Pigerators

The pigs are here. We have 2 of them and they are about 3 months old.

I considered getting little babies but, honestly, they were too cute.

These fellas are pretty cute as it is and I have discovered them to be very entertaining to watch. They are smart and have loads of personalities....2 traits that will make it quite difficult to send them to slaughter.

We have plans to put them into the woods with electric fencing but for these few days they are in the outdoor dog kennel. We are having a huge Halloween party tonight and felt it would be best to keep the critters here for a few days.
We are having to move the kennel on a daily basis because these pigs can till and turn up the ground within a matter of hours. Amazing.

Of course we plan to use this tilling ability to turn up a large area of ground for garden planting in the spring. We have bermuda in our field and believe these pigs might till it enough to give us a growing season.

We want to plant a large pumpkin patch. In fact we passed a pumpkin garden on the way home from getting the pigs. We stopped and bought pumpkins for the kids and yesterday was a perfect day to sit on the grass and carve.

Sustainable farming. Diverse farming as well. These pigs wouldn't be as entertaining if we had 100 to care for, but we have 2. We have laying hens, roaster chickens in the summer, a dairy cow, a steer for meat, honey bees, fruit trees, and now pigs. Every creature fertilizes the land and contributes to the farm.
Moving the animals around the land ensures that we are accomplishing what we set out to do and that's grow grass. Joel Salatin is right when he says we are farming grass. Everything else is a product of this sustainable farming method.

He is also correct when he says that farming in a diverse manner makes farming much more enjoyable and family friendly.

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Now to the party. Tonight will be about friends, food and a fabulous haunted trail in the woods.

We situated the haunted trail in back near the creek. The trees are beautiful this time of year, and we woke up this morning to very cool weather. We will have a couple of fire pits going tonight as well as hot apple cider.

Fletcher helped us put the large canopy together yesterday...or at least he mimicked every move we made during the process.

Here's to a happy weekend for everyone! We will be eating hotdogs, cotton candy, and sweet treats all afternoon and evening, so if you are in the area...drop by!

I will be back next week with pictures and a new Handmade Holiday!

Have a SPOOKTACTULAR weekend!