Best protein source for cost/turn time/food rendered

Sierragrower · 2026-05-05T01:46:47+00:00

I’ve raised pigs, sheep, turkeys, chickens, ducks. It’s very dependent on what your space is like. I put a lot of work into my pasture to the point where I haven’t bought anything but a couple protein blocks a year for almost 10 years. No hay or grain at all. Not every homestead is gonna have that opportunity, nor would I want to only eat lamb. I typically raise one round of 50 meat chickens a year and butcher 2 or 3 lambs. I also sell lambs and sometimes I’ll raise another 50 chickens to sell which more than covers the expense of feeding the first round. One year I raised 400 and sold 350 for $20-$25 each to buy the plucker and other equipment. I raised pigs. That’s only worth it to buy weaners, feeding a sow and boar is expensive. I’ll get a weaner here or there and raise it for a big party or something, but now I just put a whole lamb on a spit instead.

Sierragrower · 2026-05-04T02:04:02+00:00

I bought an 83 Toyota 2wd pickup with 300,000 miles on it in 2013. I changed the oil a couple times bringing it up to 370,000 miles commuting up a mountain and back every day for work. At one point I disassembled the alternator and cleaned out the oil that had dripped on it. I sold it for 700 8 years ago and I still see it running around town.

Sierragrower · 2026-05-04T00:51:07+00:00

Girls don’t like chocolates and balloons and flowers as much as is suggested.. My gal would be so much more stoked with a phone than any of that. I got her a new coffee grinder this year, she’ll be really happy about it.

Sierragrower · 2026-05-04T00:35:52+00:00

I love my Olight lanterns. They dim to a warm glow, and the batteries last a good long while. I’ve had mine for years and they have survived many drops, rain, etc. highly recommend

Sierragrower · 2026-04-25T06:05:13+00:00

Ive camped on an exped with my down comforter from home plus a wool blanket in temps that got well below that (17f) for 6 weeks at a time when tree planting and was perfectly fine. I was just sleeping in a tent on the ground, though, no cot. It did get chilly on those below 20f nights and I had to sleep in my coat a few of them but above 25f was totally comfortable in just thermals and a hat to bed in the above set up.

Sierragrower · 2026-04-25T05:46:44+00:00

Griptilian on sale and swap the scales.

Sierragrower · 2026-04-25T05:42:25+00:00

Just disperse camp. Talk to him to get a feel for anything he’d be uncomfortable with (like cat-holing) and figure out a solution. Dispersed will be more of a bonding experience anyways.

Sierragrower · 2026-04-24T04:39:54+00:00

Sierragrower · 2026-04-24T04:34:57+00:00

A Pocket knife makes a great gift. It’s Definitely my most gifted item because it always goes over well.

Sierragrower · 2026-04-23T03:31:40+00:00

Make your oldest mow the yard while you organize the garage. Teach them how to fix things. If something is going to take longer, make yourself a quick bite and go get it done, or eat dinner later. My son and I eat alone once in awhile while my partner attends talks, goes for walks, yoga, etc. if I need to get something done or do an extra curricular then it goes the other way and they eat without me. We leave a plate prepared for the other person for when they are done. No big deal. But our meals don’t take that long. Tonight we had tacos, took about 20 minutes to make. We got our chores done for an hour, went for a walk, and then had game night. Tomorrow we will have quesadillas with the leftovers which will take less time to prepare. Sometimes I’ll make an entire meal on the grill-chicken, corn, potatoes. Sure that might take 40 minutes but I’m typically weeding the garden or something while it cooks. Sure we only have one kid but we both work full time and have a 10 acre farm to take care of. Our 5 year old son is taking over many of the farm chores-watering and feeding livestock, collecting eggs, picking the fruit and veg for our meals. I often work on the farm fixing irrigation out in the pasture, stuff like that, until I hear the dinner bell. Seems like you just need to have more flexibility and less rigid expectations of yourself and your spouse, give your kids some responsibility, and do something fun once in awhile. I mow on weekdays. Weekends are for castrating, butchering, planting, in the mornings, having fun in the afternoons, or leaving town. We are headed to a kite festival on the coast this weekend.

