Continued from Part 3
The whole scene for both days was somewhat picturesque, with the snow on the ground and snow flying off and on in the air. Several times we all stopped to watch the cloud of black that was really birds flying across our hollow to the pine trees on the east ridge, and then over to other trees later. We imagined that they were watching our proceedings with interest, hoping to capture some of the meat for themselves. Butchering these hogs was a very surreal experience for me both days. It has had a profound impact on me, as evidenced by this writing that is now in it’s tenth page on a Microsoft word document, with single spacing, no pictures, and a small font size of 12.
I will long remember this event and the lessons we learned butchering our first hogs. These past two days mark a milestone for our homestead, and possibly a turning point for us. I now feel that we can do anything we need or desire to do. There are many more old-fashioned homestead endeavors on our minds that were once the objects of dreams and wishful thinking. They all now seem attainable, and I feel a renewed zeal to forge ahead into the unexplored realms of my self-sufficient fantasy world.
With God, all things truly are possible. I desire to live a quiet, peaceful and simple life that is pleasing to Him and as we journey down the path toward self-sufficiency, I want Him to be glorified each step of the way. He is equipping my family for a purpose and is positioning us to be a great help and encouragement to others both now and in the uncertain times we will face in the future. Thank you, Lord, for all that you are allowing us to experience here at this wonderful homestead you have provided in Pure Water Hollow.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 comment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Sunshine on February 10, 2009 at 7:10 am
wow – thanks for sharing this adventurer with us. This is something I have wondered if I could do – slaughter animals I have raised. We are still working on egg chickens, though, so I guess I have a few years and animal adventures to have first though!
Sounds like your son and you handled it well and got a lot done!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Part 3: Reflections On Our 1st Home Hog Butchering (with Pictures)….OR …. Our Journey Toward Self-Sufficiency
Continued from Part 2.
James was going to be teaching the art of hog butchering so he brought along his 15-year old nephew, Stephen, to learn along with us. James announced that Matthew could shoot the first hog and Stephen would be doing the sticking. He told Matthew where to aim with the imaginary X from left ear to right eye and right ear to left eye. He explained to Stephen how to jump on the downed hog from behind, grab an ear and make a deep cut across the throat with his knife from side to side, severing the jugular vein. This needed to be done quickly to allow the blood to empty while the heart was still beating.
James asked Matthew if he had ever shot anything before to which he replied, “Only targets.” From the very beginning my family all knew that this hog was being raised at our homestead to be meat on the table. But Matthew had done about 95% of said raising and had visited this pig almost every day of its’ life. This was a friendly pig that had been well taken care of. We made his time on this earth a very peaceful and happy existence. I wondered if Matthew would be up for such a task; pulling the trigger at point blank range on this animal that he had invested so much time and energy.
The frozen barnyard was bright with the fresh snow and we all gathered around as the pig was led out of the barn. Matthew did not hesitate an inch as he used my .22 pistol to put a well placed bullet right between the eyes. The pig immediately dropped right where he had been standing. The nervous system made the body shake and flop. Stephen did as instructed with knife in hand and blood squirted in the air. Soon there was a large pool of crimson that looked more vivid than it should have due to the contrasting brilliance of the snow-white ground around it. My son, Matthew, did not shirk in the midst of a duty that would have been very difficult for most any man. He seemed to understand that this was what God had intended for mankind and animal-kind beginning in that 9th chapter of Genesis.
I grabbed hold of the back legs and Matthew the front as we attempted to lift the carcass onto the tailgate of my old 79 Ford pick-up. I didn’t think 250 pounds of dead weight could be so heavy and it took us by surprise. I’m sure we could have heaved the animal up had we strained and grunted a bit more, but instead James and Stephen pitched in. With each of us on a leg, we easily hoisted the body up into the truck.
I drove the truck down near the house to the chosen spot for hanging the pigs. The children’s swing-set that I had built over 10 years ago was the perfect spot. With the swings removed I could back the truck right beneath the top crossbeam. This beam is constructed with a 4×4 and a 2×4 nailed together and is about 10 feet up from the ground. It is a very strong beam, and the swing set was rated for up to a 300-pound person to be able to swing.
A hole was slit through the back ankle, being careful not to knick the tendon. This created a perfect place to loop the rope through.
It is surprising that such a tendon would be strong enough to support the weight of such a large animal, but the pig was hoisted up a minute later with the aid of our come-along and hung there with no problem.
James slit the body cavity open with a sharp knife, Matthew split the pelvic area with his sharp hatchet to allow the cavity to open up wider, and we proceeded to pull out the intestines and organs. James works in the medical profession (when he’s not butchering hogs), so he was able to explain how a pigs’ anatomy is set up in pretty much the same way as a humans. We examined the lungs, kidney, stomach and heart and kept the livers. All the intestines and organs we did not want were caught in a wash tub right below the carcass. The unusual smell did not seem to deter Matthew as he helped to pull out the various organs and drop them in the tub. The head was also cut the rest of the way off and put into the tub.
The first cut:
Splitting it open with the hatchet:
The intestines are going into the tub:
Next we skinned the carcass using razor sharp knives. (Matthew had a whet stone and James brought a sharpener and every so often someone would decide their knife had gotten too dull and spend a couple of minutes putting the edge back on their knife.) Once the skin got started it peeled off quite easily by pulling along with a knife, and we were also able to carve off much of the fat that is just under the skin.
Starting the skinning:
Working on the skinning:
My 11-year old daughter, Christina, had been with us most of the time and this was now something she could help with. She did a great job with the skinning as well as the fat removal.
At one point we had 5 knives all trimming off the fat at the same time, so we accumulated a lot of fat in a short amount of time. We will be able to render lard from the fat so we wanted to keep some of it. We filled up 4 large mixing bowls with the fat, even though we had left quite a bit on the skin. Surprisingly, the fat just felt like a white rubbery substance and was not the least repulsive to any of us. With the skin off the carcass, it was difficult now to remember that it was a living, breathing creature just a short time before.
We left the carcass hanging and went up to the barn to get the other hog to repeat the whole process. The actual skinning and gutting process could go much faster this time, as we knew what to expect and could now help more. Killing and loading the second animal should have been easier than the first, also. As we confidently walked and drove up the mountain to the barn, we had no idea that killing the second pig would be a whole new lesson for us.
This hog apparently had a double skull, as Matthew’s first shot did not drop the animal like the previous one. He used James’ .22 rifle this time instead of the pistol, but after the first shot failed, he reached for the more comfortable pistol. Matthew put another shot in the hog’s head and this time it caused the pig to run around the barn, leaving a trail of blood. Two more shots with the pistol did not stop the animal, even though it did go down on its’ front knees once. The pig continued to run around the barnyard making pitiful moans. He finally fell with another shot from the rifle, but when Stephen went to do the sticking, the pig was able to shake him off and proceeded to roll down the steep hill toward the ravine that is next to the barn yard! Matthew and James chased the animal down the hill, and finished cutting the jugular. It had landed on a small level area midway between the top and bottom of the ravine. Even after all this... 5 shots to the head, loss of much blood, a fall down a steep incline, and jugular and windpipe completely severed, we were all amazed when the hog stood back up on all fours! I thought it was going to go on over the edge down to the creek below, which would have been very bad for us.
