Happy Meat, Happy Ecosystems, Happy People

What is “happy meat?” ​Is meat-eating inherently destructive, or can we have “happy ecosystems” along with happy meat? ​What does meat-eating mean for human health on a more-than physical level? And what about avoiding eating animal products because you care about ​animals’ welfare?

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Home Dairying, Banana Milkshakes, and Spare Egg Whites

This super-short post has some commentary on home-dairying, a tongue-in-cheek recipe for raw-milk banana milkshake, and something easy and useful to do with your egg whites when you only need the yolks. There are also a few links to related resources that I hope you’ll find helpful.

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Farm Update: In the Garden

​​Pictures and commentary from our garden​, ​a super-simple recipe for banana milkshake (simple only if you don’t count the steps that bring the milk to the kitchen)​, and a brief mention of one useful thing to do with your egg whites when you only need the yolks.

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Farm Update: New Calf, Chickweed Salads, Veggie Harvest

The kids’ll be up soon and looking for breakfast. The cow needs milking and the calf pen needs cleaning. I just have time before all that starts, to show you some pics of the new calf, our recent veggie garden harvests, and the chickweed in the lawn that we’re putting into salads.

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Raising Pigs – Fence Training

Electric fencing works very effectively for pigs, but only if they get the right first impressions of it. Here are the steps we take to train our piglets to stay behind electric fences, without terrifying them in the process.

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Raising Pigs – Can pigs learn table manners?

Feeding ​the pigs, as they grow bigger, ​can ​easily degenerate into a full body contact sport in which the pig ​wins and the amateur pig-raiser ​gets discouraged and gives up on homegrown pork. Is there a way to keep pig-raising ​enjoyable when those cute little piglets are no longer cute?

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Raising Pigs – New Piglets

Why we buy piglets rather than breeding our own; preparing for their arrival and minimizing the stress of their transition; what to feed them; a few thoughts on choosing heritage breeds versus modern breeds.

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Raising Pigs – Mobile Pens vs Pigs in One Place

What we have (so far) found to be the pros and cons of mobile versus stationary pig raising systems, and why we are currently trailing a stationary arrangement for our pigs.

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