The Down Side to Getting Away from the Dollar Standard

I've had one of those "aha" moments this week.  Here I am talking, talking, talking about simplifying and spending time rather than dollars to accomplish things, when I realized the kingdom currency of time is like the antithesis of convenience.  Perhaps that should have dawned upon me long before now, but it hadn't until I began thinking about winter feed for the livestock.

This year, I tried something that looks like I may be on the verge of success, but it's going to take some time and timing to accomplish this.  I decided to try to raise my own livestock feed for a two fold reason.  One, I don't want to feed the critters GMOs and just like our food supply, it's the big time operators that raise the same grains that makes high fructose corn syrup as well as chicken feed and bulk grains.  I don't think my operation even qualifies for "small time" operator by comparison.  The second reason was to establish a more sustainable food supply for the livestock.  If I can raise my own livestock feed, that is one more step away from dependency upon the power gaining system.

Now, most die hard convenient store patrons would make fun of me for this comparison, but I never realized how convenient it was to buy bags of feed from the Feed Store.   The Feed Store is like QuikTrip or Burger King for critters and since I now have that in my mind, I can't make the thought go away.  Clearly, I'd be remiss in my healthful simplicity to have my critters on a diet of fast food and junk, so this year, I planted feed beets.   I had already made sure to buy organic grain, but considering that "organic" is so loosely defined while very expensive, I've now taken a different route.  I do still have some on hand as I work out the details.

I planted four rows of beets and we'll see how long they last through the winter months.  The difference is, rather than scoop a couple of cans of feed into a bucket, I have to pull the beets, wash them, and cut them up, as they are quite large.

I'm excited about this prospect.  I already know my animals are healthier.  As for the money I will save, I still am not sure about that, but I do know; one 50 pound bag of feed costs more than one packet of heirloom seeds; projected to produce thousands of pounds of beets in perpetuity . . .