Finally this incredible pig of steel laid down for good and we commenced to heave it up via rope and muscle power. Once again, 250 pounds of dead weight was surprisingly deceptive. It was too heavy and steep for even 4 of us to pull the carcass up the cliff-like hill successfully. We tried for several minutes, enduring the rope burns and putting our shoulder, back and arm muscles to the test. When muscle power failed this test, we turned to brain power. Someone realized that we could tie the rope onto the truck and pull the carcass up and out by backing the truck up. This proved to be quite a bit easier.
By the time we finally got this pig down to the swing set and hung up next to the other, darkness was starting to settle in. It is amazing how quickly the curtain of darkness can fall on a snowy winter evening when one’s attention is focused on a task. I fired up the old Coleman lantern, which gives off a good, bright light and Simon brought out some flashlights. With the darkness and cold beginning to weigh heavily upon us, everyone worked quickly and efficiently to gut and skin this animal. There was considerably less talking and bantering about compared to when we did the first pig that afternoon, as the job at hand took first priority now.
Starting on the 2nd hog, getting dark:
This day was the 1st hog butchering experience for both 15 year old boys:
Here are a few more pictures that give a good representation of the overall scenes of the day:
With the job completed we retired to the house, leaving the carcasses to cool overnight hanging from the swing-set. The daytime temperature had been at or near freezing all day and it was getting much colder now that the sun had gone down. This was perfect weather for hog butchering. James would return in the morning with his wife and all four children to show us how to make the individual cuts for the freezer.
The next day’s weather wasn’t quite as perfect as the high only got up to 21 degrees. Snow was falling heavily at times as James explained the different cuts of meat, and I think we all felt much colder. The outer edge of the carcass was frozen slightly, but the inside had not yet taken on much of the cold and was easy to cut. James showed us where to cut and Matthew made many of the cuts himself. We got bacon, loin chops, tenderloin, ribs, and roasts from the shoulders, butts, and hams. Matthew made almost all of the cuts himself on the second pig under James’ direction, as the women-folk prepared the meat in the house for the freezer.
My concluding comments are posted in the next entry:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 comment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
andiplus5 on February 22, 2009 at 8:23 am
Looks like you did a great job!! And you learned a lot.
I do have a tip for you and I hope I'm not offending you by giving it. We learned it the hard way. lol
If you run a stick through the back legs between the bone and tendon and tie the tail up to the stick too, it will stabilize your pig so you can skin it better. Or just to cut it better.
We used a come along too. The first time was a little harder than our next time but we learned from our mistakes. The first pig ended up on the floor of the shop we were using a couple of times. You should have seen us trying to haul that 300lb hog back up!! That was a sight to see! From your pics it doesn't look like you were as fraught with problems as we were.
Maybe we just like to do things the hard way first so we can appreciate the easy way! LOL
Enjoy that pig! Home butchered are the best tasting!
And God bless you for learning how to do it on your own!
James was going to be teaching the art of hog butchering so he brought along his 15-year old nephew, Stephen, to learn along with us. James announced that Matthew could shoot the first hog and Stephen would be doing the sticking. He told Matthew where to aim with the imaginary X from left ear to right eye and right ear to left eye. He explained to Stephen how to jump on the downed hog from behind, grab an ear and make a deep cut across the throat with his knife from side to side, severing the jugular vein. This needed to be done quickly to allow the blood to empty while the heart was still beating.
James asked Matthew if he had ever shot anything before to which he replied, “Only targets.” From the very beginning my family all knew that this hog was being raised at our homestead to be meat on the table. But Matthew had done about 95% of said raising and had visited this pig almost every day of its’ life. This was a friendly pig that had been well taken care of. We made his time on this earth a very peaceful and happy existence. I wondered if Matthew would be up for such a task; pulling the trigger at point blank range on this animal that he had invested so much time and energy.
The frozen barnyard was bright with the fresh snow and we all gathered around as the pig was led out of the barn. Matthew did not hesitate an inch as he used my .22 pistol to put a well placed bullet right between the eyes. The pig immediately dropped right where he had been standing. The nervous system made the body shake and flop. Stephen did as instructed with knife in hand and blood squirted in the air. Soon there was a large pool of crimson that looked more vivid than it should have due to the contrasting brilliance of the snow-white ground around it. My son, Matthew, did not shirk in the midst of a duty that would have been very difficult for most any man. He seemed to understand that this was what God had intended for mankind and animal-kind beginning in that 9th chapter of Genesis.
I grabbed hold of the back legs and Matthew the front as we attempted to lift the carcass onto the tailgate of my old 79 Ford pick-up. I didn’t think 250 pounds of dead weight could be so heavy and it took us by surprise. I’m sure we could have heaved the animal up had we strained and grunted a bit more, but instead James and Stephen pitched in. With each of us on a leg, we easily hoisted the body up into the truck.
I drove the truck down near the house to the chosen spot for hanging the pigs. The children’s swing-set that I had built over 10 years ago was the perfect spot. With the swings removed I could back the truck right beneath the top crossbeam. This beam is constructed with a 4×4 and a 2×4 nailed together and is about 10 feet up from the ground. It is a very strong beam, and the swing set was rated for up to a 300-pound person to be able to swing.
A hole was slit through the back ankle, being careful not to knick the tendon. This created a perfect place to loop the rope through.
It is surprising that such a tendon would be strong enough to support the weight of such a large animal, but the pig was hoisted up a minute later with the aid of our come-along and hung there with no problem.
James slit the body cavity open with a sharp knife, Matthew split the pelvic area with his sharp hatchet to allow the cavity to open up wider, and we proceeded to pull out the intestines and organs. James works in the medical profession (when he’s not butchering hogs), so he was able to explain how a pigs’ anatomy is set up in pretty much the same way as a humans. We examined the lungs, kidney, stomach and heart and kept the livers. All the intestines and organs we did not want were caught in a wash tub right below the carcass. The unusual smell did not seem to deter Matthew as he helped to pull out the various organs and drop them in the tub. The head was also cut the rest of the way off and put into the tub.
The first cut:
Splitting it open with the hatchet:
The intestines are going into the tub:
Next we skinned the carcass using razor sharp knives. (Matthew had a whet stone and James brought a sharpener and every so often someone would decide their knife had gotten too dull and spend a couple of minutes putting the edge back on their knife.) Once the skin got started it peeled off quite easily by pulling along with a knife, and we were also able to carve off much of the fat that is just under the skin.
Starting the skinning:
Working on the skinning:
My 11-year old daughter, Christina, had been with us most of the time and this was now something she could help with. She did a great job with the skinning as well as the fat removal.
At one point we had 5 knives all trimming off the fat at the same time, so we accumulated a lot of fat in a short amount of time. We will be able to render lard from the fat so we wanted to keep some of it. We filled up 4 large mixing bowls with the fat, even though we had left quite a bit on the skin. Surprisingly, the fat just felt like a white rubbery substance and was not the least repulsive to any of us. With the skin off the carcass, it was difficult now to remember that it was a living, breathing creature just a short time before.
