Had my first appointment with the midwife yesterday. Went very well. Though she tells me I shouldn't eat pork. Figures. The day before the butcher arrives! I asked if I could eat my own pork, sans hormones, antibiotics, and the like, and she grudgingly allowed me once a week. With the comment that, "you know, eating pork is about as close as you can get to eating human flesh." I didn't bother to say that if I were really really hungry, and there was unused human flesh around, I would probably eat it. So hubby's naturopath wants him off beef (that freezer is mine now, I guess) and mine wants me off pork, so menu planning is going to get really crazy around here. On a better note, however, she did a little voodoo and stretching and fixed my chronically painful hip! That in itself is worth the whole prenatal/delivery charge. It was out of place, I guess. Which she "knew" intuitively before I explained the details. Hmmm... And no extra charge for the psychic diagnosis. She also thinks this one will be a boy! What an unusual o.b. visit, I must say.
Oh, I am supposed to avoid cow's milk, but when I asked about my favorite organic grass-fed kind, she said that was ok, as long as I didn't overdo it. And to keep from having more giant babies, I must avoid sugar. BUT - honey, sorghum, real maple syrup, and evaporated cane juice is a-ok, so this won't be so bad (as long as I don't get too fat). Now to find some chocolate chips made with butter and cane juice. Hmm...
I need to go read the Storey's Guide to Raising Chicks to my chickens. Why do none of my livestock know how they're supposed to be? Pigs don't respect electric fencing as quick as I thought they would, and whichever of the 26 hens is laying doesn't know she's to do it very early in the morning before I get up. It's not like I'm out there at 6:00 a.m. either. I'm usually to their place by 9:30 or so, but the little teeny egg isn't there until afternoon, perhaps. And they're all the same age; perhaps my little layer sits closer to the light in the evenings? She's been laying for a week, and no sign of any more than just the one.
Warming up again today!
2 comments:
On the respecting electric, the trick is to string the wires tight and have a low physical barrier to stop them during training. Using the white polywire is good as it is more visible. Maximum charge helps so good grounding and no shorts is important.
The Storey Guides are good. I have several. Small Scale Pig Raising by Dirk von Loon is another good pig one. Andy Lee's Chicken Tractor book is great too.
I'm very curious about your midwife and the pork. Is she vegetarian? Vegan? What were her rationales? My wife Holly ate pork, milk, eggs, etc all through all of her pregnancies (3) and had perfect babies and no trouble. We're economic omnivores - we eat what we can afford. :) It is healthy though since most of it is what we raise ourselves.
We are snuggled into the snow. We got another 3" last night on top of the 25" we got the 24 hours before and it is snowing more now. Windy too. The ground hogs around here don't see their shadows because they're buried. :)
Walter,
I don't think the midwife is vegetarian or vegan. The dietary recommendations list includes beef, chicken, fish, poultry, and wild game. She mentioned 'all the parasites' in connection with pork; perhaps that's her concern. I will ask her in more detail next month. By then hopefully I'll be enjoying some home-grown, home-brined, home-smoked bacon (in moderation, I suppose).
I do have Dirk Van Loon's book, and someday will get the Chicken Tractor one. I was surprised to look up smoking/curing of meats in Carla Emery's Encyclopedia of Country Living to find no information at all.
I don't envy your snow. Seems I love it when it comes with Thanksgiving and Christmas, but by March I'm chafing to see some green things grow. Interestingly, some years it hits me far worse than others. Last year was no problem, this year is heavy on the impatience.
Our rockchucks are out and about. And digging their tunnels in my flowerbed. Hubby thought he had him dealt with when he filled the hole with propane and lit it up. Not so; he rebuilt his hole the next day.
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