how many of you eat what you kill/grow?

[M4Fundi]

We eat produce from our own garden fairly regularly. Much of the meat we eat comes from deer my sons and I have shot or from feral hogs. However, my sons and I also shoot close to 60 hogs a year. I give a few away to folks that want them but there is no way I can eat/use that many hogs.

For us it isn't about "thrill killing"- it's simply a management decision. A single feral sow will be responsible for 2000 offspring in her lifetime. They are a menace to agriculture and with no natural predators only by killing every one we see can their numbers be kept in any kind of balance. It is an unfortunate fact that more of them cannot be utilized as they can be good eating but I will say that the practice has made my kids deadly field marksman and that is worth something by itself.

In the same "trough" here as well...we kill the hogs on sight and do our best to drop'm humanely, but we are trying to kill'm first and foremost. The suckling pigs usually hit the table right away & the others ? Well Buzzards got to eat too

[cdmiller]

With the exception of chicken, the vast majority of the meat we eat is venison or feral hog that I or my father-in-law have shot. We kill 6-8 deer a season between us and my mother-in-law doesn't like venison so I average about 5 deer in my freezer every year. Hogs have been less common as we haven't had a good place to hunt them but that has changed this year as they have started to invade a co-workers "farm" (25 acres he intends to retire on), our deer lease, and a property one of my cousins leases to run cattle. We also do all of our own butchering including ground meat and making our own sausage.

As for birds, I intend to get into turkey hunting this year as they have repopulated our deer lease finally and have also moved into my Aunt and Uncle's farm. I have only been duck hunting a couple of times as my father was mever a bird hunter but my father-in-law, who had stopped hunting ducks due to some vision issues, has promised to teach a friend and I everything he knows on some public land near us that is open to duck hunting with the right permits.

I am trying to get fruit trees going. Figs and loquats are going good but lemons and tangerines/satsumas are just starting this year. Now I need a couple of other fruit trees and at least a pecan tree for nuts. (Houston Urban Harvest tree sale here I come.) The wife and I have plans to put in a garden in one of our side yards this fall/winter but right now we buy most of our vegetables through a local farmers co-op. My wife even has a small bee-keepers rig ready to set up once the garden is in but we have to have our daughter checked to make sure she is not allergic (like her aunt) before we do that.

[NWPilgrim]

Restarting our garden efforts this year. Slacked of. A couple years but back at it. Already picking blueberries in the lower garden. Apples starting to appear. Should have enough for canning. Planting just a small vegetable garden and several more herb bushes.

[Awesome1228]

I eat most of what I kill. I have deer, elk, halibut, salmon, trout, and antelope in the freezer right now. I dont do all of my own butchering, but I do grind burger and make an assortment of sausages.

I also grow veggies, but not as much as I would like due to lack of space. I do trade a lot of meat for fresh veggies from family members who do have pretty sizeable gardens.

I do a lot of food preservation, fresh made salsas, sauces, jams and jellies as well as soups, stews and meats. This is something I have rediscovered in the last few years, and I really enjoy it, as well as the fact that I get to control what goes into the food I am eating. The convenience of a home cooked meal in 10 minutes after a busy day is nice, rather than spending 45 minutes cooking. Especially with a screaming 1 year old in the background and a GF who's ready to fall over from exhaustion after a 13 hour shift at the hospital.

Producing your own food is a very rewarding experience, in my opinion. Maybe we could start a recipe thread, if there isn't one already.

[nineteenkilo]

Better late than never.

We have a decent sized garden from which we can for the winter and eat fresh if canning isn't much of an option.

Herbs
Watermelons
Purple Hull Peas
Okra
Tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Muscadine/Scuppernones
Green Beans
Corn
etc.

I also eat local wild as much as possible:

Whitetail deer
Dove
Squirrel
Rabbit
Crappie/Bass/Catfish/Bream

Sure beats paying the local grocer if I don't have to.

[bussecrazed]

I eat all that I kill except small rodents, we also have a large garden that we do seasonally here in NY