Reducing our food bills

[British Red]

I don't know about you guys, but here on the homestead, prices are rising in a scary way - whether it's timber for chicken coops or propane for the Summer cooker. As a result our current focus is focusing our efforts at self reliance on reducing our expenditure as well as producing all that we can. It's something we are increasingly being asked about, so this week we have produced a video explaining how we are working to minimise our food bill. If it proves the sort of thing that interests people, we will happily cover all the aspects of our life - from fuel to water - just let us know

 

[Robson Valley]

Excellent and timely, too. I watched it all twice.

The biggest single item for me was to buy a reasonably large deep freezer. Bulk food price structure is nothing as steep as multiples of store prices. Bulk meat is the think to do here. Cut for cut ,bison is expensive. A whole side is just meat.
I have eaten 6-7 bison in the past 20 years.

All of a sudden, all sorts of people want to barter for bison. Pork, beef, chickens, rabbits, fish, you name it. A diverse diet is there.
Or they will give it away here because nobody else wants it. Like kidneys, heart and liver.

Next was bulk cooking from discounted bulk buying. Why make 1 apple pie when I can get good and cheap fruit to make 6 at a time and freeze them? Chili con Carne' for 20.
Boil 24 ears of corn. Eat 2, shuck and freeze the rest.

I was a good boy in the beginning and did the maths. My best estimate was that the freezer took 2 years for cost recovery, 18 years ago and it has been running free ever since.

As a note added in proof, when my D2 got married, a freezer was my wedding gift to them.

 

[British Red]

It sounds like our experience of venison is much like yours with bison! We looked up online and a game butcher was offering a venison box for £90. There was a roast, two steaks, some burgers and sausages. We bought an entire, large deer for £80.

There was of course work involved in breaking it down into individual cuts and steaks but the savings were very large and it's wonderful lean, sustainable wild meat.

 

[Kadushu]

I think a handful of veg that you can grow well goes a long way. Potatoes, onions, parsnips and squashes are among my favourites. They give a good yield and keep a long time. I also keep chickens for eggs. My parents have ~12 apple trees and they still have boxes of apples in a cold cupboard which are getting a bit woolly now but fine for cooking. Combine that with your tips on meat and your diet may not be wonderfully varied but you'll never starve.

 

[British Red]

I think a handful of veg that you can grow well goes a long way. Potatoes, onions, parsnips and squashes are among my favourites. They give a good yield and keep a long time. I also keep chickens for eggs. My parents have ~12 apple trees and they still have boxes of apples in a cold cupboard which are getting a bit woolly now but fine for cooking. Combine that with your tips on meat and your diet may not be wonderfully varied but you'll never starve.

Exactly so. Parsnips are excellent food - amazingly productive per square foot, not subject to blight like potatoes, easy to seed save. Squash too - I recall growing a 70 pound pumpkin once!

 

[SaraR]

I think a handful of veg that you can grow well goes a long way. Potatoes, onions, parsnips and squashes are among my favourites. They give a good yield and keep a long time. I also keep chickens for eggs. My parents have ~12 apple trees and they still have boxes of apples in a cold cupboard which are getting a bit woolly now but fine for cooking. Combine that with your tips on meat and your diet may not be wonderfully varied but you'll never starve.

I never seem to have much success with growing vegetables (apart from squashes, courgettes, sugar snap peas and green beans) and where we live now the soil is really thin, so I've focused my efforts on herbs. We already produce more than we need of several herbs, plus it's expensive to buy so a real saving too.

Last year, we planted an apple tree, so in a few years we'll hopefully be producing all the apples we need, plus they are providing nectar for the bees.

 

[Dougster]

The only thing that worries me about stock piling meat (and I do, particularly game at the end of season) is that we have having multiple day power cuts with all the storms. Having taken and processed several deer, losing them would be a heartbreaker.

 

[Kadushu]

Last year I started making pigeon jerky, since pigeon is the main game meat around here. There are basically no deer and even rabbits are thin on the ground now. Anyway, it's pretty strong flavoured but ground to a powder and added to a stew it's spot on. There's no single thing that is the be all and end all in self sufficiency. Each type of food or way you prepare it is a component of a toolkit which, hopefully, has all bases covered with some built in redundancy.

 

[SaraR]

The only thing that worries me about stock piling meat (and I do, particularly game at the end of season) is that we have having multiple day power cuts with all the storms. Having taken and processed several deer, losing them would be a heartbreaker.

It doesn't have to be a powercut, it can be a appliance failure that takes a bit of time to sort out or replace, or somebody unplugging the freezer and not plugging it back in again etc.

I think it's important to not put all your eggs in the same basket if you're storing a lot of produce. If you have some dried, some canned, some smoked, some frozen and so on, you are much less sensitive to problems, be it powercuts, pests, a batch of canning not working out etc. Plus more variety so nicer for you to not have the same all the time.

 

[British Red]

The only thing that worries me about stock piling meat (and I do, particularly game at the end of season) is that we have having multiple day power cuts with all the storms. Having taken and processed several deer, losing them would be a heartbreaker.

