Hot Off The Haywire

Farm Fodder - Page 24

Wow. Either my math skills are eroding or my boar Jetho has started breeding telepathically. I got to the farm this morning with the plan of moving Perk and Twiggs to their farrowing spot, as they're due to farrow next week.

Well, you know what they say about plans, they never last beyond the first contact, and in this case it was simply the contact of my boots with ground. Twiggs was out with Dottie, Jethro, and Maybell throwing their usual morning feeding time fit, but Perk was no where to be found, well, I actually did find her, but I also found 11 little porkers with her. And now the fun part starts.

Trying to get a sow and litter moved from a pasture with a boar, a boss sow (Dottie) and the sow's inseperable sister (Twiggs) isn't as hard as getting to the moon, but only because the distance is shorter. I looked at Perk and told her we were fixing to have a battle of wits, and she just looked back at me with an expression that said "to even the odds do you want me to tie one hamhock behind my back?" And so it began, ordeal of ordeals, but two hours later both girls were in their new spot, and I was in the tool shed looking for a bar of soap to wash my mouth with. All's well that ends well I guess and here's a shot of Perk and her 11 little ones:

 

I also shot some video of Dottie's pigs in the winter rye pasture that was underseeded with our clover mix, and you can see that both the clover and the pigs are coming on strong:

 

I also got a shot of Geez with her and Myfoot's pigs, and you can see that they're in fine trim as well:

 

With a tinge of sadness intermingled with immense relief, the final Cherry Street market is this weekend. We appreciate so much all the support you guys have given us, and in turn some rare breeds of pigs, and that's where the sadness comes in, knowing that the usual Saturday morning fun of visiting with you, even if it's only briefly, has to be folded like our market tents and stored until next spring. Unless you shop through the winter market of course, and at least we'll get to see you guys every other weekend.

At the market Saturday we should be stocked up, and since it's the last one we hope to see you there. Thanks for reading.

Pork & Greens

Farm Fodder - Page 23

If I were going to sing a song to summer's end, surely I would choose these lyrics:

Leaves are falling all around, it's time I was on my way.

Thanks to you I'm much obliged for such a pleasant stay.

But now it's time for me to go, the autumn moon lights my way.

For now I smell the rain, and with it pain, and it's headed my way. *

Watching leaves fall and wisk across the ground yesterday in the strong winds summoned these lyrics forth like some magic genie, and all the thoughts and emotions wrapped in those few short sentences have been bound up in events just this past week. Anybody that's up before dawn has surely noticed the autumn moon, a brilliance not seen often, the moon like some shimmering, decadent fruit suspended just out of reach, changing the way you view reflected light forever.

And autumn rain has been in the air this week too, and the smell is different than the muggy, humid summer shower smell, just as the smell of smoke is different - in winter it attracts you, but in summer it repels you, as if the poles of your magnet were flipped on their head. But the smell of autumn rain conjures up something different altogether, it's the smell of dormancy and decay, of cold winds and winter just over the northern horizon - the smell of pain, and it's headed our way.

So to you dear summer, we are truely obliged for such a pleasant stay.

At the farm we did get a good soaking rain, good for the clover fields but bad for the planned tour Sunday. If you didn't receive the e-mail and were signed up to attend hopefully you read this, as we are rescheduling the event for Saturday, October 9th which is a week after the close of the Cherry Street market. Actually, this will work out better because we should have 2 just farrowed litters, so the kids can see pigs of all ages, plus we get to visit with you guys after the market season is over.

Dottie's pigs seem to be adjusting to their new surroundings and spend almost all day grazing. In the photo below you can see how well the clover is emerging after we cut the winter rye:

 

And here's a shot of Geez and Myfoot's pigs looking like they're on an Easter egg hunt:

 

At the market tomorrow we'll be fairly loaded, except we didn't get our order of brat dawgs or shaved ham, but come the last market day on October 2nd we'll have it all plus some ham and shoulder roasts and some more Arkansas bacon. Come see us tomorrow, and we'll have more flyers on the winter market to pass out. Thanks for reading!

Pork & Greens

* Lyrics from "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin

 

 

 

Seperation Anxiety

Forlorn. That's the simplest way to paint Dottie's demeanor after removing her pigs yesterday. Maybe we don't give animals enough credit for being able to sense the same way we do, but watching her walk up and down, and up and down the fence line all day today gave me pause.

