Sandy- posting is the FUN part of owning ATP I don't do it nearly as often as I'd like, but I do enjoy participating!

I freely admit- it's a great life. I also freely admit that there are days/times when I remind myself (usually while doing some crazy hard task and grumbling about this or that) that we CHOSE this life! On a serious note, though...that hard work is one big reason why we chose this. Raising children who have worked hard their whole life and developed a good work ethic and seen the labor of their hands provide for them was one of our biggest goals. Just this year, they earned our entire vacation budget, most of which was through selling at the farmer's market week after week. (the rest was earned by them reevaluating their food choices and cutting the grocery budget- they learned how to make their favorite snacks from scratch, and the actual cost of the food they eat) They learned a tremendous amount, and have the satisfaction of knowing that nothing was given to them.

We could only wish everyone raised their children as you and Dave are doing, Trish...

I rarely have ever eaten beef or pork -- though I grew up learning this entire process -- but this is one amazing thread and it all comes from one amazing family. And Tom, wouldn't it have been wonderful to have had students in our classroom of the same caliber as the Whitinger children? What an incredible family.

I did have some students from a family like Dave's. I don't know if the "Homesteader" magazine is still being published or not, but Jerry Bellinger (Not sure of the spelling) who owned it back then had children in my classroom. That was a wonderful magazine, focused on how to be self sufficient.

Trish I remember my gradma making her own soap. She alway used home made soap until she got into her 80's. I tried my hand at it last winter, and it turned out great. Nothing fancy, just plain soap made from lard. It's much easier now with the crock pot and hand held blenders. She used to do all the mixing by hand. I would do it more often if I had a supply of lard. I haven't raised hogs now in a long while.

What a fun story to read. It's like Little House on the Prairie with modern conveniences.

I like a good rib eye steak but like the time I was a child and my father cried when
he had to take his cow to the slaughter house..I am the same way.
I can eat a steak but I can not bear killing the cow.

I remember the day they killed hogs when I was a child the screams of the hogs
and the process..I went and hid under the bed and cried.

So some of us just are not equipped emotionally to do that type of work..
however we understand someone does have to do it
Sheri/sheridragonfly

This has been a most interesting & informative thread. I haven't read anything this good in a long time.

Now for my questions since all the butchering & other questions have been asked & answered. I am sitting here wondering why the ground beef is packed in 2 lb. portions. There are nine people in the Whitinger family; how in the heck does 2 lbs. or even 4 lbs. do it? I am serious though.
I have often wondered how in the world 9 people get fed 3 meals a day. To me, it seems like it would be a full time job all by itself. I can no more imagine making sandwiches for 9 people than I can imagine sprouting wings & flapping to the moon. Doesn't it take an hour and a half?

I do realize that a number of the kids are now old enough to help but I can't help wondering how you guys manage to run the household and have time left for anything else. The laundry must be staggering!

You see, I don't need to know how to butcher the beef, I need to know how you manage to cook all the beef.

You just have to think of it a bit differently. For you, feeding 8 (the infant doesn't eat food yet) seems overwhelming, but that's because you'd be jumping in at 8. We grew one at a time, and I've had time to figure it out one at a time over the course of 15 years

The 2 pound portions are because we can make most meals with 2 pounds of meat. That's 1/4 pound per person for 8 people (again, the baby doesn't eat table food yet). Naturally a meal isn't just meat- all ground beef dinners have tons of sides to go with them- hamburgers have buns (lettuce, onions, tomatoes), fries, salad and usually beans as well. A taco salad will have rice, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, etc plus the chips or tortillas. We use our garden a LOT to fill in with lots of heathy side dishes!

The other reason for 2# is because that's what fits nicely in a quart ziplock bag It is very possible that next year I will need more meat, in which case I'll gauge if we need to make half of the bags in 1#, or if we'll just jump to 4# per meal. Depends on what the growth spurts are doing at that time

If we make a roast, I do 4-6 pounds because the meal is more meat heavy, and less side heavy. There will usually be some left overs from that, and I'll make soup with it.

Breakfast is a mix of made ahead items (we have big cooking days and fill the freezer with breakfast food) and oatmeal/fruit/yogurt/bread. For the past couple of years, Dave has stepped in and taken over lunch We'll have more soups and burritoes in the fall/winter. You are right- making sandwiches takes forever. We only do that when we are traveling! When we do that, we just make a big assembly line down the counter It isn't very filling, either. With growing boys (and girls, but wow- the boys) who are burning a LOT of calories on the farm, each meal needs be really filling.

