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thanks Maine Writer for the link to newfarm, i don't know how i missed this site, i have been google for info on small farm and new alternative"simple" way of farming for some time now. this will keep me busy reading for a while.
Thanks! I will make a point to look for the meat managers when I stop by the stores today... we have no "independent" grocers or meat markets nearby...
The ability of those boxes to hold over 80 lbs may come back and bite me, though... I am well known for packing HEAVY. When I moved to this place from the fish packing plant I rented for a year, I had a young (and strong, or so he thought!) young friend bring two of his buddies up from Atlanta to visit the ocean and help me move.. and they thought I was trying to kill them off with my "boxes of lead weights" or so they swore was what I was moving! LOL then I could still hoist them without much trouble, but as I have a few more years on my now, I am trying to take it easier on myself (and whatever helpers might materialize) as I realistically expect this to be an "I load and unload by myself" situation. I keep repeating the mantra "books in SMALL boxes..."
Quote:
Originally Posted by mainebrokerman
star if you are looking for strong boxes, call a couple supermarkets,,,or independent grocery stores and ask them to save you some "clean" beef boxes, these boxes are a bit larger than a banana box,,and much stronger, will hold over 80 lbs...
most beef comes ,,not hanging as it use to but boneless primals to supermarkets and independents, shipped in strong beef boxes, these are great for packing..
when i was a meat manager in a supermarket,,,many would come in requesting the boxes, and id set them aside for him/her..at no charge,,
just gotta ask the right folks,not the cashiers,,but the meat manager,,or cutters, and dont hesitate,,theyd be happy to do this!!
Thanks! I will make a point to look for the meat managers when I stop by the stores today... we have no "independent" grocers or meat markets nearby...
The ability of those boxes to hold over 80 lbs may come back and bite me, though... I am well known for packing HEAVY. When I moved to this place from the fish packing plant I rented for a year, I had a young (and strong, or so he thought!) young friend bring two of his buddies up from Atlanta to visit the ocean and help me move.. and they thought I was trying to kill them off with my "boxes of lead weights" or so they swore was what I was moving! LOL then I could still hoist them without much trouble, but as I have a few more years on my now, I am trying to take it easier on myself (and whatever helpers might materialize) as I realistically expect this to be an "I load and unload by myself" situation. I keep repeating the mantra "books in SMALL boxes..."
star give the store a call a few hrs before you get there,,give them a chance to put some aside for ya,,and they will be ready for you to pick them up.(dont have to wait)
you can't live in rural Maine and not expect that you'll have to drive to get places! We drive to take our kids to some places more than we did when we lived in Bangor.....I'm not 5 minutes from swim lessons anymore for example. The high school is only 2 miles away for me, but for some others it's 15 miles or more. BUT the trade off is that we are rural....we leave our doors unlocked, we know our neighbors, they know us, and they know our kids and watch out for them--often times more than the kids would like.
Our kids ride snowmobiles to school. They hunt. They fish. They've been driving an ATV or a snowmobile long before they can get their driver's license, and they've been driving the family car on the camp road long before as well. In the summer they go swimming and fishing in the lakes and ponds, the same ones they snowmobile across in the winter to ice fish. It's not unusual for our teens to have their own lobster traps in the water, making money, some even have their own boats.
Our towns have after-school programs and recreation departments. It's not all about athletics either. There are arts and crafts and drama and foreign language as well. They are in small classes at school with a fantastic teacher to student ratio.
Most of the kids I know are not sitting with the tails plunked in front of the TV or computer. They are up and moving--active and involved. My kids range from a senior in HS to a 3rd grader, we go a lot with them, yet there is balance too. They are not "overbooked" the way some kids are today. Every day is not scheduled and full of this, that, and the other thing. They have the opportunity to be kids, to play, to grow through that play. They have days in the summer when they leave in the morning and I don't see them til lunch--they're outside playing, they're at their friends, or the pool, or the ball field.
Nothing for kids in Downeast Maine? That's crazy! I know kids participating in everything from the Washington County Children's Chorus to Stage East Theater, to being in swimming lessons at the University of Maine at Machias to taking a pottery "class" at the Cobscook Bay Learning Center. I know kids who participate in sports all year long and kids who can't wait to get out on the water with their Dad in a boat. I know kids who are taking lessons from NRA instructors and kids who participate in Civil Air Patrol and Cadet Corp.
And as an aside, I know of a HS boys basketball team in little old Downeast Maine with a 52-0 record, achieved from 2 previous undefeated seasons, and still undefeated this year.....seems as if they must have had an opportunity to play a little ball before HS to accomplish that.