We left the carcass hanging and went up to the barn to get the other hog to repeat the whole process. The actual skinning and gutting process could go much faster this time, as we knew what to expect and could now help more. Killing and loading the second animal should have been easier than the first, also. As we confidently walked and drove up the mountain to the barn, we had no idea that killing the second pig would be a whole new lesson for us.
This hog apparently had a double skull, as Matthew’s first shot did not drop the animal like the previous one. He used James’ .22 rifle this time instead of the pistol, but after the first shot failed, he reached for the more comfortable pistol. Matthew put another shot in the hog’s head and this time it caused the pig to run around the barn, leaving a trail of blood. Two more shots with the pistol did not stop the animal, even though it did go down on its’ front knees once. The pig continued to run around the barnyard making pitiful moans. He finally fell with another shot from the rifle, but when Stephen went to do the sticking, the pig was able to shake him off and proceeded to roll down the steep hill toward the ravine that is next to the barn yard! Matthew and James chased the animal down the hill, and finished cutting the jugular. It had landed on a small level area midway between the top and bottom of the ravine. Even after all this... 5 shots to the head, loss of much blood, a fall down a steep incline, and jugular and windpipe completely severed, we were all amazed when the hog stood back up on all fours! I thought it was going to go on over the edge down to the creek below, which would have been very bad for us.
Finally this incredible pig of steel laid down for good and we commenced to heave it up via rope and muscle power. Once again, 250 pounds of dead weight was surprisingly deceptive. It was too heavy and steep for even 4 of us to pull the carcass up the cliff-like hill successfully. We tried for several minutes, enduring the rope burns and putting our shoulder, back and arm muscles to the test. When muscle power failed this test, we turned to brain power. Someone realized that we could tie the rope onto the truck and pull the carcass up and out by backing the truck up. This proved to be quite a bit easier.
By the time we finally got this pig down to the swing set and hung up next to the other, darkness was starting to settle in. It is amazing how quickly the curtain of darkness can fall on a snowy winter evening when one’s attention is focused on a task. I fired up the old Coleman lantern, which gives off a good, bright light and Simon brought out some flashlights. With the darkness and cold beginning to weigh heavily upon us, everyone worked quickly and efficiently to gut and skin this animal. There was considerably less talking and bantering about compared to when we did the first pig that afternoon, as the job at hand took first priority now.
Starting on the 2nd hog, getting dark:
This day was the 1st hog butchering experience for both 15 year old boys:
Here are a few more pictures that give a good representation of the overall scenes of the day:
With the job completed we retired to the house, leaving the carcasses to cool overnight hanging from the swing-set. The daytime temperature had been at or near freezing all day and it was getting much colder now that the sun had gone down. This was perfect weather for hog butchering. James would return in the morning with his wife and all four children to show us how to make the individual cuts for the freezer.
The next day’s weather wasn’t quite as perfect as the high only got up to 21 degrees. Snow was falling heavily at times as James explained the different cuts of meat, and I think we all felt much colder. The outer edge of the carcass was frozen slightly, but the inside had not yet taken on much of the cold and was easy to cut. James showed us where to cut and Matthew made many of the cuts himself. We got bacon, loin chops, tenderloin, ribs, and roasts from the shoulders, butts, and hams. Matthew made almost all of the cuts himself on the second pig under James’ direction, as the women-folk prepared the meat in the house for the freezer.
My concluding comments are posted in the next entry:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 comment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
andiplus5 on February 22, 2009 at 8:23 am
Looks like you did a great job!! And you learned a lot.
I do have a tip for you and I hope I'm not offending you by giving it. We learned it the hard way. lol
If you run a stick through the back legs between the bone and tendon and tie the tail up to the stick too, it will stabilize your pig so you can skin it better. Or just to cut it better.
We used a come along too. The first time was a little harder than our next time but we learned from our mistakes. The first pig ended up on the floor of the shop we were using a couple of times. You should have seen us trying to haul that 300lb hog back up!! That was a sight to see! From your pics it doesn't look like you were as fraught with problems as we were.
Maybe we just like to do things the hard way first so we can appreciate the easy way! LOL
Enjoy that pig! Home butchered are the best tasting!
And God bless you for learning how to do it on your own!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Part 2: Reflections on Our First Home Hog Butchering-or- Our Journey Toward Self Sufficiency
Continued from Part 1.
Two years and three months ago we began the grand experiment of hog raising here at our Pure Water Hollow homestead. Since then, we have built pig lots and housing, purchased feeding and watering equipment, fenced and repaired fencing, and repaired housing and repaired more fencing. We have fed and watered the hogs every day, breaking ice on freezing winter days and carrying extra buckets of water for their wallows on sweltering summer afternoons. Three of the original 30 pound piglets we purchased have grown up into two sows weighing 700-800 pounds each and a behemoth of a boar that is likely over 900 pounds today.
We have witnessed over 85 piglets entering the world here at our homestead, with the sows each having had 4 litters of piglets now. We bought a trailer to haul these animals around in and have seen about 35 castrations at the hands of our local FFA chapter. Many of those piglets were sold as six to eight week old feeder pigs at $30-$40 apiece, some died, some were bartered away and a couple even given away. Over this time we have raised 10 of the pigs to the market size of 220–250 pound hogs (or bigger in the case of “Porky”, our first hog for the freezer). Some of those market hogs sold for $100 each and some made the three trips to the professional meat markets, which cut the pork up for our freezer.
And as of today, January 21st, 2009, we still have 15 six-week old piglets, 1 six-month old 220 pound market hog, and of course the original 2 sows and 1 boar. The 15 piglets and the market hog will soon be gone and we will begin preparing for the next litters of piglets. What we do not have today that we did have a couple of days ago, are two market hogs, each weighing about 240-250 pounds. They were butchered on the 19th and carved up on the 20th. And it was all done in-house so to speak, here at our own homestead!
The next logical step in the progression of our hog raising experiment was to learn how to butcher our own pigs for ourselves. It was really too large of a leap for my pessimistic mind to grab hold of, except in that pesky realm of fantasy, for a long time. I had read the accounts of hog butchering in the Foxfire books, Carla Emery’s book, and a few other books and on-line sources. It always seemed like something other people might be able to do, but I had such trouble picturing myself ever being in on such an adventure. I had gotten fairly content with the system we had worked up of loading the pigs into the wagon, hauling them off to the butcher, and later picking up the wrapped pork at the meat market, paying the man, and taking it all home to the freezer.
The last time we performed such a maneuver was this past August. We went to the same meat market we had used last January, but this time the results were such that made us declare that a change was needed. For one thing, they had raised the prices from January without telling us. The “kill fee”, the price per pound of carcass weight, as well as the price for cured meat had all risen substantially. The owner said that new government regulations being imposed on him had raised his expenses and he had to pass them on to the customer in order to continue making ends meet. He said that he had cut corners everywhere he could, even hiring new Mexican helpers at a low wage, but the price increases were still necessary. (This was back when gasoline was selling for the historic highs of $4.00 a gallon and the prices of everything were skyrocketing). So now it would cost us between $130 and $150 to have each pig processed for the freezer, compared to just about $100 before!
