kcsunshine
Almost Self-Reliant
Oh I wish you were my neighbor. My back hurts!
Free's piggie thread...new pics p 19
- Thread starter freemotion
- Start date
Henrietta23
Yard Farmer
ah, here's the Mya information! On the piggie thread. Hope she bounces back soon!
- Thread starter
- #203
freemotion
Food Guru
Everyone else is relieved not to have to wait for the hay rack, but I just want my big ol' brat back....with her big ol' udder! This is the pig story though....they'll be getting her milk tomorrow. More pig food. I'm not happy about it, though. At least it won't go to waste.
- Thread starter
- #204
freemotion
Food Guru
The pigs are SOOOO happy to be getting milk every day right now. Their happiness will be short-lived, though. Mya gave me over a quart this morning, and yanked on the leadrope on her way through the gate. I hope by tomorrow morning she is dragging me across the yard again. I usually have to wrap the leadrope around my hips and anchor my feet as I go through the gate so I have time to get it closed and latched and no one escapes. Then I run across the yard after Mya.
Ginger is completely different. She was trained from a baby to lead well, and Plum and Peach are getting the occasional lesson now.
I was able to pick up a bunch of pumpkins and a few small butternut squashes yesterday, gleaning a field that the previously mentioned client told me about. There is one more field that he hasn't harvested, and there were lots of small pumpkins left to harvest in the field we were in yesterday. My father and I filled the trunk and most of the back seat. He took home probably 25-30 lbs of butternut squash. I didn't take any since I really don't like butternut. I will wait for the gleaned acorn squash and eat my baby blue hubbards from my garden.
The pigs got 1.5 large pumpkins last night and this morning, and the goats got 1.5 pumpkins so far. All are happy about it. The chickens stole quite a bit, too. The doelings were tentative about it, so I just put a half dozen small bits in their grain mixture and they cleaned them up the second time, so I will gradually increase it for them.
Dad and I went to scout out the other field, the one that has the corn, and we could not find the field. I have to go try to find the farmer again and get better directions. I think I missed a turn or something. I really want that corn... I was hoping not to buy some today, but I got a bag on the way home as I am all out and the hens get corn in the afternoon, the pigs get some morning and evening. DH and I both have our licenses and he has his liability insurance due this month, plus we are buying an almost-new and super-efficient wood stove from a neighbor who is switching to pellets, so we have to come up with the $300 deposit and the $250 (basic, not pretty) installation.
There will be a big opening in the chimney where the insert was, but that will have to stay that way this winter until we can afford to pretty it up. I bet the cats will love it in there....if so, I may just put a pet bed in there and make it look like it was planned that way. I'll be a trend-setter!
Ginger is completely different. She was trained from a baby to lead well, and Plum and Peach are getting the occasional lesson now.
I was able to pick up a bunch of pumpkins and a few small butternut squashes yesterday, gleaning a field that the previously mentioned client told me about. There is one more field that he hasn't harvested, and there were lots of small pumpkins left to harvest in the field we were in yesterday. My father and I filled the trunk and most of the back seat. He took home probably 25-30 lbs of butternut squash. I didn't take any since I really don't like butternut. I will wait for the gleaned acorn squash and eat my baby blue hubbards from my garden.
The pigs got 1.5 large pumpkins last night and this morning, and the goats got 1.5 pumpkins so far. All are happy about it. The chickens stole quite a bit, too. The doelings were tentative about it, so I just put a half dozen small bits in their grain mixture and they cleaned them up the second time, so I will gradually increase it for them.
Dad and I went to scout out the other field, the one that has the corn, and we could not find the field. I have to go try to find the farmer again and get better directions. I think I missed a turn or something. I really want that corn... I was hoping not to buy some today, but I got a bag on the way home as I am all out and the hens get corn in the afternoon, the pigs get some morning and evening. DH and I both have our licenses and he has his liability insurance due this month, plus we are buying an almost-new and super-efficient wood stove from a neighbor who is switching to pellets, so we have to come up with the $300 deposit and the $250 (basic, not pretty) installation.
