We’ve run three rolls of fence since the last post. All the way up Mack Hill Road to the logging road, and 200 feet or so around the corner. We’ve got another roll on hand. There’s other stuff to do tomorrow, but maybe we can squeeze in the time to run it.
I still haven’t managed to get into the hive, but keep seeing fewer and fewer bees. Interestingly, I saw Italian (yellow) bees today. Our hive is gray (Russian I believe). It could be a feral hive, but I’d bet there’s a new beek in Marlow.
We got 50 more pounds of potatoes planted, and Lisa put in a bed of cool weather seeds. That makes half our potatoes planted. I think we got a little carried away. We had a couple of frosts last week, after official Memorial Day. Tomorrow is traditional Memorial Day. The tomatoes and peppers are ready to come out. If we get the timbers laid tomorrow, Lisa can tractor in the dirt while I’m gone.
We have the two little injured pigs in a pig tractor in the garden. They’re cuter than cute, but much smaller than their siblings. The first weaner sold left today, along with 6 chicks. Hermione has yet to pop. I think she has a 5 month gestation period. Mina lost her litter in the Gellert mess, but is looking pregnant again. Ginny is going down the road on Tuesday. She looked pregnant for a while but no longer does. Three more weaners are leaving next Saturday. Lisa is planning to sell the injured boy to the guy who runs the Pitcher Mountain CSA, and we’ll raise the gilt for ourselves. With Ginny in the freezer as well, that should be enough pork for a while, which means we have two gilts to sell. I think we should register them and sell them now as breeding stock, rather than in the fall as pork. I’m not sure Lisa agrees.
While I’m talking of pigs, I’ve noticed something about Tamworths: they seem to be splitting into two breeds. New England Tamworths look a lot (per Flickr) like old England Tamworths. However looking at the newsletter of the Tamworth Swine Association, the Indiana and Illinois Tamworths look different. It’s kind of like the Beef Devon, Milking Devon split. You can see the resemblance, but the difference is also clear. In the pig case, our pigs are long. Their pigs look like dachsunds. The faces are different too, although the ears are the same. The way things are going, the breeds should meet in eastern Ohio about 2013. Wonder what will come out of that.
Ella Mae is definitely looking pregnant. It’s hard to believe she’s not due until August.
I went looking for the hops rhizomes yesterday and found nothing. I’m confused. Having plants die is one thing, but a chunk of woody root, dead or not, should still be there in six weeks. The good news is that there are indeed two surviving clematis, which we will coddle back to health.