Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Mike CHS]

We heated a a spiral ham that we bought from Kroger not long ago. We took it out of the oven and started to prep some of it for supper. I took a bite as I was cutting and immediately started cutting it up for dog food. It didn't have a foul or bad taste but rather, it had no taste as in zero.

 

[Baymule]

Maybe it was a “free” ham. As in every thing that made it good was omitted. Salt free, GMO free, taste free, carbs free, nitrite free, smoke is a carcinogen, so smoke free, fake smoke manufactured in a lab free…….

Aaannnddddd you get a hunk of icky crap.

 

[SageHill]

I don't know about everyone else, but a lot of what tasted great is now lacking in flavor and spiciness. Blanded down for the masses is my best guess. Fewer spices / seasonings = lower production cost when on a big level.

 

[Mini Horses]

Nope, it's the actual breed changes ... Leaner, less flavor in the meats. My home grown are NOT white meat, or fat free -- just delicious.

 

[farmerjan]

Agree with @Mini Horses that some is the different breeds... some is also that they are not raised outside on pasture/dirt/ eating all sorts of nuts, seeds, grass etc... makes a difference... that is why some people do not like beef from pastured animals... has a "stronger" flavor than the bland tastes from silage fed on feed lots....
Also some of it is spices being "dumbed down" due to so many people having digestion issues too...

My DS doesn't care for country ham... salt cured... but will eat it on occasion... EXCEPT.... this year at their christmas party as work he ate some and his blood pressure and heart rate went through the roof... as soon as he got it out of his system... in 2 days, it all went back to normal... so he said he will not be eating it anymore... at least it isn't his favourite.
I bought one of those spiral hams on sale at Kroger's around the holidays... it is in the freezer... now have to make a comparison when I do take it out... won't be for a month or so... I am getting tired of ham... so will switch to some other "eat from the freezer" choice and then will go back to the ham in a few weeks...and see how it is...

 

[Ridgetop]

I bought 10’ feed bunks from Tractor Supply and now stand on the OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE.

Nah, nah, nah, you can’t get me!

But of course they are sheep, so they have front feet in the bunk, trying to stick their heads in the bucket as I pour the feed. For one ewe, I hand feed her while pouring feed so she doesn’t take the bucket.

Build some J feeders out of plywood (like the rabbit J feeders).. The eating trough is inside of the fence, the pour in for feed is outside.

My DS doesn't care for country ham... salt cured... but will eat it on occasion... EXCEPT.... this year at their christmas party as work he ate some and his blood pressure and heart rate went through the roof...

I cooked a spiral cut ham - Farmer John? - this year and it was so salty that I could hardly eat it. The rest of the family didn't seem to notice. The last good hog we had was a Poland Spot - they are known for having more fat than the other breeds. The commercial breeds (this includes all Fair project pig breeds) have been developed to be so lean that they have almost no fat on the carcass. Fat is what gives meat flavor. Our kids raised Poland Spot hogs for several years - never won Champion, but sure tasted good. We slopped them morning and night on corn soaked in goat milk. Juicy, flavorful pork. We haven't had anything like it since. Our kids started buying Blue Butts and other commercials to win at the Fair. We stopped buying hogs at the Fair and stopped raising them for ourselves when we couldn't get the Poland Spots anymore.

 

[Mini Horses]

It's all about our food supply changes, handling, processing, etc. Tomatoes -- vine ripe, homegrown tasty old varieties vs store bought, picked green, gas ripened shipped from a variety that holds firm to ship. Mega farms mass produce to feed the world . And they've bred nutrition down in our foods.

Animal breeds, vegetable varieties, how each is handled/raised -- it makes a difference. Our homegrown provides so much more taste & nutrition. Support small farms!

 

[Baymule]

@Ridgetop once y’all get moved, build a good pig pen and look for Red Wattle or Hereford hogs. Both are good breeds for home raised pork.

 

[Mike CHS]

We had our appointment with USDA about gettin drought relief. They had all of the paperwork done so all we had to do was sign them. After the application fee we wound up getting a bit over $800 so it's way more worth the five minutes we spent there,

 

[farmerjan]

The county north of us, got drought status, but they have not given it to our county... we might not be eligib le if it is not a declared drought status... Glad you got something out of it.