I worry that I will jinx it, but we may have actually gone a whole day with the pigs not getting out. Excuse me while I rejoice. We even went to town (for so much crap for the farm!), and everyone was in the right pen when we got back. Even Misty.
Pigs are really different than sheep. They react very differently than the chickens, than the llama, the horses as well. All of those are ruminants, and prey critters, herbivores. Pigs react a bit more like the dog does, like we would. Omnivores. (My puppy is an omnivore, not a carnivore. Trust me. I’m not sure there is anything in the world that he won’t eat and enjoy.)
We are having to learn different techniques to handle them. We’ve ordered some books, asking around on Homesteading Today to see which ones are worth buying. Isn’t that our normal pattern? We figure “how hard can it be?” and then get books when it is harder than we thought. That seems to be a lesson we haven’t yet learned.
We’re in a line of storms that is supposed to be pretty severe. I asked Frank which one of our structures is most likely to fail. I guessed the temporary sheep shelter in the back that we made from cattle panels. If it does, they are right near a wooded area, which will give them back up shelter. I hope it is okay, though.
The rain will be a relief. I got my raised bed planted with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, cilantro, basil. Sixteen feet by four feet of yummy goodness, with soil that is just amazing. The compost we sifted for it was just amazing stuff. Black gold.
Frank got the drip irrigation working for all of the window boxes, and the raised bed.
We picked up a 100 gallon trough for water for the horses. We were filling their water sometimes five times a day, and it was just getting unbearable. (When I bring over weeds and grasses from weeding the garden, both the pigs and the horses dip the bundle in their water before eating it. If it comes straight from dirt instead of gravel, they just eat it. Interesting. SurPack must not be yummy.)
I looked around for a hard plastic wading pool to make the pigs a wallow, but didn’t find one anywhere. Maybe I will try freecycle.
Minx has woken us up two mornings in a row, baaing by the window. Yes, she comes up on the deck to wake me up. Today, to get her back in the electronet, she got no grain (as she was expecting). We weren’t sure if she’d gotten into the hay house where the grain is stored, so wanted to be extra careful she didn’t overeat grain. Instead, we trapped her, put a halter on her and had to do a bit of a drag and pull. We think we found the spot by the roses where she got out. She left her lambs in, which is interesting. When Kaytla got out (her mother), she always brought her full family with her. I don’t mind at all if her daughters stay put.
We are crossing our fingers about everyone staying put today. Here’s hoping. Maybe tomorrow we can go a whole day where *all* the critters stay in their fence? Wouldn’t that be cool?
The bleeding heart is blooming so prettily in the front garden, which is the only one I’ve done much weeding in at all. There is another variety right next to it, with a completely different leaf and flower, mostly faded. I guess I bought another plant at some point and don’t remember it.
Frank mentioned that he saw a newt over in the water that is still pooled over around the garden shed foundation. I wonder if he will name this one Gingrich too.
Here comes the rain.