There will be a big opening in the chimney where the insert was, but that will have to stay that way this winter until we can afford to pretty it up. I bet the cats will love it in there....if so, I may just put a pet bed in there and make it look like it was planned that way. I'll be a trend-setter!
ohiofarmgirl
Sipping Bacon Martinis
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hey baby! GREAT work on all the gleaning! dontcha just love it!? and how fun that you could help that man with his hurt knee.
we always have a fun time out there picking up the corn. we wait until after its combined so we have to dig thru the downed stalks to find it. and its kinda fun exercise.
my seasonal farmer market pal called me to come and get a bunch of stuff. so i saw him today. and he cant wait for us to clean out their shop at the end of the season! so all great news. we are going to take him some honey.
so i saw this:
just a thought.
but how fun about the stove!
we always have a fun time out there picking up the corn. we wait until after its combined so we have to dig thru the downed stalks to find it. and its kinda fun exercise.
my seasonal farmer market pal called me to come and get a bunch of stuff. so i saw him today. and he cant wait for us to clean out their shop at the end of the season! so all great news. we are going to take him some honey.
so i saw this:
is the stove an actual insert or will it stick out into the room? or be freestanding? i'm wondering b/c we learned the very hard way that cats WILL jump up onto the stove! poor Nicholas burned his paws very badly. we thought we were watching him but nope. so solve this we put bricks on top of the stove. not only does this protect precious paws, but it really holds and disperses the heat!
just a thought.
but how fun about the stove!
- Thread starter
- #206
freemotion
Food Guru
We have an insert now, that sticks out maybe a foot or so. I can just fit my smaller stock pot on it, so I have made soup, rendered fat, and I boiled down that sea water last year on it. I have ten times as much sea water stored for wood stove season!
The new stove will be free-standing and will stick out into the room I can put more pots on it! I don't think the cats jumping on it will be an issue, as they burned their paws on the insert and learned an important lesson already. I hope. We will see. I think I will hold them up near the top and let them feel the heat until they struggle.
The "fireplace" that the insert is getting removed from will be open. A metal plate will block the chimney at the top of the fireplace, and the stove will sit in front of it and something like a foot away, I think. We won't have the moola to have a plate made to block the hole, so I will scrub it out really well and see how hot it gets in there, behind the stove. We can maybe get a fireplace screen to cover it if it is too nasty, but I will wait and see how it really looks. If we can access it and it isn't too hot in there, we may even be able to hid the catbox there, which would be awesome.
I do like the "bricks" idea. Here's one for you...if you are cooking on the stove and it is too hot, you can put your pan on a horseshoe to raise it up a bit. You can buy a new horseshoe from TSC if you can't get an used one. And it kinda looks cool sitting on the stove.
I just picked up a few more pounds of acorns while walking the dogs. The pigs aren't so interested in them right now, so I am filling a mesh corn bag and hanging it in the garage, hopefully out of reach of vermin. So far, so good. I think the pigs are getting plenty from all the oaks in their pasture.
Here are my tips on collecting acorns, things I learned this year and last fall:
1. Know your trees and check them often. Not all the oaks will ripen their acorns at the same time. Watch for the first green ones to start falling, or for the squirrels to start cutting the green ones. Within a few days to two weeks, the ripe ones will start to fall.
2. When the ripe ones start to fall, get out there every day and check all your trees. Twice a day when they really start to fall. The squirrels don't take a break and you will miss out if you don't hurry and beat them.
3. Pick acorns when the light is right. If it is evening and the sun is at a low angle, they are almost impossible to see.
4. Wear soft soled shoes or sneakers, not hard soled boots. You will feel the acorns before you see them and get a lot more.
5. Play acorn games with your puppy. Toss acorns and make happy noises when he catches them and cracks them in his teeth. He will help you find more acorns later in life. But don't let your picking bucket out of your site. You may turn around and find your acorn dog with his head in your bucket, crunching the acorns and dropping them on the ground, emptying your bucket as fast as you can fill it.
6. Watch the squirrels. They will tell you which tree is ready. It is not true that they only drop bad acorns....they are butter-fingered little rodents! They will take a bite and drop acorns left and right. But mostly look for small leafy branches that they cut with their teeth and drop to the ground. Pick these up carefully. They are generally loaded with acorns, and the acorns may fall out of the caps as you pick up the branch.
7. Don't sort the acorns as you pick. Let the pigs sort them later. You can pick much faster if you pick everything. Any acorns that are not good will be rejected by the pigs and will make themselves useful as compost.
