More Piggies

We have had our second lot of 3 pigs for about a month now. They are a Berkshire/Tamworth mix, 2 males and a female. Poor little darlings had mange before we got them and are somewhat stunted and bald. Since coming to us, they have gained weight and grown back some of their hair but they are still no bigger than their cousins the Tamworths, despite being a month or so older. They are happily uprooting the vegetable garden for us, part of our new no-till gardening plan. We have called them AlfRED, WilfRED and WinnifRED, in keeping with this year's names.

The other boys are out on the 'back 40' now, enjoying their freedom. We have been doing some serious fencing this year, trying to invest time now to avoid spending time later moving temporary fencing around all summer. In this part of the world, if you want to sink a fence post you have to do it before the end of June or it would be like trying to drive a nail into concrete.We have fenced off a large shrubby area for the pigs and the goats to share- and perhaps even the cow sometimes. We'd like them to clear some of the brush and turn it into pasture. The theory is, the goats eat the leaves on the bushes, with the help of the cow, who will knock over the bushes, and then the pigs up root them, in essences, clearing the land to make pasture, all the while fertilizing it. Will it work? Who knows, but it will probably work as well as most of our labour saving schemes- which is, not that well at all.