This year is off to a great start. We have been able to get a lot of things going this Spring already. We have planted most of the garden already. We have already been able to have some modest harvests from our polytunnel greenhouse and our perennials in the garden.
Another of this year pleasures is working with some friends that have recently moved to the area and are on a similar path as us. Our new friends moved to the area last Fall and it has been great getting to know them. They are younger and have an almost unlimited amount of energy for homesteading projects and seem to really shine where animal husbandry is concerned. This has been a great help to me this Spring because while I may be one of the least competitive people out there I am still easily motivated to keep up with others most days. And our new friends have gone in big! They have already started bees,goats,geese and rabbits and recently pigs. They have already planted a garden an orchard as well and are doing quite well at all of them!
In order to keep up with the Joneses as it were we have a larger garden this year with a small 1/25th of an acre corn field set aside for the growing of heirloom dent corn . We have increased our plantings of potatoes this year. We also have planted four new elderflower bushes and five new gooseberry bushes. Lastly we fenced off a half acre of shaded pasture on the North of the property and converted part of our bunker in order to keep pigs.
I am in love with the pigs already. It may seem odd to say that I am in love with an animal that I intend on eating but I don't have another word for it. I feel a real sense of duty to these animals. It is my duty to watch over thee animals and see to it that they are free from want and suffering as much as possible. To see that they have the best if environment, food and water that I can provide. It is my obligation to them to do this. I am asking that they give their lives at the end of our time together and it is the least I can do. But it is part of a bargain we make with animals. Those that we expect much of are cared for well and those that can do little for us are mostly ignored by us and left to the natural state of wilderness. I look forward to all the wonderful food our pigs will provide and the sense of balance that eating that food will bring.
Another of this year pleasures is working with some friends that have recently moved to the area and are on a similar path as us. Our new friends moved to the area last Fall and it has been great getting to know them. They are younger and have an almost unlimited amount of energy for homesteading projects and seem to really shine where animal husbandry is concerned. This has been a great help to me this Spring because while I may be one of the least competitive people out there I am still easily motivated to keep up with others most days. And our new friends have gone in big! They have already started bees,goats,geese and rabbits and recently pigs. They have already planted a garden an orchard as well and are doing quite well at all of them!
In order to keep up with the Joneses as it were we have a larger garden this year with a small 1/25th of an acre corn field set aside for the growing of heirloom dent corn . We have increased our plantings of potatoes this year. We also have planted four new elderflower bushes and five new gooseberry bushes. Lastly we fenced off a half acre of shaded pasture on the North of the property and converted part of our bunker in order to keep pigs.
I am in love with the pigs already. It may seem odd to say that I am in love with an animal that I intend on eating but I don't have another word for it. I feel a real sense of duty to these animals. It is my duty to watch over thee animals and see to it that they are free from want and suffering as much as possible. To see that they have the best if environment, food and water that I can provide. It is my obligation to them to do this. I am asking that they give their lives at the end of our time together and it is the least I can do. But it is part of a bargain we make with animals. Those that we expect much of are cared for well and those that can do little for us are mostly ignored by us and left to the natural state of wilderness. I look forward to all the wonderful food our pigs will provide and the sense of balance that eating that food will bring.
2 comments:
Yay pigs! I've heard a good rule of thumb is to add one new species per year, though you already hear/read about people who do everything at once! I suppose it depends on what infrastructure you have and energy levels. But, sounds like a healthy amount of expansion for you guys this spring, good luck for a bountiful garden!
For us one new thing a year is about right. It isn't always an animal species. Sometimes it is just a new planting technique of a focus on a particular plant type.
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