Just cue the Boys to Men
Spring 2015 arrived quietly on a grey 45 degree day here in Kentucky. I only knew it had arrived when in exasperation I asked my wife “when does spring get here?” As to a simpleton, she responded, “to-day.” I should have known however, that spring was upon us as the signs were everywhere. Thankfully we haven’t had a hard freeze, or really a mild frost since much earlier in the month and the earth has subtly begun to awaken. The boar (male hog) and gilt (unbred female) are “dancing,” and not, as they say at Catholic High School dances, “leaving enough room for the
Holy Spirit.” The hens are broody; they are trying to sit on their eggs to hatch chicks rather than just depositing their daily egg and moving on. Where the chicken tractor made tracks last year the grass is already growing and lushly green unlike the rest of the yellow splotchy grass around the same field. There is one other place where the grass is deeply green, last year’s pig paddock. That grass never lost its color over the winter, its almost as though the pigs aeration and fertilization made the grass an evergreen. With these small reminders it is apparent that the earth was made for stock and the stock made for the earth.
Hens, with our without a rooster, lay most everyday of their young lives, just part of a hen being a hen…this time of year, they sit the eggs with a mind to hatch out as many as possible – this is called being “broody”
Our plans this year include adding a family cow for milk and meat. Taking a cow bred for milk and breeding her to our neighbor’s angus (beef) bull will keep us in milk and in the fall fill the freezer with young milk fed beef. (This is not my idea, credit to the Contrary Farmer, Gene Logsdon). Furthering bio-diversity, we hope to add guinea fowl as well. They’re beautiful birds and prodigious layers. They also are kown to keep tick populations down – ticks are menacing to all of us on the farm. Last year, I pulled a small tick off of my chest and soon found myself broken out in hives after every serving of red meat, including pork. This is not a good place for a pork producer but with prayer and time the sensitivity to red meat has subsided. We are committed to being more diligent with the garden this year. You feel truly deficient when people naturally wonder, “wow pigs and chickens – you must have a great garden…?” Confession time, up until last year we hadn’t gardened much at all and last year we only grew tomatoes and potatoes – our garden had a nightshade theme (both potatoes and tomatoes are of the nightshade family, once considered poisonous). This year we’ve already planned out the garden and put in our early plants – peas, onions and cabbage
Super excited to add this hog feeder. It will keep the hogs more efficient on feed and can hold 800lbs of feed – each hog eats at least double this amount before it’s ready for slaughter. Thanks to Bagdad Roller Mills we have a non-GMO option.
The farm goes on. We have become more involved in spreading the “good news” of slow alternatives to our fast food society. We emphasize that confidence and indulgence accompanies most every meal when it’s farm fresh and from a trusted source. In our Christian tradition, Adam’s first calling was to keep the garden. With that in mind it could be inferred that we were made for this life. If we all tried to keep our part of the garden and kept responsible dominion over the creation the world would be a cleaner and safer place. Thankfully that notion is catching on. Many in this oncoming generation vote everyday with their fork and it’s not going unnoticed. We’re grateful to our friends, who buy pork and chicken from us that they are some of those who vote for better, safer and ethically raised pastured meats. We’re excited for 2015 and look forward to continuing the Lord’s work for his people.
From the Farm,
Shelby and Emily