While R and I made the new field run for the little black Guinea Hog piglets …
M did the chores. Topping up all the waters and wallows. Feeding the chickens.
Giving The Charlottes their lunch. Cleaning their feed bowls.
Tending to the turkeys.
Doing all the stuff she will do when I am away. M is 16 and homeschooled and an exceptional farm hand. After basic daily work was done and the new field prepared and double checked for holes, we all gathered and after setting up plenty of smoke and mirrors and guards at the corners, (including M’s 8 year old cousin), I coaxed the babies across to their new home.
It was not too smooth a transition but went better than I expected. I did not want to break their trust in me by catching and carrying them. There would have been a lot of screaming. So walking we went.
The piglets had a lovely time!
Often going the wrong way! But I made each correction slowly and gently.
But at last they were all in the right spot and we closed the last panel. And the four are now firmly homed in their big grassy weedy home.
This eliminates two feeds. They are down to three small feeds of fruit and vege now, with a little grain at lunchtime. The rest is forage.
The area is quite large but the babies are quite small so we have to be very careful to leave no holes for them to escape.
When they exhaust this space we will move and add panels, incorporating the bigger pig house, and eventually opening up the whole of the pig garden.
This failed flowering pig garden was designated for the Charlottes but now that we have negotiated The Mad Kings garden for the Charlottes, (there is literally a gate connecting the Tye Charlottes old run with the garden) The PopPops can begin grazing the pig garden.
Also The Velvet weed is a perfect shady cover for the little pigs. They will make little pathways through what, to them, is a shady forest.
Plans are fluid on the farm. We are not called organic for nothing.
Have a great day!
Celi
PS Both M and R took photos for today’s post! This gives us some different perspectives. Yes!
The Kitchen's Garden 
24 responses to “While We Worked”
Those Pop Pops looks so tiny next to a human!
A good reminder for me to give you images to help with that. They really are very small. And now it is pouring down rain and I have not set up their verandah yet!
OMG! They be washed away to the duck pond…
It’s so easy to forget how small the Pops really are until you see them next to the farmer. They are smaller than her boots!! I can only imagine how happy you are, teaching new young farmers how to manage animals in the best way. Exactly what you are meant to do. Have we heard the story of how R & M and any extras came to be farmy hands with you?
I try not to share personal details of other people – just the animals – suffice to say when they launch off in the morning they say they are off to Farm Therapy!
Absolutely understand and I can only imagine how amazing the therapy is 🙂
❤️
they are so incredibly cute, and I love how fluid the farm is, adjusting as you go, as needed.
Yes! The farm is a metaphor for life! Adapting to change and pushing through the struggle is one of our most important skills. Do you agree?
so agree
🦋
In the shot looking straight down on the little piglets nestled down in the new feeding area they look like some sort of big black melons! It’s good to flow into a plan B. So what that your imagined flowering pig garden didn’t happen! It is still being productively used and there is always next year for that flowering plan to materialize. It would have made a lovely picture.
Oh they do! You are right! I love the contrast between their black shiny bodies and the leaves. Plan B is working! So far. No escapes yet. Whew.
Still so tiny! I hadn’t realised just how small they are. How they will enjoy their new forest home.Interesting to see other photographers views. What a great team you have working with you, travelling will feel better l’m sure.
It is really great to have another arm to the team and a strong arm at that!
I’m sure the little cuties will love their new home. It will be like staying at an all inclusive resort! So pleased to see you have young enthusiastic helpers.
Though that all inclusive resort sounds nice right about now!
Ceci…..what a labor of love you engage in every day. The photos of the wee piglets are amazing….the young kids did a fantastic job.
It is so great that you have a small army of farm hands, legs, and feet (haha) to manage the farm in your absence.
Till next time.
Jo
The farm is not a farm when I am out here alone. It feels strangely wasted. But when I have people out here experiencing the place all feels right. Does that make any sense?
Great job moving the Pop Pops. Do they have shelter under a structure? Or will they do fine under leaf cover?
They have a lovely dry house made from
An upturned water tank. Just the right size to stay warm and dry.
What a great experience for M. I’m sure she is gaining so much from the farm responsibilities. I was homeschooled too. It can really provide a unique perspective on life 🙂
Plus! She gets to work here for a few hours twice a week all year. She is super reliable!
I love the contrast of the fresh, bright green with the little black torpedoes passing to and fro underneath. I’m so glad you have a young person learning the joys of homesteading. It will make a nice change from her peers, who imagine food springs into being spontaneously, ready wrapped in plastic.