​So the reason my husband cited for wanting sheep: “Because they will eat the weeds in the field that the horses won’t eat, and then I can eat them!”  Seriously?  Why does it always have to be about you eating something?! 
May I first say before proceeding with the story, that expectations in a marriage are something which one is wise to be very careful of.  (Yeah don’t ask how we learned this.)  ​Suffice it to say that from previous experience, I thought it best to make myself very clear this time.  Therefore, before we had even gotten that first chicken, I had already explained to the hubs that if he wanted to eat home grown meat, he would have to:  1) Not ever eat anything I vetoed eating.  2) If he wanted help slaughtering a chicken he would have to find it elsewhere, because I was not going to help him kill, gut, de-feather, etc. which leads to  3) If he wanted me to cook it he would have to bring it to me like it came from the grocery store.  

​You can learn a lot from your neighbors.  Sometimes even the smallest bit of wisdom learned from a neighbor can completely revolutionize your life.  My neighbors have literally saved the lives of a few of my animals in the past.  But those are stories for another day.  If any of my neighbors are reading this, and you know who you are, then please know that I am deeply grateful for you.  In any case, back to the story at hand:
My friend and neighbor, Sonny, can literally grow anything.  Her freezer is full of blackberries and figs and peaches.  She and her husband grow, harvest and sell the most wonderful pecans, and she never hesitates to share.  On more than one occasion she has lined the back table at church with a beautiful offering of fat green cabbages and plump juicy red tomatoes.  The advantages of being in a small church community in the South are, “Ya’ll take some I’ve got too many!  Here’s you some plastic Wal-Mart bags to put stuff in!”