We spend a lot of time sorting through all of the stuff we scavenge for the pigs. (I’m getting really really good at scavenging.) These days, we are feeding them so much that it’s easier to just dump it all into the tractor bucket and then dump that on top of their trough, at least for big things like day-old bread and pastries and pumpkins and squash.
The turkeys and the dogs consider that time a self-serve all-you-can-eat buffet. What do we have today? Some days we get lots and lots of potato or pasta salad and the turkeys are in heaven. Some days we get lots of watermelon and the water fowl are in heaven. (Who knew?!) Some days the Pyrs hit the jackpot and we get ground meat or even better, hot dogs.
I brought home half a truckload of expired organic sour cream today. At least it is in quart containers. We get a lot of expired yogurt that comes in small containers and I confess to cringing when that happens. I mean, I’m happy and grateful for the food. We are doing a good thing to keep it out of the landfill, but we might get carpal tunnel syndrome from emptying it out of the little pots. And the trash that generates all by itself! I often go back to Keene with loads of cardboard and bags and bags of trash, all generated by the stuff we are going through for the pigs.
It gives everyone a pretty varied and healthy diet, though. There’s usually lots of bread products, lots of produce (whatever is in season), and plenty of dairy. What the pigs won’t eat (broccoli, asparagus, raw potatoes) we can often give the sheep. Or the birds. As soon as I drive up with a new load, the chickens and the turkeys are the first ones to check out what we got.
We need a better way to handle it all, to be honest. It’s right in front of the house, and the trash and mess is sometimes overwhelming. Since all the critters know it’s the food shed, it’s the first place they check out if they get out from behind their fence, no matter who it is. Ideally, we’d have a location to store the trash that the dogs and birds can’t get to, because the Pyrs have been known to drag a bag of trash wherever to see what’s inside. The turkeys just peck at something long enough to get in. And don’t get me started on the geese! Yesterday I saw one dragging a bucket that had had yogurt in it. (?!)
I’d love to build someplace accessible by the truck and tractor, but not so visible. I’d love to have more space under a roof to process it all. I’d love to have longer term storage for trash, a place to sort and store recycling. And hey, as long as I’m dreaming, it could be heated and have running water! That sure sounds suspiciously like a barn, huh?
What I learn from you! Turkeys eat meat and mayonnaise-based salads. I’d never have guessed either of those.
Good luck with your barn. It sounds like you really need it.