I have the same fear of power cuts in storms. We've had them here although not (yet) multiple days thankfully. We invested in a decent Honda generator and a propane conversion kit ( we have both a propane bulk tank and cylinders for cooking. It's very quiet and would let us keep the freezers cold for a good long time

Honda Generator with Propane kit by English Countrylife, on Flickr

 

[British Red]

Last year I started making pigeon jerky, since pigeon is the main game meat around here. There are basically no deer and even rabbits are thin on the ground now. Anyway, it's pretty strong flavoured but ground to a powder and added to a stew it's spot on. There's no single thing that is the be all and end all in self sufficiency. Each type of food or way you prepare it is a component of a toolkit which, hopefully, has all bases covered with some built in redundancy.

Interesting on the pigeon jerky - is it mainly breast and thigh that you dehydrate?

 

[Kadushu]

Interesting on the pigeon jerky - is it mainly breast and thigh that you dehydrate?

Yup, I don't bother picking at the rest of it.

 

[TeeDee]

It sounds like our experience of venison is much like yours with bison! We looked up online and a game butcher was offering a venison box for £90. There was a roast, two steaks, some burgers and sausages. We bought an entire, large deer for £80.

There was of course work involved in breaking it down into individual cuts and steaks but the savings were very large and it's wonderful lean, sustainable wild meat.

I must admit I'm kinda surprised you are not shooting the beasties yourself in your area BR? Must be someone who wants an extra Gun and skillset with it?

 

[British Red]

I must admit I'm kinda surprised you are not shooting the beasties yourself in your area BR? Must be someone who wants an extra Gun and skillset with it?

It's something I must get to mate, had an offer recently. Excuse for a new rifle....

 

[bigbear]

So is it legal to kill and eat wood pigeon and collared doves ? Is shooting the only way or would say raisins soaked in gin work to lure them in and render them catchable ?

 

[British Red]

So is it legal to kill and eat wood pigeon and collared doves ? Is shooting the only way or would say raisins soaked in gin work to lure them in and render them catchable ?

Complex question. All birds are protected in law but each year a "General Licence" is issued to allow the control of certain specified species for defined reasons ,( e.g. public health, crop damage etc.). It is legal to shoot wood pigeon that are causing serious crop damage

GL42: general licence to kill or take certain species of wild birds to prevent serious damage

www.gov.uk

Once they have been taken for a lawful reason, it's fine to use them for food.

Collared dove are not on the GL42 general licence. You would need to ask a wildlife law expert as to the legality of non shooting methods.

 

[SaraR]

I don't know about you guys, but here on the homestead, prices are rising in a scary way - whether it's timber for chicken coops or propane for the Summer cooker. As a result our current focus is focusing our efforts at self reliance on reducing our expenditure as well as producing all that we can. It's something we are increasingly being asked about, so this week we have produced a video explaining how we are working to minimise our food bill. If it proves the sort of thing that interests people, we will happily cover all the aspects of our life - from fuel to water - just let us know

I really enjoy your videos!

How long did it take you to figure out how much of any one thing you needed and what would be too much? Has it been something that you’ve developed a feel for over time or something you’ve sat down and really thought about?

 

[Robson Valley]

Every bison tastes a little different. You can smell it even in burgers on the grill. I think the sheer quantity and that uniform taste promotes bartering all up and down this mountain valley.

A farmer slaughters 6 pigs. He sure can't eat all of that and nothing but. He knows two things for certain: I want pork and I have bison.

My apple trees have been quite a disappointment for fruit quality. But to that pig farmer, useful pig food. I see a roast and a bunch of pork chops!

None of this happened over night. I bought my home here in 2000. The bison thing didn't begin to happen for a few years. The apple trees, berry bushes and the grape vines took their own sweet time to grow into production. I'm sure that BR has faced the same time lag in his own garden. What he shows us are many techniques of reliable preservation and those, of course, are an adjunct to bartering.

 

[grizzlyj]

In our two freezers I had remote thermometers with the display in the kitchen. Before we go shopping the freezer blocks go in and the temp drops a few degrees so we now put the boost button on for a few hours before. That also helps freeze the stuff from the shops, 45 mins away.
We got caught a few times with it dropping having put a bit much in in one go so three weeks ago bought different thermometers with an alarm at a maximum temperature.
We went away a week ago and the power was disrupted a few times but neighbours said it came back on quite quickly. Back home we discovered half the house electric has tripped, so both freezers at 1 degC. Insurance excess £350.
Is it worth spending "a lot" on a battery pack for each one?
Maybe I'll just do more canning

 

[British Red]

I really enjoy your videos!

How long did it take you to figure out how much of any one thing you needed and what would be too much? Has it been something that you’ve developed a feel for over time or something you’ve sat down and really thought about?

Hi Sara! That is a fabulous question and a complex one to answer but I'll try.

It has several "iterations".

To start with we "grew stuff" and tried to eat it. But...kale. It's disgusting. Just because worthy people try to convince us to like something didn't mean we would eat it ....So...we grow what we eat

Then we grew stuff we liked..Too much, too little.

Then we grew the amount we needed for a year. But it spoiled, sprouted, softened.

So we learned to plant in succession and choose different varieties with different keeping qualities

Then we learned exactly how much to grow for a year

Then a crop failed. So we learned to grow an excess and preserve extra for the long term (e.g. dried onions that last for years)

We are still learning.....