Before the last world war our food was organic and most households had vegetable gardens. Most families worked to put their excess vegetables and fruit into jars to eat in the winter. I work towards growing all my own food on the property. So my diet is not vegetarian, or paleo, or vegan or atkins, or mayo, or mediterranean – I have always thought that many of these diets have too many rules so I just call my diet PreWar with Frills. Lots of room to maneuver in my diet. 
Though my animals and their wild behaviour is not exactly old fashioned! The vegetables are – with dinner tonight I am going to make cucumber salsa. 
The soy-beans are definitely not pre war. Though the first genetically modified crops entered the American food chain in 1994. (Tomatoes) The post war sprays are still being used. Just modified.
We are getting the odd red tomato but not enough to start the sauce yet. Too cold. Though this cold weather is fantastic for many of the vegetables plus the vegetable picker. 
The corn is ready. I will begin the corn relish tomorrow. No-one here likes frozen corn so I put as much as I can into relish.
Four roosters are in the fattening chicken tractor now. Not this hen, though I have told her if she keeps hiding her eggs there will be trouble! 
No skunks in traps but also no skunks in the barn or around the house the last few nights. Lots of baths for dogs though. 
Timatanga Moana is getting wider. (Even though she is on a strict vegetative diet.) She has had to make new holes in the fences so she and Poppy can behave badly. Poppy still bites Tima’s bottom, as they run along, just for fun, but generally they get on. All three pigs are walking twice a day now (separately) and I do think that Sheila is happier. Or maybe it is just the cool weather and the absence of the plonkers. She never much cared for them. 
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
39 responses to “My Pre War Diet”
I bet Sheila likes the attention and a change of scenery 😉
The fantastically fuzzy Tima is looking more and more like a Wookie, especially when she’s peering wistfully through the gate, giving her best ‘starving piggie’ impression. And she has a very stately walk, heaps of dignity for such a young personage. We’ll be heading north to Bowen soon to buy some $10 boxes of kilos of tomatoes for sauce, and I’ll be making loads of mess in the kitchen pressure canning jars and jars for winter pasta sauce. And perhaps I’ll also get a box of capsicums and char-grill them for putting up in olive oil. Yum!
Hey Kate! Say hi to the Big Mango when you go to Bowen for me! That was one of my favorite “American living in Australia” things . Typical tourist, right?? Cheers!
Sure will! And when it’s mango season, I’ll be going there for a box of fruit to can for a taste of sunshine in the winter. Did you know the Big Mango was stolen recently as a publicity stunt. They got it back, but only in Australia…..
Sunshine in the winter is a good thing!!!! Thanks for saying hi for me. We lived in Townsville/Saunders Beach and one of my favorite places to stop was the Frosty Mango —it did not sport a lovely big mango but was a favorite stop anyway!!!! I did not know know the Big Mango was stolen—that would have taken a bit of work, I would suspect!!! 🙂
Good morning! I would be willing to bet that the “pre-war diet with perks” is most likely the best diet out there. You may start a trend. I started the Paleo diet two weeks ago to help with the Lyme Disease symptoms. Believe me, there are no real perks involved there! Boring!
Oh my goodness –that Tima is so darn adorable. What a cute picture of her ambling along behind you trying to catch up with you I suspect before you snapped her picture. I got my first corn of the year at the Farmer’s Market last night. It was good but not as good as the later ears will be. Love, love, love fresh corn even more since I learned how to cook it in the microwave with the husks on. 🙂
Pre-War diets are the best!! Now I am semi-retired (do women every really ‘retire’?) I can cook things like my Mum used to make. Made some wonderful egg custard the other day – raw milk, my eggs, what could taste better! My beans have done real well this year and I am still picking and freezing them. Didn’t grow corn though as I really don’t have the space. Beets are still going strong too. We have had cooler temps too which has been great. Only had a handful of above 90’s weather the whole of June and July. Still have August to get through though. I so hope this doesn’t mean another cold brutal winter!!
Love the picture of Ton shaking out the water! But me and Border Collies are so linked!
I envy you, I would love to have a small self suficient farm. I do grow some veggies to satisfy my farmer syndrome. Enjoyed the read and pictures, thanks
Great photos. I have a favorite, but I’ll make you guess!
So the animal side is slowing down a bit with the plonkers gone and once a day Daisy and the garden side is gearing up for “putting up”. The cycles of the farmy is one of the things that fascinates me, plus it’s never boring! With Poppy biting Tima’s bottom, she probably gets a little more exercise…to get away! Perhaps this is a big sister, little sister thing since Poppy certainly can’t get one over on Sheila the Great.
Good morning to the farmy!
You know I always love reading your blog, and pretending that I’m there somewhere…between a hydrangea and a trotting pig…but today it’s all particularly lush and eden-like. I love the chickens running among the flowers to hide their eggs in pretty places. I love Tima’s nose trying to widen the gap. I love Ton doing his best to shake off that bath. It’s all so beautiful. So so beautiful. Happy preserving. I’m going to check out that cucumber salsa recipe now (I have a giant French duke just dying to be turned into something exciting…) x
Darn it. I typed cuke, but wordpress changed it to duke. Funny sentence, though…: ” A French duke just dying to be turned into something exciting.” Dangerous Liaisons, indeed.)
LOL I thought “duke” was some fancy cucumber. 🙂 Thanks for the smile.
Hilarious type. 😀
typo, even 😀 😀
The pre war diet is the one I was raised on after the war.
My sweet corn is still ‘making’ and so are my tomatoes – hard little green things. It’s sweltering here. But our hay is stacked and the first buyer (he wants 400 bales) is supposed to arrive before noon. Then we have two smaller loads going out before 6 tonight. All is well.
Your world is lush and green…a pleasure to gaze upon!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife@gmail.com
Can you bottle corn? I buy whole cobs in 2s, vacuum-packed, as we love it. The corn growing across the way is tantalising: only for animal food. I tried cooking some once and it was awful!
Have a lovely weekend.
I, too, was raised on a pre war diet. Farmers with horse drawn wagons came by with fresh veggies, and also the baker with baked goods. Ever notice how no one had a weight problem then? No high fructose corn syrup or much junk food or even fast food, for that matter. Mom cooked everything from scratch. Meat came from the local butcher and had no growth hormones or additives, either. Kids played all day outside in summer and after school and in snow in winter. Your Tima is just too sweet for words. No veggies here this year. Crazy weather….it got to 36 F the other night. One of our chickens has become an egg eater…..don’t know which one yet. She will go into the pot as soon as I find out which one. I would love to be able to can loads of veggies. Have just discovered Kimchi…OMG. Addicted already! Your garden looks so beautiful and lush.
Oh no! A canibal among the chooks. Hannibal Lecter’s chicken counter-part? You might get a clue by seeing which hen has a bottle of chianti stashed in her laying box. Sorry, I have a strange sense of humor.
How old will our Tima be when it’s time to breed?
I would say a year old, with a regular pig it is a year old or about 200 pounds. BUt that is a good question, The boar baby does not come until the autumn though and he will be a baby.. c
How old before a baby boar is mature enough to breed?
The boar can become fertile at about 10 – 12 months I think. He will be arriving late this year. So we will start breeding our babies late next winter for a spring farrowing. Now THAT will be an exciting time@! c
Oh boy…..can hardly wait for mama Tima to have little ones.
Oh dear. Tima’s going to be a regular Mrs. Robinson!
Beautiful photos and I love your white hydrangea!