Moving the pigz again...

I wanted to document moving the pigz to their newest lot. Partly because I want to keep track of when we moved them but also to let folks know how easy it is to put up new fence. We talk a lot about fencing here. Some folks put way too much thought and dread into their fencing projects but really all you have to do is get out there and do it.

Electric hotwire on the inside of field fence. Easy peasy!

I was lucky that my husband was around for this run of fence. As you know I can do projects like this myself - and so can you - it would take a while for me to heave ho the run of fence down the hill... he just cave-trolls it down there and gets it done without even breaking a sweat.

As with before we staked out the electric to make sure we had enough wire. We just re-used the wire and push in posts from when this was the goat grazing area. We had plenty.

The meadow before. This used to be heavily treed.

Then we pounded in the 6 1/2 foot tposts. I always think they are so expensive but Tractor Supply had them for less than $4 each. The other day I bought 10 of them - we only needed 5 in addition to the posts that were down there.

Happy pig in his new yard.

Next we measured how much field fence we needed. It was about 100 ft to cover this new section. The new fence section connected with the line of fence we set up a couple years ago. All we were doing was closing in the yard. I stood on the tail end of the fence roll and my husband unrolled it down the drive way. When he got to mark in the drive that indicated 100ft he used bolt cutters to clip the fence and voila!

Then it was just a matter of lugging the fence down the hill and stringing it up along the posts. That's all the time we had for that day. But the next morning me and the dogs made sure the electric hotwire was close to the field fence line, added an electric gate connector, and tested the fence. It worked!

No fancy gate needed.

To our mind a gate is really just a break in the fenceline. Some folks scoff at our "gates" thinking they need to be some kind of expensive, fancy, prefab thing... but a short section of hog panel works just fine as the "door" to the actual gateway.

Once we confirmed, again, that the electric fence was live, we opened the gate where the pigz were standing around watching us.... and lured them in with corn and goat milk.

There is always that one guy that just doesn't understand how the gate works. GO AROUND! Pigz.

The pigz started looking around and thought this new place was great. I think they loved the tall grass and bramble. Then, you know, this happened. *sigh*

My big idea was to put a lot of corn around the ground hog hole so the pigz would dig it out.

Yesterday the pigz figured out that there is the new and wonderful place called "The Woods." Part of their new yard is down the in cool and heavily treed part of the property. Now they have given up on the meadow and my clever plan to get them to dig out the ground hog... and the pigz are all about the woods.

This project to move the pigz, yard by yard, down to the woods has been a terrific success.

Happy Sunday everyone! Did your pigz find the woods?

Pig in a Tub

I don't even know what to do with this....

I guess "pork stew"?

Totally an inappropriate use of a water trough.... but hey! I got the pigz moved into their new yard. The electric worked and everything! And they are still in the new yard so I guess it's a win. More on the move to the new yard later.

Weirdos.

Pigz. What are you gonna do?

Happy Friday everyone! Are your pigz weirdos?

A Spectacular Day!

Yesterday was spectacular here on the farm. The weather was sparkling and not too humid, we got a ton of work done, and we are closing in our next big project.

Kai thinks pigz look delicious - dat ham!

The Big Man took Kai into the pig yard with him. She thinks the pigz look delicious. She is doing a great job of learning "keep them back."  Kai and my Dog#1 get the pigz moved over into their first yard so I can easily move around in the rest of the pig yard without being stampeded by oinkers.  The dogs stand in the gateway to keep the hogs in one place. Kai is very cute - she has her "mean face" and gives a low growl. We only see her as our princess but she's all 'hell yeah.'

Then we had some dueling mowers and got a few other things done around here.... including digging some potatoes.

But the big news is that we strung up the fence to move the pigz into the next yard. I'm completely overjoyed at moving the pigz into their new place. I will close off their first two yards and then start planting in these pig-tilled yards. I'm very excited. I'll have more on this project later and also my plan for that dastardly ground hog.

The Good Land Gin and Tonic. Sublime.

At the end of the day I had what is sure to be the signature drink of The Good Land of the summer.... a basil and mint gin and tonic. Three kinds of fragrant, spicy basil muddled with a hint of mint from the garden, a splash of gin, a big glug of tonic, and then finished with sparkling water. So refreshing!

Happy Thursday everyone! Are you getting things done?

The biggest onion yet AND pork and greens

Finally! I grew an onion! I real onion!

 Look at it! Just look at it!

After years of working on this bad soil I am thrilled to present the first real onion that I have ever grown....

With my shoe for scale! It's a huge success! Don't worry I didn't step on it.

 Soon.

I was also thinking about a friend who mentioned traditional style Southern greens the other day... here is our version of pork 'n greens. Thanks pigz!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

You don't even want to know.....

You don't even want to know what these two have been up to.....

But that face says it all.

Happy Tuesday everyone! What is your dog into?

Macro Monday

I'm getting a late start and I gotta get outside... weather is coming in later today. So here is a quick macro Monday.

Happy Monday everyone!

Tomato #5

As you know, I had my first garden tomato the other day. It was just like heaven. Since then I've been regaling some of my pals with every detail of the tomatoes since then.... the tomato in my salad, the one I ate entirely with salt and olive oil, the first tomato and fried egg sandwich.... and since they asked..... this...

Tomato #5...

I got up even before the sun crested the trees this morning and ran right out to get Tomato #5 out of the garden. I didn't even let the dogs go down and check out the ground hog hole... nope... I scooted everyone in, grabbed my fry pan and an egg, and got down to business.

I love fried egg sandwiches. I have never been able to make them as good as my mom - even tho I have her coveted egg pan. It's just never the same.

And I'm not a purist - I add a slice of swiss cheese. Yep. I can't help it. I grew up behind the counter of my grandfather's old timey country store. He always had a huge 50 pound block of swiss cheese sitting out.  I was allowed to use one of the razor sharp knives to get a slice of cheese. You guessed it - that's where I learned to cut the cheese. Of course the health department now would pee their pants at cheese sitting out but back then no one even thought twice about it.

At lunch my grandma would get an egg from the basket (also sitting out on the counter) and fry it up for me. Me and my grandpa would sit there passing the time eating egg sandwiches. It was a great way to grow up.

Happy Sunday everyone! Are you making an egg sandwich?

Editors note: What's that flaked stuff on my sammi? It's my new favorite thing - Trader Joe's Cypriot Pyramid Salt. I grabbed it the last time I was in TJ's and it's just terrific. Even tho the flakes are kind of big - it's not over salty. It was a lovely crunch and really brings out the tomato-y goodness of this Black Krim. And yep this is an affiliate link but someone is going to ask so this is the easiest way for me to show you this terrific new find. If you don't have a Trader Joe's nearby you can get a lot of their products on Amazon. You should check it out and in the mean time... if you already need something from Amazon just go there by clicking one of these links. Remember this gets me a tiny percentage of the sale. If you like this blog, or if I've helped you at all in your farming efforts, just make a purchase from Amazon from one of the links, my store, or the black Amazon search box on the right side of this page.