LARD!!!!!!!!!

Let me start by apologizing for the not so creative blog title, but that is exactly how I felt when I found out that we had the processor save the lard from our last hog. "LARD!!!!!!! You can't be serious! Gigantic white chunks of fat, vacuum packed and in the freezer?"

After a month or two of pretending no such thing existed in my deep freezer, I finally began to tolerate the idea of rendering the lard and actually using it to cook with. After all, the health benefits of lard from a pasture-fed pig is one of reasons we bought into the Large Black hog. Just like the majority of our farm experiences, this was something totally new to both of us. So off we went researching... again! Within a few weeks we came up with this very simple rendering procedure:

Melt the fat in a large, heavy cast iron dutch oven until completely liquidated.
Let cool slightly.
Strain off any impurities through a wire mesh strainer.
Pour fat into a 9 X 13 dish and let cool.
Place lard into freezer.
When lard is frozen, slice into squares and wrap them for long term freezer storage.

It was only a few days until we were cooking up some fried cube steak. YUM! I must say that all of this reading reminded me of why we chose to grow our own food... and that is another blog post all together!

If you are interested in the health benefits of pasture-raised lard please read these articles:
http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/natural-health-articles/nutrition/trans-fatty-acids-lard-better-than-vegetable-oil-00298.html

http://www.health-report.co.uk/saturated_fats_health_benefits.htm

2010

Noir Stars Christmas

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Dinner on the Grounds

The new kids on the block went for an outing today. Look at all of the fun they had playing after their picnic.

Rosie's Performance Evaluation

Some of you may remember that with Rosie's first litter she only had 4 babies and 2 were stillborn. So this time around John sat down with her and had a long talk. Basically, he told her she was not meeting expectations. Also, if she didn't make some much needed improvement, she would have to take a ride to town. For the entire pregnancy we were not very hopeful that she would have a large litter due to the fact that she wasn't nearly as large as Peaches was with her 10 piglet litter.

So last Thursday, Rosie exceeded expectations in the large litter category! She gave birth to 10 babies and ZERO were stillborn.
What a trooper! She was much more mature and experienced this time around.... calm and gentle. Good girl, Rosie!

Moving Day

John recently re-designed his trailer to accommodate a 600 pound hog. Today we tried it out when moving the rest of the pigs to the back pasture. It worked great! I think John did a great job making the most out of what he had to work with.

Apparently, Rosie likes it too. She likes it so much that she didn't want to mess it up. Really, she backed right up to this bucket and made great use of it! If only it was this easy to potty train my own 3 little piggies.

We're stocked!

It has been a long time coming considering the challenges of building it, working with the leaky dam and waiting for the bloom to occur. However, the pond is finally stocked!

John found an elderly catfish farmer in a nearby town that has somewhat put himself out of business in his later years. After many attempts to work with Mr. Bob, John was finally able to win him over and let us purchase about 100 pounds of fish from him. So, one would think that catching all of these fish would take lots of patience, right? Let me tell you that catching the fish was the easy part! Working with Mr. Bob was the part that needed patience. And John is just the man for that.

It all started when many unsuccessful attempts to reach Mr. Bob on the phone resulted in a pop in visit to check the place out. After only a few minutes of talking with him, John realized why he couldn't reach him on the phone. He was extremely hard of hearing. So once the reason for his visit was clear, John agreed to purchase some floating catfish feed to feed the fish with for a couple of days. This would train the fish to come up to the surface so that they could be caught with the large lift net.

A couple of days after the first visit, John and the rest of us returned to Mr. Bob's with two bags of fish food. Bless him.... Mr. Bob didn't remember John! So he proceeded to explain who he was and why he was there again. Then we fed the fish and sat on the grass to talk with Mr. Bob. It was amazing to watch this man, likely in his 90's, hold my kids on his lap and laugh and tickle them. At one point, he laid on the grass just like the kids, and played with the them and Buster Brown, the dog. We listened to him talk of his wife and the best friends they used to be. He smiled. They smiled. I smiled. I am still convinced he did not hear a word any of us said, but we heard him loud and clear!

When it was time to leave, John and Mr. Bob agreed that he would feed the fish everyday around 3:00. John agreed to return in a few days to try to scoop some fish. So a few days passed and John went back. Yep, you guessed it! Mr. Bob didn't remember him! Once again, John explained who he was and why he was there. When he arrived at the preset 3:00 hour, Mr. Bob set him straight when he pointed to the horizon in the the 3:00 position. (The sun is actually in this position at 5:00 p.m.) So as it neared the 5:00 feeding time, John was told he had to use cold well water to fill the 55 gallon drum he was to transport the fish home in. John had to travel 20 minutes back home and fill the drum and then return to Mr. Bob's to attempt to scoop the fish with the large lift net. It worked! They were able to get about 30 pounds of fish this time. A quick trip home and in the pond they went! The next visit to Mr. Bob's was also successful... 70 pounds this time. Most of the fish were fingerling catfish and bream, but there were a handful of big ones!

