Gardening: 2013–2015

[HungryChris]

Badly needs some paint and caulk, but I assembled this the day before the  first frost of the season here. I hope it will extend the

season a bit. Lettuce, kale and chard so far.

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

The okra never ceases to amaze me.  I picked some tonight and the plants are still flowering.

[Smithy]

The okra never ceases to amaze me.  I picked some tonight and the plants are still flowering.

 

It sounds to me like a gift that just won't stop giving.  Even if you want it to.  :-)

[hummingbirdkiss]

garlic and fava beans are in anyone else plant these in October? I also always leave food just to go to seed and if the animals do not get it and we do not freeze hard it is like a spring garden of surprise…

 

The pig changed my game plan for life …I have to admit.  The whole story turned into such a saga…..some idiot in town is trying to raise luau pigs for a brewery ..come on we live in a town?????..so he (Bacon) broke loose a day after he was brought home ….these people had no idea it was difficult to keep a pig and just raise it for a luau ..this is NOT part of this man's culture… unless is culture is that of douchebaggery in animals ..

 

so after 6 weeks (we spent 3 weeks trying to figure out where he came from walking miles putting up sights…suddenly he came over told us his "story" and said he  would give us $100 and laughed saying "wow he trashed your yard huh I can give you $100 for him.. I bought another on the day after he ran off and did not tell the city because I was worried i would get in trouble with the zoning " 6 weeks into this ? I almost hit him!  he is a freaking real estate agent in our community and did not know he could not raise pigs in town?????

 

 

ok so this is about food and how NOT to grow it …long story short? Bacon is ours we paid the douche $50 to go the hell away got a bill of sale and are now looking at him and how our yard looks and wondering what on earth happened the past 8 weeks ..he has tripled in size is really cute and smart and wow a shitstorm to take care of

 

yes he will be food he has to be because he is a hereford cross and can grow up to 600 plus lbs! what else can I do? now I have to figure the rest of this out but for the next four months  (we plan to butcher at 200ish lbs) i am raising a pig in one of my gardens and doing the best i can to keep him happy and contained so he does not destroy anyone else's gardens in town! 

 

so we are in it now full boar LOLOL and planning nose to tail of course . But this is sad, messy and because someone else did something stupid thinking they could just "raise a pig and make some fast money"????? we have fortunately only spent money on a fence we can use elsewhere when he has" fulfilled his destiny"  (that sounds so sad to me to be honest I am getting attached I cook for him daily how could I not? ) He is seriously putting on about 3-5lbs daily looking at him 

 

so because of someone else's flight of fantasy …our yard looks like it has been plowed by a baby rhino where he is living will make a nice place to plant next year I guess …

 

OYYYYY!!!! I should start a thread on raising a pig for food and what to feed him besides LOTS! to get the best meat and fat ratio ..he is so fat!  and part of my food garden now. 

I knew some folks were curious about bacon and now I am full in on pig raising or porcineery or whatever you want to call it ..I have a pig in my garden and my garden where the pig is ..a complete disaster and I know know why I never wanted to raise a pig and never went higher on the food chain than a duck or chicken in my yard! 

 

Happy Halloween!  did you carve your own pumpkins from the garden? mine were all sugar pumpkins and so thick i can not carve one I would love to see if anyone has? 

[IowaDee]

While we were still in the "must raise one of every farm animal" phase, we got three wee pigs. I promptly named the Frito, Cheeto and Chitlin.  Lesson One,,,don't name the food you plan to eat especially if you have young kids.  

 

On cold mornings, I cooked oatmeal for the wee piggies and, due to lack, made the kids eat cold cereal.  Lesson Two...get those priorities in order. Kids have long memories.

 

Wilber and Babe are the exceptions, every other pig has a mean streak.  Some are longer and wider than others.  Lesson Three...If your barn cat has kittens near the pig stall, relocate them before they end up as porcine bedtime snacks.  The kids will never, ever believe that the good fairy took them to share with little boys and girls who lacked kittens.  

 

As much as you would like to, your growing herd of earth movers can not be rented out as living Roto  Rooter machines.  They are impossible to direct.  Lesson Four.  left on their own, pigs much prefer to destroy the veggies the kids are growing for the County Fair over the weeds next to them.

 

When the time finally arrives to take your no longer charming pets to the butcher's, plan ahead. Lesson Five...trying to tie the critter onto the kids' snow sled and drag it from the barn to the pick-up truck is more than a chore, it is an ordeal fit for Hercules.

