A bittersweet day...

We loaded the pigs in the trailer last night and today, they went off to the processor.  I knew this day was coming and it was the reason we bought and raised them in the first place, but I have to say,  I'm feeling some mixed emotions.  

The loading process was interesting.  There isn't enough space to back up the trailer into our back yard where the pig pen is, so a plan had to be devised to get the pigs from the pen to the trailer.  Below are pictures of the transport.  The guys used wire cattle panels to guide the pigs to the trailer.  Once at the trailer, they convinced the pigs to walk into it by placing some feed at the back of the trailer.  It was a smooth and pretty easy process.  (The guys are talking about adding wheels to the panels to make it easier for future transports.)  

Thankfully the growing process wasn't too long.  Here is a split picture of our grandson with the pigs.  The top part of the picture shows him with the pigs when we first got them in late January.  The bottom part shows him with them on Easter Sunday - just a week and a half ago.  (He was sharing the Easter eggs he found.  The non-chocolate ones.)

When we got the pigs, they were between 30 and 40 lbs.  - and about 12 weeks later, they were between 160 and 175 lbs.

Our first rodeo with raising pigs has been an adventure to remember.  

Tree Swing

It has been a dream of mine to live where we could have a swing hanging from a tree in our yard.  Here it is!  I love it!  

Creating our own mulch.

Clearing and prepping land is quite the chore!  We took down a few trees out back earlier, now we are working to clear some of the trees from the front of the lot.  It seems like the trees went from being upside down brooms on long handles to a forrest with a thick canopy over night.   Since we have to have sunlight to grow stuff and we needed a little more room, out came the chainsaw.  Sadly we also discovered that a few of our larger trees were dead so they had to come down along with the rest.  Today my job is to help drag limbs to the chipper.  I got the easy part.

   Who knew a deer stand would double nicely as a tree climber for getting the rope where it needed to be?

I never thought to move my car before the driveway was blocked.  Glad it didn't stay that way long.

Appropriate attire is advised

So this is part of the gig.  Twice a day these guys need food and water.   When they see you coming, they press their snouts up to the gate or start barking and snorting and running around randomly - usually bumping into each other.  It is really kind of funny.  

Yesterday morning I was in a hurry and had forgotten to feed them before I got dressed to leave the house.  I decided to chance it and feed them without going back in to change clothes.  Turns out there were new roots they had dug up that made for tripping hazards.  They had also created slippery mud by knocking over their water.  So as you can imagine, my decision was a bad one.   Don't try to feed pigs in your heels no matter how careful you plan to be.

Our little piglets are now over 100 lbs. each.   They've way more than doubled their size in just 2 months.  Some days I feel like I gain weight as fast as the pigs!

Holy Hothouse

So our latest project is underway.  We are going to call it our Holy Hothouse.  Why?  Because the pieces of glass going in the green house are windows that were replaced at our church offices.  I know, kind of a stretch, but that is what we (well at least I am) are going to call it.


Speaking of church, can I tell you we have such an amazing church family?  I know this blog is not about church, but today I am thinking about how much our life has been impacted by the people we love and do life with.  If you don't have a church family, find one and get involved.  Your life will not be the same.  


Anyway, back to the windows....  Why throw something in a dumpster when it can be re-purposed?

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It helps to be married to a general contractor who is also an artist if you decide to do something like this.  Like the raised beds, the design, engineering and construction was (is) all done by my amazing husband.  

Guess who got out?

Kind of a shocker to come home and find loose pigs in your yard.  Thankfully they were happy to follow their food wagon back into their pen.  We will take extra care to make sure we latch the gate in the future!  Another lesson learned.

The results are in!

So this is what a soil report looks like. This one is for the soil in the area where we plan to plant corn, watermelon and pole beans.  Looks like we've got some work to do to get the soil in top condition.

But before we do that, we first have to clear the area.  We started yesterday by cutting down a few trees that were blocking the sun.  I know it is frowned upon to cut down trees, but in this case, it is necessary in order to grow something we can eat.  

....and hopefully we'll avoid seeing any more of these!