New Arrivals, Oink Oink

I have some exciting news to share, and so share it I will, before this intermittent internet connection chucks me off again! The Eircom team have repaired the broken wire,yay, but the connection is still of very poor quality, boo. Having a conversation is a challenge. We have become good at guessing the jist of a conversation through the crackling line. We are on a repair list, again. Anyway, thats not the exciting news ... this is ...

A few weeks ago we went to visit a farm to learn all about rearing our own piglets. We spent an afternoon there. I was so enthusiastic, but hubby was not so enthralled with the whole idea of producing our own free range happy meat!

By the end of the afternoon Dan was 100% hooked on the idea too (my cunning plan worked!). We chose two piglets which we will pick up when fully weaned in mid February. These little guys are rare breed Gloucester Old Spots, traditionally kept as 'the orchard pig', so they will be very much at home in our woodland and orchard.

We are fully committed to raising our own meat in humane surroundings. The real test will come when they are 8 months old and we send them packing to the abbatoir. Will we manage to rear and care for them without becoming emotionally attached?! The children are fully aware of our sausage intentions, I suspect its the adults who may struggle a little with the concept!

All the preparations are in motion. We have applied for our pig number and have been researching which form of fencing to employ for the pigs to escape through, which I understand, is an inevitable part of the bonding process.

Comments

[Gwyn]

How did they survive in the olden days without phone lines!! The polka dot pigs are so cute - I will bet right now that they don't get eaten - in fact I am betting right now that you will all become vegetarian!!!

[Rebecca (eco felter in rural Ireland)]

Oh Gwyn, your not helping my mission! and your not the first to bet that these two will end up as pets either!!! No, I'm determined, bacon. x

[Flibbertygibbet]

It's just like River Cottage! How utterly fabulous, I guess it's just a case of getting new piglets to replace big pigs - oh dear, now I feel quite heartless...

[Maddy]

Ahh yes is can see it now, Rebecca out there with the tape measure checking the tummy size, just like on Babe, the kids giving them names like Lunch and Dinner, or Salt and Pepper, maybe even Crackle and Gravy, yummmmm. Just don’t go giving them adorable names like Charlotte. And might I suggest avoiding such movies as Babe and Charlottes Web, could cause havoc one Sunday lunch time.

[Gwyn]

I thought maybe that the conversion to vego was part of your secret plan!!

[Paula]

Oh, the little spotted piglets look so adorable, they remind me of '101 Dalmatians'- best of luck with raising them for the table, and hope your telephone and internet connection improves swiftly for you.

[Julie]

I am so glad you're getting pigs. I have long had a dream of having my own (not really an option in a suburban garden) - now I can read all about your adventures. They are wonderfully cute and I'm really looking forward to hearing all about them. I'm glad your connecton is back up - guessed you must have been hit hard by the winds - you've probably got the worst of the snow that hit today too - keep warm and well xxx

[Sheila]

Well done on getting the pigs, we had pigs here in France on our smallholding a couple of years back, we had four though, I cant tell you how many times we have had to round them up after escaping, they were great at picking their times, like when we were about to leave for a dinner engagment, and we were all dressed in our finery.
We called them the Trotters! twee I know , but Del Boy was so funny, Casandra became a pig roast for a hundred people, we froze half and sold the rest.
I won't lie and say it was easy to part with them, but we soon got over it. And I have to say they were one of the most rewarding and funny animals we have ever kept.Enjoy.
Regards
Sheila (France)

[letty]

We had a couple of pigs when i was growing up, one was for breeding and called scarlet and the other was called dinner and u can guess what he was for! They had a lovely life and produced 8 or 9 beautiful piglets and to the delight of my dad, they were named letty 1, letty 2 etc, needless to say i refused roast ("letty") pork for quite some time!

[Rebecca (eco felter in rural Ireland)]

I am emmersing myself in cook books with recipes for salted pork, sausages and salami, just so I don't get deluded about my own intentions. I'm also showing the pictures of the sausages to the kids with comments such as, 'yum yum, I hope our pigs will be that tasty'!

[katie]

the wellies match the pigs! Oh how wonderful - pig meat that tastes divine. Don't give them names though. good luck with teh connection!

[Nonnie]

Oh I love Gloucester Old Spots. They're so cute. And also taste very nice! My Mum and Dad live in the Cotswolds and have a local shop that sells delicious sausages made from very locally reared old spots. I think it's really fantastic that you're giving this a go and also that you're teaching your children about the connection between the animals and where really good food comes from. I think this is so important and something that most children(and a lot of adults!) are just not aware of. I really hope it works out well. I think no names is definitely the way to go to perhaps make it a little easier.

[VictoriaE]

They are sooo cute. Watch out, pigs are very good escape artists. In 2001 we had a mother and her 12 babies escape good fencing and run off down the main highway,we were away and they ended up on tv and in the newspaper!

[herhimnbryn]

Good stuff. I no longer eat meat, but wholeheartedly feel that all animals that are to be eaten, deserve a good life and a good death. I think your pigs will have both.