Yes. It is that time of year again. The time for the Plonkers to exit stage right.
So John has backed the Black Mariah up to the barn door and I have begun to get the pigs familiar with running down the pretend corridor and jumping up into the trailer – by putting their food in there. Then they get to know the trailer and load into the trailer without anxiety. So far I have never had an animal panic. And I don’t intend to have that happen either.
It is important at this point to note that these pigs were bred for the family freezers. If I did not grow my own meat I would not eat meat here. When I am not milking my cow I do not drink milk, I eat very little butter and no ice cream at all. Off the farm I don’t eat meat that I cannot trace. And now that GE salmon has been approved in America, fish is falling off the menu too, so when I am not in my own house, I am (quite happily) a vegetarian. I tell you this only so you will see why I have chosen to grow my own meat. As well as the factory conditions these animals live in, it is the feed that these animals are fed that I find shocking.
Every year I send animals off to the abbatoir and every year I get attacked by certain groups of people for growing animals for meat. But I have an open farm, you can visit anytime and see the conditions my animals live in. You can work here or I will show you around. I have nothing to be ashamed of. I grow meat and milk the way it should be grown. Gently with dignity.
If we were all asked to look our dinner in the eye, (which I do and many of The Fellowship do) we simply would not eat as much meat. We would treat our dinner with respect. (I know that sounds weird but that it is how it should be). But we would eat LESS. And THAT would solve a lot of problems. In many ways. There would be no need for feed-lots or enormous hog sheds. And our backyard vegetable farms would be big vibrant spaces again. Modern man eats too much meat.
Of course this is just my opinion.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
85 responses to “Stage Right”
I completely agree with you and with pigs one can eat the entire animal, nose to tail, as Fergus Henderson would say 😉
You and Jake would get along like a house on fire – he has requested his pork uncut. He is going to do it all himself and with pop up dinners use the entire carcass.. It is great isn’t it!
Excellent! Make sure you keep the trotters, even if you only use them for stock. They contain a huge amount of gelatine. I’ve got trotter confit in the fridge (don’t tell Sheila) – it’s absolutely delicious 🙂
I must say I battle terribly seeing animals being transported but that is just me and I eat meat. I have a double standard I guess. If I am happy to eat meat, I should be happy with all aspects. Oh well, I am just a real ninny. If you weren’t so far C, I would be over in a heart beat to help out for a while.
Have a beautiful day.
🙂 Mandy xoxo
You are not a ninny darling girl! Everyone develops a world that they can live in and it is our job to support, or have a quiet word and be done with it. I long for local butchers again – do you have a local butcher out there in South Africa? My daughter has a local butcher in Melbourne – they are on a first name basis – and he does his own buying and can tell you where your meat comes from – (I miss having a real butcher) you don’t necessarily have to grow it, just doing the best you can in your environment you have landed in must be enough. c
Yes, we have local farmers surrounding us which is great and we even get emails with what’s available and some even do door to door deliveries. Wonderful living in a small town. xo
Yes, we hear it every year as well. How can you eat those cute lambs and goats? And I say, how can you eat that grocery store meat from feed lots! (Of course, we eat grocery meat a certain amount of the time, but we try to stick to our own and that which we get from fellow small farmers). I was a vegetarian for a long time, but this suits better.
The balance is good isn’t it. And knowledge. Being able to gather knowledge, being our own devils advocate sometimes, is very powerful in taking control of our lives. c
I agree with you. We all should have to look our food in the eye. Your animals have a good life and know nothing but love. I don’t raise my own meat but eat very little meat and wish I ate more vegetarian. Let the haters hate.
I feel sorry for the haters. I say, I forgive you. (Which seems to make them wilder). But I also need to be careful that I don’t force my manifesto down other peoples throats too. We can all live together. But one must be able to explain ones position – at least once. Then let things rest. c
If I lived closer The Farmy would be my supermarket. Laura
And you would be most wonderfully welcome.. c
Amen and d’accord to all of that. No GM stuff allowed here, but we still eat very little meat (a lot of fish).
Jock is embroidering a swatch of peacock feathers from a photo pinched from here. Starting to look good.