The price alone might not have driven me to drastic measures, but losing meat that we had worked hard for did infuriate me! You see, these pigs “somehow” yielded up much less meat to us than the ones from January, even though these animals were actually larger than those took in January! There were also strange irregularities among the three pigs themselves. The one pig that was obviously the largest gave us the least amount of meat! All together, we got back about 80 pounds of pork less than I was expecting based on our prior experiences. We complained to the owner before paying, but there was nothing we could really do. He said we must be mistaken because everything is weighed out carefully and recorded.
We had heard similar stories about other butchers, but I thought we were being careful by using a very professional outfit. I guess the bottom line is that you can never know for sure if you are getting everything, or even if you are getting meat from your own animals, unless you do it yourself. After the negative experience with the meat market I decided that we had to do something different. If we could do a home butchering we would save quite a bit of money, know for sure we were getting all the meat that we raised, as well as learn a vital survival skill.
I began asking people at church and in the community if anyone would be willing to come to our homestead and show us how to butcher a pig. We could butcher two hogs and they could take the meat from one of them. Many people talked like they knew how to do it, but no one knew good enough, or was willing, to take us up on our offer. I finally remembered a fellow, James Carter, who had bought one of our market hogs last January for $100 and had butchered it himself. We called and asked him if he would like to butcher a couple of more pigs. We offered to bring two market hogs to his home and give him one to keep in exchange for his knowledge of how to go about the butchering process. We would watch, help, and thereby learn how to butcher a hog on our own. He jumped at the opportunity and we set it up for January 19th, Martin Luther King Jr. day.
We were set to load the pigs on the wagon and take off to the Carter’s home but Providence had other plans. The roads were bad on this particular Monday with a light snowfall and recent temperatures that had been near zero degrees. James lives out in the country way up on a mountaintop, and their road never even gets treated, much less plowed. There was no way a van pulling a hog trailer would make it up there on such icy roads.
James had the solution. He would come to our home in his 4-wheel drive and we could butcher the hogs here! I was excited, but was also concerned that we were not ready. Did we have the materials needed? James said we just needed a gun, several sharp knives, a hatchet, a hacksaw, and somewhere to hang the hogs in the air. Since Matthew, my 15-year old, has been collecting sharp objects for some time now, I told James to come on over!
Continued in Part 3.
Two years and three months ago we began the grand experiment of hog raising here at our Pure Water Hollow homestead. Since then, we have built pig lots and housing, purchased feeding and watering equipment, fenced and repaired fencing, and repaired housing and repaired more fencing. We have fed and watered the hogs every day, breaking ice on freezing winter days and carrying extra buckets of water for their wallows on sweltering summer afternoons. Three of the original 30 pound piglets we purchased have grown up into two sows weighing 700-800 pounds each and a behemoth of a boar that is likely over 900 pounds today.
We have witnessed over 85 piglets entering the world here at our homestead, with the sows each having had 4 litters of piglets now. We bought a trailer to haul these animals around in and have seen about 35 castrations at the hands of our local FFA chapter. Many of those piglets were sold as six to eight week old feeder pigs at $30-$40 apiece, some died, some were bartered away and a couple even given away. Over this time we have raised 10 of the pigs to the market size of 220–250 pound hogs (or bigger in the case of “Porky”, our first hog for the freezer). Some of those market hogs sold for $100 each and some made the three trips to the professional meat markets, which cut the pork up for our freezer.
And as of today, January 21st, 2009, we still have 15 six-week old piglets, 1 six-month old 220 pound market hog, and of course the original 2 sows and 1 boar. The 15 piglets and the market hog will soon be gone and we will begin preparing for the next litters of piglets. What we do not have today that we did have a couple of days ago, are two market hogs, each weighing about 240-250 pounds. They were butchered on the 19th and carved up on the 20th. And it was all done in-house so to speak, here at our own homestead!
The next logical step in the progression of our hog raising experiment was to learn how to butcher our own pigs for ourselves. It was really too large of a leap for my pessimistic mind to grab hold of, except in that pesky realm of fantasy, for a long time. I had read the accounts of hog butchering in the Foxfire books, Carla Emery’s book, and a few other books and on-line sources. It always seemed like something other people might be able to do, but I had such trouble picturing myself ever being in on such an adventure. I had gotten fairly content with the system we had worked up of loading the pigs into the wagon, hauling them off to the butcher, and later picking up the wrapped pork at the meat market, paying the man, and taking it all home to the freezer.
The last time we performed such a maneuver was this past August. We went to the same meat market we had used last January, but this time the results were such that made us declare that a change was needed. For one thing, they had raised the prices from January without telling us. The “kill fee”, the price per pound of carcass weight, as well as the price for cured meat had all risen substantially. The owner said that new government regulations being imposed on him had raised his expenses and he had to pass them on to the customer in order to continue making ends meet. He said that he had cut corners everywhere he could, even hiring new Mexican helpers at a low wage, but the price increases were still necessary. (This was back when gasoline was selling for the historic highs of $4.00 a gallon and the prices of everything were skyrocketing). So now it would cost us between $130 and $150 to have each pig processed for the freezer, compared to just about $100 before!
The price alone might not have driven me to drastic measures, but losing meat that we had worked hard for did infuriate me! You see, these pigs “somehow” yielded up much less meat to us than the ones from January, even though these animals were actually larger than those took in January! There were also strange irregularities among the three pigs themselves. The one pig that was obviously the largest gave us the least amount of meat! All together, we got back about 80 pounds of pork less than I was expecting based on our prior experiences. We complained to the owner before paying, but there was nothing we could really do. He said we must be mistaken because everything is weighed out carefully and recorded.
We had heard similar stories about other butchers, but I thought we were being careful by using a very professional outfit. I guess the bottom line is that you can never know for sure if you are getting everything, or even if you are getting meat from your own animals, unless you do it yourself. After the negative experience with the meat market I decided that we had to do something different. If we could do a home butchering we would save quite a bit of money, know for sure we were getting all the meat that we raised, as well as learn a vital survival skill.
I began asking people at church and in the community if anyone would be willing to come to our homestead and show us how to butcher a pig. We could butcher two hogs and they could take the meat from one of them. Many people talked like they knew how to do it, but no one knew good enough, or was willing, to take us up on our offer. I finally remembered a fellow, James Carter, who had bought one of our market hogs last January for $100 and had butchered it himself. We called and asked him if he would like to butcher a couple of more pigs. We offered to bring two market hogs to his home and give him one to keep in exchange for his knowledge of how to go about the butchering process. We would watch, help, and thereby learn how to butcher a hog on our own. He jumped at the opportunity and we set it up for January 19th, Martin Luther King Jr. day.
We were set to load the pigs on the wagon and take off to the Carter’s home but Providence had other plans. The roads were bad on this particular Monday with a light snowfall and recent temperatures that had been near zero degrees. James lives out in the country way up on a mountaintop, and their road never even gets treated, much less plowed. There was no way a van pulling a hog trailer would make it up there on such icy roads.
James had the solution. He would come to our home in his 4-wheel drive and we could butcher the hogs here! I was excited, but was also concerned that we were not ready. Did we have the materials needed? James said we just needed a gun, several sharp knives, a hatchet, a hacksaw, and somewhere to hang the hogs in the air. Since Matthew, my 15-year old, has been collecting sharp objects for some time now, I told James to come on over!
