Piglets!

Doesn't she look like a good mother?

We have three gilts(first-time mother pigs) that are going to have, or have had, piglets. We normally don't  raise our own piglets. But to keep a long story short, we found ourselves with three pregnant pigs one day and had to make fitting accommodations.  One of the gilts has already had her babies and they are the cutest little tumbling things you ever saw. I just wanted to put up some pictures now and will try to get more up when the rest of the piglets come.

Up At Five.......

I probably had you thinking, "Rolling out of bed at 5am", by the title that I chose. No, not this time. What is really up at five is a new hoop house. We have recently completed the construction of the fifth hoop house on the farm.  Number 5 is the same size as hoop houses 3&4 but we added some special features to accommodate the housing of pigs for the winter. Because it's the nature of pigs to dig into the ground, Joel and Daniel came up with a design to eliminate the big holes that they can create. The design consists of having three foot wide slabs of concrete running down the length of the structure with ten inch gaps between the slabs. We then cover the entire floor of the hoop house with wood chips which fill in the gaps and builds up to 8"+ of deep bedding for the pigs. The cool thing about the ten inch spaces is that the pigs can't dig through them and in the spring we can scoop out the old bedding and plant vegetables in the rows, with the three foot wide slabs keeping down the weeds!!!! It's awesome! We also put a heavy wire mesh along the sides of the hoop house so the pigs won't tear the plastic cover. We were thankful to have extra help for this project which came from the many "check-outs" that worked on the farm for two day periods in early January.  "Check-Outs" are the folks that  applied for summer intern positions and that the Salatins invited to come out for a working interview.  It was fun to meet so many great people who were interested in sustainable agriculture. I look forward to the crew we will have this summer. 

We're getting ready to pull the plastic tarp over the hoop structure.

Here you see the deep bedding of wood chips the pigs will enjoy.

Building the forms before the next section of cement is poured.

The final product! We have four groups of pigs in the hoop house.

I though I would just throw this one in because it is a cute pig photo

Christmas Fun and New Year begun!

I returned on January 2nd after spending time with family and friends over the Christmas Holiday.  It was a fun and very refreshing couple of weeks.

A few of the things I enjoyed were spending time with grandparents and other relatives, visiting with former landscape clients, and a great day of skiing with some of my siblings and friends.  I also toured a non-profit organization in Milwaukee, WI called Growing Power.

The founder of Growing Power, Will Allen, has pioneered a revolutionary movement of urban/inner city agriculture. It was amazing to see the variety of ways Mr. Allen grows food in small spaces. The main farm is only about three acres but has multiple green/hoop houses on site which shelter a thriving population of chickens, turkeys, goats, tilapia, honey bees, seasonal produce, micro greens, and millions of worms. His work is inspirational.

I also got to see Dan, a special friend that moved from Polyface back to his home state of WI. Dan is now the chef at a restaurant in downtown Milwaukee, called, "Rosie's on Water"......anyone hungry? You won't be disappointed!

Dad, my sister Anna, and I

My brother, Jonathan, next to one of the hydroponic systems at Growing Power

Dan in Rosie's kitchen on the day before his grand opening

A very decorated house near our neighborhood.

All of us!

2011 has gone by too fast. Looking back, I am so thankful for the many blessings from God over the years. To find myself in a full-time management position at Polyface Farm is something I could never have imagined a couple of years ago, ... but God did!  I look forward with anticipation to experiencing more of  the love and grace of Jesus working in my life in the coming months.

May this New Year bring much exciting growth in your life!