Microfiber sheets

...

It's the same here!

That surprises me, here Holsteins are purely for milk production - they're often called udders on wire clothes hangers becausae they're so bony.

They're very mild mannered, apparently. There are at least two large water buffalo herds in UK, the milk is used for cheese, mostly mozzarella, and yogurt.

Mary still drifting ...

When we were in Icelnd we saw freezer chests full of sheep's heads. We brought one home, it was good.

And why not? The pendulum is swinging back, parts previously considered yucky are now delicacies. We've always eaten them (the Fishers), During the war our family had cow heel stew most of the time when meat was rationed. If you're hungry you don't get picky eaters!

Pigs' feet ARE trotters - and extremely good eating! Pigs' cheeks are known here as Bath Chaps, they too are delicious.

Another off-ration meat in the War were rabbits, my mother kept them to eke out the meat ration. I loved scooping out the tender, delicately flavoured brains, I can still feel the fragile skull under my finger ... and the tonge (yes, a rabbit's tiny tongue!) had to be cut in half by my mother to share between my brother and me.

...

Quiet?

ME??

I didn't know sauerkraut was part of the central nervous system :-)

Mary

...

Yes. I THINK things might be changing, oh so slowly, in Britain. I'd like to think so.

But many processes are mechanised even on small farms so less labour is needed. Arable farmers are doing well right now, there's a demand for grain, which is pushing up the prices to animal farmers and more are failing. Then there's the price of milk, which hasn't increased to the farmer for years yet it's more than doubled in the same time to consumers. Don't get me started on supermarkets!

There must still be some small outlets in USA ... please tell me there are.

Mary

I did! Thank you.

Why not make one? I saw similar ones in Wa which were made of pine needles but using exactly the same technique as was used to make straw skeps. I saw 'was' but should have been 'is' - Spouse makes them! It's not a difficult process.

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote in news:48590b7f$0$766$ snipped-for-privacy@master.news.zetnet.net:

actually most beef cattle in the US are Angus, Hereford or white faced blacks (Hereford/Angus cross). beef buyers pay more for a black steer, thanks to aggressive marketing by the Angus Association. spent milk cattle, which are primarily Holsteins, are turned into hamburger.

yes, water buffalo are not at all like American Bison. much like yaks, they have been domesticated for thousands of years, longer than cattle have been. lee

Just saw this ... driftiing even further:

Now that it's the right time of year, we have farmer's markets in various locations. These are like the markets of old, in that they are open one or two days of the week, with a market somewhere every day. This is supposed to be locally grown produce, though I suspect that the stall holders buy some imports for resale.

That happens here too - but it's easy to spot the non-genuine :-)

Mary

Sure, Mary. As soon as I master my new embroidery-sewing machine, my sock machines, dig out my old knitting machine and get some things done, do something about this mountain of fabric, the other mountain of yarn, sell some stuff on eBay or lists.....I'll get right to learning how to weave baskets from scratch. They tell me the hardest part is finding reeds that haven't been sprayed with pesticide or herbicide.

But that's all mechanical, I'm talking abour REAL hands-on-with-nothing-in-between stuff :-)

That wouldn't matter - although, come to think about it, why would reeds be sprayed? I mean, they're of no agricultural use ... are they?

Mary

Yes, especially when the crates the produce is displayed in reads: "Producto de Mexico." ;-)

They wild reeds are sprayed for mosquito and weed abatement. The traditional way to weave the baskets is to strip the reeds, and pull them through your mouth to wet and soften them before weaving. Probably not appealing to our modern sensibilities and notions of hygiene, but that was the way the baskets were made for thousands of years, and are still made that way by the finest traditional weavers.

We often had pig's feet and pig's tails when I was young. My grandmother pickled them, prepared them with dumplings and sauerkraut and she also made some other Polish delicacies with them. My grandfather just loved them. While I was much fonder of pickled herring, I did find the entrée with dumplings quite delicious.

Phae

That may be true of water buffalo but I'm talking about bison. Perhaps the same is true of them. They are gigantic!

Thank you for the correction. I was not at all sure of my memory on that one. What I was far more sure about is that most beef you can buy in US groceries is mostly from one breed type. We need more diversity and we need good access to quality, grass-fed beef again.

Phae

And they smell really bad! Not to mention carrying brucellosis.

While there is some movement on grass feed beef in the USA, it is mainly coming from small organic and or niche cattle farmers. Sadly putting the large numbers of cattle out to pasture to graze on grasses is just not economically possible anymore, well that is how the cattle people put it. Besides they go on about risks of disease (especially if the cattle come into contact with wild Buffalo/Bison), predators, and so forth.

Ironically the one country that has great beef and is mainly grass fed is Argentina, though beef imports from that country to the USA are banned due to outbreaks of foot and mouth disease. Find it rather strange the USA authorities get their dander up about importing such beef, yet are totally offended when places like South Korea, Japan and other countries ban American beef and beef products after reports of disease. While USA shores may be free of foot and mouth disease, there is plenty else apparently in that beef, such as E Coli, and god only knows what else.

You know it really is a shame these days when preparing meals one has go at it like a scrub nurse preparing for a major operation, including hosing down and destroying anything that has come into contact with "raw meat or poultry". My mother, grandmothers, aunts and pretty much all the women I knew growing up not only cut meat on their bare counters, but seasoned and prepared it for cooking as well. Now of course if the surface cannot be put into the dishwasher, or rinsed in eau de Javel, that is forbidden by the food police. Oh and don't get me started on all the raw egg things one isn't supposed to make anymore. What is the point of making lemon meringue pie with fake egg whites?

Candide

Phaedrine Stonebridge wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@sn-indi.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net :

heh, i get to use my college major once in a while ;) we're looking into getting Devon cattle. they used to be the most common breed in the US until the arrival of mechanical tractors, but now number less than 1000 nationwide. they are a triple purpose breed, milk, meat & draft. as we have a small farm (62 acres), the draft quality would be just as useful as the meat & milk. they aren't big, like Angus, or huge milk producers like Holsteins, but they are a nice size for a family farm, and they are perfect for grass-fed. lee