It has been 5 years since we packed up a moving truck in Kensington and headed to Bird House Farm (then Buggy Whip studio) in the pouring rain. The newly refinished floors in our new (old) home were wet, unable to dry in the wet weather and we had only two rooms we could pile all of our furniture and our family of 5 + 1 au pair into. I'll never forget that night, all of us sleeping in a tiny bedroom which is now a walk in closet. We woke up to hear that the bank had dropped the loan because of a battle over the ag taxes. We couldn't close on the house that we were all moved into. Somehow it all worked out and here we were in the middle of an old, leaky house surrounded by overgrown everything.
We have all learned more than we could have imagined. When I look back, I don't think I realized how much my childhood experiences were pulling us to where we are and I am so thankful that Sam jumped on board, with just a little persuation. Sometimes it's hard for adults to take risks, especially when so many lives are involved, especially the little ones. Since then we have: had 3 litters of pigs, two litters of great pyrennees puppies, learned to bottle feed baby goats, mastered the kubota, become fence pros, are used to something leaking, bursting, cloggin maybe montlhy, improved the pool, bathrooms and mudroom, welcomed horses and veggie farmers and the list really goest on. Are we glad we did it. Well, I can't speak for Sam but I will say when I open my eyes and ears to the sound of the tractor or chain saw humming, I sure smile inside. When we are hosting our large family and see all the kids running around, I smile inside. In fact, almost every morning I come down the stairs and have a little jump for joy. Things have transformed and progressed as life on little or big farms often do I suppose. We started really with the idea of homesteading. We began a vegetable plot and hooked up with a veggie farmer through land link. I brought my first two pigs home in the new Honda Odyssey, eager to show Sam the joy of living on a farm! Bacon! Fresh eggs! Paleo! Space for parties! Those were the ways I knew this land would make him happy. I became good friends with the crew at our butcher even to the point of knowing his favorite jammies (whitie tighties and a gold chain). See, being that I work during the day, they allowed me a special time to bring the pigs. I think they were glad not to have to deal with the crazy, new suburban, farmer lady who had to bring a last supper of the pigs favorite foods to say goodbye. But sometimes I needed a little back up and I would have to knock on the door of their house next to the market. Good times. As our oldest daughter continued on in pony club, our vision began to change. Why not keep them here? I love the work, caring for animals of really any kind and Maddie was dying to set up her own little thing. Yet another scary move to mentally process. Since mom is scared of taking risks.....that's a joke. Onward and upward. So here we are 5 years later. The pigs are gone and the horses are here. Maddie has just 4.5 years before college. I think the horses will be here until then. The chickens and ducks still bring fresh eggs and the sheep and goats are good weed eaters and companions when one of the two horses is off property. Mom doesn't have to go through the pain of seeing the butcher in his gold chain and whitie tighties and sending the pigs of to their fate with boiled eggs and yogurt. Our vegetable farmer has just moved out and the carriage house is being transformed into Yea Yea's (chinese for Grandpa) apartment. Today is election day. Biden or Trump. We are in the midst of a national pandemic and there is no place I'd rather be.
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We sold our last whole hogs to community members last February 2019. After losing our breeding boar to a combination of cold weather and strep and topping off at 16 pigs at our highest count, we decided on no more breeding of our ol' Spots. I'm surprised at the weekly calls or contacts I still get through this site from folks looking for feeders or breeding stock and I have to say, I miss having piglets around. I especially missed them this fall when we couldn't throw them pumpkins and acorns. However, I don't miss hauling them to slaughter, luring them on to the trailer or organizing cut sheets for customers. I loved farrowing the piglets and learning what it takes to keep them alive, fat and healthy and good producers of high-quality pork. It was hard when we realized our largest sow didn't hear well. When she laid down to nurse, it was survival of the fittest. Try moving a 900lb mama sow settling in to nurse the other 10, to grab a sreaming, suffocating, trapped 3 lb piglet, until the screams fade and you realize you're too late. There were lots of trials and tribulations and I'm not sure there's a day that goes by that I don't thank the powers that be for my family and who we've become together, the couple that Sam and I are together, the little people my children are becoming- kind, respectful, hard-working, down to earth, sensitive souls. I count my blessings.
