So it was really a family pitchin dinner at my house, but we did do a taste test on all the new flavors of Red Wattle sausage we had made. The folks at This Old Farm Processing did a great job with the five RW's we took to them.
I cooked a package of each kind of sausage: Maple, Low Sodium Sage, Hot Italian and Mild Italian and Brats. The Maple was the hands down winner with the kiddy crowd. While everyone loved the brats. Opinions on the other sausages were as varied as the people tasting them. I'm looking forward to making some homemade pizza this week with the Italian sausage.
I grilled a couple of ham steaks so we could try them as well. The unanimous decision was - delicious! Earlier in the day we had sampled some of the bacon for lunch. It was so good I just couldn't stop eating it!
And the best part of all - the processing is All Natural. No MSG. No nitrates except for those that occur naturally in celery juice powder.
We have lots of RW pork in the freezer. Call Brian to place your order: 812-521-1063 I can't wait to hear how you like it.
Showing posts with label red wattle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label red wattle. Show all posts
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Downsizing
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.
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.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Day 3 part one.... PIGLETS!!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Prep day~ Oh My!
Today, my daughter-Lydia, Anders' GF- Emily, my son-Anders, Brian and I will be prepping the food for the Ag Day Breakfast. There are hams to bake, bacon to slice, sausage to patty up, blueberry buckles to bake, fruit to be cut up and custard sauce to stir... not to mention the 8 gallons of sausage gravy and 200 biscuits....
THIS IS GONNA BE FUN!!
And I'm making myself hungry. :)
THIS IS GONNA BE FUN!!
And I'm making myself hungry. :)
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving Dinner
They came, they ate, they left dirty dishes. . .
In years past holiday dinners have been pitch in potlucks. Not this year. For some insane reason my daughter and I decided we would cook Thanksgiving dinner for our family - all 28 of them. I think it started with me saying "Wow! I don't have to work Thanksgiving!"
I left the menu up to my daughter, Lydia. She's the family "foodie". After weeks of her planning and shopping and about 3 days of cooking here is what we served:
Appetizers:
Garden spinach dip with corn chips, deviled eggs, warm chicken spread on Italian breed rounds and spicy barbeque meatballs
Main Course:
Citrus-herb brined - herb roasted Turkey, Ginger-ale glazed ham, Caesar salad, sliced tomatoes, mashed potatoes (10 pounds- I have some really big nephews who love mashed potatoes), green bean casserole, creamy Mac-n-Cheese (a special request from the littlest neice and nephew), gravy, apple-bacon stuffing, sweet potatoes, homemade dill and whole wheat bread with dairy butter.
Dessert:
Pumpkin Roulade, Apple crisp, Fried fruit pies, Chocolate chiffon pie in Oreo crust.
It was way too much food. We could have fed another 10 people easily!
It was fun to show off some of the things we grow so well on the farm: the ham was from one of our Red Wattles, the eggs from our hens, the sweet potatoes were freshly dug from the little patch of experimental vines Anders had planted. The tomatoes were from the hardy vines hanging on in our greenhouse, and the lettuces were the last hardy survivors of a tiny patch I'd covered with spunbounded row covering.
The after dinner wreckage is prodigeous! It's going to take a couple of days to wash up, sort out Lydia's cooking utensils from ours, get all the furniture put back in place and all the temporary tables and chairs put up.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it! I think I'll go to bed and start on it in the morning.
In years past holiday dinners have been pitch in potlucks. Not this year. For some insane reason my daughter and I decided we would cook Thanksgiving dinner for our family - all 28 of them. I think it started with me saying "Wow! I don't have to work Thanksgiving!"
I left the menu up to my daughter, Lydia. She's the family "foodie". After weeks of her planning and shopping and about 3 days of cooking here is what we served:
Appetizers:
Garden spinach dip with corn chips, deviled eggs, warm chicken spread on Italian breed rounds and spicy barbeque meatballs
Main Course:
Citrus-herb brined - herb roasted Turkey, Ginger-ale glazed ham, Caesar salad, sliced tomatoes, mashed potatoes (10 pounds- I have some really big nephews who love mashed potatoes), green bean casserole, creamy Mac-n-Cheese (a special request from the littlest neice and nephew), gravy, apple-bacon stuffing, sweet potatoes, homemade dill and whole wheat bread with dairy butter.
