Will Work for Food
This is our second year raising pigs. One of the main reasons we got them last year is to put them to work. Our back garden was overgrown with tenacious weeds and pigs are one of the best ways to deal with issues like this.
As you can see above, the pigs were put into a very weedy section of the garden. Below is what the garden looks like this year. The far right side was sod last spring. The pigs did such a great job rooting up and eating the vegetation that not very many weeds have grown back this year. Only a few perennial weeds and a few annuals weeds have sprouted. I’m pretty pleased with the results.
Here’s another example of the back garden last year with pigs and what it looks like this spring.
This year I’ll be putting in the pigs in the grassy area around the garden first, they should eat the vegetation and root it up. Later this summer I will mulch it heavily and hopefully next year we should be in business for planting hedges and perennials beds.
The best part is that they do all this while depositing their rich manure. The chickens come along behind them and work it in. I end up not having to do the work (except for moving fences) and I get ham and sausage out of the deal. I’m all for using animals to do chores so I don’t have to. I’m in the process of setting up a composting area in the chicken run so they can turn all my garden waste into compost for me.
What garden chores do you wish you could relegate.
Share this:
Friday Favorite: Pigs
I must admit, after having pigs last year we LOVE piggos. They’re so much fun to have around. Last night we picked up this years piglets from a farm not too far from here. You might remember my post about visiting Mary at Bean’s Corner Farm back in the winter.
This big buy is the sire of our piglets this year. We stopped at the farm last night and picked up two little piglets. They are so small, much smaller than last year because their mom is half guinea hog, which is an old small breed of hog. Their mom is also half Large Black hog, which is a friendly hog that does very well on pasture.
We went to the farm around 7 and picked out our piglet, one black and one red one. I’ve always loved red pigs, they’re so cute! Into a BIG dog crate they went and we were on our way. Who knew 13 years ago when we bought this crate for the resident Chiots it would be hauling piglets home.
Mr Chiots grabbed the little piggies and moved them into the little enclosure we had set up for them. Boy can a little piglet squeal and kick!
Hopefully by this weekend they will have warmed up to us and I will be able to get some great photos of them. As soon as we put them in their space they started rooting and turning up the grass – just what I need. I have a large area I want them to work up for me this year, hopefully with them working all summer I can finally plant my hedges next spring!
What’s your favorite farm animal?
Share this:
The Circle of Life
When you have animals you notice the circle of life. On Sunday morning I went out to the coop to find our oldest hen had died during the night. She was in her usual spot the night before when I counted everyone at bedtime, she must have died in her sleep right on her roost. I’m happy she went this way, it’s no fun dealing with sick chickens. She lived a long happy life, out foraging in the fields and have fun with her flock mates.
We’re not sure how old she was, probably around 5 years old. She came to us with the house when we arrived a year and a half ago, she was an Isa Brown. We still have a few of these original hens left, but their numbers have dwindled by way of fox attacks.
Meanwhile, Broody Hen is being a wonderful mom, bringing up replacements for her. So goes the circle of life, there is birth and death; the young replace the sick, older or those lost through predation. It will be interesting to see how many of these little chicks are hens and how many are roosters. It seems in spring the new life cycle of this circle is most evident since this is the time when animals are hatching and birthing the subsequent generation.
Have you noticed new life in the garden?
Share this:
Bird Hop and Swap
Mr Chiots and I have been trying to take a Sunday or two each month to go out and explore the lovely state we reside in. It’s nice when these jaunts can be used for errands we needed to go on. Yesterday we headed East with three of our muscovy ducks in boxes in the back. We stopped about 45 minutes into our trip to deliver them to lady who bought them. Two were staying with her and one was heading up north to another farm. We also picked up a chocolate muscovy from her to add new color and fresh genes to our flock along with a box of Freedom Ranger chicks to deliver to the farm we were visiting.
We continued east and made sure to stop at Helen’s Restaurant in Machias because several people told us the pie was fantastic. Wild blueberry pie was enjoyed by both of us, Mr Chiots enjoyed his with a la mode of course, mine was plain.
Since we were headed up to Lubec, we decided to stop at the Quoddy Head State park to see the lighthouse and visit the easternmost point in the United States.
Then we stopped at Muddy Hoof Farm to pick up heritage turkey hatching eggs and drop off her chicks. Our neighbor will be hatching them out for us in exchange for a dressed turkey at Thanksgiving. These are the most expensive eggs I have ever purchased! There are three heritage breeds in the mix, it should be interesting to see how many hatch and what we end up with.
On our way back home we drove through the part of Acadia National park that is on the mainland. It’s a short loop, only 6 miles long, but just as beautiful as the big park. Whenever I visit places like this I don’t take a ton of photos because I always feel like they never can do it justice.
We arrived home just before sunset with time to incorporate our well traveled duck and more miles under our belts. It’s certainly nice to live in such a picturesque place.
Any traveling miles logged by you this past weekend?
Share this:
Growing Again
Yesterday we headed down to Al’s Quackery in Saco, Maine to pick up 12 Ancona ducklings. I actually ordered these ducklings last year, but a few things happened and the ducklings weren’t meant to be at the time. This year however, it looks like we’re in business. Al gave me a great mix of colors: chocolate, silver, white, black and one crested bird, they should be really pretty when they feather out. This morning they actually headed off to a local preschool for a week so the kids can watch the difference between ducklings and chicks.
These ducks are listed in critical condition by the The Livestock Conservancy, which is why I decided on this breed for a small laying flock. These are egg ducks, unlike my Muscovies, they will lay eggs all year long providing delicious duck eggs for all my baking needs. With the ducks I can reduce the number of chickens I have or not worry so much about keeping my flock filled with younger birds. These ducks will pick up the slack for my aging hens.
Do you use duck eggs in cooking? Can you find them in your area?
