Heirloom pigs would be fun. Chickens just seem to get killed all the time, and the feed price doesn’t seem worth it. Idk though. I just have a feeling all my chickens would die if I tried.
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@James at’s why we have livestock guard dogs. We loose occasional ones to owls, but nothing to other predators in a couple of years. Although if the mountain lion comes back, all bets are off.
We’ve got our first accidental pig - her name is Peggy and she’s decided to live with us instead of our neighbors because their dog dislikes her and has gone after her a few times. I’d like to have Mulefooted Pigs but we need to pig-proof our fencing first. We have heirloom turkey, ducks, geese, chickens and cows.
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My family’s farm had some chickens and some chicken hawks started nesting in the woods on the farm. So the chickens disappeared, they killed the rest and ate them, and decided to not mess with it anymore. Ducks would be awesome. Duck eggs are better than chicken eggs and duck is my favorite bird to eat.
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Duck eggs are the BEST!!! have you tried turkey eggs? also pretty awesome.
Our ducks are Silver Appleyards - not too easy to find, but very awesome birds. long-season layers, nice big meat birds, mellow temperaments, and great foragers, not to mention pretty.
Our LGDs sky-watch so we haven’t had any daytime losses to birds of prey. The owls still get some at night, and we don’t get light-colored guinea hens because they seem to like those best. We’ve got redtail and some smaller hawks as well as eagles in our area.
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I’ve never had turkey eggs. I don’t like turkey too much. My grandma and aunt used to ruin turkey so bad. It was like the Sahara. I used to honestly think that people ate turkey on Thanksgiving to be thankful for the food we eat the rest of the year. I can’t eat turkey, I refuse to hunt them too.
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@James
if you like duck eggs you’ll like turkey eggs. guinea hen eggs also. But it’s fine if you stick with the duck eggs
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I also forgot to add that I’ve been getting into photography a bit around the farm.
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Of all of them the Apple iOS iTunes update was the one that stung the most. Apparently any “unlicensed” media got purged. As it was all my recording it dumped it. The others are circumstance. I’m afraid to link my iPod to iTunes so it sits in my car and I listen to it from time to time reliving those moments in time. I’ll try to find my song Ursa, I started to write for my daughter when she was 6. She loved teddy bears and there’s more to it but that’s the core of it.
I look at it like this I tried many times to learn guitar, and after my car accident in 93 in my 88 IrocZ I had to learn again. It was a 5spd TPI 305 w/G92 RPO code = GMs spartan 230hp low key street fighter with no striping or door decals before pic
After pic = head, face, neck, hand, wrist, knee injuries with a dislocated jaw and broken collar bone. Rolled multiple times down an embankment after losing traction on a turn. Roof crushed in on my head shoving me down breaking my seat and right collar bone with my head hanging out the broken out side door window.
As I said I had to give it up until I healed then relearn how to play as the injuries to my hands affected my ability to fret, chords, even hold the guitar as my right side due to my collar bone was all out of whack. Learning how to play is one thing. Knowing how and your body not being able to do what you want it to do was beyond words depressing.
Took me about 5 years to get to a level of at least being able to rehearse and perform. My first set list on the “comeback” was Toto’s Hold the Line, WASPs I Don’t Need No Doctor, and Boston’s Piece of Mind and my new talent of back up vocals.
I learned how to work around my new challenge and came to terms. Again I put in the effort and was able to play again working through it. Bonus found from my unconventional style and technique was I added a different layer of dynamics with other guitar players as I’ve always played in 2 guitar bands.
Looking back I’ve come across lots of close calls this accident is right up there.
Yet as far as music there are plenty of naturally talented people that are out there. Along with flat out beyond amazing artists.
I’m still amazed when I finally connected with taking an idea or inspiration and being able to form it into a song and have people like it and you look from the stage and see them singing along it’s very humbling and moving experience.
Yet I’ll be clear I make no claim to being more than someone who likes music, I still remember breaking strings trying to tune. Being laughed at when trying to play along to songs, laughed at when trying to learn how to solo, laughed at while carrying my guitar in a duffle bag because I couldn’t afford a case.
I know my way around a guitar, I like to just get lost in playing and by the grace of God in his mysterious ways gifted me with the ability to make music and keep my hands from being idle, especially when I needed it the most during the quiet times.
I say pursue your passions it’s never too late and good for the soul
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WOW! What a comeback, @KenM. I’m so impressed with your attitude and determination!
Sounds like you music was very healing and therapeutic for you in so many ways.
Thank you for sharing your experiences! I know someone will need to hear what you’ve said here!
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Wow, @KenM! That’s a lot to overcome. Five years is a long time, glad you had the fortitude and discipline to see it through. And that car… dude!
Playing for people was the best experience. So many little moments that light the soul. Being part of a team. Learning a song at home, but not really being able to play it until I was standing next to the drummer. Doing a run just right. Improvising because I felt something. My worship leader was a skilled musician. Occasionally, I would try a little something creative, and I could see him cock his head slightly, then nod. If it was really good, he would turn around and smile or chuckle. The whole “What are you doing back there?” thing. Really cool. But I’m with you. They called me a musician. I always responded “I’m not even a bass player. I’m just someone who plays bass.”
I love Boston, and their bass player is phenomenal. When I grow up, I wanna be able to play More Than a Feeling.