Dessert:
Pumpkin Roulade, Apple crisp, Fried fruit pies, Chocolate chiffon pie in Oreo crust.
It was way too much food. We could have fed another 10 people easily!
It was fun to show off some of the things we grow so well on the farm: the ham was from one of our Red Wattles, the eggs from our hens, the sweet potatoes were freshly dug from the little patch of experimental vines Anders had planted. The tomatoes were from the hardy vines hanging on in our greenhouse, and the lettuces were the last hardy survivors of a tiny patch I'd covered with spunbounded row covering.
The after dinner wreckage is prodigeous! It's going to take a couple of days to wash up, sort out Lydia's cooking utensils from ours, get all the furniture put back in place and all the temporary tables and chairs put up.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it! I think I'll go to bed and start on it in the morning.
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.
Monday, October 12, 2009
New Blog: Piglet's Progress
We have a bottle baby pig right now.
She has her own blog!
You can follow her progress @
http://pigletprogress.blogspot.com/
She has her own blog!
You can follow her progress @
http://pigletprogress.blogspot.com/
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, September 5, 2009
Nnot the other white meat - real pork for real people!!
We are taking our first batch of 4 Red Wattle Hogs to the processor on the 16th!
We can hardly wait to have suasage, pork chops and ham again! We won't have any bacon out of this bunch because the bellies have been prepurchased by Chris Ely of Goose The Market in Indy.
If you'd like to try some of our heritage pork there will be some cuts available. Contact Brian at:
812-521-1063
We can hardly wait to have suasage, pork chops and ham again! We won't have any bacon out of this bunch because the bellies have been prepurchased by Chris Ely of Goose The Market in Indy.
If you'd like to try some of our heritage pork there will be some cuts available. Contact Brian at:
812-521-1063
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.
Louisiana Sausages
Yummy!!Ronnie Andrus, longtime Red Wattle hog breeder, gave us some sausages to take home. Ronnie and his family butcher their own hogs at home and Ronnie smokes the sausages, bacon and ham in the smokehouse he's built out behind the house. He showed us his smoke house. A room about 6' X8' coated in black from years of use with a hanging rack and fire pit dug into the dirt floor. The smokey smell reminded me of the best ham I ever had.
I cooked Ronnie's sausages today for lunch. Delicious! I can't wait for our RW to be ready to butcher in December. Brian and I want to try our hand at sausage making and smoking. :)
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/
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Our "redneck" honeymoon
I said I'd write about our honeymoon when we got back. Well, we've been back for almost 2 weeks, but it's been so busy I haven't had time to blog. It's been weed, pick, mow, bale, build, feed, water and on and on.
So here we go. On the morning of June 17th we headed to the justice of the peace for a simple ceremony. My daughter in law took pics of the ceremony outside the courthouse. Then we dashed home and picked veggies so I could deliver a CSA share on my way to work. I barely got to work at the hospital on time!
Next morning we left for Missouri, stock trailer in tow. We had a nice visit with Marian and Erik at Five Ponds Farm where we picked up our 3 Red Wattle Hogs. Catching 3 squiggly piglets and getting them into the trailer is tricky. Erik caught the piglets in the pen one by one and handed them to Brian. Did you know piglets poop when they are scared? Yuck! Luckily, I was taking pictures and well out of poop range. Brian, on the other hand, had to change clothes when we were done.
Then we set out for Lexington, Ky via Paduca. Brian and I were taking turns driving. When I took my turn just before we crossed from MO to KY, he neglected to tell me I would have to drive over a bridge built exclusively from some kids erector set! I don't really like bridges and this one was long, tall, narrow and looked like it would fall in the river at any moment. I think I held my breath the whole way across the bridge.... except when I told Brian I wasn't going to drive over any more bridges! When we came down off the bridge, I took a deeep breath and said, "That wasn't so bad." Brian laughed, "I'm glad you think so, cause we're on the island now... you've got one more erector set bridge to go!" "UUUGH!"
