Butter, pigs and sugar mountain farm

Walter Jefferies has been claiming to raise pigs on forage alone for years.  And when I recently pointed out that a few bushes or some grass might get a nibble from pigs, 15 tons of cheese and tens of thousands of gallons of milk products probably do a lot better job.

Just to be fair, when I stock 10 pigs an acre, that acre goes to bare dirt pretty darned quick.  and that land is lush, fertile river-bottom land covered in 3' of good grass to start.

Walter apparently didn't appreciate my posting a picture of his lovely wife juggling cheese and filed a takedown notice so that my blog entry was removed from the internet.  That's pretty rude, but I will do my best to protray his wife jugging cheese.  Here's my artists rendition here.

Holly actually draws people for a living.  I'd cheerfully accept her self portrait here.  I suck as an artist.  Sorry Holly.

See the original image of Holly jugging cheese here

For those folks who don't know the history, a few years ago I got tired of Walter Jefferies claiming to raise pigs on grass and forage alone, stocking at a rate of 10 pigs an acre, and offered him $10,000 to raise pigs per his repeated claims.

He declined my challenge, and sure is sore about my bringing it up, but how about you talk about what you're actually doing, and not a fantasy, Walter?

Feels like spring - chicks

Sorry to everyone being deep-frozen on the east coast, but it's 60 degrees and sunny  here. :)  

 years ago I decided that I'd eat only meat that I raised myself; and for efficiency sake, this is the crop of meat chickens that will be on my table for the  next year.  I looked at the long-term forecasts and decided that I'd trust them, and sure enough, we've got warmer-than-usual weather and the grass is growing and even the frogs think its spring.

 So a batch of 50 chickens in the brooder, with a heat lamp, and I'll watch the conditions outside.  I like a little bigger chicken, so I'll raise these until they're about 5.5lbs live weight, and then process them all in a batch, shrink-wrap bag them, and freeze them.

I don't freeze them with the hearts and livers and gizzards in them.  They go into a seperate bag; the livers in particular are my favorite.  I'll roast them on a pan with lemon juice and sliced green peppers; the hearts go to my brother Bryan, who loves them, and I h aven't figured out if I like gizzards or not -- but they're a staple down at the local truck stop, deep-fried and golden.

What food cost in 1913

Food costs are a big deal for most of the world; we're in a place where we spend less on our food than most every other country in the world as a percentage of our income, which is actually pretty nice.  Means you have more money for other stuff, but how we got there bothers me sometimes.  

The BLS has tracked food prices since 1913, and it's interesting to go through what they track and see how the prices change.    

1 cent in 1913 is worth $.24 cents in 2013 and so I've converted all prices to 2013 dollars.  if you'd like to see the original 1913 prices, you'll find them here.   The difference between 2013 and 2015 collars is about 4% (average 2% inflation * 2 years) 

In no particular order:  

Bread in 1913 cost $1.34/loaf.  In 2013 a loaf will cost you $1.42.  So bread is actually more expensive now than then -- despite our huge investment in automated everything to do with wheat harvests.  that's surprising

Flour in 1913 was $0.79/.  In 2013,  it's $0.52 - flour is cheaper now, but bread is more expensive.  Interesting.  

Cheese was $5.33 in 1913 -- now it's $5.83  - a little more expensive, but within 10% of the 1913 price.  

Butter was $9.82 in 1913, and is now about 1/3rd the price, at $3.501 -- that's a huge decrease!

Coffee was $7.18 in 1913, and is $5.90 today; 20% off.  this is surprising because I don't think that coffee harvests are mechanized nearly to the extent that other crops are.  Low labor costs?

Potatoes at in 1913 were $0.38/lb - they're closing in a double now.  $0.63

Rice at $2.06/lb in 1913 compares to rice at $0.71 now... about 1/3rd the price.  

Sirloin steak at $5.7 actually compares pretty well to current prices.  Identical price

Pork chops at 4.48 are much more expensive than modern, at $3.46

bacon was more expensive then, at $6.09 vs $4.40 now

Eggs are a bargain in the modern age.  1913 at $8.95/dozen then vs $1.93 today.  

Sugar  is $1.39/lb in 1913 and .68 cents a pound now.