It's time for tough decisions. Brian will start pre-vet classes full time in the fall. There will be less time for him to do things around the farm. I will still be working full time. So we are downsizing.
We'll be cutting back to 4 Red Wattle sows and 1 boar. We will offer the available animals to the folks that are currently on our waiting list. It's not been easy deciding who gets to stay. All of the hogs have personalities and traits that we have grown to love. With the smaller herd, we will continue to have RW pork for sale from the farm.
I'm planning to keep 4 Shetland ewe lambs and 1 ram lamb from this years crop of babies. The balance of the flock will be sold or sent to the processor. If you know of anyone who would like some very hardy Shetland sheep - I've got them. We have been breeding for worm load resistance and great mothering ability on pasture. We will be selling brown, black, gray, and white Shetlands. These animals would make a great foundation flock for handspinning or a homestead flock for both wool and meat.
This flock reduction means we won't have any lamb for sale in 2011 but lamb will return for sale in 2012.
We will continue to have free-range eggs available at the farm. As soon as I can build up my flock of Buckeye chickens we will also have dressed birds for sale. And garden produce will be available at the farm stand.
Showing posts with label hogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hogs. Show all posts
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
And on the first day of my vacation...
Mom's White Park cow had her calf.
A "skunk" baby like last year, but with more white on it's legs. And this year it's a heifer, so we'll be saving her to replace her momma.
Other news from the first day of vacation:
The Wenglar sows won't cooperate with Brian's no stress moving technique. They refuse to go into the stock trailer to eat. There's just enough yummy grass and it's warm so they've been ignoring the treats in the trailer completely.
In the morning after breakfast, Emily and I started 2 loaves of bread in the bread makers. I don't like the way bread turns out when it's baked in the breadmaker. So we use the dough setting then bake in the regular oven in standard bread pans. Letting the bread maker do the kneading and raising means we can go do something else. Only this time the bread slipped our minds. God Bless my mother who noticed and got the dough out before it flowed over the pans.
Brian and I worked on the barn some more. He's just about got the roof on the south side done and I've got all the sow stalls laid out. I've got boards on the back walls and I'm starting to put up the hog panels. Each stall is 8' X 10' with a corner sectioned off in the back so the piglets have a place to get away from mom and snuggle.
We helped Anders get two loads of his things moved over here and he and Emily put them all away. They also got their teepee poles oiled with the second coat. They hope to be living in the teepee by the weekend.
It was late when we all got in from working, because we didn't want to waste any daylight. I grabbed a quick shower and threw together some dinner. Dinner was beef stroganof over whole wheat pasta, salad and brownies for dessert.
By that time my pillow was calling so the dishes got loaded into the dishwasher this morning.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Old Mc Brian had a farm E-I-E-I-O My!
...and on his farm he had some pigs. Lots of pigs.
We now have what I call families of pigs. I guess the proper term would be "breeding groups", but that sounds sort of cold and sterile. Besides they are families. Each piggy family has a Daddy (Boar) and several mommies (sows) with their babies (piglets).
Each family has it's own pasture and it's own house. We give the pigs leaves and hay to build a nest in their house. When the nights are cold the adult hogs lay down so that they form a warm "wall" around the piglets who all pile up in the middle.
On a frosty morning you can actually see the steam rising off of the pig pile.
These are our Red Wattle families:
Boar: Sows:
Arthur Gertrude, Petunia and Babe
Atlas Jewel & Gilta
Trailblazer Muddy Dove & Morning Star
Homer Jenna, Joyce, Slim
Right now Grass Dancer is with Homer's family but she doesn't too happy there so she will be moving to Atlas's family soon.
We also have one pasture with all the weaner pigs in it.
As soon as the barn is completed all of the sows will move to the barn until spring.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Meet Matilda
Meet Matilda, she is a Large Black Pig. Large Blacks are even more rare than the RW's. We went in halves with my son to buy Matilda when she was just a weaner pig. I'm not sure which half we own- the one that needs to be fed or the half that needs to be cleaned up after. Hmmm??
