Author: Issa

Maybe someday I’ll be an old farmer… and an old writer. In the meantime, I’ve got my little homestead, and I write in fits and starts, but I never slow down on reading. I read every post by Gene Logsdon, an old farmer and old writer. It doesn’t surprise me that my attitudes about the land line up with those of an old timer. It does surprise me when this 80 year old man seems to share a lot of my political ideas, too. Whatever he has to say, it’s always interesting to me in a surprisingly quiet and intimate way.

My homesteading scars are limited to a couple of lines on my arm from the wood-burning stove. I’m sure there are more to come, though. From Scars Keep The Record of Our Lives:

If you want to get a lively conversation going among farmers, bring up the subject of scars. For some reason we glory in telling about the marks of maiming or near death that decorate our bodies like so many road signs along the trail of life. Hardly a one of us doesn’t have a crooked leg or missing finger, or a lost limb… Perhaps it is the gravity of the situation that awes us into wanting to talk about it.

This spring has been undeniably bounteous for me. The growth, the babies, my joy in the details. It always seems like spring comes just in time. From Nature’s Promises Kept Again:

Going into March… I am torn between despair over a political process descending into lunacy and an economic process that guarantees only an ever-growing poverty class.  I am glad I do not know how to tie a rope into a noose.

Then I look out the window one morning and see the great miracle… Slowly but surely all the spring wildflowers return— actually this unusually warm spring, they came fast and furiously— and I feel that great uprising of joy and hope once again. Nature does not renege on her promises.

The resilience and stability of nature is amazing and we often miss it because the news of the day focuses on the failures and threats, not on the successes. In all the earth-shaking changes that have shattered our sense of security over the past forty years or so, here on our farm, right here, the state of wild nature is remarkably little changed.

And then Living At The Whim of the Weather was written right as spring was snatched back momentarily this year. I don’t think I lost any plants, even though I definitely planted early.

Gene’s most recent post It Pays to Stay Home resonates with me, too. I love to go out into the world, but I love to stay home at The Wallow, too. Until I moved here, I never knew how interesting one’s own backyard could be.

Staying home has to be one of the most unpopular ideas in America where the whole culture embraces faraway travel as essential to happiness. Many of us don’t really have homes that can provide as much enjoyment as travel promises. Rather than spending our money to acquire such a property, we are taught to buy such enjoyment with far away travel. Perhaps what we need is proper publicity. To advertise traveling at home, a documentary could open with unbelievable close-ups of ants herding and milking aphids on an apple tree, a raccoon destroying a bluebird house, a hawk dive-bombing a mouse, a flint arrowhead sticking out of a creek-side cliff. Then a roll of drums and a voice sonorously introduces the docudrama:  “Today we are going where no explorer has gone before— YOUR BACK FORTY.”

If you’re ever in the mood for some down-to-earth farming posts with insight, I recommend Gene Logsdon at The Contrary Farmer.

I send email updates out to the people buying pigs from us, and I’ll publish them here, too, (slightly modified) for anyone else following along with our piggie adventures. Here’s the first update of 2012.

I’m a little late getting the first pig update written, but we have pigs! They are pink/white pigs, unlike the red ones from last year. Their breed is likely a mix of Yorkshire and Chester White, both excellent meat breeds.

Last year we asked our buyers to choose a particular pig, and they all got names. This was to avoid any conflicts of ownership if something happened to one pig mid-season. With more pigs this year and with their similar markings, I’m honestly not sure I could reliably tell them apart. So they are not going to be individually named and assigned, and if any issues arise we’ll just handle that as it comes.

One big change for this year is that Joshua built a feeder that allows the pigs to have free access to food, rather than getting a big meal or two a day. The feeder has lids over the eating areas, and the pigs lift up a lid with their noses, and then chow down. They figured it out quickly, and I’m sure they are pleased with being able to eat whenever they want. The waterer is also set up so that they have a constant supply of water that they can not climb into and get all muddy!

A neat thing we’ve discovered this year is that more seems to be better. There are 6 pigs this time, the most we’ve ever had, and they seem to be having much more fun, are more active, and I can see that they move together as a pack. I knew that pigs were social animals, but they get more social and seem to thrive the more there are. I’m so glad there are 5 groups of you buying pigs, so that this pack of 6 can all be together!

One distinct bit of personality about this year’s pigs is that they seem to be really clean. Almost every time I see them, they are spotless except for a bit of dirt on their noses. They will surely be muddier as it starts to get hotter and they use the mud to cool down, but so far I’ve been really impressed by their cleanliness. They are definitely not impressed with the shed we provide them for shelter. Almost every time I catch them sleeping they are in a pile together out in the open, sometime in the shade of a tree, sometimes right out in the sun. Their sunburned butts are their own business; I’m trying not to fret too much about that.

There’s no possible way to estimate the pigs’ finish time yet.  I can tell you that these pigs were younger when we got them, which adds a bit of time. In 2010 the pigs were ready for slaughter in July. In 2011 it was September. Their weight is one of the things I’ll try to keep you updated on as we go, as soon as they get big enough to even esimate their weight. They are still little pigs!