 

One your squealer comes home all wrapped in white packages, it is all worth it.  Lesson Six.....you will find it easy to enjoy the results of your labor and saying "Guess who's coming to dinner" is such a pleasure.

[hummingbirdkiss]

While we were still in the "must raise one of every farm animal" phase, we got three wee pigs. I promptly named the Frito, Cheeto and Chitlin.  Lesson One,,,don't name the food you plan to eat especially if you have young kids.  

 

On cold mornings, I cooked oatmeal for the wee piggies and, due to lack, made the kids eat cold cereal.  Lesson Two...get those priorities in order. Kids have long memories.

 

Wilber and Babe are the exceptions, every other pig has a mean streak.  Some are longer and wider than others.  Lesson Three...If your barn cat has kittens near the pig stall, relocate them before they end up as porcine bedtime snacks.  The kids will never, ever believe that the good fairy took them to share with little boys and girls who lacked kittens.  

 

As much as you would like to, your growing herd of earth movers can not be rented out as living Roto  Rooter machines.  They are impossible to direct.  Lesson Four.  left on their own, pigs much prefer to destroy the veggies the kids are growing for the County Fair over the weeds next to them.

 

When the time finally arrives to take your no longer charming pets to the butcher's, plan ahead. Lesson Five...trying to tie the critter onto the kids' snow sled and drag it from the barn to the pick-up truck is more than a chore, it is an ordeal fit for Hercules.

 

One your squealer comes home all wrapped in white packages, it is all worth it.  Lesson Six.....you will find it easy to enjoy the results of your labor and saying "Guess who's coming to dinner" is such a pleasure.

awesome post !   and so so true 

[haresfur]

 

so because of someone else's flight of fantasy …our yard looks like it has been plowed by a baby rhino where he is living will make a nice place to plant next year I guess …

 

 

Thank you so much for providing us so much entertainment. Your efforts are appreciated. 

 

The Bondi Vet says that if you put a ring in a pigs nose they won't root up the dirt

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Here's some information on ploughing with pigs to till up and fertilize your garden. There's lots more out there for those interested:

 

http://permaculturenews.org/2011/01/28/pig-tractors/

 

There's a section in the linked article about the nose rings, and I agree with the author in that it is cruel and only works for a little while. I always thought it was best to work with an animal's instinctive behavior rather than try to anthropomorphize it. That is almost always a monumental exercise in frustration for all involved. 

 

Pig ploughing is a very green way to plough and fertilize, but takes a major effort to manage effectively.

[hummingbirdkiss]

he plows  alright LOLOL it is like he is digging to China for real he has unearthed so many  rocks that are HUGE I am stunned they are half the size of him.

 

thanks very interesting but .…I cannot imagine putting a ring in his nose! he is slick as shit and I cannot even hold on to him now he is HUGE already! ..LOL I could not even manage to have him  castrated! (everyone told me boar meat is a "thing" and I should not castrate him that boar taint is BS in my situation it should not matter (?) I hope not because I cannot do it now he is too big! if he did not dig he would have nothing else to do he is alone and pigs are not solitary animals ..I am still angry at this guy to be honest who does this shit? If he knew anything he would know that pigs are not solitary. The chickens/ducks  love him now but any minute they could be a snack for him..  he would make an amazing plow seriously! if only but it seems he really wants to plow where i do not want it ..IowaDee has it down perfectly! I just can not imagine he is about 70lbs now what if he was 500lbs??? what would he turn over my house? 

 

we have a pig sitter now if we need to go out together now … I cannot leave my house … someone has to be here in case he gets out …my neighbors have stunning gardens! 

 

never in a million years you guys did I expect "Bacon" to be growing in my garden! 

 

I guess the butcher time for him is in March let's hope he starts looking more like" food"  by then …I have to find a mobile butcher we can not do this ..we have done sheep, goats chickens ducks and rabbits but I pig you have to scald and ..he honestly looks so much like my dog right now (I Have a pit bull that porcine shape and look about him !) 

 

I should have a huge  flood of muscovy ducks in the spring the way the boy is behaving every duck i have should be pregnant!   I love eating the ducks I raise… muscovy is truly one of my favorite meats and to be honest I feel sad on butchering day with the ducks but have no trouble eating them. 