Anyway, we bought Matilda because she is an "orchard hog". Large Black hogs were traditional used to clean up the ground in orchards of fruit that dropped off the trees. They have been bred not to root as much as other breeds. Anders wants to raise some pigs on his mostly wooded hilly acreage and he didn't want giant pigs like the RW's or pigs that would root and cause erosion. So Matilda fit the bill.
This spring we will cross her against a young RW boar. We should end up with some "Black Wattle" hogs. We aren't trying to create a new breed with this cross just decrease the amount of fat on the carcass by breeding the leaner RW to the fattier Large Black. We'll have to wait to see how it works out.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Freeze
Well it was bound to happen and last night it did. The temp dipped down to 27 and brought our CSA to a screaching halt. When I came home at 5 am everything was a covered with icy diamonds. And this afternoon all the tender green things were black and wilted.
I really enjoyed all the folks who took part in our CSA this year, but I do have to admit I am glad it is over for another year.
Now my efforts will be focused on cleaning out the greenhouse and high tunnel, building a barn, applying compost to the garden area for next year, playing midwife to Red Wattle hogs, planning for next year and cooking on my woodburning cookstove. :)
Ahhh the "slow" season.
I really enjoyed all the folks who took part in our CSA this year, but I do have to admit I am glad it is over for another year.
Now my efforts will be focused on cleaning out the greenhouse and high tunnel, building a barn, applying compost to the garden area for next year, playing midwife to Red Wattle hogs, planning for next year and cooking on my woodburning cookstove. :)
Ahhh the "slow" season.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Support heritage pork with your fork!
Do What?
That's right. To save our critically rare Red Wattle hogs from extinction we need to eat them. You see if there is no demand for RW pork then there is no demand for RW's. That would mean the end of RW's forever.
So this month we took 4 of our pasture raised, hormone & antibiotic free RW's to the processor. We got them back today. Every nook and cranny in every freezer we own is full of RW pork!
One ham never even made it to the freezer. I put it right into the slow cooker. Unfortunately, I had to go to work before it was done, but Brian called a bit ago. He said I shouldn't count on there being any leftovers after tomorrow. :)
I can hardly wait to cook up some pork chops and make sausage gravy and biscuits. This is pork the way I remember it. Back when hogs were raised on pasture not on concrete. When pork wasn' t "the other white meat". This is real pork for real people- juicy, flavorful and filling.
We are offering a limited amount of our RW pork for sale by the pound @ $4/lb.
You can check available cuts, reserve your cuts and arrange for pickup at the farm by emailing us at: kissmygrassfarm@hotmail.com or call Brian @ 812-521-1063.
We invite you to join us for a walking tour of the farm when you come out to pick up your heritage pork.
Help save the RW's and eat well too!
That's right. To save our critically rare Red Wattle hogs from extinction we need to eat them. You see if there is no demand for RW pork then there is no demand for RW's. That would mean the end of RW's forever.
So this month we took 4 of our pasture raised, hormone & antibiotic free RW's to the processor. We got them back today. Every nook and cranny in every freezer we own is full of RW pork!
One ham never even made it to the freezer. I put it right into the slow cooker. Unfortunately, I had to go to work before it was done, but Brian called a bit ago. He said I shouldn't count on there being any leftovers after tomorrow. :)
I can hardly wait to cook up some pork chops and make sausage gravy and biscuits. This is pork the way I remember it. Back when hogs were raised on pasture not on concrete. When pork wasn' t "the other white meat". This is real pork for real people- juicy, flavorful and filling.
We are offering a limited amount of our RW pork for sale by the pound @ $4/lb.
You can check available cuts, reserve your cuts and arrange for pickup at the farm by emailing us at: kissmygrassfarm@hotmail.com or call Brian @ 812-521-1063.
We invite you to join us for a walking tour of the farm when you come out to pick up your heritage pork.
Help save the RW's and eat well too!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Sampson the huge
This is a picture of HC Wenglar's Red Wattle Hog Sampson taken back in the 1970's. According to the family this big guy weighed close to 1800 pounds. That's one big hog!!
We don't have one that big yet, but we are breeding for larger hogs with a nice lean build, long heavy shoulders and large hams.