I adore my new ducks! So much of the work I’ve done lately is for them. I built them a house and dug (some of) a hole to make their little pond. I constantly check in on them and spend lots of time just watching them. They are terribly cute!

It seems like every day I am having more and more fun with Dylan. I like him so much, and he likes me, and we’re having a good time doing our thing. He especially loves any and all time that we spend outside. Whether he’s chasing the ducks, digging in the dirt in my garden box, or getting into unapproved things in the barn, he has a great time outside.

I let him do pretty much whatever he wants with whatever he finds outside. This leads to some gross results, like when his mouth is dripping with mud. And it leads to some funny results, like Dylan enjoying the chickens’ corn right along with them:

Dylan had his first time playing in a baby pool with our friends Sara and Fin. I got so many photos from this day that captured Dylan’s neat expressions.

Plus Sara got some photos of Dylan and me when I comforted him after something or another that upset him.

And here’s my favorite photo of baby Fin:

Dylan really loves being around other kids, and he loves the outside so much. I’ve got a mind to organize some kind of park playtime get together with some like-minded families, but I haven’t gotten around to the action part of that idea, yet.

Two things happened simultaneously. Spring sprung into action all of a sudden, bringing a whirlwind of changes and activity to The Wallow. And I went through the first longish depressive bout I’ve had in awhile. So I’ve been busy, but I haven’t been writing. Now that I’m feeling a little more perky, I’m not sure where to start catching up. I’m in kind of a strange space where I’ve kept up on so many homesteading projects, but I haven’t had clean laundry in days (for example). It seems like I can take care of the larger, “out there” stuff, but personal care just doesn’t make the cut.

So here’s the big catch-up post, and then maybe I’ll get back to my regular writing.

A month ago, we sold our truck. It was the first truck I’d ever owned, and I loved it. I turned out to be a truck person. The old one had some issues, though, and we were wanting a bigger truck, so we made the switch. Farewell, red 1500 Dodge Ram. Hello, white 2500 Dodge Ram. (And hello, Michael, our sales guy who found my blog and might come to Alchemy!)

I’ve been gardening. I’m using my same lazy gardening method as last year, although in twice as much space. This year I have Purple Box and Blue Box. Blue Box already has radishes, lettuce, spinach, peas, and tomatoes shooting up. I’m still screening compost and working it into the soil in Purple Box, but it’ll get some seeds soon.

Joshua built a feeder so the pigs can free-feed now instead of having two big meals a day. I think it’s brilliant, and needless to say, the pigs love it.

We got a rooster. We’ve been roosterless since The Silkie died. And I do miss Silkie, but he wasn’t much of a rooster. This new one is a gorgeous bird! Meet Rooster Sean Connery:

Aaaaand… I’ve got duck videos to show you and adorable Dylan pics, of course, but if I don’t post this right now, I’m at risk for going another week without. I’m going to hit publish, head to bed, and hope I still feel good tomorrow!

I had more posts planned for this week, but there turned out to be more doing than blogging. I still haven’t gotten my seeds in the ground, because I’ve been busy taking care of my new ducks.

Here are the ducks in their indoor brooder. They nibble me in this video, and one protests being picked up:

Here they are their first day on some grass outside:

The thing that’s been taking up so much of my time is building the house for the ducks:

I designed and built this house myself. It’s my first construction project ever, and so I’m enormously proud of it. The red base matches the boxes that make up the rest of my garden. The whole roof hinges open for cleaning out and adding new bedding.

The house is pretty wonky. Now that it basically fits together the way I intended, it needs a LOT more screws to actually hold it together. But it will always be quirky. It was really exciting to build it all by myself, and I just adore how it turned out.

The ducks live in their house now, instead of in my bathroom. And as soon as they’re big enough to get out, they can free range!

Here is my favorite picture of the ducks so far:

I love how you can see their group coordination here, how they’ve fanned out to keep an eye on all directions. The pigs do this too, and I find the tactical motion really fascinating.

For my next trick, I’m building these cuties a little pond!

Of all the homesteading activities I wanted to pursue, raising pigs was my dearest desire, and it has turned out to be just as wonderful as I’d hoped!

Yorkie and Hampie were our first pigs:

Last year we had Fatback, Vienna Sausage, Speckles, and Punkin:

This year five groups of friends are buying a pig from us, meaning we’re raising 6 total, the most we’ve had so far:

These pigs are white again, like Yorkie was the first year. That means one of the health concerns on the table this year is sunburn.

It’s already so neat to watch them interact as a group. It’s clear that pigs belong in groups. They snuggle in a pile to sleep, and they move as a pack when they roam.

Here’s a video of them staying away from me the first day. This wariness doesn’t last long, though. It only took these little ones one meal to figure out that I’m the keeper of the food.

Tomorrow I will muck out their shed. A few days of rain-plus-pigs and it turns into a disaster out there. Soon I’ll need to build a trough, too. 6 pigs will quickly overrun the small food pans I have. And a few months from now they will be 1800 pounds of pig, and I won’t want to go in there with them when they’re hungry! So I need a freestanding feed area I can access from the outside of their pen. Animals bring never-ending projects!