Phil awoke today determined to move the pigs. After about a month in the patch near the trailer, with almost no supplemental feed (well, it SEEMS like no supplemental feed, but as I think about it, it has actually been about 100 pounds, mostly in the first week), their patch of ground is thoroughly cleared. The two photos below show the actual lines around their pen: the turned over, bare soil is where they lived; the untouched soil was just on the other side of their electric line.
Thankfully, this time Phil didn’t give himself a concussion driving T-posts. It took much of the morning to string the wire, and it wasn’t without its stress (when we turned off the charger to move it to the new enclosure, I noticed the pigs eyeing the fence with greater-than-normal curiosity. But aside from the panic that the pigs might get out, so strong that I wanted to vomit, the situation was never out of hand. I carried a bucket of slops from one pen to the next; the pigs followed faithfully; as we worked to give the line a final unexpected tightening, the pigs happily rooted around in their new location, and then even more happily ate at the feeder until thoroughly gorged (and now we’ve fed them 150 pounds).
What a difference from a month ago, when they were stressed, confused, had no idea who their owners were, and had no idea about the electric fence. Yay!
Phil and I cleaned up the pen a little more once the pigs were gone: he scythed the little brush remaining; I removed some of the larger canes and sticks. Then he seeded the area to clover, which is the only cover crop seed we have.
Next spring, I plan to use that area as my garden. Growing up, Butch had a 1 ½ acre garden that provided the family their food. That’s really, REALLY big, compared to what I’ve had in the past.
The older boys helped Phil today. They pulled T-posts, working together with the heavy puller.
They helped him set up the new pen for the sheep and goats. And again, after the A’s were in bed, I read to the older boys from our Robin Hood book. This time we read 20 pages, and it took almost two hours. Jadon confessed (adorably) that “I tried to read the first chapter again, but it’s easier when you explain it.” Ah, yeah.
In two days, we’re going to look at Olde English Babydoll Southdown Sheep. I read about them in a recent Acres USA magazine article, and fell completely, besottedly in love. Besides having cashmere quality wool, they are teeny, small enough to weed a vineyard or orchard (because they can’t reach the fruit), and, apparently, quite friendly (as in, you can hold them, I think!). Imagine having little teddy bear faced balls of fluff grazing among the apple trees. Oh, I can hardly stand it!
Rationally, though, I’m not certain that quality breeding stock of such a trendy animal is in the best interest of the farm—but I am going to find out—on Friday!
Finally, just an FYI that I’ve been meaning to include: I was reading that elderberry is good for fighting H1N1. We took Berry Well with elderberry when Abigail first came, after having been exposed to the flu, and none of us got it. I’d highly recommend the stuff: tastes great, from a good Christian family business.
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