17 June 2012

Pigs are Cool


Don't mind the cute pig.  If you didn't know, Kate and I are raising 8 pigs and selling them by the half.  They will be custom butchered so that you can have as little or as much sausage you want, the off cuts and organ meats if you want them, and the option of smoking them.

We have 2 and a half pigs left to sell so let us know if you are excited to be part of our pig CSA!

Updates on our New Beat Farm experience:

We have been plenty busy planting summer squash, hand weeding, cultivating with the horses, and harvesting lots of lettuce, beet greens, salad turnip greens, mesclun/mustard mixes, kale, and chard.  Between working 4 days at New Beat and doing various projects involving the pigs, Kate and I have been super busy.

We assembled an automatic watering system using a 300 gallon tank we bought, PVC fittings, garden hose, and nipples that go on the end of 4 hoses split off from one.  The nipples are stood on a little stand that I made with some scrap wood and stood up by two pieces of rebar pounded into the ground through two drilled holes in the top.  This type of watering system eliminates several issues; the pigs walking in their water troughs (making it less palatable and risking carrying disease on their feet into their water), reducing the need to haul 5 gallon buckets (~40 lbs. of water per bucket), eliminating the need for troughs, spending less time dealing with their water supply, significantly reducing water waste.  Our water tank is set and bolted onto a snowmobile trailer (courtesy of Kate's dad, John) and filled from a spring until it is about half full.  Any heavier, and the trailer might not be able to handle the weight.  Then we haul the trailer to an area uphill from the pigs with the horses hooked to the forecart; uphill so that the water will gravity feed down the hose to the nipples with enough pressure.

We'd also like to thank our friend Jessie for supplying us with whey, which the pigs looooove drinking.  They're gaining weight everyday due to the extra protein.

We love whey!
Other than that, we're both happy living in our wall tent and working with the crew and horses at New Beat Farm.  If any of you have the inclination, please come visit!  E-mail us when you're coming and we'll be glad to have you over!  The pigs would love it too!

“But as long as you remember what you have seen, then nothing is gone. As long as you remember, it is part of this story we have together.”
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony

4 comments:

  1. they look delicious put me down for ribbbbsss can i paypal?

    ReplyDelete
  2. i too need a water deliver system with a nipple on the end

    ReplyDelete
  3. Іts like you гead my mind! Υοu seem to knоw а lot about thіѕ,
    lіke yοu wrote the book in it οr sοmething.
    I think thаt you сoulԁ dο with а few pics
    to drive the messаge home a littlе bіt, but other
    thаn that, this is wοnderful blog.

    A fantastic rеad. I will ceгtainly bе back.


    Feеl free tο ѕurf to my wеb page
    loans for bad credit

    ReplyDelete
  4. This websіte definitely has all of the info I wanted сοncerning
    this subject аnd dіdn't know who to ask.

    Take a look at my weblog best way to lose weight

    ReplyDelete