Detour to the beach
This week we finally made the trip down to Louisiana to pick up Red Wattle hogs from Ronnie Andrus. We sort of took the long way in order to drop my mom off at a friend's house in Alabama. Then Brian's daughter, Kacie thought since we were already in Alabama it would be a good idea to go on down to Gulf Shores to the beach.
Sounded silly at first, but it was a good idea. We spent several hours playing in the waves. It helped work the kinks out from the long drive
and it was very relaxing.
The only problem was we were covered with sea salt the rest of the day. My hair felt like old straw!
After we left the beach we headed over to Louisiana and up to Ronnie's to pick up the hogs.
The pic is Brian and Kacie in the waves.
Sounded silly at first, but it was a good idea. We spent several hours playing in the waves. It helped work the kinks out from the long drive
and it was very relaxing.The only problem was we were covered with sea salt the rest of the day. My hair felt like old straw!
After we left the beach we headed over to Louisiana and up to Ronnie's to pick up the hogs.
The pic is Brian and Kacie in the waves.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Thoughts on pig raising
It's time to look at our pig operation and make plans for how to maximize production, sustain marketing/sales and keep the quality of life up for our hogs.
First we need to decide just how many pigs we want to keep as our breeding stock. We know we want to preserve the line of hogs we are bringing home this week from Louisiana as a closed herd. And we want to keep the 3 sows we have (Dancer, Petunia and Gertrude) with another boar as our second herd as they have different bloodlines. That leaves us with the problem of which boars to keep. Currently we have 3 boars and the new boar will make 4 . That's just too many.
We know we will be keeping Samson. He's more of a pet than a breeder, because he's getting up there in years. We just love having him and he's such a good farm mascot. We're planning a retirement pen for him. I know it's sentimental, but that's ok.
We will have 2 boars from Louisiana. We brought George home as a little guy earlier this year. He is the nice dark burgundy color we like in our RW's. He's not old enough to breed yet, so we don't know what sort of piglets he'll father. The new boar is a coppery orange color. Not our preference, but he's a proven breeder. Then there's Arthur. We've had him since he was a baby. He's friendly, quiet, a proven breeder and the only curly coated pig we have. Everybody loves Arthur.
As you can see they all have their good points, but we can only keep 2 breeders in addition to Sampson. Got any thoughts or comments?
The next thing we have in the works is new pasture. We've had to keep the pigs up most of this summer in small lots because the new fencing is not in. Dillon & Brian are tearing out the old fence now. We're hoping to have 3 new large pastures fenced in by fall. These larger pastures will have woven wire fencing parameters with a hot wire at nose level. We'll be able to subdivide them with temporary electric fence to rotate the hogs. Each pasture will have it's own loafing shed and a "wallow". The plan is to keep each "herd" in it's own pasture and use the third pasture for the growing market hogs.
We'll be moving the farrowing into the new barn. Each sow will have her own pen with waterer and feeder and a built in baby bumper and a permanent heat lamp for the little ones.
Of course all of this costs money. We've been lucky enough to find posts at a good price and we're bartering for some fencing and gates. We still need more fencing and the barn is a whole seperate issue. It looks like it's going to go up in stages as we're able.
Ahh projects! They never end and we are continually reanylizing the possibilities, pros and cons.
If you have any thoughts on our RW hog projects, let us know!
First we need to decide just how many pigs we want to keep as our breeding stock. We know we want to preserve the line of hogs we are bringing home this week from Louisiana as a closed herd. And we want to keep the 3 sows we have (Dancer, Petunia and Gertrude) with another boar as our second herd as they have different bloodlines. That leaves us with the problem of which boars to keep. Currently we have 3 boars and the new boar will make 4 . That's just too many.
We know we will be keeping Samson. He's more of a pet than a breeder, because he's getting up there in years. We just love having him and he's such a good farm mascot. We're planning a retirement pen for him. I know it's sentimental, but that's ok.
We will have 2 boars from Louisiana. We brought George home as a little guy earlier this year. He is the nice dark burgundy color we like in our RW's. He's not old enough to breed yet, so we don't know what sort of piglets he'll father. The new boar is a coppery orange color. Not our preference, but he's a proven breeder. Then there's Arthur. We've had him since he was a baby. He's friendly, quiet, a proven breeder and the only curly coated pig we have. Everybody loves Arthur.
