calldoctoday Fire ants took up residence in my woodchips. Once they were established, I had a terrible time getting rid of them. In fact, I couldn’t get rid of them completely.

Warrenlc57 I bought semi-composted wood chips from a our local city recycling. It was a mistake

YooperDog that sounds wonderful. I envy you

I did that for blackberries, but it didn’t work out because of fire ants! They hid in the wood chips. I like that method very much because the wood takes time to break down and when fungal mycelium start to break it down, the ground is so soft and fertile!

GWG8541 Agreed. When I was contracting in Iraq for OIF it was not so much fun

Bob Stehlik Unfortunately, when I was in, we did not consider ‘reservists’ to be real marines. LOL, of course, I was called a BAM (broad-assed marine). Times have changed a lot. Before I went to school, everyone told me that it does not freeze in the deserts of California. At muster, it was freezing cold, but by noon the polish melted off our boots and oxfords.

I’m having an Alzheimer’s moment. Can someone tell me how to ‘follow’ another commenter? I love you guys.

WOW. The best dining facility I ever ate at while in the CORPS was a GP medium. You are older than I am. We called it 29 Stumps back then. MCCES is where I was trained. Do you remember them training with heavy artillery on that base? My friends in school (all men, I was the only woman) went swimming in the “pools” which were cesspools, and got some kind of infection. LOL I told them they were not for swimming in! The reason I enlisted is because men, like you, were being treated so horribly. I had the opinion that this country belonged to all of us, so I served too, but of course, never had boots on the ground. Women were not permitted.

Does she not like the meat? I raised rabbits too for a while (but I brought truck loads in from a local rabbitry). Back then, a few years ago, none of my family would eat rabbit until I made “chicken pot pie” with rabbit! Anyway, I’ll bet you could sell them. In Austin, Texas, when you can find them, they are expensive! If I could afford them I would fill my freezer with them.

tarp

I haven’t had a garden in a couple of years, but every year on the full moon in August, my chef son and I pick prickly pears. We make jelly, prickly pear lemonade, prickly pear confit, prickly pear jello, and a few other goodies. We did the confit in a sous vide this year, and it turned out amazing (we added lemons). My little garden had 40 herbs in it as well as many vegetables. I used rabbit manure, but I also used fermented plant juice and I captured indigenous microorganisms. I double dug my beds and used the biodynamic French-intensive method so as soon as a hole in the garden was vacated, it had something else planted there immediately. Can’t wait to own land again.

LOL, not my sister, but ME. I went to the stumps too, having the same MOS as you. I love the USMC. Two of my sons followed in their mama’s footsteps. One was Navy and the other a weatherman in the USAF. Changing the subject, but it is so nice to see so many men who still have these meat preserving skills and who can provide. It is so much fun just reading the posts. I love you guys, and I’m learning so much!

GWG8541 2542, Camp Pendleton

Grimpuppy I’m actually a very old “sister.” Company A in boot camp at Parris Island was supposed to be the first woman’s company to snap in, but the weapons didn’t arrive. That is how old I am. LOL. I would tell you what I did, but I don’t know if it has been declassified. Probably, because that technology is obsolete. LOL

RafterW Thank you for giving me that information. It would be a waste for my son to get me a wild hog.

RafterW I LOVE THAT BOOK

OMG that looks so good. I’m in Texas and I sometimes get offered a “wild hog.” I am very wary of such offers for a variety of reasons, but one of my sons hunts and said that wild hog is absolutely delicious. Have you ever had a wild hog and made bacon from that belly?

Jonathon This is a little off-subject, but today I watched several videos of making home cured luncheon meats, like bologna, pickle loaf, SPAM, and other meats, and there were so many comments from people wanting to omit salt, or any type of cure. They seemed to want a shortcut, but also to do away with the very additives that make the meat safe. That scares me. It seems that they don’t even read the instructions on the cures, and to eliminate salt altogether seems so dangerous. Am I wrong?

GWG8541 Semper Fi! Thank you so much for responding. I, too, remember going into my great-grandparents garden for tomatoes for these breakfast sandwiches (since I wasn’t allowed to have red-eye gravy). I might be wrong about this, but I think he hung those hams in a smoke house for a very, very long time. I would cherish a recipe from your family. I served between 1975-1977.

johnsbrewhouse THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Won’t be long until “hog killing time” my great-granddad used to say. I was too young to learn how he processed a hog, but I know he had two cures. One was a sugar cure. The other he called a “Virginia Ham Cure.” I wish I knew what he was using and I hope some of you know.

The ham tasted salty, and was usually fried into thin slices in a little fat. My great-grandmother then made “red eye gravy,” but I couldn’t eat it, because it was a “sin to give coffee to children.” I remember those country hams, and I remember how red the meat was, not like today’s hams. Anyway, if anyone knows how to make a “Virginia Ham,” I would love to have that knowledge.

Thanks in advance, for any advice or help you can give me.