A GOOD investment for spare cash

[377OHMS]

Quote from oldtime:

In Mali, the old guys farm by hand. The new young men are trying to learn how to use cattle to pull a hand made plow. The old guys watch them and either laugh or shake their head.

The average farmer in Mali makes about $200 a year after seeds and fertilizer. They grow their own food but almost never can afford to buy meat.

Occasionally people pool their money and buy a few chickens, but there is very little food for the chickens to eat, and usually times get hard and they just end up eating the chickens before they can hatch chicks.

Meat is definitely not required. I'm not vegan but am considering it. A guy that works for me is strictly vegan and weighs about 240 lbs. He doesn't seem to be starving and competes at a high level in tae kwon do tournaments.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/19/heart.attack.proof.diet/index.html

 

[oldtime]

Quote from 377OHMS:

I'm preparing a small spot (maybe 60 ft x 40 ft) for a garden next year. Just trying to figure out how I'm going to keep the legions of animals out. I'm going to have to have a serious fence or something.

60 x 40 is not a "small spot" my friend, 25 x 25 is more than enough. If it's deer you're trying to keep out, check around for a used dog kennel.

If it's coons, just plant out in the open, sometimes they get confused looking for a gate to unlatch.

If it's rabbits, plant some for you and some for them. I name mine, that way it feels more like I'm sharing.

 

[oldtime]

Quote from 377OHMS:

Meat is definitely not required. I'm not vegan but am considering it. A guy that works for me is strictly vegan and weighs about 240 lbs. He doesn't seem to be starving and competes at a high level in tae kwon do tournaments.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/19/heart.attack.proof.diet/index.html

I was a vegetarian (not vegan still ate cheese and eggs) for 5 years and those were the best food tasting days of my life.

Started eating meat again because in those days being a vegetarian was like being a communist and I had older people that invited me to dinner and it became just too awkward.

My parents thought if I just ate a steak I would become normal again.

Now even my old doctor who gave up on me as hopeless recomends Honey Bunchs of Oats intead of bacon and eggs.

 

[Lucrum]

Quote from clacy:

Farming is not quite that easy. I always laugh at these type of posts, that recommend buying "a few acres" and growing your own food, selling surplus, etc.

Also, farmland is very expensive currently.

How many acres does it take to support a family anyway?

 

[oldtime]

Quote from Lucrum:

How many acres does it take to support a family anyway?

140

At least that's what an Amish farmer I know farms. He says he has no use for any more land because his 140 is all he can handle especially now that the kids are all grown.

Never worries about the price of oil, just what to do with all the hog sausage now that there are no boys around to eat it.

 

[377OHMS]

Quote from oldtime:

60 x 40 is not a "small spot" my friend, 25 x 25 is more than enough. If it's deer you're trying to keep out, check around for a used dog kennel.

If it's coons, just plant out in the open, sometimes they get confused looking for a gate to unlatch.

If it's rabbits, plant some for you and some for them. I name mine, that way it feels more like I'm sharing.

25 x 25, check. That would be much easier to work.

I was going to give away what I can't eat. If I put a box of tomatoes out at work they're gone by 10:00 AM. People can't resist free fresh vegetables evidently.

The rabbits aren't that bad it is the squirrels that are really destructive here. They're not the fluffy tree squirrels you see back east, these are nasty desert squirrels, more like a rat really. They wreck stuff just for fun. I've been shooting them but they've learned to put some distance between me and them and it takes a spectacular rifle shot to hit one these days. They'll just dig under any fence I put up.

Anyway, I'll downscale my plans to a smaller plot. Just wanna do some tomatoes, corn, onions grow well here and so do carrots. I've thought about trying to grow some green peppers as well. My area is Climate Zone 11 so not everything will grow here.

If I go vegan I'll probably still eat fish, yknow, maybe go to sushi once a week.

 

[LEAPup]

Quote from 377OHMS:

Great post. Some land is cheap right now. During the depression my mom's family bought up bean fields all over the area they lived in and farmed some and sold the others at a profit when things stabilized.

There is property tax to be considered but generally buying land (not too remote, outskirts of town basically) isn't a bad idea.

Growing food is no joke either. I'm preparing a small spot (maybe 60 ft x 40 ft) for a garden next year. Just trying to figure out how I'm going to keep the legions of animals out. I'm going to have to have a serious fence or something.

Gold can't feed you, land can feed you with a great deal of work. Hard to see any downside except you get less time to couch-camp and watch sports.

Trust me. I've been through it this Summer lol, and so has my neighbor. You need a fence that will keep the deer from putting their heads over and eating enough to work up the courage to jump the fence, and eat the rest.

I threw moth balls around the small fence I have vs. his expensive 40'x120' six foot fence. Not only did the deer get him, so did the rabbits. I kept the deer out, but the rabbits did 'some' damage.'

Nothing easy about growing your own food...

 

[oldtime]

Quote from 377OHMS:

If I put a box of tomatoes out at work they're gone by 10:00 AM. People can't resist free fresh vegetables evidently.

no kidding, after I have that first fresh tomato of the season I wonder what was and how did I eat that crap all winter?

 

[LEAPup]

Quote from oldtime:

no kidding, after I have that first fresh tomato of the season I wonder what was and how did I eat that crap all winter?

I just finished a fresh tomato with a little sea salt and pepper. YUM!

Where I live, we get fresh vegs about half the year. The other hydroponic stuff during the Winter and Fall tastes like crap compared to TRUE fresh vegs. Yes I know, some here may like other hydroponic "herbs" so I'm not picking on you. There's really nothing better than veggies you grew in the dirt. God had a plan.

Btw, here's what's on the menu for this evening:

From fresh crab to Crabcakes
Fresh yellow fin tuna caught this morning, pan fried in some extra virgin olive oil, a little butter, some cayenne pepper, and cut garlic.
Fresh corn from this morning
Fresh tomatos, cucumbers, lettuce, tossed in a salad with feta, pepperoncini, red wine vinegar, parmesan cheese, basil, onion powder, garlic powder, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.

I'm hungry now. Lol!

 

[Humpy]

Quote from LEAPup:

I just finished a fresh tomato with a little sea salt and pepper. YUM!

Where I live, we get fresh vegs about half the year. The other hydroponic stuff during the Winter and Fall tastes like crap compared to TRUE fresh vegs. Yes I know, some here may like other hydroponic "herbs" so I'm not picking on you. There's really nothing better than veggies you grew in the dirt. God had a plan.

Btw, here's what's on the menu for this evening:

From fresh crab to Crabcakes
Fresh yellow fin tuna caught this morning, pan fried in some extra virgin olive oil, a little butter, some cayenne pepper, and cut garlic.
Fresh corn from this morning
Fresh tomatos, cucumbers, lettuce, tossed in a salad with feta, pepperoncini, red wine vinegar, parmesan cheese, basil, onion powder, garlic powder, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.

I'm hungry now. Lol!

Yummy

Hey where's my invite ?

I'll bring a dozen frosties ( cans of lager )