More on overpriced education
Colleges have been innovating. They are using technology to better educate their students. So says this article from the Washington Monthly. And many colleges and university are improving their educational results while decreasing their costs. This is a good thing.
But these same colleges aren’t passing the savings onto their students. I wonder if this will change as the current recession continues. Regardless, there are still many inexpensive and highly effective alternatives as I’ve noted before.
Still, it is a good thing these innovations are occuring. It may give me the opportunity to further use technology to educate my children without the expense and time commitment of college.
Duh!
We’ve got a lot of chickens. A lot. Really too many. We usually keep them around for 2 years and then put them in the freezer as stewing hens. Well, that’s always our plan, anyway. They often get a stay of execution for a time and we end up with some third year layers that really don’t lay so well. They do tend to lay nice large eggs, however.
Most of the birds went through their annual molt between October and early December. Chickens tend to slack off their laying during this time as they need the energy to regrow feathers. Still, I knew, out of roughly 50 hens, we should be getting at least, say, 10 eggs a day, right? We were lucky to get five.
With four children, 2 to 4 eggs a day doesn’t go very far, even if you stretch them with farmer’s omelets and frittatas. And oatmeal was getting to be pretty boring. Besides, I’m pregnant and need two eggs a day, right? This doesn’t leave much for baking either. And with my father and sister coming in for the holidays, I really needed more eggs. But I can’t bring myself to buy eggs at the store, let alone meat. I know too much about commercial egg production.
So I’ve been blog surfing the last few weeks and came across a post about someone with the same problem. One of the commentors mentioned the chickens might need more feed. Hmm. I’m always trying to keep feed costs to a minimum. The stuff is just so expensive these days and the chickens do roam the farm most of the day. Well, I figured I’d give it a try. We increased their feed from 2 gallons to 3. We got 6 eggs the same day. Within a week, we were getting a dozen. And Cele brought in 18 a couple of days ago. Duh!
Now you might think the increase is due to the passing of the winter solstice and the increase in daylight. Nope. This started a week or so before the solstice. The chickens were not getting enough to maintain their bodies and produce eggs.
If another winter comes and you hear me complaining about the chickens not laying, please remind me to feed them more.
Tiny Hams
We got our piggies back from the butcher. They were, as Frank mentioned, woefully small. I was eager to have pork for Christmas so I suppose we rushed things a bit. In hindsight, I think I would have taken one in this month and waited 2 more to bring in the remaining 2 piggies. Live and learn, I suppose. I’ve already put in a request for piglets in April or May so we can keep them around longer and still have pork by Christmas next year.
I told the lady at the abbatoir that I wanted the hams fresh, meaning, not cured or smoked as I want to experiment with curing and hot smoking myself. In my ignorance, I assumed everyone knew what is meant by the term “fresh ham“. I was wrong. This is why the butcher called at 6:30 a.m. to come pick up the meat. It was fresh, meaning raw and unfrozen! Good thing these were small pigs as I’m not certain my meat freezer could have handled freezing 6 whole hams, 30 lbs of ground pork, and 5 sides of bacon at one time!
Pork chops were on the menu for that evening until I realized that Morgan’s was freezing the remaining meat for me and it wouldn’t be ready for pick up until the following day. Bummer. What to do for dinner now? Ah, roast a fresh ham! After unloading the meat, I pulled out my dog-earred copy of The Grassfed Gourmet and got to work. Here’s a shot of the ham with the herb rub ready to go in the oven.
Sadly, I don’t have a finished picture of the fresh ham. The family was ravenous and, well, you can imagine what happened when it came out of the oven. There were plenty of leftovers for a Shepherd’s Pie of sorts a few nights later. And I’ve still got 2 or 3 cups of cubed pork and the bone in the freezer. Not bad for a measly 7 lb ham!
Our next ham experiment involved oakwood harvested on our farm and an old Coleman Smoker Grill my very generous Uncle Dick gave me this past summer on a visit to Syracuse. This was a hot smoke that cooks the meat, not a traditional cold smoke that would preserve it. Frank started around noon and it was done by about 7 p.m. for supper.
I did put an orange honey glaze on this during the last hour or so but it didn’t add much flavor. The ham was delicious. Leftovers were great for sandwiches and the bone was used for a batch of baked beans.
The next time we smoke a ham, I’m going to brine it first for a few days. But all in all, I’d say the response from hungry family members was good as can be seen below.
Christmas Wishes?
Pop downloaded this for us a week or so ago. I was thinking “this is another pathetic Christmas video.” But as it played, I found it quite amusing. So regardless of what you believe, enjoy the show and be amazed at the geekiness it must have taken to perform such a feat.
Now are those LED lights? If not, I’m glad we don’t have to pay the electric bill! Merry Christmas!
How to Escape from Corporate Slavery in 6 Steps: Step 4
By step 4 in this series, if you have followed this course of action, you will have achieved a debt free state, including eliminating the home mortgage. Your largest expenses now will be food and energy. Step 4 in achieving independence is to reduce your energy costs.
There are three ways to reduce your monthly electric bill. 1) Waste less 2) Use more efficient appliances 3) Provide your own energy.
Waste Less Energy
Listed here are twenty two actions that will result in energy savings. Most of these items are free and all them can each be done for less than $50.
