Bubi

^ahh, thanx for the link. I'll dig a bit tonight in this. My folks sheep have access to the shore and so have a lot of sheep around here. But they seem to only eat seaweed when there is nothing else available so that definition of seaweed mutton is not worth a lot. Nederlander, how is it that other peoples problems always seem petty to us? I'm trying to descripe the present situation from a producers point of view, to us they do not seem small. As I have a strong interest in the subject, I'd very much like to find out what exactly goes wrong and what could be done. And I have not even mentioned the wool market yet.

We don't buy any fodder. We produce our own hay and kale for winterfeed and it is almost like a living museum. They hay is cut and recked by hand. Kale is fertilised with seaweed and hens/sheep muck. Dug with spades in the spring. There has not been used fertilizer or lime the last 25 years on our croft. I guess that makes our meat organic or even bio-dynamic (am no expert here). But yet we don't get any higher price for our lambs.

"Please excuse my ignorance but what is SLMG? I'm a lamb eater not a crofter so I don't know" Shetland Livestock Marketing Group. They run the Livestock Mart, situated in the same buildings as Harbroe on Staney Hill. Thank you for your comments on taste! Where can you buy specific mutton, like seaweed feed lamb or hill lamb? In fact, we are not aware of anywhere to sell our lambs other than the Mart. Of cause I think our own meat is divine but also I am aware that I might not be impartial We tend to have too fat lambs which ultimately is because we are too generous with their food - or simply we have too much grass for too few sheep. We are presently at a turning point in our crofting. I sort of like to support the old shetland lamb breed, but it does not pay at all. We attended the Livestock Mart a month ago and shetland lamb obtained only 1/3 of the price of crossbred lambs i.e. app £15 and £45-55. So we are going to buy a muckle ram and start crossbreeding. You get 3 times the price with roughly the same work.

DamnSaxon: "One couple among them ran a biodynamic farm; not only were the animals treated homoeopathically - and you can't possibly claim that the animals were showing a "placebo effect", they're animals, they don't know what's "supposed" to happen - but also they would plant crops according to the phase of the moon, etc., and yes, their crops, and animals, were all very healthy." YES, you can have a placebo effect with animals. There is a very famous experiment in business organisation. An American Factory researched on the impact of light on productivity. It turned out that the more light, the higher productivity. It worked seemingly infinite. Then a clever guy sugested to turn down the light intensity. Funny enough this too worked; the lesser light, the higher productivity. Traditionally this has been taken as a proof that the increase in productivity had almost nothing to do with light and everything to do with POSITIVE ATTENTION. And I guess that is what placebo is. I am sure the hoemopathic treatment of the animals worked the same...... I am brought up with scientific and atheistic views. In fact these "alternative" people are a bit ridiculous. BUT: During a personal crisis, I bought a "journey inside myself". In brief, I had 5 sessions during a week with a media. This media put me in a trance. While in the trance, I had closed eyes but I could hear all the everyday sounds. In one of these trances, I was in a body of an indian girl in a cave. To make a long story short, the girl drowned in a lake in the cave. She was paralysed by the cold water. When I "woke" I was chilled to the bone. It lasted days before I felt really warm again. Now I cannot say I've become a better person due to these experinces. (Well. perhaps that is not quite true as I stopped smoking after a "tour" inside my body). They did not solve any of my problems. I can't find any use for them and I can't hardly ever tell anybody. Njugle, I too find aboriginals very interesting. It IS a pity those experiments weren't carried further. If nothing else they may have told us about the outlooks of gather/hunters. For instance the aborigins are told to have a quite different look on time and place. "Dream time" f.i. I've often wondered about how paleolitic humans thought. I've seen many of the French cave paintings and I am enchanted. When you are actually in the caves, you find that the paintings are much, much "deeper" than just drawings.

Bravo!

!. The mutton promoted is very special. A special breed living on mainly seaweed. I don't think Shetland has an equivalent. 2. We are crofters, producing lamb, should be proud of our produce. And I am, but I am not sure what is so special about Shetland lamb? 3. Shetland lamb are diverse products. There's different breeds and there are different ways of feeding. 4. As for SLMG, I am taken aback with their lack of service to us a producers. We want to go to the Ram Sale. I tried to look it up at the website. But it hasn't been updated since early 2007. Then tried to email but only got an answer 4 days later. Meanwhile I phoned but nobody answered the phone the 1st 3 calls during normal office hours. On the phone I was told Ram Sale is Saturday 1st at 6. The email said Saturday at 5ish. Later I heard around that the Ram Sale was moved to Friday 31st. Checked with SLMG. This time I had contact in 3rd phonecall...... Not exactly impressive service I can only guess how bad they perform in marketing.

I have it too - only on Shetlink. Pretty annoying

I've heard they need entertainers on Paediatric Wards - you can do a lot of good there...... Nigel, I am still waiting to hear the name of your company????

You've not read the whole thread, Paulb. Nigel wants to wait till he has earned a fortune in IT business. Then he is going to spend his money on houses and only demand a symbolic rent thus being charitable toward the lesser fortunate. This should according to Mr. Jarman maintain the population on the Islands. You're right it is not bad to have excentric views on things and this new building construction is entertaining if you perceive it as such; entertainment. The world'd definitely be more dull without colourfull persons like Mr. Jarman.

Well if he is genuine I suggest we contact the relevant agencies to ensure he can't get in, Shetland already has it's fair share of 'eccentric' incomers. Having been on bulletin boards for over 10 years now, there's very few folk who ever admit who they really are and even fewer who use their real name to post. Well, if Shetland is going to have an Immigration Agency, we 1st have to get independence and become non-EC country. Then we'd be able to make personality tests in Sumburgh Airport and Holmgarth Ferry Terminal before allowing people to enter the Islands. Now these ideas sound somewhat familiar But I am pretty sure we don't need to worry about Mr. Jarman coming up here....

I like to laugh and smile. Who was the Gentec Venturi man? I seem to remember a heat saving system of that name?

Nigel, if you don't mind me digging, can you please inform me of your company's name?

Indeed, it is a VERY nice community but with some specific problems. I just like things to be straight. I find it unfair if Nigel Jarman put hope in people and all he is after is some idle chat about construction. I am NOT starting a witch hunt but as I said - let us get things straight. I am not the only person who has been in doubt whether Nigel is serious or not. Best of all would be if Nigel himself made some sort of answer. Please do, Nigel!

Well, it matters to me if this guy is making castles in the air or he is a genius that will bring prosperity to the Islands. It seems to me that if he can't make the business profitable that he is going to finance his plans with, then it all is most likely castles in the air. But then again, I can't be 100% sure I have company info on the right Nigel Jarman. I am still waiting for an email answer. Perhaps I have misunderstood this thread, perhaps it is just a chat about theoretic building technics?????

Oh, by the way, EM - you look good if you resemble the photo on your link..... But I admit the Nigel Jarman avatar has a bit more hair Nothing wrong with that. We all want to look better than we really do. Also we are MUCH better at solving other peoples problems than our own. It is all very human......