Continued in Part 3.
Part 1: Reflections on Our First Home Hog Butchering…OR… Our Journey Toward Self-Sufficiency
When I first bought Carla Emery’s “The Encyclopedia of Country Living” for Lisa (Christmas of 2005) we were in the beginning stages of our journey toward self-sufficiency. At that time, raising our own pork for the freezer was a dream, and actually being able to butcher our own hogs seemed almost impossible. Even after the dream started to come true a year later in 2006, the pages covering hog butchering in Carla’s book were ones that I did not think could ever apply to us. We processed several pigs via professional meat markets in 2007 and 2008, our freezer was full of home grown quality pork, and the dream had become true! Even then, butchering our own hog, preparing the meat ourselves, all with our own tools and on our own property, existed in my mind only in the misty-murky world of fantasy.
The world of fantasy has now mingled and merged with the world of reality! I sit here, now a day later, thinking back on this amazing moment in the history of my homestead. It has all caused me to be in a rather reflective mood, and during such times I have often found a desire to capture some of those thoughts and feelings in writing.
I will get to the actual hog butchering eventually, but my thoughts are first drifting back through the pages of time. Growing up with somewhat of a city-boy mentality doesn’t generally lend itself to a welcoming attitude about self-butchering a couple of 250 pound hogs. Especially when one considers the potential violent nature of the shooting and sticking (slitting the neck with a sharp knife) and the bleeding and the hanging of the carcass and the gutting and the smells and the skinning and the carving. Needless to say, I did not arrive at my current positive attitude concerning this process overnight. Looking back, I can see that God was working in my thought-processes for some time.
After the floodwaters receded, God told Noah that “every moving thing that livest shall be meat for you” (Genesis 9:3). I’ve always been a meat-eater, but for most of my life I had never given much thought about how the grocery store got it’s meat. In 1993 we moved to our present homestead in eastern Kentucky where hunting and fishing are a regular part of life for many of the residents. I began to listen to the stories so many of our friends and neighbors told about bagging wild game and I enjoyed the venison and deer jerky they shared. I always liked the romantic notion of becoming one with the wilderness, spending time in God’s wonderland of nature, and accepting the meat for my family that He provides in our own backyard. If it were really that easy, I think I would have become a great hunter long ago.
As the decade of the 1990s began to wind down, there began to be much discussion and hype about a possible catastrophe that could significantly disrupt “life as we know it” in America. They called it the “Y2K” problem. Warnings were everywhere in the media and very reputable mainstream sources, even from within the United States government, were recommending stocking up the pantry and making preparations for being without power or services of any kind for an extended period of time. Like millions of people (probably billions worldwide), we began to evaluate how our family could survive more than a few weeks in such a situation. And, like millions of people, we discovered that we were woefully dependent on others for nearly every necessity of life.
It was during this time that we made the fortunate decision to spend the money to drill our well down to over 400 feet to see if we could get good water. God blessed us with hitting a massive aquifer that created an artesian well! We now had an excellent source of water that came up to us, even without electricity. We also realized that wild game was abundant in our mountains, and Lisa did have the experiences in her growing up years of gutting, cleaning, and preparing fish, rabbit, squirrel, and chicken. If it came down to it, I would learn how to hunt or trap such small game. Cooking it would be a challenge with no electricity, especially after the propane in the grill ran out, but with God’s help, we would survive.
Fortunately, we did not have to discover how inadequate our situation was by dealing with a real emergency, and the computers took it all in stride as our calendar changed to the new millennium. Life was not altered for us in any way, and soon most believed that everything would press on as usual for America. A mere 19 months later, however, we found out that “life as we know it” could be changed in a moment of time as our great nation was shaken with the 9-11-2001 terrorist attacks. Americans everywhere felt a collective vulnerability and uncertainty about the future. What if something like that happened even closer to our home? What if the food supply to our grocery outlets became disabled? What if the nation’s electricity power grid became compromised?
I don’t think I was ever paranoid, but it did open my eyes to our surroundings. It started making sense to better use the resources God had made available to us here at Pure Water Hollow. We had a nice garden spot and some fruit trees and we planted grapevines and more fruit trees. Soon we were gardening more intensively, learning the art of canning, and harvesting many vegetables, cherries, grapes, peaches, pears, blackberries, and apples. Lisa began to study the wild plants and trees that abounded in our mountains to learn the edible and medicinal possibilities that existed for us.
I knew that protein was also an important part of survival, and I was pleased to get our chickens from a neighbor the spring of 2004. News reports about poor production practices, harmful chemicals and preservatives, and even disease in commercial meat and eggs had been flourishing for some time and the overall quality of the food we buy at the grocery had come into question. Apparently the meat and eggs available today are not as healthy for us as the meat and eggs available in the grocery a generation ago. We were thankful to have plenty of farm-fresh eggs that came from our own free-range/corn-fed chickens.
I was also excited about the possibility of having our own homegrown chicken meat in our freezer. I was not necessarily fond of what would need to be done to provide that, however. It helped that Lisa had experience with the butchering of chickens, so it wasn’t much of a mystery for at least one of us. I knew that God had provided these animals for our meat, but causing the life of one of God’s beautiful, breathing creatures to end at my own hand was another whole matter to work through emotionally.
Knowing that it was the right thing to do for my family, I was able to overcome my emotional reservations. I killed my first chicken January of 2007 as the hatchet in my hand separated the rooster’s head from its’ body. This was the first time I purposefully took the life of a living creature. I didn’t even let the scornful look I imagined in the eye of the bodiless head bother me. The rooster giving his life for our family was his purpose in this world and it was a good thing, so I thanked him for his sacrifice. I have since then taken the heads off many more roosters. I chop and pluck and Lisa does the evisceration and cleaning.
The first mammal I purposely killed was also in connection with chickens. It was a stray dog that had been killing our layers. We had tried to run him off, but he kept coming back. It was savagely devouring a chicken next to our driveway when I brought out the 12-gauge shotgun. He looked at me and I looked at him. There was no malice in my mind, just a sense of duty. I pulled the trigger with some regret but it was my responsibility to protect the chickens in my care and keep them safe. I was disturbed a bit with the way the dog’s body flopped and twitched after I pulled that trigger. I was thankful, however, that the threat to our meat and egg supply was gone.
Another time I shot a squirrel and Lisa fixed it up and we ate it. Shooting a dog that we did not know or a wild squirrel, or chopping the head off a chicken is quite a bit different than shooting a pig that you have fed, cared for, and raised for 6 months. Could we really do that? And at 250 pounds it would be quite a bit larger than a chicken. Could we do all that would be necessary to put pork on our table to feed our family? Would we want to?
The answer to that last inquiry was always more of a “yes” than a “probably not”, but as I said earlier, it was only in the fantasy world of my imagination. I had read many accounts of how the old timers in these hills had such high regards for their hogs in days gone by. A hog or two could supply the family with meat for the entire winter, and they could make good use of “everything but the squeal”. Hog butchering was a common occurrence in these parts for generations. I have long wished to learn about the “old ways” of things, back when man was self-sufficient and did not have to rely on Wal-Mart for all his needs.