Because I only made one trip to Mr. Bob's, I cannot take credit for the patience part of this story. However, I am so glad that John had the heart to work with Mr. Bob. I think we may have been the only visitors he had seen for quite some time. And even though John had to introduce himself and explain why he was there each time he went, I think it was worth it.... for both parties. We talk about Mr. Bob a lot, and I am sure we will remember him each time we pull up a big one.

And now, in my old age, don’t set me aside. Don’t abandon me when my strength is failing. Psalm 71:9

Helloooooo HONEY!!

The long awaited day has finally arrived..... my honey got his honey. I must say, that after much skepticism, criticism and fear, I am now a believer in beekeeping!

Last Thursday, John and Beau suited up in bee gear and headed out to rob the honey. Beau manned the smoker while John lifted the capped frames from 2 hives and loaded the trailer with the very heavy honey. With all of our extracting equipment waiting in the basement, the rest of us let out a cheer as John carried the prized reward through the door and down the hallway to the capping table! The kids were so excited it was as if they had already ingested a pint of the sugary treat. I played many roles during the process. Between crowd control and snapping pictures, John showed me the ropes of uncapping the honey with the capping knife. I must say, I think I will remain in the beginner / novice category for quite a while. It is more difficult than it looks to manhandle the heavy frame and gingerly glide the hot knife over the wax in a controlled, non-spastic motion. Maybe I will get the hang of it one day. Next, after loading the uncapped frames one by one into the extractor, it was time for the big show! John loved operating his new extractor and we all marveled at the honey flinging out of the comb. First it dripped slowly and as the cheering got louder, the honey came faster. First it was strained through the coarse filter, then the medium and lastly the fine filter. Before too long we had 5.5 gallons of honey... 88 lbs all together!

After this amazing experience, I think it will be easier to remain calm next time he climbs 40 feet into a tree trying to capture a swarm of bees. I think the reward is actually worth all the effort... I can't believe I am saying this!

The Quest for Honey.......

Plenty of Pickin'

What fun it has been to see results from this year's garden. Over the past year, we have made many attempts at soil quality enhancement such as cover crops, compost and manure from a friend's sheep farm. We feel like our efforts were successful since this year's number one crop is weeds. We are optimistic that we will have a better harvest than last year. What? Yes, we are actually encouraged to see weeds because last year we couldn't even get weeds to grow. Sure we enjoyed the weed free garden, but the poor soil resulted in little or no harvest from some crops. This year, we are barely able to find our garden for all the weeds. However, we are truly enjoying the tasty rewards!

Here's a look at some of our most recent picks...Tater tots, tomatillos, garlic, lettuce, herbs, miscellaneous heirloom and open pollenated tomatoes, yellow squash, zucchini, sugar snap peas, black plum tomatoes.

Round 2 for Peaches

Our first pig, Peaches, had her second litter on May 17th. My mom and dad were here for this delivery just as John's parent's were here for Rosie's delivery. Wow, our pigs might be nearing the grandchild category, earning a visit from the grandparents for the big day! How nice... maybe we should work out a deal and have a visit every 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days on the calendar. Yes, that works for me!

Peaches was such a trooper and so considerate to deliver in the daytime. This is not the norm for most pigs that deliver in a non-commercial setting. I think I accidentally tricked her into thinking it was daytime the night before by using a regular heat lamp instead of the red bulb heat lamp. I decided to use the lower wattage heat lamp since it was almost summer and didn't want to roast the big mama, but the smaller wattage lamp was only available that day in the bright white bulb instead of the red tinted bulb that animals supposedly cannot see. So while she nested during the day and labored all night, it was shining brightly inside the farrowing hut. Then, when morning came, I turned off the light and thought, "Oh well, she's just not ready." Within a couple of hours, as I retired to my bed, piglet number one arrived in the dark shadows of the farrowing hut. Luckily, I decided to get up and check on her one more time before I got some shut eye.

It was my first solo delivery as John had meetings at work that day and could not assist me. Not that Peaches needed my help, but being the gentle giant that she is, she allows our participation. We would like to save every piglet that she has but unfortunately it is common for piglets to be stillborn. This time she delivered 10 piglets and 3 were stillborn. She had a long delivery, but she remained calm, attentive and strong throughout. I can't imagine.... Go girl!




(thanks mom for all the pictures!)

Bees at work

Here is a look at the honey bees hard at work on the clover in the front pasture. I think I can almost taste the honey! (Click on the photo for a closer view.)