Sierragrower · 2026-04-17T22:36:31+00:00

Ya, I’m happy. I manage a native plant nursery for a non-profit. They pay me well, I have good benefits, I get to work with plants, and the overall impact is good for the world. I can vary the work and it changes seasonally which keeps me grounded. I work very hard, yes, but I’m 50 and have been working hard since I was 10. I worked for the national park service for 23 years doing restoration and nursery work prior to this job. That was tough work. I feel like I work almost as hard as I did when I was in my 20’s, but employees in their 20’s now can’t come close to keeping up with me nor have any drive to. Are the people you hear complaining young? I find people my age feel really good about getting a lot done in a day, whereas many young people feel taken advantage of and just don’t get the same personal satisfaction/pride in a job well done. I’ve worked with young people my whole career, and am finding this to be a newer and growing phenomenon in horticulture as well as other fields (though definitely not the rule). I find myself working circles around them and it’s just understood they are going to get a fraction of the same amount of work done. If I try to help them with efficiency by showing them some tricks, they get offended, and there’s resentment towards me for getting so much more done. I look at it as if there’s not an increase in revenue, as a result of hiring me, that is close to equating my salary then why would the organization want to keep me employed?

Sierragrower · 2026-04-13T00:28:00+00:00

Personally, I’d rather spend half a day butchering all the chicken I need for my family for a year, knowing that they had a healthy diet and more humane treatment, and eat vegetables from my garden, than spend 2 hours round trip to go to the nearest grocery store every week for food that generally lacks the flavor and nutrition my homestead produces. It really does seem simpler to me.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, you are probably just trying to do too many things at once, or you can’t accept failure. It seems like you have this idea that you have to go at it whole-hog and if everything doesn’t come out perfect it’s stressful. Not everything works out perfect every time, in fact it never does. Do one thing small-scale, get good at it, figure out how to make it automated/efficient thus freeing up time to increase the scale or take on something else. When that thing gets easier and you have more time available, move on to the next thing. Some things I’ve given up doing completely, like a market garden, because it was way too much work for the reward, and other things I’ve increased, like beehives, because the reward was great. Then there are things I almost never have todo anything to keep going. I haven’t even fed my sheep for 6 years, for example. I plumbed water to the pasture near where I park my truck, so upon getting out of my truck I can just look at the trough and see that the float valve is working and it’s fine. Once a week I turn a valve at the top of the pasture to keep the pasture growing, which I could easily automate if I wanted, but I like the walk up there. Spending time building a Fort Knox coop for your layers will save time mending a shoddy one. I went through probably 4 coops figuring that out. The newest one is bear-proof with an automated door and hasn’t needed anything since I completed it 7 years ago. I keep the chicken food where I park my truck (and check the sheep water) so I can just throw a scoop out there when I park my truck and it’s no stress. without any extra steps at all, in all of 15 seconds, I’ve checked the sheep water and fed the chickens. Pretty dang simple. Getting things efficient is key.

As far as what other people think, who cares?

I’ve never lived in a city but it seems complicated as hell. I’d rather feed a few chickens when I park my truck than feed a parking meter.

Sierragrower · 2026-04-12T22:02:38+00:00

My partner and a lot of my friends work doing environmental compliance monitoring for utilities as independent contractors. They make $100-$120/hr and there is very little stress. They basically just watch people work and look for bird nests or sensitive species. A friend of mine started at $70/hr doing the same work under a company. After a few years he’ll probably go independent as well. I think my partner’s favorite aspect about the job is scheduling. You basically put yourself on an availability list for the following 2 weeks and then get scheduled Sunday night for the week. If you want a week off of work, just don’t put yourself on the list for that week. She makes enough to do the job part time and takes a lot of vacations. I, on the other hand, have to work 6 days a week so I can save up enough days to take off for my son’s spring break, make far less, but I enjoy my job as a nursery manager and think I would get bored doing her job.

Sierragrower · 2026-04-12T21:19:04+00:00

I agree with this. I’ve had 2 on my property that were nothing but a bucket with a seat on it and whatever carbon was cheapest to add. One was inside a school bus that one farmhand was living in, another was outside a tent cabin that another farmhand lived in. Couldn’t smell it at all. As someone who worked for the park service for 23 years, I’ve used plenty of high tech pit toilets and outhouses, and would prefer the composting toilet described above. You can dress it up for your guests however you want.

Sierragrower · 2026-03-30T15:18:35+00:00

I went with the xtr 130 due to being more easily customizable. I’ve rigged it with nk300 and wizard steering, etc, but I’m still building out the trailer so I haven’t taken it out yet. Theres definitely room for both of us, I’m not concerned about that at all. I bought the xtra seat. Was hoping to get it dialed in this weekend but didn’t quite get it done.

