Colonel’s Blog, Earthdate 14 April 2023…
Hey Y’all!
Happy Fast-jet Friday!! We took our pic with the sheep today, right after giving them hay. The last pic is an ominous view of the Mighty-Mighty Strike Eagle. The weather continues to be amazing. Cool mornings and warm afternoons. The third pic is at sunset yesterday evening of the hill we’ve been working. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, about perfect timing from the last rain. Due to the rocks, our Ozark soil can’t hold water for long so no matter how much rain we get, we need more in 2 weeks. The farm is doing very well this morning. We already gave hay to the beef herd and the sheep flock. We set up a new paddock for the dairy cows, second pic, so they can have some fresh grass. This one is closer to the house, allowing them to mow (and fertilize) for us. We spread some pasture-grass seed on the berm behind the house and will cover it with straw. We hope the rain tomorrow will help germinate some grass and keep the soil in place. Nana and Papa are back, and are already busy. Nana has 2 pounds of cheese pressing and the next batch on the stove. We spent quite a bit of time during our morning staff meeting discussing the flerd again. We are still apprehensive but committed to it. We will start setting up the first paddock today and plan to work the sheep and let them be the first in on Sunday. Today we will also move the livestock trailer down to the hog loading pen and remove their feeders. We will put buckets in the trailer and feed them in the buckets. That gives them a couple of days to get used to the trailer and hopefully they will load themselves Sunday evening when we bring them food. The next few days are quite busy! We will go to the market tomorrow from 0800-1200, then Makaylah has a soccer game at 1245. We should make it back home about the time it starts raining. Sunday we have to get the sheep across the farm from their current paddock to the working pens. In order to make that happen, we must build lanes to contain them during the move. Once we get them into the pens, we will vaccinate all and trim any hooves that may need it. We will then let them into the flerd paddock. We should finish that in time to load the hogs. Monday morning, we will leave early in order to drive 2 hours to have the hogs to the processor by 0900. When we return home, we will bring the beef herd to the pens and vaccinate those that are in need and then let them out into the flerd paddock. With the upcoming pace of ops, I may be delayed in getting the blog out.
I’ll continue on my anti-sugar path today. I’ll even take a step back to carbohydrates in general. It is an interesting search to ask Mr. Googlepants if carbohydrates are required to sustain life. You should give it a try. The answers are basically split 50/50 between yes and no. There is a school of thought that says that every cell in our body lives off of glucose and thus we must ingest glucose to feed those cells. Glucose can come in the form of sugar or simple carbohydrates that our body then converts to glucose. Other results say that our body will make any glucose required, even if we never eat carbohydrates. These answers cannot both be true, but are both stated as fact. I am not a nutritionist nor am I a medical doctor (although I would guess I have spent more time studying nutrition than the average general practitioner—don’t believe me, look up how much time is dedicated to nutrition in medical school). So, I cannot regurgitate whatever line of hundred-year-old thinking is being taught in medical school. I can tell you about my experience. In 2019, we transitioned to a ketogenic way of eating, initially with much focus given to keep our total carbohydrates less than 25g per day. After about a year, we transitioned to eating only meat. We maintained that way of eating for over a year. At the 14-month point of having only meat…no sugar, no simple carbohydrates, no “glucose” in my diet, I had blood-work done as part of my annual Air Force physical. My glucose was 86 mg/dl, smack dab in the middle of normal. There is no way that after over two years, my body still had glucose stored from my last carb-laden meal. As a result, I fall squarely in the school of thought that says you are not required to eat carbohydrates in order to have glucose to feed your cells. I am in the school that says your liver will produce the amount of glucose required to keep your cells healthy, even if you don’t eat it. We’re not that extreme in our diet these days. We eat real food—meat, green vegetables, dairy, eggs, fats. We still do not eat sugar, in any form, no grains, nor do we consume more than about 15-20g of total carbs per day. I assert that a low-carbohydrate way of eating, focusing on whole foods, is the healthiest possible way of eating. I’ll poke the bear—the calories lacking from carbohydrates are to be made up by consuming fat! One more step…cholesterol is not only good, but is necessary to maintain healthy brain function. Have I prompted a comment yet? ;-)
We posted a Video about things to know when purchasing a whole hog for pork and a Short about our homemade ice cream. Check ‘em out!
Local Farm Report for 13 April 2023:
Harvest:
31 Chicken eggs
14 Duck eggs
1 Goose egg
5 Guinea eggs
5 1/2 Gallons of milk
Cheers! Psycho & Shelley
Ok I’ll bite but more from a how do you keep it to 15-20g/day! How did you do the meat only? I’ve recently listened to a podcast that discussed someone eating steak and water only, however I assume you are referring to several forms of meat.