Deposits are now closed for our Fall Harvest Bulk Beef and Lamb shares for the 2024 growing season.
Thanks for helping us plan out our summer and fall!
Now it's time for the final installment of the Ultimate Food Freedom Guide:
How to Grow and/or Forage for Your Own Food!
 |
Nothing makes me feel more secure than knowing I can get the nourishment my family needs when we need it. Knowing how to access clean water and food, where to find it, and how to convert it with my own means is the ultimate comfort.
Does it get any better than that?
There is something about taking part in the rearing and harvesting of, the preparing, the asking permission, and the giving thanks for your food and drink.
I don't think many folks get to experience all of these aspects anymore in our culture, and it is having some serious ripple effects.
We were made for connection, and being connected to place and our sustenance is all a big part of this. It is a deep human need that is vastly going ignored across the US for many families.
But, there is a resurgence of folks returning to the land, teaching their families how to dig their hands back into the soil and care for the resources we are borrowing from our children.
I'm grateful to see the increased interest in raising, and foraging for, and even trading for our foods again.
As someone who has been raising a percentage of my own food ever since I can remember, and someone who now sources over 75% of my family's food from my own farm and farms of families I know personally- here are my top tips on how to do it yourself:
 |
-Start Small!
If you have the desire to grow your own food, I think the tendency for most of us is to go all-out, all-at-once or go home. With food however you are dealing with animal and plant lives, and a fumble or lack of knowledge often leads to unnecessary suffering, illness, and even accidental fatalities. Please don't take this lightly. The creatures that nourish us deserve our very best, not our burnt-out, over-extended, under-educated efforts. Start with one small thing at a time- even if its just a little baby herb garden on your windowsill.
 |
-Find a GOOD Mentor.
I have unfortunately had my fair share of bad mentors. I learned a lot of what NOT to do, rather than what TO do over the past decade. I wish I knew how to tell whether someone was worth asking advice from or not, in the past. Here is what I would look for in a mentor, knowing what I know now:
-Has been doing what you aim to do for at least 5 years.
-Is running things efficiently and is not hemorrhaging resources just to keep things alive.
-Has an operation like the one you would like to run.
-Has good, solid, relationships in the local community that have lasted for a few years.
For me the above requirements looks like finding a farm that has a good recent track record with animal or plant health and husbandry (death losses and illness occurrence below 5% annually) without propping animals up on antibiotics, pesticides, and herbicides or fertilizers. I have found that operations that lean heavily on hormones, antibiotics, and even vaccines are not the kind of operations I need to be taking advice from... most of their tips just don't work for the low-input system that I am constantly working towards.
 |
-Friends Don't Let Friends Go Hungry.
Make friends that are good at finding food! Offer to help pack out and process a friend's elk this fall so you can learn what goes into the hunting, packing, and butchering processes. You will most definitely learn a ton, and you will come out with some of the most high-quality meat available in the entire world!
 |
-Foragers Have the Best Morels...
Do you have a friend who is constantly finding the best snacks up in the woods??? These people are worth their weight in morels! Offer them trades for their finds and ask them for tips (but never ask them where their best stashes are found, that's against forager etiquette). Study up on ethical harvesting techniques. Learn how to forage in ways that promote the proliferation of the species that nourish us. For example, as you are harvesting or picking, spread some pollen from flower to flower, or drop some native seeds from a nearby plant in a spot that you don't see other plants growing. Be thoughtful in your meanderings and toss your discards strategically to help grow more for some other person or other species for next year. I love the rules outlined in Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
 |
-Study Up!
Collect plant, wildlife, and fungus books whenever you get the chance. Learn their names, their characteristics, and their behaviors and preferences, because nature is the best teacher. In the photo above are my top 5 identification/reference books that I always come back to.
 |
-When You Can't Find or Grow it, Trade for It or Buy It Locally!
We don't have to live the lifestyle of the constant hunters and gatherers before us. That is one of the many luxuries of our time (in moderation). We have quite the network of local farms and ranches growing and harvesting a bounty of nourishment year-round in our state. The Farmers Market is one of the best places to go to access this bounty, but in the off-season, and in your summer travels, These Freedom Foods Storefronts scattered across Wyoming may come in handy!
Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, we just can't find a local source for what we are looking for. Here are the first three online resource I use, when I can't seem to find the food item I'm after:
-EatWyoming Online Farmers Market
-Weston A Price Foundation Chapter Directory
What did I miss?
What steps are you taking currently to deepen your connection with the land and your food supply?
 |
Did you learn anything from this Food Freedom Series over the past several weeks?
What was your favorite part?
I would love to know!
Reply to this email and tell me about how you plan to stay connected to the animals, the plants, the families, and the land that feeds you.
 |
-BJ and the Taste of the Wind Crew
Leave a comment