Filed under: August 2017 | Tags: applesauce, cider, Mother Nature, nature, pasture, pastured pork, pork chops and applesauce, wild apples
August 31, 2017
Where did summer go? This last day of August, I am pleased to have plenty of grass left in our pastures. The cattle and all of the farm’s livestock are looking great. Now, we are getting another nice bonus as we share in Nature’s Bounty. Wild apple trees are dropping their fruit. The cattle love the sweet treats. Our dairy steer in the picture above seems to delight in eating them.
When I was a boy, the old farmer that I worked for thought apples would make his cows choke. So, we cut every wild apple tree we saw. It has been my experience that the livestock, as well as, the wild animals benefit from this wild fruit. I think there are enough nice apples to make applesauce or cider for us. The trees could be trimmed to enhance the fruit, making them grow bigger and easier to peel. Sounds like a great idea, especially by selecting the trees with the best tasting fruit.
The hickory nuts are dropping in the woods as well. I have one wooded pasture where the hickory trees are plentiful. There are apple trees there as well. My sow herd really enjoys spending a couple of weeks in that pasture. They munch on clover, nuts and apples, barely eating the corn I give them for those two weeks. There is much to be said about farming “with” nature instead of trying to fight “against” her. She is the boss and when you respect her, the bounty abounds.
Filed under: August 2016 | Tags: harmony, pastured pigs, pastured pork, piglets, Small Farming, sustainability
August 14, 2016
As a child, I ran barefoot through the grass without a care in the world. Today, I watched my piglets and their mother foraging in the pasture, playing in the mud and eating from their dish. They watched me without caring. The little ones grow quickly in this wide open pasture. They eat, drink, play and rest in the shade of some trees and brush. They are healthy and happy. This is a great way to raise pork!
In the next day or so, I will move the herd up to the barnyard. The boys will be sorted and castrated. The herd is moved right back to the pasture for another ten days. Once that time has passed, the boys will have healed up. All the babies will be sorted again. This time they will be given de-worming shots and weaned from mom. The babies will all be left together for comfort and to compete with each other for their food. A few days after that, they will be sorted by size and penned together on full feed rations. Some will be sold to other farmers to be raised by them. The rest will be raised here.
The ones who stay here will be given a big pen, a clean bed and all they want to eat and drink. Twice a day they will be given “recess” in a big lot where they can run and play. In the space of about four months, they will gain enough weight to be ready to butcher. By then, another batch of little ones will almost be ready to occupy the pens that will be vacated by these. It’s the cycle of life on a farm. It’s my job to make all the animals as comfortable as possible. I treat them with respect and I handle them humanely until the very end.
I can only hope to pass my ways onto my children and their children. That is what makes farming sustainable too. It is not just the soil and the animals. There must be profit and desire. Without profit a farm cannot continue to operate. Without the desire of the next generation to operate, a farm cannot survive. So, sustainability comes from people, animals and the land all working in harmony. It is that harmony that makes great pastured piggies!
Filed under: November 2015 | Tags: multi specie grazing, pastured pork, rotational grazing, Small Farming
The girls enjoying supper
November 5, 2015
Tonight, I moved the sows from their summer pasture to a small wooded hamlet. This small forested area is of about three and a half acres. There are hickory nuts and wild apples littering the ground in this place. My foraging mothers will have a great time searching for and eating those treats. The pasture in the photo will become home to a group of young cattle, heifers and steers. There are a couple of weeks of grazing here in this paddock for those youngsters.
As we race for winter, I am glad to still have grass available to my cattle herd. The main herd of cows are grazing a lush piece of red clover, a few cowpeas and some oats. They leak a little when they cough, but they keep right on eating and smiling 😮 Our bull will go in with the mommas tomorrow. It is a little unconventional to breed at this time of year, but so far it is working well for us. We are mostly just growing our own beef anyway…and for a few customers. So autumn and winter calves work ok for us.
Our sows will get to spend the nice winter days out in the wooded pasture. I will build them a hay fort out of big round bales to hunker down in on nasty days. Mostly they will be up under the barn’s overhang, but spending days outside in the freedom of the big woodlot, pleases them. Happy sows, happy cows and less chores for me !
Filed under: August 2015 | Tags: Farming, food, gardening, pastured pork, piglets, stress free
Out and about
August 5, 2015
We have two sows that have had their babies. They are finally following mom around. They are the cutest things on the farm right now. They were born on pasture in a big nest. They nor their mom was caged or penned up unless you consider a 4 acre pasture penned up. They act as if the whole world is their oyster and are exploring everything they see.
I caught these guys in the shade of the woods. Everyone was napping when I walked up. They laid still for a while until Cinch must have alerted them. The mothers jumped up with a start and sixteen babies headed for the safety of a nearby thicket. I snapped pictures as the little guys took off. It was a hoot watching them jump over a fallen log as they scrambled away.
These litters are the result of over thirty years of selecting for mothering in my gilts. They are the product of docile boars and mixed genetics. They show what time and patience will do for a farmer. I need healthy piglets that grow fast and are easy to handle. I want a lean carcass, well muscled and long…but most of all I want a tender pork chop. I get all these things by careful breeding in an environment without stress…for the animal or the farmer.
Commercial farmers may think I am all wrong. They will say that this is no way to grow production pork. I don’t care what they say…for me it’s the only way. Safe wholesome food is not a concept…it should be a way of life. Pork, plants and people all do better without stress in their lives…so find a way to relieve it. I do it by farming and gardening…and if watching little pigs scramble over a log doesn’t make you smile…. I don’t know what will 😮
Wait for me guys!
RicelandMeadows 