Friday we went out to C2H2 farm to visit with Carol and Clayton and pick up 6 percentage Boer goats to add to our herd. While were there we got an empromtu lesson in tattooing goats. Goats do not particularly like having ID's tattooed in their ears. It's sort of a messy enterprise. The goat goes into a stanchion which secures the neck so the goat can't leave. Then one person tries their best to hold the goat's head still while the goat baas and tries to do everything but hold still. The other person tries to get the tattoo in the right place on the ear. Brian ended up with green hands from the ink.
We finally got everybody tattooed and headed north. We got home late Friday afternoon, turned the new goats out with our herd and set to moving pig panels into place for a temporary home for the Red wattles.
And if all that wasn't enough excitement for one vacation, the next evening I tripped in a tractor rut on the way to take treats to the new pigs! I sprained my ankle and spent the next week on crutches.
So there you go! The tale of our redneck honeymoon. :)
Can't wait to see what we bring home on our next vacation!!
So here we go. On the morning of June 17th we headed to the justice of the peace for a simple ceremony. My daughter in law took pics of the ceremony outside the courthouse. Then we dashed home and picked veggies so I could deliver a CSA share on my way to work. I barely got to work at the hospital on time!
Next morning we left for Missouri, stock trailer in tow. We had a nice visit with Marian and Erik at Five Ponds Farm where we picked up our 3 Red Wattle Hogs. Catching 3 squiggly piglets and getting them into the trailer is tricky. Erik caught the piglets in the pen one by one and handed them to Brian. Did you know piglets poop when they are scared? Yuck! Luckily, I was taking pictures and well out of poop range. Brian, on the other hand, had to change clothes when we were done.
Then we set out for Lexington, Ky via Paduca. Brian and I were taking turns driving. When I took my turn just before we crossed from MO to KY, he neglected to tell me I would have to drive over a bridge built exclusively from some kids erector set! I don't really like bridges and this one was long, tall, narrow and looked like it would fall in the river at any moment. I think I held my breath the whole way across the bridge.... except when I told Brian I wasn't going to drive over any more bridges! When we came down off the bridge, I took a deeep breath and said, "That wasn't so bad." Brian laughed, "I'm glad you think so, cause we're on the island now... you've got one more erector set bridge to go!" "UUUGH!"
We survived the bridge ordeal to check into our hotel in Lexington. We convinced the hotel clerk to let us have a couple of jugs of water for the pigs and got our little red oinkers settled in for the night. We took much needed hot showers. Then it was off for dinner at the Mexican restaurant recommended by the hotel clerk. More food than 4 people could eat!
We spent a restless night and at 6 am it sounded like every car in the city revved up and 50 Harleys pulled out of the parking lot. We got up then even though we had planned to sleep in. We couldn't wait to get back to our quiet country home.
Friday we went out to C2H2 farm to visit with Carol and Clayton and pick up 6 percentage Boer goats to add to our herd. While were there we got an empromtu lesson in tattooing goats. Goats do not particularly like having ID's tattooed in their ears. It's sort of a messy enterprise. The goat goes into a stanchion which secures the neck so the goat can't leave. Then one person tries their best to hold the goat's head still while the goat baas and tries to do everything but hold still. The other person tries to get the tattoo in the right place on the ear. Brian ended up with green hands from the ink.
We finally got everybody tattooed and headed north. We got home late Friday afternoon, turned the new goats out with our herd and set to moving pig panels into place for a temporary home for the Red wattles.
And if all that wasn't enough excitement for one vacation, the next evening I tripped in a tractor rut on the way to take treats to the new pigs! I sprained my ankle and spent the next week on crutches.
So there you go! The tale of our redneck honeymoon. :)
Can't wait to see what we bring home on our next vacation!!
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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