 

Muscovy ducks in the garden is win win in my opinion they are peaceful for the most part (the drake is a bit of an ass)  ..make very little noise..it is kind of creepy the noise they make … but are not egg laying ducks so I have some Khaki Campbell ducks for eggs ..those are noisy and skittish as hell ..every time they see me I am "new" ! but the eggs are so good when I do not have ducks I miss them so much.  Dumb as rocks ducks are but wow they are entertaining to watch ..especially when they all find a garbage can lid  with less than in inch of water bath …. right next to their lovely deep mini ponds around the gardens???? 

 

Happy gardening you guys! be it with animals or plants there is food to be had! 

 

still trying to figure out who to give all these sunchokes too????? such a shame they are so intolerable! they taste so good! are so pretty in the garden and grow like crazy! pounds and pounds and pounds …argh ….and I can not eat a single one with out disturbing horrific nightmarish 911ish…pain and ..you know  

Edited November 1, 2015 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[IowaDee]

Seems to me if you can have Bacon root up the chokes it will be a win win situation. I have always heard that boar meat is very strong.  Kind like the difference between spring lamb and mutton from an old ewe or buck. 

Reading your posts is causing flashbacks to the time hubby's family got together and butchered and processed three hogs.  That was one hell of a day and I don't think there has been such a family get to gather since.  Meat saws and boning knives are not condusive to family fun on the farm at all.

 

One kid and I were in charge of wrapping and labeling the cuts of meat.  Hell, for the most part I did't have a clue what I was wrapping, just called most of it a roast unless I could see ribs.  Still makes me smile as I picture family members opening yet another package of mystery meat.  

Since I was born and raised in Los Angeles and practically lived on Venice Beach, small town Iowa has been a long, slow and often painful process.  I will persevere dammit.

[Toliver]

OYYYYY!!!! I should start a thread on raising a pig for food and what to feed him besides LOTS!...

I've heard that pigs raised on apples and acorns have great tasting meat. Not sure how doable that is for you...

[hummingbirdkiss]

IowaDee you are so funny and so real!!! because you really really KNOW obviously exactly what this is for us? my garden will never be the same ..i was worried the sunchokes would get spread everywhere if I let Bacon eat too many but then I thought.."what the hell at least he is eating them!!! someone has to! " they are tumbling out of the box in pounds and pounds right now so many I am going to try a couple of food banks and see if they can take them? but then why would I do that to anyone who needs the food bank it would be like punishing them if they did not know how they were caused so much pain and misery and unpleasantness….. I need to find a mobile butcher we can not do this ourselves we have done a lot of animals but Bacon is too much for me …I wonder why you could not give him a bunch of beer before the deed ..I am giving him a beer or two a day now …think I am turning him into a drunk instead of calming him down he gets pissed if he does not get his beer now! (it is super cheap beer and he is alone so whatever I figure it will make him fat slow him down and perhaps soften the world for him? He is not meant to be "alone" pigs need friends ..I am still so pissed at this man for being such a careless douche. 

I've heard that pigs raised on apples and acorns have great tasting meat. Not sure how doable that is for you...

he has eaten all I could find already i have no idea how to get more acorns other than walking around parks and raking them up and I might just do that this weekend there are lots around ..….i have zero garden waste to clean up right now except he morning glory choking everything that no one likes to eat it seems … he is eating me out of house and home right now it is leftovers and pig chow as well as the garden clearings and whatever he is digging up ..i have NEVER in my life seen so much dirt turned over I tossed him a 20lb pumpkin and it disappeared for a week then resurfaced intact yesterday!

..it is like a big churn going on out there and he has a HUGE yard to destroy that will be a great place to garden next year. 

 

 

Garden wise I am harvesting cardoon now ….this is so crazy!!!  I usually do not "usually"  harvest it until March but it is good right now so I am eating it ..I saw it posted above ..I like cardoon a lot and since the bitch chickens destroyed my artichokes that is the closest I had this year ..last year we had a great harvest this year the plants were completely pulled out and the roots eaten for some reason the chickens just went full on attack (ants underneath maybe? ) 

[ElainaA]

 

 

Garden wise I am harvesting cardoon now ….this is so crazy!!!  I usually do not "usually"  harvest it until March but it is good right now so I am eating it ..I saw it posted above ..I like cardoon a lot and since the bitch chickens destroyed my artichokes that is the closest I had this year ..last year we had a great harvest this year the plants were completely pulled out and the roots eaten for some reason the chickens just went full on attack (ants underneath maybe? ) 

What are you doing with the cardoon? I still have one huge plant in the garden - I've been waiting to harvest it until I decide what to do with it. When I harvested the first plant, i used about half and wrapped the rest and put it in the fridge. Two days later it was completely flaccid. So I need an idea that would use up more at once. I'd love to hear what you are doing.

