Preparing for Uncertainty and Self Reliance

[heydaralon]

To call the North Carolina sweet potato market saturated would require a bit more than the old English understatement.

Are you trying to start a business or are you just trying to become self sufficient? If your goal is merely survival, I think sweet potatoes are your best bet. I don't know how the business side of farming works (or most of the labor side beyond the gardening I have done) so yeah they might not be a viable cash crop.

Business. Probably ornamentals at first. But possibly organic food I can sell at a market later on.

figure out how to grow air plants like bromeliads. The small ones hang from pots and do not require much water.
Then, if you have any kind of sculpting skills, make some kind of decorative clay container for them and sell them at a farmers market or something. I'm not joking, some of those plants sell for like $15, and they are tiny. I imagine those are not hard to cultivate, as my mom has dozens of them hanging around our yard.

[Speaker to Animals]

Are you trying to start a business or are you just trying to become self sufficient? If your goal is merely survival, I think sweet potatoes are your best bet. I don't know how the business side of farming works (or most of the labor side beyond the gardening I have done) so yeah they might not be a viable cash crop.

Business. Probably ornamentals at first. But possibly organic food I can sell at a market later on.

figure out how to grow air plants like bromeliads. The small ones hang from pots and do not require much water.
Then, if you have any kind of sculpting skills, make some kind of decorative clay container for them and sell them at a farmers market or something. I'm not joking, some of those plants sell for like $15, and they are tiny. I imagine those are not hard to cultivate, as my mom has dozens of them hanging around our yard.

Stuff like that is more like what I was thinking, at first. The only containers I would consider making myself, though, are possibly little wooden frames for orchids or something. I wouldn't bother with ceramics.

[heydaralon]

Business. Probably ornamentals at first. But possibly organic food I can sell at a market later on.

figure out how to grow air plants like bromeliads. The small ones hang from pots and do not require much water.
Then, if you have any kind of sculpting skills, make some kind of decorative clay container for them and sell them at a farmers market or something. I'm not joking, some of those plants sell for like $15, and they are tiny. I imagine those are not hard to cultivate, as my mom has dozens of them hanging around our yard.

Stuff like that is more like what I was thinking, at first. The only containers I would consider making myself, though, are possibly little wooden frames for orchids or something. I wouldn't bother with ceramics.

I believe NC has indigenous carnivorous plants like Venus Fly traps growing in the woods and possibly pitcher plants. Either way, you could buy seeds and learn how to plant them and grow them to sell. People love that kind of shit. I have a Venus Fly trap in a small container in my room right now. This fucker is tiny, but he has been eating gnats. I've had a bigass pitcher plant before too. If you haven't ever had a carnivorous plant, consider getting one. They fucking own.

[Hastur]

I have a Lagotto Romagniolo. He just loves nose work. Sweetest dog imaginable. For truffles work you need to train them as puppies. My dog is great for finding chanterelles. We don’t have truffles around here.

[Montegriffo]

I love the idea of driving till your batteries go flat then parking up to let the Sun charge them up again.
Wind generator on the roof and you could be charging while you sleep.

[C-Mag]

Who uses Lard in cooking ?
I've been sitting on about 60 lbs of Tallow from my beef. I processed a couple pounds last spring and have been using it here and there. In my quest to get further and further away from processed foods, it's time to get busy on rendering it into Lard. I found this interesting article that is pro-lard and includes background of why Canola and other oils are bad for you
https://www.daringgourmet.com/how-to-re ... ld-use-it/

Anyway. First 20 lbs is rendering in my wifes gigantic countertop roaster. Looks like it is going to make around 4 gallons min.

I'm curious to who uses lard and any tips from the team.

[heydaralon]

Who uses Lard in cooking ?
I've been sitting on about 60 lbs of Tallow from my beef. I processed a couple pounds last spring and have been using it here and there. In my quest to get further and further away from processed foods, it's time to get busy on rendering it into Lard. I found this interesting article that is pro-lard and includes background of why Canola and other oils are bad for you
https://www.daringgourmet.com/how-to-re ... ld-use-it/

Anyway. First 20 lbs is rendering in my wifes gigantic countertop roaster. Looks like it is going to make around 4 gallons min.

I'm curious to who uses lard and any tips from the team.

I have been saving bacon fat after I cook it. It is perfect for scrambled eggs and a variety of other things. I have about a pound of it stored up.

[Speaker to Animals]

Bacon fat is good for making certain soups and stews.

[Montegriffo]

Who uses Lard in cooking ?
I've been sitting on about 60 lbs of Tallow from my beef. I processed a couple pounds last spring and have been using it here and there. In my quest to get further and further away from processed foods, it's time to get busy on rendering it into Lard. I found this interesting article that is pro-lard and includes background of why Canola and other oils are bad for you
https://www.daringgourmet.com/how-to-re ... ld-use-it/

Anyway. First 20 lbs is rendering in my wifes gigantic countertop roaster. Looks like it is going to make around 4 gallons min.

I'm curious to who uses lard and any tips from the team.

Great for pastry. Use half butter and half lard.
Good for deep frying.
Works well for dumplings.
Much cheaper to buy than veg' oils and better for you.

[Speaker to Animals]

SF...



The idea of creating a collective and distributing the farm across several yards is a good one.

Seems a little bullshit, though.