lambs shoulders for grinding and also grind the belly meat for sausage. I put a couple back legs in too off a smaller ewe. We ALWAYS run out of sausage, so we never have too much.
The other parts from a few animals are pictured here after hubby and our second son cut them up. We have legs for roasting....or I'm thinking about experimenting with curing and smoking since @FollowingHim2 mentioned mutton ham once.
I didn't get a picture after wrapping it all. We use plastic and then lined paper. It keeps very well, and rarely lasts much over a year.....not because it won't, but because there are no vegetenarians here! Even our youngest likes meat.
That depends to a point on how much beef, turkey, quail, chukar, or what not we manage to put up as well. We can super easy eat 400 lbs of sausage. We don't grind the whole beast either. I think we did something like 20+ head of sheep last year as well as a 650 or so pound heifer, another 1/4 of a beef we got for helping a neighbor process one, probably 35 turkeys, and we raised 200 or so partridge.
“Freezer pets”! Are you tired of those annoying pets that require food and water? Are you sick of pesky, noisy, animated animals?! Try freezer pets!! They don’t require food, water, or affection! Just give them a steady supply of electricity! And they’re delicious too!! Collect the whole line!!! Freezer not included, electricity sold separately...So its the time of year when we turn lambs into freezer pets. Our favorite thing by far is sausage, though lamb chops or ribs off the grill are excellent!
We are just learning to use our new sausage stuffer. Cleaning casings has been figured out too.
Here is about 19 lbs of breakfast sausage links. Once they dry just a bit we cut them apart and freeze them.
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I can see the mischief in his eyesYesterday our boys slaughtered a ram I was quite fond of.....I was the only one though. He was super friendly as a lamb, choosing to follow and observe whover was our in the pasture. Then when he hit about a year old and the hormones kicked in, his usual approach for petting turned into ramming. He hit several of the boys, and our daughter when 8 years old did a flying belly flop one day when she walked too close and then couldn't outrun him.
I have rams now with better genetics ....and better manners.
He will be sausage. The kids will miss him......after the sausage runs out.
I will miss him....but not the liability. I tried ....but it is hard to place an animal that is dangerous. He was not fearful, or mean (like the ram that beat our oldest daughter up when she was 3) but he was big enough to hurt someone.
This guy was a son of the old ewe above.
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Not the kind of critter you want to see bearing down on you!