If a family could be self-sufficient once again, there would be little disruption in their life even if the computer world goes on the biltz, or terrorists are successful in another massive attack, or if the commercial food supply gets poisoned, or our petroleum supply is interrupted, or if the economy crashes, or America’s energy grid fails. And if nothing dire happens in the future, being self-sufficient would still be a rewarding, satisfying lifestyle. Raising our own hogs to butcher ourselves was another step in that direction.
Continued in Part 2.
The world of fantasy has now mingled and merged with the world of reality! I sit here, now a day later, thinking back on this amazing moment in the history of my homestead. It has all caused me to be in a rather reflective mood, and during such times I have often found a desire to capture some of those thoughts and feelings in writing.
I will get to the actual hog butchering eventually, but my thoughts are first drifting back through the pages of time. Growing up with somewhat of a city-boy mentality doesn’t generally lend itself to a welcoming attitude about self-butchering a couple of 250 pound hogs. Especially when one considers the potential violent nature of the shooting and sticking (slitting the neck with a sharp knife) and the bleeding and the hanging of the carcass and the gutting and the smells and the skinning and the carving. Needless to say, I did not arrive at my current positive attitude concerning this process overnight. Looking back, I can see that God was working in my thought-processes for some time.
After the floodwaters receded, God told Noah that “every moving thing that livest shall be meat for you” (Genesis 9:3). I’ve always been a meat-eater, but for most of my life I had never given much thought about how the grocery store got it’s meat. In 1993 we moved to our present homestead in eastern Kentucky where hunting and fishing are a regular part of life for many of the residents. I began to listen to the stories so many of our friends and neighbors told about bagging wild game and I enjoyed the venison and deer jerky they shared. I always liked the romantic notion of becoming one with the wilderness, spending time in God’s wonderland of nature, and accepting the meat for my family that He provides in our own backyard. If it were really that easy, I think I would have become a great hunter long ago.
As the decade of the 1990s began to wind down, there began to be much discussion and hype about a possible catastrophe that could significantly disrupt “life as we know it” in America. They called it the “Y2K” problem. Warnings were everywhere in the media and very reputable mainstream sources, even from within the United States government, were recommending stocking up the pantry and making preparations for being without power or services of any kind for an extended period of time. Like millions of people (probably billions worldwide), we began to evaluate how our family could survive more than a few weeks in such a situation. And, like millions of people, we discovered that we were woefully dependent on others for nearly every necessity of life.
It was during this time that we made the fortunate decision to spend the money to drill our well down to over 400 feet to see if we could get good water. God blessed us with hitting a massive aquifer that created an artesian well! We now had an excellent source of water that came up to us, even without electricity. We also realized that wild game was abundant in our mountains, and Lisa did have the experiences in her growing up years of gutting, cleaning, and preparing fish, rabbit, squirrel, and chicken. If it came down to it, I would learn how to hunt or trap such small game. Cooking it would be a challenge with no electricity, especially after the propane in the grill ran out, but with God’s help, we would survive.
Fortunately, we did not have to discover how inadequate our situation was by dealing with a real emergency, and the computers took it all in stride as our calendar changed to the new millennium. Life was not altered for us in any way, and soon most believed that everything would press on as usual for America. A mere 19 months later, however, we found out that “life as we know it” could be changed in a moment of time as our great nation was shaken with the 9-11-2001 terrorist attacks. Americans everywhere felt a collective vulnerability and uncertainty about the future. What if something like that happened even closer to our home? What if the food supply to our grocery outlets became disabled? What if the nation’s electricity power grid became compromised?
I don’t think I was ever paranoid, but it did open my eyes to our surroundings. It started making sense to better use the resources God had made available to us here at Pure Water Hollow. We had a nice garden spot and some fruit trees and we planted grapevines and more fruit trees. Soon we were gardening more intensively, learning the art of canning, and harvesting many vegetables, cherries, grapes, peaches, pears, blackberries, and apples. Lisa began to study the wild plants and trees that abounded in our mountains to learn the edible and medicinal possibilities that existed for us.
I knew that protein was also an important part of survival, and I was pleased to get our chickens from a neighbor the spring of 2004. News reports about poor production practices, harmful chemicals and preservatives, and even disease in commercial meat and eggs had been flourishing for some time and the overall quality of the food we buy at the grocery had come into question. Apparently the meat and eggs available today are not as healthy for us as the meat and eggs available in the grocery a generation ago. We were thankful to have plenty of farm-fresh eggs that came from our own free-range/corn-fed chickens.
I was also excited about the possibility of having our own homegrown chicken meat in our freezer. I was not necessarily fond of what would need to be done to provide that, however. It helped that Lisa had experience with the butchering of chickens, so it wasn’t much of a mystery for at least one of us. I knew that God had provided these animals for our meat, but causing the life of one of God’s beautiful, breathing creatures to end at my own hand was another whole matter to work through emotionally.
Knowing that it was the right thing to do for my family, I was able to overcome my emotional reservations. I killed my first chicken January of 2007 as the hatchet in my hand separated the rooster’s head from its’ body. This was the first time I purposefully took the life of a living creature. I didn’t even let the scornful look I imagined in the eye of the bodiless head bother me. The rooster giving his life for our family was his purpose in this world and it was a good thing, so I thanked him for his sacrifice. I have since then taken the heads off many more roosters. I chop and pluck and Lisa does the evisceration and cleaning.
The first mammal I purposely killed was also in connection with chickens. It was a stray dog that had been killing our layers. We had tried to run him off, but he kept coming back. It was savagely devouring a chicken next to our driveway when I brought out the 12-gauge shotgun. He looked at me and I looked at him. There was no malice in my mind, just a sense of duty. I pulled the trigger with some regret but it was my responsibility to protect the chickens in my care and keep them safe. I was disturbed a bit with the way the dog’s body flopped and twitched after I pulled that trigger. I was thankful, however, that the threat to our meat and egg supply was gone.
Another time I shot a squirrel and Lisa fixed it up and we ate it. Shooting a dog that we did not know or a wild squirrel, or chopping the head off a chicken is quite a bit different than shooting a pig that you have fed, cared for, and raised for 6 months. Could we really do that? And at 250 pounds it would be quite a bit larger than a chicken. Could we do all that would be necessary to put pork on our table to feed our family? Would we want to?
The answer to that last inquiry was always more of a “yes” than a “probably not”, but as I said earlier, it was only in the fantasy world of my imagination. I had read many accounts of how the old timers in these hills had such high regards for their hogs in days gone by. A hog or two could supply the family with meat for the entire winter, and they could make good use of “everything but the squeal”. Hog butchering was a common occurrence in these parts for generations. I have long wished to learn about the “old ways” of things, back when man was self-sufficient and did not have to rely on Wal-Mart for all his needs.
If a family could be self-sufficient once again, there would be little disruption in their life even if the computer world goes on the biltz, or terrorists are successful in another massive attack, or if the commercial food supply gets poisoned, or our petroleum supply is interrupted, or if the economy crashes, or America’s energy grid fails. And if nothing dire happens in the future, being self-sufficient would still be a rewarding, satisfying lifestyle. Raising our own hogs to butcher ourselves was another step in that direction.
