OUR "7 OAKS" FARMSTEAD

In general, for me, natural healing , herbs and better nutrition works well as preventive medicine and for long term health improvement. If we are to have optimal health, I believe it would be in our best interest if we utilize both mainstream medicine and natural healing methods. There are many areas in which mainstream medicine not only excels but is indispensable. For example:

1) When you are in an accident and suffer traumatic injuries

2) When you are in the acute phase of an infectious disease

3) When you have absorbed poisons

Herbs raised in pots on my deck

The treatment of my hubby and my own chronic degenerative health problems needs to come from a balanced and  holistic approach,because that is the way our body works. I believe it is vital  to our health to learn how to assist the  natural healing capacities of our body with proper and healthy nutrition. Our health got all screwed up while we lived on the road for 15 years trucking, we did not have access many times to organic food, but now that we are home we are hopefully not to late  to remedying this situation. The Creator , created for us a perfect  body able to maintain balance and working order indefinitely when the conditions are right, but since we live in a missed up world good luck with that. But because of unsound farming practices, there is very little nutrients in our soils. Plants take up all of the little vital nutrients left from the soils and farmers replace those nutrients with artificial fertilizers and a few minerals leaving our soil very deficient  of vital nutrients.

Broccoli from my garden

On my own little 3 acre homestead we are doing our best to raise our own herbal medicines, food  from gardening to  raising rabbits for food and fertilizer because it is the best, easiest and most economical way for us to make sure our food is organic and healthy ,especially for someone who has

some disabilities. We also get most of our meat from hunting and fishing and from hubby's brother and our son in law who raises grass fed organic beef. We hope in the future to raise chickens but now we have very limited funds, hubby laid off and working on getting disability so our finances are very TIGHT.  

 When it comes to raising and eating rabbits, many folks think that we are eating someones pet. No, these are bred for meat consumption, they are bigger than most pet rabbits and they are not treated as pets but are treated in the most humane way possible.  The added bonus to raising

my raised bed garden

rabbits is all the rabbit poo we need to replenish my garden. Rabbit poo will not burn the plants like most fertilizer , because they are in little pellet form they break up slowly releasing vital nutrients into the soil at a slow rate. My garden thrives on it. We are hoping to plant more veggies and hopefully raise enough to can this year.

The benefits of raising rabbits.

Excellent source of protein

Rabbits are not considered livestock, therefore you can raise meat rabbits in urban areas in your garage, backyard, or wherever you have room

They do not take up a lot of room compared to bigger livestock such as cattle, goats, and pigs.

They are not noisy.  If you are going to actually raise chickens, you must have a rooster.  While a lot of cities allow backyard chickens, I am sure your neighbors would not appreciate a noisy rooster crowing at the break of dawn.

Rabbits are easier to breed than chickens, you don’t need incubators and heat lamps, the does raise their own young until they are old enough to butcher

Rabbit manure is excellent fertilizer and unlike chickens, it can go directly into your garden without composting it.

Even the US Navy preferred rabbit meat over chickens on their ships. For every 8 oz of rabbit meat they produced, it would take 12 oz of chicken meat due to rabbits having less moisture in their meat.

A healthy diet for rabbits is a lot of greens and some other veggies, all of which you can grow in your garden.

If you have a greenhouse, you can house the rabbits in it during the winter.  This not only protects your rabbits from the elements, but it also provides some extra heat so you can grow some veggies during the winter.

You can tan rabbit hides for crafts or other things.

Cons To Raising Rabbits For Meat:

• Rabbits are very cute and this makes it harder to even consider killing them.
• Most people consider rabbits as pets.  I do agree that rabbits make great pets, they are still a great source of meat and have been used for that purpose forever.

http://www.harrisrabbitry.com/advantages-of-raising-rabbits-for-meat/

Rabbit meat compared to beef and pork: 

A 3-ounce serving of roasted rabbit meat contains 167.5 calories. A serving of rabbit meat contains far less calories than the same size portion of beef -- 259.3 calories -- and slightly less calories than a portion of pork -- 180.2.Rabbit meat is relatively low in fat; each 3-ounce serving has 6.8 grams of fat, which accounts for 37 percent of the calories. Compared to beef and pork, rabbit is the clear choice -- 3 ounces of beef has 18.3 grams, and 3 ounces of pork has 8.2 grams. A 3-ounce serving of rabbit meat contains 69.7 milligrams of cholesterol, a necessary substance in your body for cell formation.Three ounces of roasted rabbit meat contributes toward your daily protein needs. This portion provides you with 24.7 grams of this macro-nutrients Adding rabbit meat to your meal plan gives you a big boost in vitamin B-12 -- each 3-ounces serving provides 117.6 percent of the recommended daily intake. Rabbit meat contains quite a bit of selenium, a mineral your body uses to make antioxidants and stimulate sperm production; each 3-ounce portion of meat contains 46.8 percent of the recommended daily value of selenium.A 3-ounce serving of rabbit also provides you with 22.4 percent of the phosphorus you need in your daily meal plan.