Rabbits are dumb! 2226

Ranee Mueller

We try to grow as much as possible for eating fresh, filling the freezers, and stocking the canning shelf. Your right though, there are limitations to what you can grow based on location. We are just inside the town line so zoning says no livestock even though we have a farmer's field behind us. I could get away with raising rabbits as they aren't considered livestock. I might be able to get away with a couple of chickens unless anyone complained to the town. We can set humane traps for anything that comes into the yard. That would end up being mainly squirrels and cats. There's an ermine hanging around but I doubt he would be good eats. There is also musk rats but we haven't trapped any of those. We live on the water and we have a boat so I can fish. We don't hunt ourselves other than DH going on a hunt trip as an observer. He brought home about 60 lb of venison. One of our neighbours trades wild duck for some of my garden produce. For meats and eggs we are really dependent on farmers who we buy directly from for less than the store prices. While I have ground my own flour it isn't something I do on a regular basis.

Our house is heated with natural gas and no fireplaces. I want a corn burning stove but because of the design of the house finding an appropriate spot for one is next to impossible. We can get the corn cheap from an inlaw. DH is concerned it will attract rodents that are already a problem - field mice and voles.

I'm playing around with solar and have made a couple of solar heaters. I have a solar-windup radio and solar battery chargers for the smaller batteries. Our power goes out a lot so I'd really like to do more using solar especially for the funace fan. I've seen instructions for making a solar cooker but haven't tried that. Our stove is electric so if the power is out I use either the bbq or a Coleman stove but only if I really *have* to cook.