As you can see they all have their good points, but we can only keep 2 breeders in addition to Sampson. Got any thoughts or comments?
The next thing we have in the works is new pasture. We've had to keep the pigs up most of this summer in small lots because the new fencing is not in. Dillon & Brian are tearing out the old fence now. We're hoping to have 3 new large pastures fenced in by fall. These larger pastures will have woven wire fencing parameters with a hot wire at nose level. We'll be able to subdivide them with temporary electric fence to rotate the hogs. Each pasture will have it's own loafing shed and a "wallow". The plan is to keep each "herd" in it's own pasture and use the third pasture for the growing market hogs.
We'll be moving the farrowing into the new barn. Each sow will have her own pen with waterer and feeder and a built in baby bumper and a permanent heat lamp for the little ones.
Of course all of this costs money. We've been lucky enough to find posts at a good price and we're bartering for some fencing and gates. We still need more fencing and the barn is a whole seperate issue. It looks like it's going to go up in stages as we're able.
Ahh projects! They never end and we are continually reanylizing the possibilities, pros and cons.
If you have any thoughts on our RW hog projects, let us know!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Pile O' Piglets
These are Petunia's piglets when they were just a day or so old. I love this pic. Baby piglets are sooooo cute!!
Monday, April 13, 2009
When George of the Jungle and Bayou Babe moved North
At the end of March, Brian and my niece Sarah made a whirlwind trip to Louisiana. You see Brian had found a herd of Red Wattle hogs that descended directly from the original Wenglar Red Wattles. Ronnie Andrus had been raising a closed herd of RW's since he got his first ones from H.C. Wenglar. Brian and Ronnie had agreed to trade baby boars and Brian bought a gilt from Ronnie. So the 2 hogs were loaded into the crate in Brian's pickup and whisked away north. They spent 10 days quarantined in the stock trailer. It was a good thing they did because these two needed a little gentling down. Brian built them a special pen where they could be kept away from our other RW's. We rangled over names for them and finally settled on George of the Jungle and Bayou Babe.
Then we had to make the big move from the trailer to the new pen. Problem was the ground was too soggy to back the trailer across the yard to the gate. So we roped George and hoped babe would follow. That little boar had grown a bit since he arrived in the farm and he didn't want anything to do with leaving the trailer... or walking across the yard. We had to rope him around his middle, pass a rope through his mouth and push and pull at the same time. That pig was sure we were going to eat him! He squealed and dug his heals in.
I'm sure we were quite the comical site. Me pulling, Brian pushing and the little old Babe traipsing along behind us like nothing was wrong.
Once we got them into the new pen. George stopped squealing, looked around, stepped out of the rope and started rooting as if to say, "Hmmm not so bad. Is that all you wanted?"
Then we had to make the big move from the trailer to the new pen. Problem was the ground was too soggy to back the trailer across the yard to the gate. So we roped George and hoped babe would follow. That little boar had grown a bit since he arrived in the farm and he didn't want anything to do with leaving the trailer... or walking across the yard. We had to rope him around his middle, pass a rope through his mouth and push and pull at the same time. That pig was sure we were going to eat him! He squealed and dug his heals in.
I'm sure we were quite the comical site. Me pulling, Brian pushing and the little old Babe traipsing along behind us like nothing was wrong.
Once we got them into the new pen. George stopped squealing, looked around, stepped out of the rope and started rooting as if to say, "Hmmm not so bad. Is that all you wanted?"
Monday, February 2, 2009
On being a pig's midwife
It was a beautiful sunny day- birds singing, snow melting and Gertrude one of our Red Wattle hogs didn't come out of her house for breakfast. When a pig won't eat something's up! So I turned the heat lamp on in the baby bumper space and went on with my chores.
When I checked her at noon- no babies. I checked Gerty again at 2- no babies.
My son, Anders, came over to help with the chores around 3:30 and Brian's daughter, Kate, and her boyfriend's family showed up about the time we were going out to feed the hogs.
As we came up to the hog fence I glanced into Gerty's house. OH WOW! We could just see 2 little golden rigling piglets.
