Afghan Farming Techniques

I have read in China donkey is eaten as a meat. In Afghanistan also?

Don't know this to be a true story, but was related to me as such. Back when the US was supporting the Afghanistanis against the Russians the US, either military or CIA, went around the SE U.S. buying up any mules they could find. They were airlifted* into Pakistan, then taken over into Afghanistan.

In reflection they should have also had horses.

Far as I know no one has every gotten a mule to rebreed, although they did manage to do so with buffalo/cattle - Beefalo. When I first heard about them I really didn't know what to expect them to look like. When I eventually saw some they really didn't look any different than another breed of cattle. Just my expectations not matching reality. Other than as a speciality product the Beefalo market was never really developed in the US, and I doubt much donkey meat has been marketed. I have had both buffalo and Beefalo and it really didn't taste any different than typical beef.

I have read a lot of western novels. I recall several as saying the Great Plains Native Americas preferred mule over horse meat.

Again, from novels, when they first saw them they thought they were large dogs with turtles on their feet. Eventual incorporation changed their culture - war, hunting and pack animal transportation. When they only had human or dog power there was a limit on how long they could make their lodge/teepee poles. Horses allowed them to significantly increase the length of such, plus the amount of personal (family) possessions they could move around.

Local lumberyard has/had a picture of a donkey cart which was overloaded. The donkey is raised into the air.

*I was at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in 72-74. They managed the AF C-130 program, including doing repairs/overhauls. In Vietnam C-130s were used to transport villagers, including their cattle. The cattle urine was causing major problems with underbelly corrosion. Maybe I missed it, but don't recall ever seeing a photograph from N/S Vietman which included a horse, mule or donkey.

I've never heard of any Afghans eating donkey meat. I don't know.

Chuck
What the heck is this animal?
Some kinda goat?

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Mark Twain
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Enforced tolerance is oppression

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

That's a sheep. We call them "JLO sheep" because they have big behinds.

Here's a video from my helmet cam - from a mission in southern Helmand province. In under 4 minutes, I count chickens, ducks, a dog, a cat, sheep, and some women and children. Not sure what else.

i think there are a couple of replies mixed up here.

you are probably right about women in kabul. are you aware of the HBO show i mentioned? the taliban outlawed tv's and the show was considered an act of rebellion. one woman who moved her feet a little while she sang got death threats. it was risky for them to sing in public but to dance put her life at risk. another interesting ting was that voting for their favorite was the first contact Af peole had with democracy. lots of food for thought.

it has happened in other places that a land that was once lush and green became overgrazed. when there are few growing things it stops raining. it's almost as if having trees around makes it rain. so, it may be desert now, but not always. it may have ben overcrowded in the past but was abanodoned once it became desert.

i never said anyting about imperialism.

Amazing video. Seems the only modern thing is the car. I can see why the adults don't see any point in having schools considering the kids will live the same way the adults do.

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Ted H

You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.
-Davy Crockett

Chuch, do lotsa the women want ya to bring home a souviner from Af. Namly them. Thats the way it was40yrs ago. The young girls/women broke there necks to try to look like what they thought Jane Mansfield, or Mrolyn? Monroe looked like, And Ive heard that Many guys tried to do the red tape to bring them back, but that few were successful

Ah war brides.

The sheep are fat-tailed sheep. We have one breed of fat-tailed sheep in this country, but they aren't very common (and right now the name of the breed is not coming to my mind!). They can survive in the severe desert better than the breeds we think of as 'normal'.

And I'm pretty sure that donkey meat would be considered unclean to a Muslim -- seems like their dietary restrictions are fairly similar to the Old Testament restrictions on the Jews. May not be totally the same, but quite similar.

Kathleen

Liek Helianthus(?) said, go read Three Cups of Tea, it will enlighten you

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If it is decided to have women wear burkas I want to have the ticket concession when you TRY to put one on Wyld Thang. maybe the first aid stand also...

I talked to Sarah and we'll do it for free in the mud if you get Ted Nugent to play pep band

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Afghan Arabi sheep? http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/sheep/ I was thinking Awasi but no.

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Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup........

Hmmmm. Ted Nugent's Mom & Dad live next door to my sister, I wonder....

about mule meat-
I was in China in 2001 and had some (could have been donkey I suppose). Most of the meat I had in the country was very bad (gristly, scrawny, picked over), but the mule steak was very good. It was a lot like an excellent cut of beef, maybe more tender and kind of open grained (for lack of a better word). btw dog is the worst meat I've ever eaten. Nothing but gristle.

Do the Afghans make trash can bagels like their Uighur neighbors to the NE? Pretty cool system- they have a fire going in the bottom of a 50 gallon trash barrel and make these dense wet bagel-type things. Then they touch them to the inside of the barrel and they stick to it (I guess they get burned to the barrel) where they let them cook until golden brown. Scratch them off and you're good to go. Very tasty, although I suppose the fire is mostly dung and the barrel probably had oil in it at some point...
when in Rome....

isn't that like how they make chapatis in InDia or something, they slap the dough upside in the adobe wood fired oven

Chuck, what was the purpose of the trip?

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I was part of a Fox News crew, reporting on the war.

They don't make those bagels in Afghanistan, but they make bread in a similar fashion (Naan)

I just spent a couple of months in Haiti. They make fences like that to fence animals OUT. The gardens are inside the fence and the animals of the village run free.

When I still worked in conservation, I worked with a wonderful Chinese lady (my teacher and mentor)

She told me they have a joke in China..

Q) What are the only things with 4 legs that Chinese people don't eat?

A) The table and chairs

Q) What are the only things with 2 legs that Chinese people don't eat?

A) Their parents

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I saw something nasty in the woodshed

How did farmers and herders families subsided themselves? About what was the average family income per month? Did you notice amy merchant stalls? Were there individuals selling wares on the steet curb?