 

Pigs are highly intelligent - it sounds as though Bacon has succeeded in training you to bring him a beer when HE wants it.  I have a neighbor who has trained her pigs to come, sit and stay on command. She takes them on walks and they follow right at her heel. I think you have to train them when they are very small. And she is a horse trainer by profession. She believes any animal can be trained - although I think raising chickens may have made her reconsider. Seeing a 300 lb pig sit on command is really funny. 

[hummingbirdkiss]

it is a weird veg isn't it Elaina? it tastes so good when you get it right ..I never blanch mine in the garden  i tried and the chickens attacked it so I leave it .… I blanch it in the kitchen (LOL kitchen blanching vs garden blanching)  in water then dry really well and make fritters ..when I go to the trouble of making t we both love the fritters and it uses a few eggs so win win meal for us would be the fritters and some kind of dip for them ..I have made soup with them a kind of calde verde with blanched cardoon instead of escarole it was very good ..it is weird but so pretty isn't my flowers were softball sized and dangerous this year …

What are you doing with the cardoon? I still have one huge plant in the garden - I've been waiting to harvest it until I decide what to do with it. When I harvested the first plant, i used about half and wrapped the rest and put it in the fridge. Two days later it was completely flaccid. So I need an idea that would use up more at once. I'd love to hear what you are doing.

 

Pigs are highly intelligent - it sounds as though Bacon has succeeded in training you to bring him a beer when HE wants it.  I have a neighbor who has trained her pigs to come, sit and stay on command. She takes them on walks and they follow right at her heel. I think you have to train them when they are very small. And she is a horse trainer by profession. She believes any animal can be trained - although I think raising chickens may have made her reconsider. Seeing a 300 lb pig sit on command is really funny. 

RE Bacon I think I mentioned that it is kind of overwhelming for me as I have never raised meat this  far up the food chain .smart is NOT what I would call my ducks that is for sure …it is going to be really hard to butcher him after this ..honestly but we will and it will be fine he is super fat right now the jowls are insane! 

Edited November 6, 2015 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[IowaDee]

I thought about you and Bacon this morning.  We live within three miles of the Missouri border.  There is a saying that if the bottom tier of Iowa counties went to Missouri, in would improve the IQ's of both stares but I digress.  A few days ago, a local guy in Missouri shot a 300 lb wild boar that had wandered into his year.  The location of said shooting is about 30 miles away.  Asked what he planned to do with it,he said, 'Eat it, what else would I do".  Good question.  

 

We had deer in the yard yesterday eating acorns from our pin oak trees.  I wonder how far and how fast a boar could trot up here to get his share?  The photo of him made him look almost fuzzy but I know he wasn't  Had a nice pair of tusks going too. 

 

Year ago I had a poster of a boar breeding a sow.  It had a the caption Makin' Bacon.  Later on, I saw another one that was supposed to be a boar masterbating.  Caption...Fakin' Makin' Bacon. Better quit before I lose my posting privileges.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I am furious this man let a pig go and did not bother to look for him ..we hiked up into the woods behind our house and found this abandoned shed behind an orchard..if Bacon had been a bit older and found that shed can you imagine a full grown hereford intact boar raising hell in a town ..we have beautiful  gardens where I live people travel to see them..I would have to move  if Bacon got loose

 

Iowa …   if you loose your posting privileges after making me laugh like that? they might as well take mine away too ..this is very food oriented and very much a lesson in  stupidity ..and he came into the garden when I was gardening and we are going to eat him .how much more food can we be here? …but …now I have to figure out how to raise and butcher him to perfection ??? and I am not doing that I just can not do it ..I do have him mapped out ..he is adorable and tugging at my heart but I am sure as hell going to to make guanciale ..my girlfriend who had the pig walk in her garden six years ago gave me the head and I made it with her pig and holy crap that was amazing ..so back on that one again for sure I am wanting those jowls HUGE!  

I will tell you my entire spring garden is going to be planned around pig butchering then summer and fall there will be Bacon on the table 

then I feel bad thinking that LOL ! 

 

oh well I will take my Bacon out of the garden he fits and he doesnt …here in this thread? .. he is for sure part of my garden now and I sure as hell never intended on having a pig …but they go hand in hand ..right on to the table …  and then I feel bad thinking that 

 

 

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Edited January 5, 2016 by Smithy
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