So what now? Well, Maddie (ok and maybe mom too) and her interest in riding horses and the barn are leading the way. The rooting of the pigs was creating a lot of erosion, killing our root systems. So now we are cleaning up, overseeding, focusing on pasture management and making this a good little 6 acres to house chickens and ponies. The eggs- when we have them still sell like hotcakes at the gym. Genevieve continues with her small little plot of veggies. We will continue to evolve and enjoy all that this little spot, in the middle of it all has to offer! And maybe, when one little equestrian is off to another sport, or another real barn or college, we'll see those little spots running through the woods again. Winter 2018 tested our strength! We had two litters of pigs, 1 planned for and 1 total surprise and a litter of puppies. The surprise piglet litter came in our newly designed paddocks and shelters in the woods. We weren't quite set up for babies out there yet but we hustled and hauled to run heat lamps, separate the sows, and load bedding. A few days later, along came the deep freeze followed by more deep freezes! The hauling continued. Sam and I found ourselves racing with loaded jugs in each arm while mumbling obscenities out of the corner of our mouths as we passed each other. He usually lapped me as I began to have rest breaks every few steps. Next year, we will have a deeper second hydrant installed down by the pig troughs. Then a new challenge presented itself. We lost our 700lb boar in the middle of deep brush and mud. Brainstorming different ways to dispose of this animal, given the difficulty of the terrain was a story that will be remembered. We went from cutting him up to pulling him on a tarp- all of which failed. In the end, we waited until the mud was firmer and looked to neighbors for support. The Milner's lended the tractor and Ol' Duke made it to the Frederick animal lab where they told us he had strep and with the cold and possibly less water couldn't fight it. The adventures continue! This year our beach trip was scheduled 7.21-7.28.17. We had a glorious vacation away from it all with low humidity and highs in the mid to low 80s! It was the first time in a while we had vacationed with just our family, with only our summer French Au Pair Coralie Menard joining us! She has been a wonderful addition to our summer, sharing the language and culture with us. Little did she know, she’d be helping to deliver piglets in the middle of torrential downpours! I couldn’t believe how quick she was to jump in and help! While I shouted directions and crys for help, she probably had no idea what I was saying but used the context and her great sense to figure it all out. See the challenge was, I hadn’t planned on their arrival minutes after we pulled into home from our 6 hour trip from Virginia Beach.
Excited to do the afternoon feed after 7 days away from it, even if it was pouring rain, I declined Genevieve’s offer to do it one last time for us. We had plenty of time before we needed to head out the door to the yearly CYC fundraiser! I eagerly got in my feeding uniform and ran to the barn. Seeing the ponies pacing the fence line with more interest than ever in the pigs on the other side, I sensed something was going on. With buckets of rain coming down and buckets of feed in hand, I fed the ponies and headed to the pig paddock. Instead of licking their buckets at length, the ponies were nudging and pawing the gate into the pig paddock. That’s when I noticed we were one pig down. I hollered and shook the grain bucket but Syd did not come trotting. After a few minutes of searching, I found her burrowed down into a fairly dry spot. The only problem was it happened to be the spot where all of Dr. Bird’s glass medicine bottles had been buried. So there we were in the pouring rain, Syd laying on a pile of glass and the 10th piglet coming out. The others were huddled together soaking wet in the brush, minus one which I’m guessing was the first to come out alone and cold as ice. I immediately grabbed him and held him close while I ran to get the others for help. We carefully loaded the other 9 in a wheelbarrow, dipped it down to mom’s nose so knew where they were and started chasing it and then there was me, sprinting backwards to the barn with a 500lb sow chasing. Lets not forget the pouring rain, galloping ponies, squealing pigs, it was quite the site. Once we got close to the barn, mamma sow knew where we were headed and settled down. One heat lamp, a bowl full of apples and lots of helping hands later, all 10 were snug, dry and latched on! A big thank you to Coralie Menard, Michelle Albornoz, Samson Moy (whose fear got the best of him when the ponies started galloping and bucking all around the moving, squealing wheelbarrow and I heard the frequent, “oh shit, I’m outta hear!”) Genevieve Fulcro and of course the kiddos. Maddie about had the barn all mucked and freshly bedded by the time the squealing wheelbarrow arrived! We have 6 males and 4 females....boars and gilts, barrows and gilts. About a month ago, we added two ponies to our happy mix. The pigs are now in the forest and the ponies, two goats and two sheep have reign over the rest of the property. Our 6 acres are full with .5 dedicated to vegetables, 1.2 acres for our three pigs, and 3 acres for the others. The grass seems to suffice keep all happy and the kids are most happy to be able to go hop on their ponies in the back yard. Fencing has been our greatest cost and welcoming babies our greatest joy. So far, all the work has been worth it in every way! My goal is to increase our egg sale and add meat chickens to the mix.