I sent Kate for some rags and the camera. I got over the fence and crawled in with Gerty. Now I never would have done this with any other pig I've ever owned, but the RW's are sort of different. I talked quietly to Gerty and she gruffled back at me. I sat down by her and checked out the 2 piglets. They were fine, big, copper red and hungry.
While Kate was gone to the house, Gerty had 2 more piglets. Then over the course of about 2 hours she had 5 more piglets. As each one was born, I cleared it's nose and mouth, dried it a bit and tucked it in among its siblings at a teat.
When she was all done, there were 9 squealing, squirming, hungry piglets nursing away. Gerty just grumbled happily to the piglets and turned more up on her side so they could get to the other row of teats.
Gerty was quiet and calm through the whole ordeal. She didn't even notice when I took pictures and video!
I closed up the door when I left to keep the drafts out. I couldn't wait to show Brian the pics! He's laid up and it's really bothering him that he can't be out here for his hogs first litters.
This morning, when I went out to feed, Gerty was waiting by the trough and the babies had discovered the comforting warmth of the heatlamp.
All is well.
more pics at: http://s541.photobucket.com/albums/gg369/KissMyGrassFarm/RED%20WATTLE%20PIGLETS/
Monday, December 8, 2008
Loading hogs
So, we wound our way back down Bud's amazing 3 mile driveway on Friday morning. It is one of the most beautiful remote farms I've ever visited. Remember the Saturday morning kids show "Land of the Lost"? well it sort of reminded me of that minus the dinosaurs and add some Watusi cattle, llamas, RW hogs and heritage turkeys, peacocks, guinneas and assorted dogs of all sizes.
Anyway, Brian got the trailer hooked up and backed up to the hog barn. Bud let Dancer, the sow out and then Sampson, the boar was let out. They lumbered up to the trailer and stopped.
Have you ever tried to make a 800+ pound hog do something he/she doesn't want to?
Well, you can't.
Sampson backed up to the trailer and sat down on the floor like a chair. Then he just looked around at us like ok, so now watcha gonna do?
Dancer was having nothing to do with the whole deal. After an hour of bribing with treats, coaxing and begging we brought in the heavy duty equipment. Bud's wife produced ropes and a come-along.
We attached the come-along to the trailer door and the rope to a gate and squeezed the hogs up toward the trailer. Much squeeling, growling and snorting followed. . . but not much movement.
Dancer kept getting in the way if Sampson made a move toward the trailer. Sampson decided he'd lay down just short of the trailer and wouldn't budge.
Bud called for a bucket. I'd forgotten about the old trick of putting the hogs head in a bucket and then backing them where you wanted them to go. I knew it worked on smaller hogs. I'd seen my grandpa use it when I was little. I wasn't so sure it would work on a giant sow.
In just a few minutes, Bud had Dancer's head in a bucket and Dancer backed into the trailer. She was so nice and quiet and calm there in her bucket that we tied a rope to the bail and fastened it to the side of the trailer to keep her out of the way. She sounded a little like Darth Vadar breathing into that bucket.
Now it was time to focus on Sampson. Coax, poke, bribe, prod - nothing. He did get up long enough to move out, turn around and lay down again facing the other way. Brian got down off the gate where he was perched and went up to the truck bed. He came back with a strap. The kind you use to secure loads on a truck. He hooked it to the door and to the side of the trailer and nudged it under Sampsons ample rear end. Crank, crank, crank... little by little Sampson's hams raised off the ground.
Sampson ignored this whole feat of engineering. Bud told my neice, Sarah to tap him on the snout with her stick - no movement just some angry grunting and snorting. Brian cranked a couple more times. Now there was just about 2 inches of clearance below Samson's hind end.
Samson just sat there and refused to budge. It had been more than 3 hours since we started "loading" the hogs. There we stood looking at each other and wondering what do next. I started thinking about what my grandpa, a hog farmer from way back, would have done. Hmmm- the bucket trick wouldn't work. His head was too big. Hmmm- then I saw it.
A stick laying on the ground.