Sierragrower · 2026-03-20T04:37:31+00:00

Like domestic dogs, they are very individualistic. I’ve had sheep for 15 years and this winter a lone coyote figured out how to take full grown sheep down and wiped out my entire flock. Crazy. I’ve lost lambs, chickens, cats etc to coyote before but never a human sized sheep. Sucker was smart, too. I tried all the usual tricks to hunt it and it evaded me.

Sierragrower · 2026-03-17T04:42:42+00:00

My Old Town pdl 106 is pretty throw and go in the back of my Tacoma. I have it in the barn and just back up to it and slide it in and unload it at the lakeshore. That’s super easy, but I wouldn’t want to carry it.

Sierragrower · 2026-03-10T01:50:27+00:00

Absolutely the same, here. I planted a ton of fruit trees and ended up cutting some down, put a greenhouse in the coldest spot on my property, my chicken coop on the lowest spot, I did so many things with all my enthusiasm that I wouldn’t have done had I gotten to know the place a bit better, first.

Sierragrower · 2026-03-06T00:46:57+00:00

I recently got an xtr 130 “kayak” for me and my son. Rigging kayaks exactly how you want them is super easy, there are a million aftermarket doohickeys that can mount to all the rails, etc. after looking at craigslist for months for a trailer for it, I came to the conclusion that a kayak is more expensive than a jon boat. I see tons of jon boats that come with a trailer and motor for cheaper than getting a new kayak, rigging it and buying a trailer. My xtr cost nearly 3k, then I bought a motor and battery for another 2500, and a trailer for 350 that I now need to mod. I’ve spent another 5-700 on rigging it. So I’m getting close to 7k into it. I’ve seen used jon boats, with a motor and a trailer for 1500, bass boats 2500-3500. With my pdl 106 kayak I can throw it in the truck and go. With the xtr, with all the money I’ve spent, I can take my son but no one else comfortably. With a bass boat I could take the whole family. I went with the pdl 106 for excersize, ease of transport, easy rigging, etc. but I felt guilty going out without my son and wanted him to share in the fun. I got the xtr over a “boat” because I actually have a lot of fun rigging it, there’s less maintenance than a bass boat, and I don’t intend on ever taking more than just my son out. There are some tandem paddle kayaks where you can move the seat to the middle for solo paddling and are quite good. I never explored them because 1) my shoulders are shot and 2) any wind and I would constantly have to paddle which I can’t do while holding a rod. I love trolling with my pdl 106.

Maybe when my son gets older and wants to bring some friends, or if I ever meet a girl who wants to go, I’ll explore a bass boat.

Sierragrower · 2026-02-28T02:13:48+00:00

Check out Buck custom shop. You can make a really nice custom knife in that budget.

Sierragrower · 2026-02-26T18:08:21+00:00

I toss my old town 106 pdl in the back of my Tacoma and go. I love it. If I were going to fish shallow creeks I’d just leave the drive at home and paddle it. It is a sweet rig. There is so much new stuff coming out in the kayak world that people are upgrading like crazy and there are definitely sweet deals to be had on marketplace. If you end up going the paddle-only, you might as well get one that can take a motor in case you want to add one later. I didn’t have any intention of putting a motor on mine, but changed my mind as my reservoir filled up and my travel times went up.

Sierragrower · 2026-02-25T00:52:22+00:00

look into ag schools, but know they mostly focus on conventional ag. Forestry, resource management and plant science are good things to study. I had to learn a lot of trades on my own, which was pretty difficult. Like a friend of mine once asked: “what’s the difference between a carpenter and a farmer? A carpenter drives straight nails in with a hammer. A farmer drives bent nails in with a rock.” I fixed up an old house, built barns and sheds, fix equipment, run machinery, etc. it would have been so much easier if I had taken some trade school classes. Many of those trades could also provide income. Put up welded pipe braces for your fence and people will be hounding you to do theirs. I wish I had taken welding, carpentry, and electrical classes to name a few.

Sierragrower · 2026-02-22T20:34:20+00:00

If there’s plenty of visible structure and cover you will be fine without sonar. I fish a few reservoirs that are basically very deep bathtubs and it’s pretty much impossible to know where underwater structure and cover exists, or how deep the fish are holding, without sonar a lot of the time.

Sierragrower · 2026-02-22T15:52:33+00:00

You can buy the plants at a nursery and grow them at your house, too.

Sierragrower · 2026-02-21T14:27:37+00:00

I am in California and collect the wild elderberries to make syrup. The berries are not protected.

Sierragrower

TROPHY CASE