In a good year, we get about 3,000 lb. of potatoes on two tenths of an acre (or so). That’s just seven and a half tons per… Read more “potatoes and pigs”
Category: homestead pigs
hog butchering
This is an annual event — three or four families gather to slaughter and preserve five hogs we’ve raised together. It used to take three days. Now,… Read more “hog butchering”
processing and storing mangel-wurzels
Topping mangels in the field. Topped roots are bagged in used feed sacks and go into the root cellar for a few weeks of aging, after which… Read more “processing and storing mangel-wurzels”
winter animal food — mangel wurzels
Mangels are great pig food for the winter months since the store very well and are a high-energy food, good for helping animals keep warm when the… Read more “winter animal food — mangel wurzels”
Cheese making has many permutations. There are enough curds in a ten-gallon cheese that we can steal some for the chickens’ daily protein ration and never miss… Read more
farm produced pig foods
Pigs are how a farm stores surplus nutrients, and how non-human-grade nutrients are converted to forms of more value to the farm. In plain language, farms need… Read more “farm produced pig foods”
cows and cover crops
There are deep footprints through the plots of mangel-wurzels, oats and field peas, and Country Gentleman corn, where three cows got through the open lane gate while… Read more “cows and cover crops”