I usually don't wean the pigs out of earshot of their mothers, but in the field rotation it came the time where the pigs go to the field farthest from the breeding pasture. When I started feeding this morning I noticed that Dottie didn't seem all that interested in eating which was mighty strange for a creature of her enormous girth and voracious appetite. Thinking little of it, I went on and finished feeding and watering, and afterwards was when I noticed Dottie at the fence line, peering this way and that, looking but not finding, moving and looking some more, on constant vigil the rest of the day.

Whether it's just instinctual or some other factor, Dottie looked all the world like she missed her pigs. I know that by tomorrow her seeking will pass, she'll be back to her mean, cantankerous self, but for a split second today I felt sorry for her. The bond between mothers and their offspring, no matter the species, is a beautiful thing to see.

Here's a photo of her litter in their new pasture:

 

An FYI about the farm tour. There's a decent chance of rain Thursday and/or Friday, and if we get a large downfall the roads and the farm become difficult to navigate, so if we have to postpone we'll reschedule for October 9th, which is the Saturday after the Cherry Street market closes. I'll send an update e-mail out this Thursday or Friday. Thanks for reading!

Pork & Greens

Farm Fodder - Page 22

The days are shortening and with it comes that feeling you get this time of year, a feeling of things ending, of summer days and shorts, of windows down and grills hot to the touch, the smell of freshly cut grass and crowded markets, all in their process of being slowly folded and tucked away until the days lengthen again. The feeling always leaves me in some sort of delicious melancholy, born no doubt from both my love of the cool crispness of fall and my loathing of the bone dead dreariness of winter.

Down at the farm, Geez and Myfoot are still doing a champion job raising the little bacon slabbies, and I shot a brief video of them early this morning:

 

I also had the camera with me and got a shot of some double lactation:

 

Now that me back is somewhat better I've been trying to get some mowing and weedeating done, and  some planning on how to re-fence the farm for our herd expansion. I've got our gilts identified for breeding, but I'll have to do some major fencing and hut building over the fall and winter to make room for them and the additional pigs. Dottie's pigs are due to be weaned this coming Tuesday, and I'm really looking forward to that - NOT. I think wrestling a grizzly bear would be peaches and cream in comparison, plus I've got to cut the males and humane ring the entire bunch.

We took the butcher pigs for our Cherry Street customers last Monday, and we'll take another batch for our friends and family members this coming Monday.

We'll be sending out the e-mail with directions to the farm for the tour on Sunday the 26th sometime this Sunday or Monday.

We'll be passing out flyers again this Saturday about our winter market for those that haven't been in the last week or two. We're loaded with products for the market tomorrow, so stop by and see us. Thanks for reading!

Pork & Greens

My Back's In The Saddle Again!

Nothing can bend your posture, make you look like you're wearing black socks at the beach like a lower back injury. After a weekend of rest and stretching I was able to get back to a semblance of normalcy over the weekend, and actually did some brushhogging today before the bottom fell out, so all in all the week is off to a great start - rain and no, well, not much pain!

The back strain put me behind on things I need to get done, but I can get caught up over the next couple of days, but the injury made me realize how fortunate we are if we're in good health.

I needed to get our grazing pasture mowed so the clover could re-sprout, and it was perfect timing because a huge downpour came just as I was unhooking the mower from the tractor. The reason we mow the pasture is because clovers are cool season legumes, and it's hard for seedlings to compete with warm season grasses with the soil temps still being quite high. Cutting the grass growth allows sunlight to get down to the seedlings and allow them to emerge and compete. Hopefully this is the last or next to last mowing for the year. With the rains we've had the fall grazing should be superb this year.

 When I had finished mowing I got a few photos of Geez and Myfoot and their piglets out in the pasture. The girls are really milking well and fattening up the little porkers like  good sows should. Have a look (Geez is in the background):

 

and here's another view:

 

Thanks for reading, we'll have more news and maybe some video later in the week, and always be thankful for your health!

Pork & Greens

 

Farm Fodder - Page 21

Nothing was as needed as the two and a half inches of rain we got this past week, well, besides a new spine, but that's another story. The rain has really set the clover to sprouting, and if we get a few more showers periodically we should have some excellent fall grazing coming up.