Sampson's rump had just enough air space under it. Slowly I slid up behind him so he wouldn't notice me. (Not that he was noticing much of anything with his eyes closed.) Then quick as a snake I reached under that big old rump and poked him!
It was just a little poke not enough to hurt him, but it startled him. He jumped up into the trailer and we slammed the door. At the same time, Dancer riggled free of the bucket, grunted and lay down.
Sampson moved just far enough from the door to lay down in the straw next to her like nothing had happened. They both closed their eyes and didn't budge until we got back to Indiana!
Unloading was much easier. Open the door and out they walked. Snurfled around in the straw of their new house a little, lay down, and went back to sleep. Go figure!
Anyway, Brian got the trailer hooked up and backed up to the hog barn. Bud let Dancer, the sow out and then Sampson, the boar was let out. They lumbered up to the trailer and stopped.
Have you ever tried to make a 800+ pound hog do something he/she doesn't want to?
Well, you can't.
Sampson backed up to the trailer and sat down on the floor like a chair. Then he just looked around at us like ok, so now watcha gonna do?
Dancer was having nothing to do with the whole deal. After an hour of bribing with treats, coaxing and begging we brought in the heavy duty equipment. Bud's wife produced ropes and a come-along.
We attached the come-along to the trailer door and the rope to a gate and squeezed the hogs up toward the trailer. Much squeeling, growling and snorting followed. . . but not much movement.
Dancer kept getting in the way if Sampson made a move toward the trailer. Sampson decided he'd lay down just short of the trailer and wouldn't budge.
Bud called for a bucket. I'd forgotten about the old trick of putting the hogs head in a bucket and then backing them where you wanted them to go. I knew it worked on smaller hogs. I'd seen my grandpa use it when I was little. I wasn't so sure it would work on a giant sow.
In just a few minutes, Bud had Dancer's head in a bucket and Dancer backed into the trailer. She was so nice and quiet and calm there in her bucket that we tied a rope to the bail and fastened it to the side of the trailer to keep her out of the way. She sounded a little like Darth Vadar breathing into that bucket.
Now it was time to focus on Sampson. Coax, poke, bribe, prod - nothing. He did get up long enough to move out, turn around and lay down again facing the other way. Brian got down off the gate where he was perched and went up to the truck bed. He came back with a strap. The kind you use to secure loads on a truck. He hooked it to the door and to the side of the trailer and nudged it under Sampsons ample rear end. Crank, crank, crank... little by little Sampson's hams raised off the ground.
Sampson ignored this whole feat of engineering. Bud told my neice, Sarah to tap him on the snout with her stick - no movement just some angry grunting and snorting. Brian cranked a couple more times. Now there was just about 2 inches of clearance below Samson's hind end.
Samson just sat there and refused to budge. It had been more than 3 hours since we started "loading" the hogs. There we stood looking at each other and wondering what do next. I started thinking about what my grandpa, a hog farmer from way back, would have done. Hmmm- the bucket trick wouldn't work. His head was too big. Hmmm- then I saw it.
A stick laying on the ground.
Sampson's rump had just enough air space under it. Slowly I slid up behind him so he wouldn't notice me. (Not that he was noticing much of anything with his eyes closed.) Then quick as a snake I reached under that big old rump and poked him!
It was just a little poke not enough to hurt him, but it startled him. He jumped up into the trailer and we slammed the door. At the same time, Dancer riggled free of the bucket, grunted and lay down.
Sampson moved just far enough from the door to lay down in the straw next to her like nothing had happened. They both closed their eyes and didn't budge until we got back to Indiana!
Unloading was much easier. Open the door and out they walked. Snurfled around in the straw of their new house a little, lay down, and went back to sleep. Go figure!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Letters from Missouri
"Dear Mom,
The transmission went out on the truck about 60 miles from our destination. We've been going 30 mph on the interstate for 3 hours. We plan to limp the rig into the national forest. I think if we cover the truck and trailer with leaves and twigs, we'll be pretty well camouflaged from the authorities. I'm sure we can live comfortably until we can earn enough money to fix the truck. Sarah thinks she can start a fire by rubbing some sticks together. I'm thinking we'll be home about spring. Please feed the animals until we get there..."