Continued in Part 2.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
I Think I Am Going to Say "No" to $1000…
Tomorrow is the deadline for me to decide if I want to go ahead with an application for a government cost share program that would pay me $1000 for work I have recently done on the pond and fencing. When I initially applied back in July my local conservation office informed me that I was approved for the full $1000, but something fell through between the county and state and we had to re-submit the application. One of the problems was that the county application was not requiring a Farm Serial Number (FSA), but the state says there has to be one. Farms that have grown tobacco already have an FSA and it is easy to get one.
The problem is that the FSA is a federal thing and I just don’t know if I want to draw attention to myself. I don’t really have a "farm", just a homestead with a hog operation and a layer operation and some goats. I really do not want anything to do with the NAIS if it gets anymore traction with the new administration, and I wonder if an FSA will open the door for future government intrusion to our homestead?
Then again, $1000 would be nice. Every little bit helps. But at what cost?
My soil conservation officer was guarded with his comments, but I thought that I could read some caution between the lines. He said that he saw no problem with the whole NAIS thing right now, but he doesn’t know what he will be saying in 10 years. He also reminded me that he "is the government" and he can’t really offer an opinion. He did jokingly say, "Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they won’t be coming after you!"
So, what do you all think? Am I being too paranoid? Should I take the money and not worry about it? Or should I regret already drawing this much attention to our homestead?
Tomorrow (12-10) is the deadline for the application, so any advice tonight would be appreciated.
Thanks!
UPDATE:
After much prayer and taking into consideration everyone’s comments here as well as my own intuition, I decided to leave the money alone. I am glad the first application fell through, because I think I might have been sorry down the road had I taken the cost-share. It was annoying to know that I had been approved for the $1,000 but that they just needed more paper work. I can fill out papers for $1,000 any day, but I am afraid that it could have resulted in some strings attached later on.
Thanks for all the helpful comments!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trixi on December 9, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I don't think you are paranoid at all. My husband too works for the govt. (military) and we definitely don't want to cause anymore attention to ourselves than need be.
Blessings,
Trixi
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Sunshine on December 9, 2008 at 6:53 pm
nothing is free. even $1000. would be nice, I agree. But, why let them know you exist if you do not have to. One reason I want to move north of the Utah-Idaho border – in Idaho you do not even have to tell the schools that you have children, not to mention that you are homeschooling them!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heritage Hill Homestead on December 9, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Boy, that is a tough one. I too am very leary of anything that seems to lead to NAIS. And with the government, everything is usually linked together somewhere along the line. I imagine one day they will be knocking on all of our doors, but until then we can make our own decisions. The $$ would be so nice to help out with farm expenses and improvements too though……….hard to tell someone else what they should do. I think you already have your mind made up.
Marilyn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GrandmaRosie on December 10, 2008 at 1:39 am
Even though the money is tempting and I am sure it would be a help, I sorta like to keep a low profile where Big Brother is concerned. Just my 2 cents worth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
faithfarm on December 10, 2008 at 5:05 am
I would have to agree on the side of caution. There is a reason you do not have total peace in the decision to accept the money-trust in that–
Blessings>faithfarm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashley on December 10, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I'm with everyone else … nothing is "free". : Sorry, but I think you're making the right choice.
Ashley
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S on December 10, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I wouldn't take the money……and I would stay on the down-low.
Laura
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
faithfarm on December 11, 2008 at 4:06 am
Here is a site that has alot of info you might find helpful.
http://xstatic99645.tripod.com/naisinfocentral/index.html
Blessings>faithfarm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schatzi on December 14, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Sorry, I cannot offer advice. Plus I just came to your site today and I think I would be late anyways. I also live in Canada and our government would be a bit different. But if it was me I would rather keep a low profile then take the money…I don't like any government sticking their nose in my business…they know enough already without drawing attention to myself.
Look forward to reading what you decided.
Blessings,
Connie
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rob on December 18, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Can you afford it.. here in Canada it seems there are always strings attached… not only money but eventually infringement on your religious rights. Will the thousand turn into minus 2?
If you do take it get it in writing any requirements. !
Good for you to be cautious. If you turn it down ..and feeling needy. look at the picture on the dollar and remember what Jesus said… "give to Ceasor that which is Ceasor's" It helps me when I feel a loss of dough ra me!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve on February 1, 2009 at 12:36 am
If it were me I guess I would try and get the money. I think the worst thing they can do is tell you no you can't have it but unless you know of some laws they may try and fine you for.
Then I would say not to try, if the fines equal more that the 1000$
The problem is that the FSA is a federal thing and I just don’t know if I want to draw attention to myself. I don’t really have a "farm", just a homestead with a hog operation and a layer operation and some goats. I really do not want anything to do with the NAIS if it gets anymore traction with the new administration, and I wonder if an FSA will open the door for future government intrusion to our homestead?
Then again, $1000 would be nice. Every little bit helps. But at what cost?
My soil conservation officer was guarded with his comments, but I thought that I could read some caution between the lines. He said that he saw no problem with the whole NAIS thing right now, but he doesn’t know what he will be saying in 10 years. He also reminded me that he "is the government" and he can’t really offer an opinion. He did jokingly say, "Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they won’t be coming after you!"
So, what do you all think? Am I being too paranoid? Should I take the money and not worry about it? Or should I regret already drawing this much attention to our homestead?
Tomorrow (12-10) is the deadline for the application, so any advice tonight would be appreciated.
Thanks!
UPDATE:
After much prayer and taking into consideration everyone’s comments here as well as my own intuition, I decided to leave the money alone. I am glad the first application fell through, because I think I might have been sorry down the road had I taken the cost-share. It was annoying to know that I had been approved for the $1,000 but that they just needed more paper work. I can fill out papers for $1,000 any day, but I am afraid that it could have resulted in some strings attached later on.
Thanks for all the helpful comments!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trixi on December 9, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I don't think you are paranoid at all. My husband too works for the govt. (military) and we definitely don't want to cause anymore attention to ourselves than need be.
Blessings,
Trixi
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Sunshine on December 9, 2008 at 6:53 pm
nothing is free. even $1000. would be nice, I agree. But, why let them know you exist if you do not have to. One reason I want to move north of the Utah-Idaho border – in Idaho you do not even have to tell the schools that you have children, not to mention that you are homeschooling them!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heritage Hill Homestead on December 9, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Boy, that is a tough one. I too am very leary of anything that seems to lead to NAIS. And with the government, everything is usually linked together somewhere along the line. I imagine one day they will be knocking on all of our doors, but until then we can make our own decisions. The $$ would be so nice to help out with farm expenses and improvements too though……….hard to tell someone else what they should do. I think you already have your mind made up.
Marilyn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GrandmaRosie on December 10, 2008 at 1:39 am
Even though the money is tempting and I am sure it would be a help, I sorta like to keep a low profile where Big Brother is concerned. Just my 2 cents worth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
faithfarm on December 10, 2008 at 5:05 am
I would have to agree on the side of caution. There is a reason you do not have total peace in the decision to accept the money-trust in that–
Blessings>faithfarm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ashley on December 10, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I'm with everyone else … nothing is "free". : Sorry, but I think you're making the right choice.
Ashley
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S on December 10, 2008 at 1:32 pm
I wouldn't take the money……and I would stay on the down-low.