Sow #2, Syd, had her first litter 2/18/17. The day before she delivered she was slow to wake up to eat and making her nest in the stall. Our other sow who I thought might be pregnant is showing no signs. I’m thankful to have only 1 litter to tend to for now! Syd is a wonderful mother thankfully and extremely careful not to squish them when she lays down. They arrived on a warm, sunny weekend day which was lucky for all. 8 were born and “tiny,” who was 1/2 the size of the others, didn’t it make it through the first night.
My first gilt reached 7mos and the Tuesday I had scheduled to get her to the market was looming. Monday, the last day of the 2015-2016 school year I realized I needed to figure out how I was going to meet this date and I needed to figure it out quickly. I had just applied for a new job, was busy closing down for the year and the date crept up on me as most dates do. I frantically began looking and searching for the best and easiest trailer to rent. Could I borrow a friends trailer? No, I needed to be self-reliant. The u-hauls I looked at had no ventilation. It was hot. I really don’t have the system set up for towing anything other than a few family bikes on the Odyssey. I resorted to blog-reading. When I came across the first and only one that said, “open that sliding door to your mini van and put a tarp down,” I became determined. When I shared my plan with my husband, I won’t share the expletives that left his mouth. Mainly he was worried for my safety driving an hour with a 200lb pig joining me in the back. I can do this. Monday evening, I took the seats out of the car, taped a tarp down and tied a dog crate door in the middle console area. Let the games begin. Come morning feeding time, I backed the Odyssey down to paddock so the sliding side door was parallel to the gate and made a shoot of sorts into the car with his feed on the far side. Up he went without to much coaxing at all and we began our journey to Shuff’s meat market in Thurmont, MD. She ate for the first 15 mins and then began nervous poop circles. Luckily they all landed neatly on the tarp and the sunroof afforded us the necessary air ventilation. I blasted the AC which she loved and sort of unknowingly but a maternal habit began signing lullabies. Off to sleep she went. We arrived 45mins later, I gave one last good belly rub and she joined the pen with 4 other comfortable pigs. Then came the cutting instructions. Scrapple, pudding, feet, we went with it all. The kids were mostly ok with it. After researching confinement operations and discussing with them that we were giving them the best 8 mos. that we could and also being connected with how our food is produced, they came to an understanding. We said a little thank you prayer and a goodbye. Thank you Josie for feeding our family and friends.
The young crew is beginning to live in harmony! I'm tickled pink when I return home to see the chickens enjoying what amounts to be 1 acre of bushes, grasses, stumps and bugs and doing what chickens do best. They are not scratching only in dirt, although they have found the best spots to have a dust bath. They are filling themselves up on lots of good natural protein and deliciousness, foraging around and thoroughly enjoying life. The dogs are watching with eyes closed half the day and definitely know that it is in their best interest to leave well enough alone. It is a peaceful harmony but one that I am yet to fully trust. I won't leave them out together for long periods of time unsupervised but training is working. I know Mr. Fox is still waiting for his moment to come, snatch and run but we haven't seen him for a while.
not Memorial Day. Typically a time for relaxing with family and putting meat on the grill. This memorial day we had a list. We were governed by the godforsaken list. My husband said, "I know you will have a party, somehow we'll end up with a house full of people and a pitcher of margaritas going around!" I said no and stood by my word. We did manage to get some chicken and burgers on the grill and have just a few folks over but mainly stayed focused on clearing the jungle around the pool and adding to our fence line. Unfortunately, as it most usually does, the first project of clearing around the pool took a day longer than we had anticipated. Really, it still needs another two days of work but we were too achy from yanking honeysuckle vines and lopping twisted and tangled branches that we needed to use a different set of muscles. It was just Sam and I on the fence and we got in a nice rhythm. The kids wondered between playing in the pool, watching the chickens scratch around and playing with each other. We got a few extra weeds pulled by them and they know where the beer is in the fridge so we did receive some child labor in the mix.
Another item on the to-do list was getting Ranger to Vetco for his microchip and Rabies vaccine. He has learned a lot in his 4 months with us but walking on a leash is definitely not one of those things. I got my workout carrying his already 70 lbs into the building and up into the truck for his shots and chipping. And yes, he really weighs 70lbs and still, if left alone will end up with a chicken in his mouth. Still a work in progress. Next big item on the list-how to get my pig to the market or take care of business myself?! |
AuthorCatherine Moy Archives
October 2020
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