Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[NH Homesteader]

Awesome!

 

[Mini Horses]

I was surprised but, my chickens loved the turnips!

Nice haul. My guy who was supplying me hasn't in a long while. At least I have no pigs to feed. But goats & chickens are sad.

Yeah -- the butcher is a nice option with "no muss & fuss"

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Revising the poundage of free food UP! Probably 250 lbs of carrots and maybe 25 lbs of apples and potatoes. Whew - I'm tired. I had already bought 12 bags of feed and had to unload all of that when I got home.... Dats a work out for sure!

 

[NH Homesteader]

You ought to own the feed store by now. It hasn't been that long since you last commented that you bought about 12 bags of feed... gotta sell some goats! Lol. Do your horses eat a lot of grain or are they good on grass/hay?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

The horses are the easiest most economical animals here. They get NO grain and only a bit of hay. They do like carrots though so they get in there and get their portion.

And yes - they like me at the feed store!

 

[baymule]

What a score on the free food! That is awesome and I like it that it is being given to you instead of thrown away.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I like it that it is being given to you instead of thrown away.

True! Nobody likes that idea of it being thrown away! (except my pigs, chickens goats, horses and sometimes the dogs, lol)

 

[sumi]

My neighbor is fast enough that the heat isn't really a factor. He pretty much debones as he goes and the meat is on ice pretty quickly. I'm learning some tricks as I go. I did take the meat into the house to clean it up and get the hairs off.

For the smaller hogs I'm going to do a "no-gut' procedure from now on. The only reason to gut is to get the tenderloins and ribs and there's just not enough to worry about on the little guys. I pulled out the two tenderloins out and they were about the size of a large carrot, lol.

The skinning is the most tedious part for me. Of course, the smaller the pig the less skin, lol. We used the sawzall to remove the feet - that's quick going. But, my neighbor is so good he can get 'em through the joint with just his knife and never hit bone. I need to practice more. The one I did yesterday was a female - first one I've done... and a bit less work if ya ask me. The next one will be male - ugh.

When I butchered pigs we removed the hairs, but not the skin. The guys that taught and helped me had me boil gallons of water, which we poured over the pig, section by section, and then scraped the hairs and thin outer layer of skin off. Their preferred "tool" for this was the lid of a corned beef tin! It worked a charm too.

 

[sumi]

What a score on the free food! That is awesome and I like it that it is being given to you instead of thrown away.

X2!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

When I butchered pigs we removed the hairs, but not the skin.

I've watched lots of you tube videos on scraping - but my big question is: Is there an advantage to leaving the skin on? Is it to protect the meat? Do you cook it with the skin on? I guess because it isn't presented to us that way here (in the stores) - I'm not familiar with it at all.