- Clear attic insulation from soffit vents
- Reduce hot water temperature to 120 degrees F
- Turn off computer when not in use
- Eliminate electric blankets
- Air dry dishes
- Take quicker showers
- Use cold cycle to wash clothes
- Check fireplace damper for draft
- Turn off lights when not in use
- Unplug “phantom” loads
- Turn down heat at night during the colder months
- Turn AC off at night during the warm months
- Install Compact Fluorescent lamps
- Install programmable digital thermostat and reduce energy when you are not at home
- Install hot water heater blanket
- Install LED night lights
- Install high velocity, low flow shower nozzle
- Caulk leaky windows and doors
- Weather strip doors
- Weather strip and insulate attic hatch
- Plug phantom loads like televisions into power strips that can be turned off at night
- Install winter window kits on obsolete single glazed windows in older homes.
More Efficient Appliances
Here we offer information on the benefits and costs of buying new efficient appliances. A one time investment in equipment will significantly lower your monthly energy use.
Provide Your Own Energy
Firewood
If you live in a rural area on wooded property, you can use your chain saw and splitting maul to make abundant firewood. We typically use dead trees or timber from clearing projects in our wood stove. We cut prepare firewood no later than July and stack in a dry place. By the heating season we have seasoned wood for the stove.
Solar Electric Power
Solar power can be a big part of your energy program. The equipment is quiet, pollution free, and of high quality. The initial cost seems to be high, but consider the following: Grid power is subsidized by tax dollars. You have no idea what is the true cost of grid electric power. What is more, grid power has a cost on the environment that is huge. Solar power is great for people that that have good incomes now, but may not in the future. Investors in solar are prepaying for electric power for several decades. Solar panels last for decades. Output degrades roughly about 1% per year. Useful amounts of power will still be generated after 30 years. And Uncle Sam is giving a 30% Tax Credit on all solar electric power equipment purchased through 2016, with no limit. Pretty sweet for taxpayers.
Other Home Power Sources
Wind and water are two other sources of electric power for the do-it-yourselfer. In a good location, either method provides power that costs less than solar.
Our current purchased energy is about $1300 per year, If we added a solar thermal collector to the roof for hot water, and cooked half of our food on a wood cook stove, we could reduce this to under $1000, which is a total energy cost of less than $85 per month. Maybe next year.
Check out previous posts in this series.
Another Outrage Against Family Farms and Food Freedom
Frank spotted an article about the Stower’s Family and their Manna Storehouse a few weeks ago on an “alternative news” blog. It seems the Ohio State Authorities (authorized by whom?!) raided the Stower’s home and private food cooperative and took their food. This is not the first time the State of Ohio has aggressively gone after small family farmers either.
There is an excellent post about this situation including a video interview with the Stowers at the Campaign For Liberty.
Fortunately, the Buckeye Institute has taken up the Stower’s case and is going after the State of Ohio for their aggressive tactics and anti-constitutional stance.
If you think you are immune from this sort of treatment, think again. Where will this end? Will it become illegal to grow a few extra heads of lettuce and share them with your friends? This is tyranny, folks. We need to stand and fight against it NOW.
Visit the Buckeye Institute today and read all about it. Get involved before we turn out like Stalinist Russia.
Winter Wheat
Federal Reserve Notes, the currency of our region, are becoming more difficult to obtain. I’ve been keeping busy with handyman jobs, but compensation for services is decreasing as clients themselves struggle under diminishing income and heavy debt.
We currently produce all of our meat, eggs, poultry, and dairy, as well as half of the garden produce we need. A large expense to our household is grain, both for ourselves and for our animals. In the spirit of continuing to reduce our own need for currency, we have started to grow grain crops. The seasonal crop of choice in Tennessee is Winter Wheat. This grain grows whenever the outdoor temperature exceeds 53 degrees F, and seems impervious to frost.
Winter Wheat Patch Growing in Garden
We started a small patch of wheat in our garden to see how it grows and to experiment with harvesting, threshing, winnowing, etc.
We also heavily seeded the acre where the three pigs were recently living. We seeded Austrian Winter Peas and Crimson Clover along with the wheat, both winter-grown legume crops for the nitrogen fixation and added nutrition. The goal is to anchor the now loosened soil and add organic matter. The cover crops in the acre will also be used for sheep grazing in the late winter and early spring.
A Green Haze of Winter Wheat on the Former Pig Pasture
More updates on our pasture development and garden wheat patch later…
Hog Update
The pigs which we raised since August 15 have now been processed by our local butcher. Late Sunday afternoon we loaded them, using some grain to tempt them onto the trailer. Early Monday morning we drove the 15 miles to the processing facility and dropped them off. Except for the unseasonably cool weather, these pigs had a very good life. Unlike most pigs, which are severely space constrained, they free-ranged over an entire acre. They were well-fed on grains, table scraps, milk, and acorns, not to mention any items they consumed while rooting up the wide expanse in which they lived.
The three pigs were small, with a total hanging weight of 318 lbs, after 5-1/2 months of life. The feed cost was about $220 and butchering expense was $190. When added to the original purchase cost of $90, total cost was $500 for an estimated 212 lbs of pork, after packaging. That’s about $2.36 per pound. And how about the quality?
Last night we prepared our first pork supper. Roasted ham with sweet potatos and sour kraut. The fresh ham was hand rubbed with various herbs to create a tender, juicy result that was very easy to slice. Wow. Just fabulous.
And the lessons learned from our first experience with raising pigs? Next time we will raise only two pigs, and keep them for perhaps seven months instead of four months. Larger hogs will result in more lard and bacon, and more meat overall at less cost. Also, we would like to start raising the pigs earlier in the season to avoid having them in the colder weather. We plan on another batch in the early Spring, instead of waiting until late summer.
