brain going Whirrrrr all this mornign as im thinking on future plans.
put my name down on a mailing list for a breeder wh breeds kune kune x guinea hogs...
id prefer purebred kunes, but at $1500-$2000 per pig...HAH...not happening.
so instead this particular breeder has a 3/4 kune 1/4 guinea quad, and some 50/50 sows too.
so im looking probably mid winter to add a pair or trio of kune x guinea piglets to the group.
hes offered me a trio of spots/gingers at a discounted price but its sti a little more than i wanted to be planning for...
so im trying to see if hell give me a discount on a pair...its not like i NEED 3 pigs in my first year, a pair shoudl be more than enough to keep back a barrow or 2 each year for meat.
and i could always keep a gilt and breed her back to her father...wouldnt want to go much deeper in line breeding than that BUT it would be fine for 1 gen.
im also on the waiting list for a spotte blue eyed nigi buckling (and of course ill have to gt him a weather buddy) for spring.
because im planning on the pigs that would mean waiting on the sheep...but thats ok because itll be awhile longer before i can get this place cleared out enough to even think about actual grazing...so sheep are being put off.
but pigs are definatly MUCH handier, i can use them more in sassting me clearing the land too.
i think im going to hold off on the land clearing currently and instead get a chainsaw, a brush eater (a weed wacker with a serious metal blade) and a good mulcher instead...yes his tractor would be quicker, but theres no reason if i can find a serious duty mulching machine that i cant do this myself. i can hack down the privet section by section, lay it out for the goats to shred the leaves off, then feed as much as possible into the mulcher. then id scatter and busy corn around the area cleaed and let the pigs start to dig up the roots.
my first year while the kune mix pigs are still small i may even buy a butcher barrow, something big and cheap to help with the land clearing, let him dig and root all spring summer and fall and then off to the butcher when hes big enough to make lots of backon and sausge in the winter...
as i clear out the land ill start expanding fencelines so the goats can start clearing through the fallen leaves and such too. and hopefully i can get it done section by section untill i get to tat front corner...at which time i can then have someone come in and just do that front acre for me, clear out the brush and trash and "finnish up"
once thats all done ill have someone come in to slectivly log the pines theres also aparently some cedars back there and mabe ill have them take out a couple of the oak trees...not many, i want to see whats left after the brush is gone and how shaded it is and what trees i actually HAVE back there.
i do need to make enough space to plant a pair of chinese chestnut trees (whic grow HUGE but i LOVE roasted chestnuts) so itll realy depend on what the place looks like in terms of clearance...ive got ALOT of pine...nothing big enough to realy beworth money i dont think but its way tooshaded riht now with whas back there that there never ging to grow to real market size. heck if the pine are sim enough for me tohandle myself...ill take the smaller ones out with a chainsaw and hack them up for firewood...
so yeah...im hoping i can pull this clearing stuff off mysef. im going to start on the back corner behind where the orchard is going...and get that area sorted, fix the fenceline thats already there when ican get to it (i want to do 4f welded along the entire primeter with a strand of electric ontop.) then ill move from left to right front to back in sections and tht front acre will then be the last area to get sorted.
my neighbor was telling me of a usda program that pays for a pond to be installed on agricultural property? anyone know ANYTHING about this/send me links? id love to put a small pond in.
so yeah big job, but thats what got me thinking about "usefull" and while i like my idea for sheep (i do like to spin

) the gots and pigs would be MUCH more usefull in helping clear out the property.
this means now im going to be spending my afternoon researching mulchers, brush wackers and chainsaws LOL!