Leftovers Plate Number One

Of course my favorite part about Thanksgiving is the leftovers. It makes the best breakfast! I already had my big plate this morning. We went over Tony and Careen's last night. Tony cooked two Bourbon Red hens...one smoked and one traditional. Everything was wonderful. We took half of everything home. I can see for now on, Thanksgiving day for us means taking a huge breather and being thankful for a day of rest. I don't have a desire to cook all day. I would much rather enjoy the event on Friday or Saturday.

Scott did very little farm work yesterday. He enjoyed cups of hot tea and reading the book, "Omnivore's Dilemma". I, on the other hand, finally enjoyed getting my hands on my pigs. I haven't seen them in a week. I cleaned out feed and water troughs, made sure everyone got enough feed and made sure all grunts and oinks were normal. We also have a sow, Ramona, who is due very soon with a litter. We moved her to the hill with the farrowing hut. Now we just have to watch her milk rows. That lets me know just how soon she will deliver.

We sure do hope all of our customers enjoyed their Pleasant Hill Turkeys and the time spent with their friends and family. We were glad to see our repeat customers and it was a true pleasure meeting new ones! We're thankful for all of you. Now it's time to order turkeys for next year!

Weaning

When our piglets are about six weeks old, we wean them from their mom and put them in a confined area with hog panels. I have to say I absolutely detest this part of pig farming. Piglets are like puppies with playful, mischievous spirits. When they are first born, they don't wander too far from mom. After about a week they start to explore. It doesn't take too long for them to realize that we keep the feed in the shop. Before I know it, I am greeted there with tiny grunts and oinks. "Where's my food? Where's my food?!" How much fun it is for them to find a new spot to explore and see new pig faces who may be their future friends. My neighbor has called me, "I just want to let you know there were a bunch of small red piglets way up in my yard." Life is good.

We just weaned a litter of Tamworths today. I find myself feeling melancholy because for a short period of time, they will not be free to explore. I can hear them grunting because they don't know where they are and of course they miss the security of mom. Mom pigs really do need to separate from their babies at this time. Nursing a big litter is hard on them and they start to lose some weight.

Eventually we'll run some electric wire in their weaning pen to get them to "respect" the electric fence. When they get big enough, we'll build out large, wire paddocks for them to roam and explore. They surely will be happy again!

Chickens are done!!

This is such a busy time of year for us. We're winding down with the turkeys...taking Thanksgiving orders and strategically placing dogs to keep them safe at night. We finish up with the broiler chickens for the year until next February when we receive the first batch of chicks. We just processed the last batch and I just finished cleaning and bagging them. I always find the last ten to be torture because I want it to be done and I'm tired of handling chicken!

I enjoyed watching this particular batch. We didn't have enough solar chargers so they didn't have one connected to their poultry net. So knowing it was not electrified, they found it easy to escape under the net. The Cornish cross chickens cannot fly. Even though all of our birds forage within their netting, these guys truly hit the jackpot with totally free foraging everywhere! Under buildings, under the deck, even by the pigs...which it wasn't too smart for them when they were little. Pigs eat chickens!

My Loves and Joys

About two years ago, Scott went to a local farm, Cibola Farms, to inquire about a job with farm markets. Cibola Farms raises bison and pork and sells in farmers markets in the DC Metro area. I found myself a tad surprised when he came home and said,"I think I'm going to buy some pigs."

Hmm... okay we have some chickens, are we ready for pigs?

When we moved here to our farm, we knew we would raise some animals for our own purpose, but we NEVER thought we would raise for the purpose of farming for others. After a two minute conversation, we decided to purchase a Tamworth boar and three Tamworth sows from Cibola. Pig farming has begun!

We fell in love immediately (and respected immediately) our new herd. We called the boar Big Daddy and the three sows were #2,#4, and #5. We were trying to think of names for the girls, but after so many days went by, the names became their ear tags...#2,#4, #5. What a joy it was to realize how pigs are incredible animals. They are smart(too smart!), have personalities like dogs, and love to be around people.

We still have Big Daddy and #2. #4 never produced a litter for us so you know what that means. And sadly, #5 died last spring. She was about three weeks away from farrowing. It's hard to say what happened with her. Thinking maybe something intestinal. I'll post more about her later. She was such a sweet pig.

Since that time, I have become obsessed with pigs. Neverending research has led me to other breeds of hogs besides Tamworths. I've fallen in love with Berkshires as well as Large Black Hogs. The photo is that of my Berkshire pork, ready in March.

As of now, I will have 23 breeding sows for next year's production. And believe it or not, that's not enough. I have to turn many people away because I don't have enough pigs!

I truly have such a warm spot in my heart for these creatures. I love being out there on a warm day and giving each "joy" a good rub down. They love it as much as I do! I possess happy pigs!!

How Did We Get Into This?

My husband, Scott, and I never talked about farming. It all started when we moved out to the "country", thinking we hit the jackpot with one acre of land. We quickly realized that the houses were still on top of each other. I remember thinking of the strong desire that I would like to take a walk on my property. My feelings were pretty much confirmed when my oldest son(third grade at the time) came home from school, excited about the possibility of getting a chicken. His class had successfully incubated eggs and with parents' permission, could take a baby chick home. I had to explain to him that it was against the rules to have chickens and other farm animals in our neighborhood. So the search began.

At first we were just looking for land with whatever house happened to be on it. I would drag Scott to numerous places. He didn't really feel a connection with any of them. During a vacation to New England one year, we went through a tour of Franklin Pierce's house. At the same time, something changed in both of our hearts...the desire to restore a historic house. We loved how there was a story about each room, as if the house itself was living to tell its story to each generation. We were hooked and the search changed to a historic house we could restore.

Pleasant Hill was for sale and I knew once I showed the listing to Scott, he would feel connected. We knew it was going to be our home the first time we walked through.

The first two years were mainly about cleaning up and working on the house. We started with guinea hens and soon after decided to try egg layers. The next two years we found ourselves farming with broilers and turkeys and had an opportunity to purchase some pigs. Little did I know, this would be the beginning of a love affair! There are numerous stories to tell since January 2005. As I remember some, I surely will post. Scott and I have learned that farming can be incredibly frustrating and difficult. But by the end of the day, week or month, we find it to be wonderfully rewarding. We love what we do.

One story that does come to mind...One evening at about 11:00pm, we realized our 500 pound Berkshire boar was out of his electric fence. His area was down the back hill by the creek. This area is rocky in some places with heavy erosion. Did I mention it was pouring down rain? And pitch black? We had no choice but to get him back in the fence. We were running with sorting panels trying desperately not to break an ankle on the terrain. I'm sure God must have been laughing hysterically at us. Finally, Ollie the boar made it in...and we all were exhausted. As Scott and I were walking up the hill, the only thing that came to my mind was, "How did we get into this?"....