Pigs in mud

Once again, I don't have the time to share the little observations and moments that make farm life such a pleasure.

You can rest assured that despite my lack of blogging work, we are building plenty of calluses, muscles, and of course, wonderful memories!

I have some pictures to share of our pigs cooling in the mud on a hot summery day, but first I will share some of the things that are keeping us busy around here.



Little Farm Girl and I are experimenting with saving White Clover seed to be planted for pig foraging. The pigs love it and its usually the first thing they rip out and eat when we move them to a new area. White clover is high in protein and will actually fix nitrogen into the soil, so if we can save a bunch while its going to seed its a farming win-win. Its pretty easy to do but we will still have to actually plant it to know if we are actually successful.



We actually caught up on a lot the the usual work around here (for probably the first time!) so Matt was able to pull out the five year To Do List. Taking down the dead trees that have entangled the power lines was pretty high on the list so away we went. We actually cleared the whole fence line of trees and cleaned up all the poplars that were encroaching.



Here is Matt using the chipper to chip the trees into the box of the truck. Buying the chipper was probably our biggest farming mistake when we moved here. We have these huge burn piles in our fields and because we are in city limits we cannot burn them. Removing them is a huge expense. We planned to rent a chipper but for the amount of time we would need it to get it all chipped we discovered we could purchase our own for that price. We bought the chipper and set to work only to discover that the burn piles are only chip-able on the very top layer. But the good news is we can chip all of our fence lines and as we compost it, it should be a great addition to our garden.

Front field cleaned up. It was a lot more work than it looks like!

We piled 4 pick up box loads on the left. The chips on the right are composting well from last year, but the more rotten we can get them, the better. So they may sit for another year or two.

This was disappointing for me. This whole row of lettuce was supposed to go to the food bank this week but it bolted. They leaves are quite bitter now. A learning experience for me on veggie readiness and timing I guess...

The pigs are eating it, along with our bug chewed turnips. Pigs and gardening are a complementary combination

Salad and Carrot tops, yummy!

Carrots harvested for Hope Farm's CSA boxes, and our own eating of course!



These horses make me feel alive. Even a little bareback ride, just quickly stolen as the sun is going down. I don't know why it is, but I imagine its a God given passion. Climbing up on their familiar backs feels like a hug from a friend or putting of a favourite pair of jeans. I can't explain it, but I can sure enjoy it!



And as promised, pigs in the mud.
This is kind of how the summer feels to me. We have jumped in to farm life whole heartedly without reservations, kind of like pigs in mud. Every day we immerse ourselves in the work, the joy and sometimes the difficulties that come with farm life. I love it in the morning when I can put on my baggy, torn up farm clothes. Its like permission to dive into farm life. Climbing through barb wire in search of the biggie toad, curious snuffles from dirty pig snouts, trimming horses with a rugged hoof placed on my knee, and best of all kisses and hugs from tiny hands that have just learned to pick and mash raspberries. The summer here is short and you can bet we are not going to tip-toe around it.

I liked the contrast between Popcorn`s grubby snout and little farm girls decorated nails

They are so hard to get pictures of because they don`t give much in the way of personal space, especially if they know that you are a willing back scratcher!