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@Dawn let them know all they’ll ever need is a mustard seed’s worth of faith.
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Have you ever tried foraging? I also enjoy morel hunting, and getting ramps in the spring time. I got some books called the fox fire collection and they have interesting gardening tips and whatnot in them too.
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@James I love the foxfire books - I think I got my first set in … 1977?
We forage medicinal mushrooms (just a few I’m very sure of), medicinal herbs and edible plants.
Last year when I was working in Bloomington IN (where they have an AWESOME farmer’s marked) someone had ramps they’d harvested roots and all. I wish folks wouldn’t do that - ramps are a very fragile wild community and there’s a way to harvest without losing the colony - but since they already had, I bought all the ones with roots. Took them back to my hotel room, potted them, and managed to keep them alive until I got home to plant them. They promptly died back to ground level (which they do seasonally anyway) … and came up and flowered in the spring. pretty cool since they have to be about 7 yrs old before they flower. I now have a tiny patch of ramps that I guard jealously from all comers, human or animal 
and yeah, I do that whole herbal thing… I can (and do) make my own medicines for a lot of stuff. pretty satisfying to be able to do so.
There are some survival skills I need to work on (butchering small animals I’ve done, but not large, and smoking meat is something I need to learn) but I’ve got a pretty complete set of homestead skills otherwise. Lots of tools I’d like to have that I don’t yet, and my bushcraft could improve, but there’s an unrequited homesteader in me.
So what’s your next bushcraft / homesteading skill to learn?
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I want to make more time to pick more mushrooms and other wild edibles. I always dig up ramps from one patch every year in a local park. I dig them out one by one with a stick and my fingers. I also cut down dead black cherry trees there for smoking meat. I don’t know if I should be doing that, but I pay taxes and the trees are dead, whatever.
I’d like to do more with smoking and preserving meat, but I’ve done a bit of that before. And build a log structure. I might build one for a permanent ground blind, but knowing my luck a bear will den in it. Lol.
Have you seen any of the Alone in the Wilderness movies? Those are legit too.
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Haven’t seen the alone in the wilderness movies, I’ll have to look for those!
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You all are making me want to get back out and practice my skills again. I applied for the first 3 seasons of Alone on History, but then other things took over and I stopped applying.
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Here’s a snippet, if you like homesteading stuff, you’ll love alone in the wilderness. You can buy the DVDs on Amazon.
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@AAlan and @KenM; WOW! Amazing! And to everyone, we have a VERY DIVERSE group!
When I was in High School I played soccer (Full Back) and I was in Drama. I was in one perfomance, Singing In The Rain.
I have played guitar acoustic and electric both six and twelve string since I was 10 years old (on and off) around 2011 some friends of mine encouraged me to get back into performing and I started and I have written approximately 40 songs (all copyrighted) and even one for my wife who has multiple fatal medical conditions (Standing Next To Me). I also perform covers in the genre of Folk, Country, Pop and Rock from the 1960’s to the present day. I have taken a break as my wife’s medical conditions are getting worse and I want to spend more time with her. I try to spend some time at home practicing but not as much lately. When we were involved in our church’s choir, I wrote a song “Found Jesus” and our choir director told me when she heard it that I was definitely going to perform it during our Lenten performances. I got a lot of positive feedback on that song.
@Dawn, when Sherry and I became Vegan, I self-learned how to bake and I started making my own bread from scratch, Pizza with Vegan Cheese rolled up in the crust and delicious Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies with Dark Chocolate Chunks in them. When Sherry realized that she can not eat gluten, I had to stop but one day I will try to bake some non-gluten items. That will be a challenge for me.
Otherwise I like poetry, no favorites, and I have written my own too.
We used to hike in the woods until the arthritis in Sherry’s knees wouldn’t let her make the hills.
I like bicycling when I can and just being outdoors.
Lately we just walk down a local street near our apartment to get exercise.
Lastly, I got interested in Ham Radio and I passed my Technician’s License about a year ago and one day I will try to pass the next one. The farthest I have communicated is a gentleman in Scotland one night when I was on the digital band.
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OH, and Photography, Wildlife, Nature, Scenery and some of the local musicians.
Here are some links to my photography and music:
Photography: Gregory W Irish Photography
Gregory W Irish Music:
http://www.GregoryWIrishMusic.com
Gregory W. Irish Music
GREGORY W IRISH | ReverbNation
Gregory W Irish - Songwriter - Original Songs - YouTube
“Standing Next To Me” I wrote for my wife who has multiple fatal medical
conditions and she kept asking me why do I stay with her. My reply was
“That is the way I was raised. You don’t leave someone you love because they are ill.”
“Why Did You Do It, Why Don’t You Care?” I wrote this song about the violence in this world,
mainly shootings and murder/suicides and why people do what they do. I finished the song while sitting next to my sons hospital bed after two young males jumped him and hit him in the head with a 2 by 4 and then kept kicking him on the ground leaving him for dead. He survived this attack only to be shot in Newark, NJ last September and then survived that also.
Later I will share some of my photography.
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here’s my favorite link on sustainable harvest of ramps:
and that’s awesome video - going to go find those and order them.
@NJStraightShooter … I’m trying to reconcile vegan… poetry… firearms… your punisher logo… 
I think you might be representing DIVERSE all by yourself 
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