Not a whole lot got accomplished at the farm this past week, as my back has pretty much limited me to feeding and waterering. It's doing much better now, and my feel meter in years has dropped me down to somewhere in the 70's. Hopefully I'll be back to 49 years in a day or two. I didn't go to the doctor, but did call and he said to watch as much football as possible to ease the pain. (at least that's what I told my wife he said) Hahaha!

Geez and Myfoot are doing an excellent job nursing their litters, and we plan on turning them out of the ark over the weekend. Everytime I see them in the ark they're facing the openings, like they're on guard duty or something, so I'm thinking they may have had a nocturnal encounter with a raccoon or coyote:

 

Weaning time is coming up for Dottie's pigs, and I'll be glad to get those rascals off of her so she'll quit being so ornery. We're going to humane ring her pigs and move them onto the winter rye field that was underseeded with our clover mix. They should be in tall cotton with all that fall grazing coming up:

 

It's the time of year for the markets to start slowing down, and I'm not too terribly sad about that. It's been a long, hot, and humid season, and a little down time is looked forward to. We're taking the pigs to the butcher on Monday for everyone that ordered a half or whole pig, and we'll have details e-mailed to you guys later in the week. We should be fairly stocked for tomorrow, so come see us and thanks for reading!

Pork & Greens

What's Your Frequency Myfoot?

Earth to Myfoot. You had a snug, bedded ark to have your piglets in, but you choose the middle of the pasture, with no cover in sight?

Man, when I got to the farm this morning I knew that Myfoot must have pigged last night because she wasn't at the fence squawking for her feed. So there I got to peek in her side of the ark and what, neither her or any piglets were anywhere in site. So I start calling her and see her stand up in the pasture, way down on the other end. I'm thinking maybe she was just out grazing, but noticed she wouldn't move more than 10 or 20 feet before she turned back. I knew what she'd done then, so I went down expecting to find piglets scattered everywhere, but she'd built a grass nest and had 12 fat piglets just a snoozing in the warm air.

Of course that wouldn't do, especially with an 80 percent chance of rain, so I got the tractor and fought her off while loading the pigs in the tractor bucket. Myfoot didn't care for that one bit, but she'll get over it. I got all the piglets in the ark, and after searching her nest for an hour, she finally settled in with her new litter, and so far, all's well that ends well!

Here's a short video of her and Geez in their ark:

Sorry about the blur, but I've got to get a new lense for the flip. Thanks for reading and watching!

Pork & Greens

Farm Fodder - Page 20 - Better Late Than Never Edition

Fitting that on Labor Day one of the girls went in labor and farrowed 9 large piglets. Geez was just finishing up having her piglets when I arrived at the farm this morning. While only having 9 would put most girls on the waiver wire, Geez get's a pass because we didn't skip her first heat after weaning her litter.

Our plan is always to skip that first breeding cycle on sows that farrow their first litters because they get milked down so heavily, especially with our longer lactation period, and skipping the first cycle gives them an additional 21 days to recondition their bodies. However, due to the demand for our pork we didn't have that luxury, and needed to get more pigs on the ground as soon as possible. Here's a photo I took of her piglets while she was out eating this morning:

 

I'll get some video of her tomorrow and post it up on the blog.

This is the "Better Late Than Never Edition" because of throwing my back out last Wednesday, and I'm just now getting back to some semblance of normal. Nothing is so unfunny as not being able to put on long pants because your range of motion is about 3 degrees from vertical.

We moved the remaining growing pigs to one of the sacrifice lots so the field they were roaming can be tilled and reseeded with our clover mix. Hopefully my back will be healed enough to get this done latter in the week. Here's a shot of the pigs chilling in the shade of the sacrifice lot:

 

Our butcher pigs sold out lickity split at the farmers' market Saturday, and we'll be e-mailing out details shortly. We had a great sign-up for the farm tour, and you may have noticed at the market that we changed the date to Sept 26th due to some scheduling issues. We're looking forward to having everyone come see the hows and whys of pasture pig production.

That's going to do it for now, but check back in a day or two and we should have some video up of Geez' litter, and Myfoot is due any day, so maybe her litter as well. Thanks for reading!

Pork & Greens