Thread: Getting back to living off the land.....

Thanks all, love the tips and tricks. I tried to make a go of it many years ago but didn’t have the same resources and opportunities to make it work.
I will have a look later tonight bumblefoot, will be good to see what you have set up. I’m going to get some greens going this weekend even if I have to grow a couple inside where it’s warm. Lettuce at the moment is close to $5 which I just cannot justify.
We have started the journey this week to become more self sufficient and hubby is on board so far, he was pretty happy with a big steak lunch as opposed to noodles and chicken chips which is his usual quick go to.

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

@Chelsea I grow as many greens as possible as I reckon they give you the best bang for buck. I eat sorta Keto-ish so don't eat a lot of carbs but will be putting a few spuds in. I just try to grow the easier veges. Here's a quick tour of my place

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tkINzQHjFM&t=450s

rule #1 : if its green its mean! ..................eeuwwwww

Originally Posted by gonetropo

rule #1 : if its green its mean! ..................eeuwwwww

Hahahahaha I used to live by this after I choked on a spinach leaf. Then you have kids and apparently greens are good.

Originally Posted by Chelsea

Hahahahaha I used to live by this after I choked on a spinach leaf. Then you have kids and apparently greens are good.

nope no kids, i got fixed when i was in my early 20's to avoid any accidents.
therefore vege is still evil

Originally Posted by gonetropo

nope no kids, i got fixed when i was in my early 20's to avoid any accidents.

Smart move.

@Chelsea The best bit of advice is to go slowly and chip away at your gardening/self sufficiency goals, The biggest mistake is to go too big; everything gets away, and you become disillusioned

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

They are edible and were nice and tart beside the roast meat

Japonica also make an incredible pink jelly, not quite like the real Quince one but bloody nice with cheese or game meat

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

They are edible and were nice and tart beside the roast meat

I picked some from a tree at Southern woods nursery and tried cooking them at home. They looked great but I couldnt make anything useful of them, so its interesting that you cracked it. I have plenty of regular quinces but those falses do look good

@Moa Hunter "Normal" quinces make a fantastic jelly! This was the result of a good day foraging, hunter/gathering.... One goat, two barrels of comfrey to plant; 5kg (black bag) coffee grounds for the garden, 5kg quinces (I made into quince jelly) and two bags of quince cuttings to propagate.... Couldn't get the quince cuttings to take though

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

@Moa Hunter "Normal" quinces make a fantastic jelly! This was the result of a good day foraging, hunter/gathering.... One goat, two barrels of comfrey to plant; 5kg (black bag) coffee grounds for the garden, 5kg quinces (I made into quince jelly) and two bags of quince cuttings to propagate.... Couldn't get the quince cuttings to take though

Attachment 171770

Often there are 'suckers' around the base of Quince trees, inspect below ground for roots and then tear them off the tree if they are rooted. They can be layered if they dont have roots. I have some here ready to graft pears onto. I like quince stewed with apple or in mixed fruit pies

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

@Moa Hunter "Normal" quinces make a fantastic jelly! This was the result of a good day foraging, hunter/gathering.... One goat, two barrels of comfrey to plant; 5kg (black bag) coffee grounds for the garden, 5kg quinces (I made into quince jelly) and two bags of quince cuttings to propagate.... Couldn't get the quince cuttings to take though

Attachment 171770

OMG!!! You shot Barefoot's 'Bouncy"!!!

(over on trailcam pics thread)

Roast venison neck straight out of the oven ready to go in the crockpot to cook overnight for soup...


The end result of a deer neck cooked overnight in the crockpot? Half a bowl of stock ready to be made into soup


A tip from a butcher (me!) on how to upgrade a soup on a budget. Get a small pack of sausages (pork in this case), slit the skins and fold the sausage meat out using wet hands. Make the meat into small meatballs, fry them and biff them in the soup. Use wet hands to roll out the meatballs in the palms of your hands


Venison, pork meatball, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, leek, mizuna, purple mustard, kale soup. Flavoured with, star anise, cinnamon stick, Sichuan pepper, bay leaves, lemongrass and cardamom.

Venison for dinner!

Thanks for all the interesting posts and great photos. Nice to browse through....

The deer was in helluva good nick...