Lots of love,
ViV xox
It is very hard to be GM free out here. But I think I am winning. Fish is a difficult one for me – I grew up by the sea and watched out fishing fleets dwindle as they fished the Bay to empty over the 17 years I lived there. We literally saw smaller and smaller catches with the boats having to go further and further out. International poaching is awful. The waste is just terrible. And they are dredging the seabeds as they trawl the nets. So we need to be very educated about the fish we are eating too. Jocks embroidery of The Duke is one of my favourite pictures and my daughter has nicked the one he did of me! She has it hung in her room in Melbourne. You are a talented pair. c
That little tree there still got his nice brown leaves on. – I fully agree with your thoughts on meat, I hate what the animals are fed and how they are threatened, not to mention all that medication that goes into them. That you’re being attacked I find just awful and daft. These people are kind of fanatic ones. So sad. But – we have to deal with them, whether we want or not.
Love, Irmi
I loved the light through that pear tree. The leaves have been frozen. c
Good morning Celi, I wish I could raise my own meat. I once heard another say, “My animals lived a lovely life and suffered for one brief moment. Can you say the same thing for the animals you eat?” He was so right!
We all do the best we can though. I am one of the lucky ones being ABLE to grow my own meat and vegetables. Not many people can do that.. c
I agree 100%. I was a vegetarian for years, but the family likes meat. We raise our own poultry, kill them humanely. Our beef and pork come from a friend’s farm and I know they are well raised on unsprayed pasture and treated well.
Sounds like you have a great set up.. I love our farm raised chickens.. so good.. c
I have looked my dinner in the eye, and said “Thank you” before it became dinner. I was fortunate that I didn’t need to transport my beasts. They trotted up happily and the moment was fleeting. There is a great deal of finger-wagging in the world, lots of people telling lots of other people what they should or should not do. Let us all do as our conscience dictates, and if we eat meat, let it be meat that has had the best kind of life.
Finger wagging.. yes that is the perfect term for it! Morning Kate! c
Morning, my lovely. Another boiling hot day in the tropics begins…
I’ve never had to look my dinner in the eye or “process it” myself, and you’re right, it would probably change a lot of things. I am prone to getting attached to animals so if I owned a farm it would probably become a zoo and a vegan farm before long. LOL But I am thankful that my local grocer sells organic grass fed meat! 🙂
But I am not a hard hearted person – just pragmatic and with your diet you would become ill without meat – it is a good source of protein for you. c
I can’t imagine anyone thinking that you are a hard hearted person! It’s obvious and quite clear the love and care you put into the farmy and all of the animals whether they are pets or not. And yes, I would become ill without protein, so I guess I would eventually just get used to looking my dinner in the eye! LOL
smiles.. c
I was raised on a self sustained ranch & when we stopped raising our food, I became vegetarian, as it was hard to find happy, healthy food without traveling far. That was the 70’s & 80’s, now I eat wild food if I want fish or a burger. I can’t stomach the store meats & dairy-I am so with you, this is why I love your farmy. Happy food is the best food. Have a wonderful day Celi.
I guess this lovely internet world we live in makes people feel safe and free to say anonymously whatever they like in criticism of whomever they like with whatever harsh language they like. I’m sorry you have been the recipient of that. You are always, ALWAYS open about what you are doing and why. Why on earth does anyone need to be unkind to you for that?
The internet does cater for stalkers and anonymous bashers.. I find myself avoiding Facebook lately just because of all the hateful attacks on other peoples. Cruel words said to a keyboard are easier to write but devastating to read. c
Completely on target. I was on a rant about how people condemn each other for doing things they do not endorse and decided to let it go. I so agree with everything you said and do. Wish I could find good meat here but it’s not possible with my meager funds so I make a little go a long way. Always have. Don’t let them get to you. People that attack need to look inside and see what’s wrong there.
And that is exactly what i am thinking too – if our only option is cheaply raised meat, then eat a little. If only for your health. I know about running a budget.. Do people have budgets anymore? c
🙂 My budget is chronically busted. I will never be a vegetarian. Vegetables have feelings too.
and vegetables are not cheap to buy either.. c
Don’t I know. 🙂 Next spring after I paint the house, the garden goes in.
I was raised on a self sustained ranch and when we no longer raised our food, I found it difficult to find happy, healthy food without traveling far. This was the 70’s & 80’s, so I became a vegetarian. I now eat wild food if I want a burger or fish. This is why I love your farmy- happy, healthy food. Have a great day Celi.
Wild food has to be the best. What a fantastic decision. c