Of course John is the beekeeper and knows volumes more about bees, hives, pollen, nectar, etc. but here are a few interesting facts about the honeybee that have simply amazed me:

-Honey bees can collect about 66lbs of pollen per hive per year. The pollen and honey is used as food for the honey bees.
-Honey bees must consume about 17-22 pounds of honey to produce each pound of beeswax. Beeswax is secreted by glands to make the honeycomb.
-Worker honey bees live about 6 weeks during spring and summer and 4 months in the winter. The queen has a 3 to 4 year lifetime laying 600-800 eggs a day.
-Honey bees fly at 15 miles per hour and usually forage within 1-2 miles of the hive but can fly much farther in search of pollen. Their wings beat 200 times per second...buzzzzz!
-Each honey bee makes about 1/12th of a teaspoon in its lifetime. It takes about 556 workers to gather 1 pound of honey from about 2 million flowers.
-Worker bees are female and do all the work. Males, called drones, do no work, have no stinger, all they do is mate.
-Honey bees communicate with each other by "dancing".

As I said, there are volumes upon volumes of facts about bees... this is just barely scratching the surface... that is about all my brain can handle.

"When PIGS FLY!"

Like most of you, I used to think this phrase was simply a figure of speech meant to suggest an absolute impossibility. Well, did you know that pigs really do fly? Let me explain.

Today, one of our gilt piglets flew to Wisconsin.... in a jet plane! After realizing all the "talk" about the Large Black Hog breed is actually true, a previous customer decided it was worth the money and hassle to fly another pig from Atlanta to Wisconsin. All that is required for this to take place is a health certificate from a veterinarian, including an acclimation statement for temperatures ranging from 15 to 95 degrees, and an IATA approved pet carrier. In our case, John was out of town, so there were two other necessary qualifications: a courier to transport the pig to the airport and a willing farmer's wife. The first two requirements were not a problem, but the second two were more of a challenge.

The courier: Our customer had a very difficult time trying to find a courier that would transport the piglet to the airport. After searching many avenues, he went with a cattle services company, specializing in purebred cattle. The company had an employee that lived in our neck of the woods, one who is experienced in transporting livestock. Sounded good to me! However, the young "cattleman" (and his girlfriend) showed up an hour late in a volkswagen beetle bug! Luckily, after some rearranging, the pet carrier fit into the hatchback of the bug. Things went well at check in and our precious cargo arrived safely and on schedule in Milwaukee.

The willing farmer's wife: When glancing at my week's agenda, slap full of commitments, appointments and school projects, I thought I would only accomplish these things "When pigs fly!" With John being out of town, I felt so discouraged about all that was facing me. This week would hold a few "first time experiences" for me such as presenting our farm at the Tanner farmer's market, shipping a pig by truck to Maryland and also flying one to Wisconsin! However, the most daunting first timer for me was catching the pigs! Now, that is a whole other blog post altogether! But it was not just the calendar items that hounded me. With all of the non-calendar items like normal mommy responsibilities and farm chores factored in, I truly felt like this week was an absolute impossibility! However, with much prayer and thanksgiving, God handed me an attitude adjustment. Let's just call it a heart transplant. Instead of focusing on the stress and challenges ahead, I began to realize a thankful heart would take me much further. Under His wing, a sufficient measure of grace was granted to me as I was able to take things one task at a time and one day at a time. Like the courier, a few things were sliding in at the last minute, but in the end, I was able to accomplish more than I ever thought possible.

So, once again, this farm thing continues to teach me life lessons. I am learning that when my plate is full of seemingly impossible tasks, I will remember with the right heart, pigs really can fly!

Ephesians 3:20 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever! Amen."

3...2...1...

Blast off! Today we "launched" the local advertising of our farm, Split Creek Pastures. I hosted a booth at the farmer's market at Tanner Medical Center's Earth Day celebration. The purpose of this event was to increase awareness of the many local growers and producers that Carroll county has to offer. There was quite a good turn out of employees during the 11-2 o'clock hours that the event took place. I was able to provide farm brochures and obtain contact information for those interested in our products. I also sold a few dozen eggs.

Unfortunately, John was out of town today so I had to do the unthinkable... present our products to many farmers and medical professionals. Being somewhat of a city girl, I am finally warming up to the phrase "Yes, we have a farm." But, there is just not one ounce of me that is a salesman. I know, there are a couple of successful salesmen in our family, but it is just not in me! I think I missed those genes. As Blake's teacher says, "I couldn't sell a coat to an eskimo!" But... with much prayer, I actually survived this completely out of character event! There was a time when pigs and chickens were not comfortable topics for me, so hopefully I will soon warm up to the marketing topic as well.

We are so grateful for the joy of living this farmer's life. We are optimistic that our small family farm will be a blessing to our family, and in some way... our community. Check out our updated website or stop by and see us at the Cotton Mill Farmer's Market on weekends. Also, shoot us an email if you would like to place an order for eggs, vegetables, honey or pork. www.splitcreekpastures.com