Seedballs

Made some seedballs today. Found a good source of red clay down the ravine and mixed it up with really ancient compost and worm castings. Added some non-GMO organic barley seeds to the mix and rolled it up in 1/2″ diameter balls. When they are dry I’ll toss ‘em in where the pigs were. Need to make some White Clover seedballs to act as ground cover. Experimenting with Masanobu Fukuoka’s natural farming methods.

It was nice to haul out all the seeds I’ve gathered and look at them on the kitchen table. The weather is sunny and 60’s for the next few days. Now I get to play the frost game – start seedlings in egg cartons, transplant and hope the frost don’t kill them off! I just can’t let Spring come at it’s own pace now, can I?

Aw, Just Shoot the Damn Hog

I got a smart pig – the other two moseyed right into the cage in the truck when their time came but this old gal wouldn’t go near it. Even milk bait and bread slices wouldn’t work. See, I didn’t bother to build a real hog chute – just backed the truck up to a dirt mound in the pen. Hyugh hyugh hyugh, good ‘nuf Earl hyugh.

Shit. The butcher’s schedule for kills is Fridays from 7am to 9am. Got a two week schedule in advance deal, too. So at 8:45 I called and spoke of my dilemma. Asked if I could kill and bleed it and bring it in on the back of the truck. Nope – Health Department regulations prohibit blah blah blah. Motherfuckers.

Called a friend who grew up doing this stuff and he came out to walk me through it. I shot pig. The only thing that went without a hitch – .22 right in the forehead – pig sproinged up 6 inches off the ground and dropped dead. Hardley a twitch. Hacked at her neck for awhile, stuck the long blade down her throat to pop the heart and sliced around on the way out.

Now it’s time to drag this thing over to the hangin’ tree. How the hell did I grow a damn near 400 pound hog? Jeez- get the truck and a rope, tie a leg off and drag to tree. Tied its legs apart to a 2×4, threw the rope over hanging branch and pulled it up with the pickup. Hillbilly style.

Hack job best describes the rest of the story. Bunnies, varmints, even goats are a piece of cake. Sorta get the skin started and pull. Pigs is a different story. There is this fat layer that just won’t cooperate. But for better or worse I got the skin off the beast. Guts are easier – I know what I’m doing there. Flopped out all in one lumpy sloshing mass ‘o happiness from bunghole to windpipe.

Dissected the front shoulders, removed the head, split the backbone, halved the halves between the ribs and the leg quarters.

I’ll be able to make some recognizable hams and the ribs should be okay. I see a lot of sausage in the immediate future…

Bottom line – got about 300 bucks invested from weaner pigs to freezer, including the stupid butcher’s fee for one of ‘em. 400 pounds of meat, 50 pounds of dog food, and two hides. Not bad.

I’ll do better next year…