8. Get your butt out there as quickly as possible in the morning after a windy or even breezy night. There will be so many acorns under some of the trees that you can crawl around and fill your bucket and maybe even feed sacks without even standing up.
9. Store them in mesh bags and allow them to dry for a few weeks before storing in any other manner. If you have a lot, hang them from an eyehook in the ceiling of a dry garage or shed, hung in a manner that will keep rats and squirrels out of them. Or put them in milk crates lined with hardware cloth and put a fan on them, stir them daily so they won't get moldy before they dry. Then they can be stored in a grain barrel.
10. Acorns can be fed to chickens as part of their food if you crush them first. I've found that my well-fed hens are not interested in them at all, but they could be a useful emergency winter food. They can also be used for human consumption if the tannins are flushed out with lots of cold running water....like days worth. So not in the sink, but maybe tied in a sack and staked firmly in a clear running stream or brook. Peel and crush them first. They may need up to two weeks of this treatment. Red oaks have more tannins and keep longer in storage (very pointy leaves) and white oaks are less bitter and don't keep as long, and the acorns tend to be bigger (rounded lobes on the leaves.) Apparently there are oaks in California with no tannins in the acorns and they don't need the long flushing with water to make them edible to humans. I have not tried eating them myself, as I am allergic to tree nuts so it is not worth the risk. I would rather the animals turn them into suitable food for me.
The new stove will be free-standing and will stick out into the room I can put more pots on it! I don't think the cats jumping on it will be an issue, as they burned their paws on the insert and learned an important lesson already. I hope. We will see. I think I will hold them up near the top and let them feel the heat until they struggle.
The "fireplace" that the insert is getting removed from will be open. A metal plate will block the chimney at the top of the fireplace, and the stove will sit in front of it and something like a foot away, I think. We won't have the moola to have a plate made to block the hole, so I will scrub it out really well and see how hot it gets in there, behind the stove. We can maybe get a fireplace screen to cover it if it is too nasty, but I will wait and see how it really looks. If we can access it and it isn't too hot in there, we may even be able to hid the catbox there, which would be awesome.
I do like the "bricks" idea. Here's one for you...if you are cooking on the stove and it is too hot, you can put your pan on a horseshoe to raise it up a bit. You can buy a new horseshoe from TSC if you can't get an used one. And it kinda looks cool sitting on the stove.
I just picked up a few more pounds of acorns while walking the dogs. The pigs aren't so interested in them right now, so I am filling a mesh corn bag and hanging it in the garage, hopefully out of reach of vermin. So far, so good. I think the pigs are getting plenty from all the oaks in their pasture.
Here are my tips on collecting acorns, things I learned this year and last fall:
1. Know your trees and check them often. Not all the oaks will ripen their acorns at the same time. Watch for the first green ones to start falling, or for the squirrels to start cutting the green ones. Within a few days to two weeks, the ripe ones will start to fall.
2. When the ripe ones start to fall, get out there every day and check all your trees. Twice a day when they really start to fall. The squirrels don't take a break and you will miss out if you don't hurry and beat them.
3. Pick acorns when the light is right. If it is evening and the sun is at a low angle, they are almost impossible to see.
4. Wear soft soled shoes or sneakers, not hard soled boots. You will feel the acorns before you see them and get a lot more.
5. Play acorn games with your puppy. Toss acorns and make happy noises when he catches them and cracks them in his teeth. He will help you find more acorns later in life. But don't let your picking bucket out of your site. You may turn around and find your acorn dog with his head in your bucket, crunching the acorns and dropping them on the ground, emptying your bucket as fast as you can fill it.
6. Watch the squirrels. They will tell you which tree is ready. It is not true that they only drop bad acorns....they are butter-fingered little rodents! They will take a bite and drop acorns left and right. But mostly look for small leafy branches that they cut with their teeth and drop to the ground. Pick these up carefully. They are generally loaded with acorns, and the acorns may fall out of the caps as you pick up the branch.
7. Don't sort the acorns as you pick. Let the pigs sort them later. You can pick much faster if you pick everything. Any acorns that are not good will be rejected by the pigs and will make themselves useful as compost.
8. Get your butt out there as quickly as possible in the morning after a windy or even breezy night. There will be so many acorns under some of the trees that you can crawl around and fill your bucket and maybe even feed sacks without even standing up.