"Stop it!" Brian laughed. "You'll make me drive off the road!" Sarah, my neice, couldn't stop giggling in the back seat.
Ok. So it's not a real letter home, but the transmission did go out in the truck on our way to get the pigs in Missouri and we really were going 20 mph down the interstatein the middle of the night. We did manage to limp her into a little mom and pop hotel for the night. In the morning, we limped her on down to Bud Nickol's farm and dropped the trailer. Bud helped us find a garage that had a computer to check out the truck... another 20 mph ride. So they hooked her up to the computer ... and told us they new what was wrong... and they couldn't fix it.
Another 20mph ride to the dealership. Along the way we passed an abandoned farm...
"Honey, look there's our new house! We can squat there until we can get the truck fixed!"
"Cut that out!" Brian laughed.
You know if you can't laugh at yourselves who can you laugh at?
At the dealership, they said, we can fix it, but it will take 4-5 days.
Time for plan C. We were supposed to be in Jacksonville TX the next day and I was supposed to be at work on Saturday. Enter the "Enterprise" rent a car. ( They really will pick you up!)
Safely ensconced in a rental car we were off to TX. The next morning we called the gentleman we were to interview and found to our dismay that he had been ill and would not be available....
On to plan D: We consulted our Red Wattle Hog raisers list and called the closest ones. So we didn't get our interview but we did manage to visit a couple of TX Red Wattle hog farmers. We met some real nice folks. That was a good thing. And on the way back up to Missouri, my niece managed to pick some mistletoe to take back to her boyfriend. Brian tossed her up into the tree and she climbed up the rest of the way. She managed to get down with only minor scrapes. Another good thing. Oh and on the way back north we got an unexpected phone call.... the garage had our truck done on Thursday.
WHOOPEE!! Who says god doesn't answer prayers.
So $2100 dollars poorer we pulled out of the dealership. The truck runs GREAT!
Now all we needed to do was pick up the "Great Hogs" and get our butts back to Indiana.
More about hogs loading coming up next. ;)
The transmission went out on the truck about 60 miles from our destination. We've been going 30 mph on the interstate for 3 hours. We plan to limp the rig into the national forest. I think if we cover the truck and trailer with leaves and twigs, we'll be pretty well camouflaged from the authorities. I'm sure we can live comfortably until we can earn enough money to fix the truck. Sarah thinks she can start a fire by rubbing some sticks together. I'm thinking we'll be home about spring. Please feed the animals until we get there..."
"Stop it!" Brian laughed. "You'll make me drive off the road!" Sarah, my neice, couldn't stop giggling in the back seat.
Ok. So it's not a real letter home, but the transmission did go out in the truck on our way to get the pigs in Missouri and we really were going 20 mph down the interstatein the middle of the night. We did manage to limp her into a little mom and pop hotel for the night. In the morning, we limped her on down to Bud Nickol's farm and dropped the trailer. Bud helped us find a garage that had a computer to check out the truck... another 20 mph ride. So they hooked her up to the computer ... and told us they new what was wrong... and they couldn't fix it.
Another 20mph ride to the dealership. Along the way we passed an abandoned farm...
"Honey, look there's our new house! We can squat there until we can get the truck fixed!"
"Cut that out!" Brian laughed.
You know if you can't laugh at yourselves who can you laugh at?
At the dealership, they said, we can fix it, but it will take 4-5 days.
Time for plan C. We were supposed to be in Jacksonville TX the next day and I was supposed to be at work on Saturday. Enter the "Enterprise" rent a car. ( They really will pick you up!)
Safely ensconced in a rental car we were off to TX. The next morning we called the gentleman we were to interview and found to our dismay that he had been ill and would not be available....
On to plan D: We consulted our Red Wattle Hog raisers list and called the closest ones. So we didn't get our interview but we did manage to visit a couple of TX Red Wattle hog farmers. We met some real nice folks. That was a good thing. And on the way back up to Missouri, my niece managed to pick some mistletoe to take back to her boyfriend. Brian tossed her up into the tree and she climbed up the rest of the way. She managed to get down with only minor scrapes. Another good thing. Oh and on the way back north we got an unexpected phone call.... the garage had our truck done on Thursday.