Dinner takes about an hour or less. I try to keep meals simple and healthy. I use the (biggest available) crockpot often to keep things simple. Breads are almost always made in bulk (I'll make 6 loaves of sandwich, some rolls for dinner and 6 breakfast at one time), then I don't do it again until we're out. That saves a ton of time. I'll also double a meal and freeze it, especially if I know that I'll be especially busy later. It doesn't take any more time to make 2 as it does to make one, so it helps keep the time spent cooking (and thinking about what's for dinner!) short.

And for laundry- each person 9 and older does their own laundry on their own day. That includes their sheets and towels. I take care of the three smallest, mine and Dave's, and the household towels (kitchen). It's really not bad.

Thanks Trish. When you put it in perspective like that it does seem less daunting. I never thought about the fact that you "grew" into it so had time to become accustomed to it & how to make the time really count.

Yes! I was thinking about how many sandwiches growing boys can eat and envisioning about 23 sandwiches all lined up. Funny thing about sandwiches & you said it; they aren't really filling or at least they don't hold you for long.

Kudos on the laundry!

You guys have it down pat & the kids are learning such valuable lessons. It's such a shame when people tell me they can't get their 16 yr. old son to mow the lawn. I look at them like this:

Trish, thanks for explaining how you feed the family, you sure have everything well organized. I think it is great that the older kids do their own laundry.

It still seems overwhelming to me even if you did grow into it. You must be a very organized person.

You may have noticed that there is sandwich bread made...that is for the snacks! I finally had to just have whole wheat bread/peanut butter available at all time as a free-for-all snack. (I also try to have beans/fixings for burritos) It's astonishing how quick it is eaten!

I've tried to teach everyone to just take care of their own messes- it makes everything sooo much easier! If anyone grumbles about laundry, I smile and ask them if they'd like to switch with me I tell them that they don't have to clean up my messes/room/bathroom/laundry, and I don't need to do theirs.

It's true, things are fairly organized. It's self defence, I think!! Can you imagine how stressful it would be for 9 people to be in total chaos?!?!? ACk!! Well, there wouldn't be 9 of us! I don't like to be stressed, so the best thing *for me* has been to streamline things as much as possible. That allows for time to have fun and enjoy life!

And......some days it's best just to throw up my hands and declare that "tomorrow is a new day"

Yes, I did notice the sandwich bread. Seriously, it's hard to live without it -- ask me how I know. PB & bread for snacking is good.

I really can imagine how fast food disappears around your house! I still recall the times my nephew, as a young teen, stayed with us. It gave me a new respect for my mom having raised a BIG son & 2 girls.

You can play Scarlet & declare "tomorrow is another day!"

>> I smile and ask them if they'd like to switch with me

I worked at one place where upper management made the Supervisors' jobs REALLY stressful. When they had to replace one, there were NO volunteers and several people said they would quit before becoming a supervisor.

When we complained too much about anything to our Supervisor (the poor guy who finally volunteered), he would ask us if we would rather have HIS job. It shut us up RIGHT away!

By the way, he wound up in the hospital with something like a stress-related ulcer. It sounds like you have things well under control.

Besides everything else, you home-school your clan? I would have thought that was ALSO a full-time job.

Newyorkrita said:It still seems overwhelming to me even if you did grow into it. You must be a very organized person.

I SO agree with this... Trish, you and Dave simply amaze me with all that you accomplish!!

I was thinking at first how long it would take DH & I to eat a cow. I figured that it would take us 3-4 years as we don't eat that much beef (he can't digest it well & it's too expensive). But a cow would last a family of 10 not that long I don't think. And it's so good that the older ones have responsibilities like their own laundry. DH didn't know how to do laundry when he was in college and STILL hasn't really figured out how to boil water without burning the bottom of it! I work with juv. delinquents as my job and it's so sad to see them come in, ages 12 to adult, and they don't know basic things like how to sign a paper... long time ago we accepted checks and they didn't have a clue as to how to fill out a check, including spelling the words out! Now I'm not talking about hard words.. I'm talking about like the word "fifty". Ugh! Makes me sad for the future... but then we see a family like this and there's a bright spot upon the gloom of reality.

" it's so sad to see them come in, ages 12 to adult, and they don't know basic things like how to sign a paper... long time ago we accepted checks and they didn't have a clue as to how to fill out a check, including spelling the words out!"

Yes, that is very sad indeed!! how do people survive?

Yes, I do homeschool them. You'll note that I am almost never on ATP between the hours of 9-2. (at a minimum...depending on the day) If I am, its because there's something on ATP that needs my immediate attention or because its a really slow day with some child's school work. Both are rare! Between those times I am focused on my schoolmarm duties. Since homeschooling is actually my first priority, any other duties get rearranged to fit that day's needs. I fit in planning, scheduling, grading, paperwork and my homework wherever it works out.

I don't know how you do it all!

Does the auction also sell old bulls nobody wants anymore, or would they be very tough? Maybe old bulls are always useful?