9. Store them in mesh bags and allow them to dry for a few weeks before storing in any other manner. If you have a lot, hang them from an eyehook in the ceiling of a dry garage or shed, hung in a manner that will keep rats and squirrels out of them. Or put them in milk crates lined with hardware cloth and put a fan on them, stir them daily so they won't get moldy before they dry. Then they can be stored in a grain barrel.
10. Acorns can be fed to chickens as part of their food if you crush them first. I've found that my well-fed hens are not interested in them at all, but they could be a useful emergency winter food. They can also be used for human consumption if the tannins are flushed out with lots of cold running water....like days worth. So not in the sink, but maybe tied in a sack and staked firmly in a clear running stream or brook. Peel and crush them first. They may need up to two weeks of this treatment. Red oaks have more tannins and keep longer in storage (very pointy leaves) and white oaks are less bitter and don't keep as long, and the acorns tend to be bigger (rounded lobes on the leaves.) Apparently there are oaks in California with no tannins in the acorns and they don't need the long flushing with water to make them edible to humans. I have not tried eating them myself, as I am allergic to tree nuts so it is not worth the risk. I would rather the animals turn them into suitable food for me.
- Thread starter
- #207
freemotion
Food Guru
Many, many acorns later..... 
It has been raining here...finally!!! Maybe I'll get a little growth in my pasture for some fall grazing. I'm out of hay again. But with the rain, the pigs have been busy plowing up their entire pasture. They are just loving this cooler weather, and all the moisture. I think the rain is bringing worms up to the surface, because they are digging all day long, and haven't been hungry. I put two loaves of old bread out for them yesterday and they were still there tonight.
The acorns are really falling now, and it is raining! So I picked up a bunch of wet ones and put them in a pail with some whey to ferment. I'll never get them dry enough to store, but just couldn't let them go to waste. They are large and plentiful and easy to pick.
Tonight on my evening walking of Gunnar, to strengthen that knee, I brought the wheelbarrow and went to the place where the farmer dumps old pumpkins and such. I filled the wheelbarrow about 2/3 full (its a big wheelbarrow!) and brought it right to the pigs. I stomped each pumpkin before tossing it over the fence. The pigs went nuts! They were going for the seeds, mostly. It was fun to watch them roll the pumpkins around, trying to get into the cracks I'd created with my stomping. Next time I will bring a hatchet with me. My feet hurt!
It has been raining here...finally!!! Maybe I'll get a little growth in my pasture for some fall grazing. I'm out of hay again. But with the rain, the pigs have been busy plowing up their entire pasture. They are just loving this cooler weather, and all the moisture. I think the rain is bringing worms up to the surface, because they are digging all day long, and haven't been hungry. I put two loaves of old bread out for them yesterday and they were still there tonight.
The acorns are really falling now, and it is raining! So I picked up a bunch of wet ones and put them in a pail with some whey to ferment. I'll never get them dry enough to store, but just couldn't let them go to waste. They are large and plentiful and easy to pick.
Tonight on my evening walking of Gunnar, to strengthen that knee, I brought the wheelbarrow and went to the place where the farmer dumps old pumpkins and such. I filled the wheelbarrow about 2/3 full (its a big wheelbarrow!) and brought it right to the pigs. I stomped each pumpkin before tossing it over the fence. The pigs went nuts! They were going for the seeds, mostly. It was fun to watch them roll the pumpkins around, trying to get into the cracks I'd created with my stomping. Next time I will bring a hatchet with me. My feet hurt!
Blackbird
Goat Whisperer
Hi Monique
I finally got back to my apt, and the book you sent was in my mail box! Thanks. I'll return it as soon as I finish reading it.
I finally got back to my apt, and the book you sent was in my mail box! Thanks. I'll return it as soon as I finish reading it.
Farmfresh
City Biddy
You are going to have the most delicious pork EVER!! 
What a variety your piggies are getting and most of it for free. Way to go!!! 
What a variety your piggies are getting and most of it for free. Way to go!!! - Thread starter
- #210
freemotion
Food Guru
Take your time with it, it is not one to rush through. Take weeks or better yet, months.Blackbird said:
FF, yep, the free part is great, but what I find really interesting is that those free items are what the pigs prefer. I could never get them to eat that one bag of pig starter that I bought when I first got them. They are spoiled on rotting tomatoes and icky corn!