WHOOPEE!! Who says god doesn't answer prayers.
So $2100 dollars poorer we pulled out of the dealership. The truck runs GREAT!
Now all we needed to do was pick up the "Great Hogs" and get our butts back to Indiana.
More about hogs loading coming up next. ;)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The Piggies are coming!!
It's finally here!
Time to go get our Red Wattle piglets. We have been on the waiting list since March. Originally, it looked like we wouldn't get our piglets until December. Marian, from Five Ponds Farm, called us in May and said she had our piglets if we could send the money and come get them soon.
We put the check in the mail the next morning.
So this is a really busy week around here. The weeds in the gardens are growing faster than we can pull or till them. Brian brought home our 4 new brood cows yesterday evening. The beltie is so close to calving he was worried she'd have her baby in the trailer on the ride home! Luckily she didn't. The 2 white park cows should calve soon, too. The fourth cow, Profit, already has a little creamy white calf by her side. For now, all of them will stay in the corral until they are used to their new home.
Today, Brian's moving 100 chicks to pasture pens, fixing the mower, weeding in the gardens, cleaning the stock trailer, setting up the pig hut in the new pasture lot and about a hundred other things to get ready for the piglets.
Tuesday morning, we are going to the justice of the peace to get married. Tuesday afternoon I am going to work at the hospital while Brian packs. Wednesday we're off for a whirlwind 3 day "redneck" honeymoon. We can't really be away from the farm for more than 3 days. My son will be doing the chores while we're away.
We'll be driving to Missouri, Wednesday night we'll spend in a small hotel. Then on Thursday morning its off to pick up the 3 Red Wattle piglets, and the perrenials we're buying from the Van Beevers at Five Ponds Farm ( http://fivepondsfarm.com/ ). Then off to Kentucky! Thursday night in a hotel for us and the piggles will stay in the trailer with plenty of hay, feed and water.
Friday morning it's off to C2H2 farm to pick up 6 percentage Boer goats from Carol Holler. Once we've got all the goats loaded it's time to get back to the farm. We need to get our hay cut this week while I'm on vacation.....
Talk about adventures in farming!
Stay tuned for updates......I'll post about our trip on Saturday
Dot
http://kissmygrassfarm.net/
Time to go get our Red Wattle piglets. We have been on the waiting list since March. Originally, it looked like we wouldn't get our piglets until December. Marian, from Five Ponds Farm, called us in May and said she had our piglets if we could send the money and come get them soon.
We put the check in the mail the next morning.
So this is a really busy week around here. The weeds in the gardens are growing faster than we can pull or till them. Brian brought home our 4 new brood cows yesterday evening. The beltie is so close to calving he was worried she'd have her baby in the trailer on the ride home! Luckily she didn't. The 2 white park cows should calve soon, too. The fourth cow, Profit, already has a little creamy white calf by her side. For now, all of them will stay in the corral until they are used to their new home.
Today, Brian's moving 100 chicks to pasture pens, fixing the mower, weeding in the gardens, cleaning the stock trailer, setting up the pig hut in the new pasture lot and about a hundred other things to get ready for the piglets.
Tuesday morning, we are going to the justice of the peace to get married. Tuesday afternoon I am going to work at the hospital while Brian packs. Wednesday we're off for a whirlwind 3 day "redneck" honeymoon. We can't really be away from the farm for more than 3 days. My son will be doing the chores while we're away.
We'll be driving to Missouri, Wednesday night we'll spend in a small hotel. Then on Thursday morning its off to pick up the 3 Red Wattle piglets, and the perrenials we're buying from the Van Beevers at Five Ponds Farm ( http://fivepondsfarm.com/ ). Then off to Kentucky! Thursday night in a hotel for us and the piggles will stay in the trailer with plenty of hay, feed and water.
Friday morning it's off to C2H2 farm to pick up 6 percentage Boer goats from Carol Holler. Once we've got all the goats loaded it's time to get back to the farm. We need to get our hay cut this week while I'm on vacation.....
Talk about adventures in farming!
Stay tuned for updates......I'll post about our trip on Saturday
Dot
http://kissmygrassfarm.net/
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