Sounds like the dream life! Kids today are over commercialized and under naturalized and socialized I believe. If they don't have a power cord connected to something, ANYTHING......they're bored to tears. Why? They've forgotten how to play and to use their imaginations. They have too much free access to media, malls and mahem! Why don't more kids enjoy the great outdoors? Because they've been conditioned - air conditioned! They have the TV, marketing and ad execs to do their thinking for them. I think it's time they are re-introduced to the wonders that nature provides. The possible activities are endless! We're raising a bunch of clones. I protest! I protest!!
Now, I'm done with my rant........no hate mail, please. I'm just one of these crazy parents who refuses to allow my kids to become fat, lazy and bored all the time. And make no mistake, I don't use the F word lightly! I've been fat (over 300 lbs) my entire adult life, until the last year. I've missed out on so many things that I've always wanted to do and just wasn't physically able. No more! I'm teaching my children to create their OWN lives - I owe it to them to teach them truth.
being 11/2 hours from the nearest mall--oh, I take that back, we're closer than that if we go to St. John--anyway, being more than an hour from a mall hasn't hurt my kids at all. And don't get me wrong, they have the 360 and computer and cells and Ipods....the difference is their world doesn't end when they're away from all that
many of us grew up without much,,without the technical gadgets and internet, kids have today, and we could "play" outside til dinner or dark,,without concern of kooks,,,
we would play with other neighborhood kids,,,whether it was a pick up baseball game, going fishing, sleeping overnights in tents, sliding in the wintertime, and ice-skating
and this,,was "fun" because many of us had daily "chores" that was expected of us after school,,,,,
my point is,,you dont see kids playing outside as much,, being creative, ,,building a go kart, too much technical gadgets to keep them busy along with,,, a parents grave concern of where thier kids are at every minute,, in the big cities are the kids free to go outside and play?? or do the kooks and crime scare them so much,,theyd rather have a kid in front of the puter ,,so they know where they are,,,
the more rural you are in maine,,the less you have to worry about your kids playing outside. if your son or daughter, tells a parent they are walking down the road to a friends house,,, then thats usually ok.... parents dont have to think the worst may happen.
thier isnt a parent alive that hasnt heard thier own kid say they are "bored" even with all there technical novelties,,,,,
when you have little thiers a lot of character building ,,finding something to do,,or building something...using your hands, and creative juices
you can't live in rural Maine and not expect that you'll have to drive to get places! We drive to take our kids to some places more than we did when we lived in Bangor.....I'm not 5 minutes from swim lessons anymore for example. The high school is only 2 miles away for me, but for some others it's 15 miles or more. BUT the trade off is that we are rural....we leave our doors unlocked, we know our neighbors, they know us, and they know our kids and watch out for them--often times more than the kids would like.
Our kids ride snowmobiles to school. They hunt. They fish. They've been driving an ATV or a snowmobile long before they can get their driver's license, and they've been driving the family car on the camp road long before as well. In the summer they go swimming and fishing in the lakes and ponds, the same ones they snowmobile across in the winter to ice fish. It's not unusual for our teens to have their own lobster traps in the water, making money, some even have their own boats.
Our towns have after-school programs and recreation departments. It's not all about athletics either. There are arts and crafts and drama and foreign language as well. They are in small classes at school with a fantastic teacher to student ratio.
Most of the kids I know are not sitting with the tails plunked in front of the TV or computer. They are up and moving--active and involved. My kids range from a senior in HS to a 3rd grader, we go a lot with them, yet there is balance too. They are not "overbooked" the way some kids are today. Every day is not scheduled and full of this, that, and the other thing. They have the opportunity to be kids, to play, to grow through that play. They have days in the summer when they leave in the morning and I don't see them til lunch--they're outside playing, they're at their friends, or the pool, or the ball field.
Nothing for kids in Downeast Maine? That's crazy! I know kids participating in everything from the Washington County Children's Chorus to Stage East Theater, to being in swimming lessons at the University of Maine at Machias to taking a pottery "class" at the Cobscook Bay Learning Center. I know kids who participate in sports all year long and kids who can't wait to get out on the water with their Dad in a boat. I know kids who are taking lessons from NRA instructors and kids who participate in Civil Air Patrol and Cadet Corp.
And as an aside, I know of a HS boys basketball team in little old Downeast Maine with a 52-0 record, achieved from 2 previous undefeated seasons, and still undefeated this year.....seems as if they must have had an opportunity to play a little ball before HS to accomplish that.
I can just tell your a good mom
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I'm just one of these crazy parents who refuses to allow my kids to become fat, lazy and bored all the time. And make no mistake, I don't use the F word lightly! I've been fat (over 300 lbs) my entire adult life, until the last year. I've missed out on so many things that I've always wanted to do and just wasn't physically able. No more! I'm teaching my children to create their OWN lives - I owe it to them to teach them truth.