Laura
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
faithfarm on December 11, 2008 at 4:06 am
Here is a site that has alot of info you might find helpful.
http://xstatic99645.tripod.com/naisinfocentral/index.html
Blessings>faithfarm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schatzi on December 14, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Sorry, I cannot offer advice. Plus I just came to your site today and I think I would be late anyways. I also live in Canada and our government would be a bit different. But if it was me I would rather keep a low profile then take the money…I don't like any government sticking their nose in my business…they know enough already without drawing attention to myself.
Look forward to reading what you decided.
Blessings,
Connie
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rob on December 18, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Can you afford it.. here in Canada it seems there are always strings attached… not only money but eventually infringement on your religious rights. Will the thousand turn into minus 2?
If you do take it get it in writing any requirements. !
Good for you to be cautious. If you turn it down ..and feeling needy. look at the picture on the dollar and remember what Jesus said… "give to Ceasor that which is Ceasor's" It helps me when I feel a loss of dough ra me!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve on February 1, 2009 at 12:36 am
If it were me I guess I would try and get the money. I think the worst thing they can do is tell you no you can't have it but unless you know of some laws they may try and fine you for.
Then I would say not to try, if the fines equal more that the 1000$
Friday, December 05, 2008
Larger Than Average Litters of Pigs
I was curious as to the number of piglets in an average Hampshire sow and I came upon an article on the web from a publication called Seedstock EDGE. The National Swine Registry keept track of the Hampshire litters reported from 1995 through 2003 and came up with statistics from over 81,000 litters.
Based on the data, our Nellie and Sally did very much better than average last night as they gave birth to 13 and 14 healthy piglets each. Of course they are just simple east Kentucky Hampshire mutt sows and the boar probably has some Duroc in him, but they have outperformed the purebred swines that these numbers are based on.
The average number of pigs per litter was between 9.26 and 9.60 for each of the 9 years in the study, and the "born alive" number was just between 8.51 and 8.89 piglets. They also tracked the number of piglets that survived to be weaned and it was just between 7.85 and 8.12 per litter.
Nellie and Sally did better than that in 3 of each of their 4 litters so far. (Their first litters, when they were still gilts, they only had 7 and 8 piglets respectively, which we know now was pretty good!)
I just thought that was an interesting bit of info to record here. We are proud of you, Nellie and Sally!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 comment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Sunshine on December 6, 2008 at 12:37 pm
you make pig farming sound so easy! LOL! I remember when you brought them home for the first time, and the excitement with which you posted learning to geld (is that the right term for swine?) a pig. What about the cost of feeding the pigs – how much profit do you make after you factor that in? I am just curious.
Thanks for the pumpkin idea – that was my next plan for storing, somehow whole outside without getting too hot or too cold. Let me know how that works for you, especially towards the end of the winter when things start warming up, and they start getting old. We like to eat pumpkin in chili, soup, pancakes, waffles, muffins, and, of course, pie, so we like to eat it all year round. But I guess there is a season for everything, huh?
Based on the data, our Nellie and Sally did very much better than average last night as they gave birth to 13 and 14 healthy piglets each. Of course they are just simple east Kentucky Hampshire mutt sows and the boar probably has some Duroc in him, but they have outperformed the purebred swines that these numbers are based on.
The average number of pigs per litter was between 9.26 and 9.60 for each of the 9 years in the study, and the "born alive" number was just between 8.51 and 8.89 piglets. They also tracked the number of piglets that survived to be weaned and it was just between 7.85 and 8.12 per litter.
Nellie and Sally did better than that in 3 of each of their 4 litters so far. (Their first litters, when they were still gilts, they only had 7 and 8 piglets respectively, which we know now was pretty good!)
I just thought that was an interesting bit of info to record here. We are proud of you, Nellie and Sally!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 comment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Sunshine on December 6, 2008 at 12:37 pm
you make pig farming sound so easy! LOL! I remember when you brought them home for the first time, and the excitement with which you posted learning to geld (is that the right term for swine?) a pig. What about the cost of feeding the pigs – how much profit do you make after you factor that in? I am just curious.
Thanks for the pumpkin idea – that was my next plan for storing, somehow whole outside without getting too hot or too cold. Let me know how that works for you, especially towards the end of the winter when things start warming up, and they start getting old. We like to eat pumpkin in chili, soup, pancakes, waffles, muffins, and, of course, pie, so we like to eat it all year round. But I guess there is a season for everything, huh?
Thursday, December 04, 2008
The Pig Farmers of Pure Water Hollow
What an exciting evening we have had here at Pure Water Hollow Homestead! We have once again witnessed the miracle of birth and we are thanking God for all He has done! Our two sows gave birth this evening, and little piglets were popping out simultaneously toward the end of the birthing.
I think you can now officially call us "pig farmers"! This is the 4th set of piglets we’ve had from our two sows and this time it all went by the book. We noticed that our boar Rufus was trying to breed our sows, Nellie and Sally, about 3 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days ago. (The books say a pig’s gestation time is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days.) I had projected a due date of December 5th back in September, so on Wednesday, December 3rd, we led Sally and Nellie down from the pig lot to the barn to get ready for giving birth. They are each 2 years and 3 months old now, and they have become old hands at giving birth. We put several bales of straw in their stalls and made them comfortable. I am so glad we moved them when we did, because the piglets came a day early (which was within the margin of error). When they gave birth in July, they surprised us and caught us off guard. We lost several of the piglets in those litters, partly because of poor planning, I think. But this time it felt like we knew what we were doing; I felt like a professional pig farmer!
In Sally’s stall Christina exclaimed, "Here comes one!" I looked over at Sally and Christina for just a moment and then trained my flashlight back on Nellie. I couldn’t believe that the beam revealed another piglet for Nellie! It must have come out just a second or two after Sally’s. This scene was repeated again about 5 minutes later. Christina delivered another piglet of Sally’s and I took a picture and then looked back at Nellie. This time my flashlight found two brand new piglets still attached by the umbilical cords to Nellie! They must have come, back to back, at nearly the same time Sally had pushed hers out!
All together, I witnessed Nellie giving birth to the last 6 of hers and the last 5 of Sally’s. I got home at about 4:30 and the last piglet was born at about 7:00. When Matthew had gone to check on the pigs earlier this afternoon at about 2:00, Nellie had already given birth to two piglets with one of them still attached by the cord. He flew down to the house on his 4-wheeler to let everyone else in on the news and then raced back up the hollow. Erica, Christina, Simon and Lisa with Timothy in her arms, arrived at the barn shortly thereafter. They were on hand to see Nellie deliver her next several and Sally’s first 9. Sometime around 4:00 Timothy declared he had had enough of standing around in a cold barn, so Erica and Simon took their screaming brother back to the house. Lisa stayed a couple of more hours and Christina did not leave until it was clear that all the piglets were born and safe.
Christina actually delivered all but one of Sally’s piglets. As each one came out, Christina made sure their airways were clear and she wiped them off and made sure they found a teat to nurse on. So, after 5 hours of birthing, Nellie had 13 adorable piglets nursing and Sally had 14 beautiful, healthy little piglets nursing.
Matthew and I did not leave until 9:30 because it was important to winterize the barn as much as possible. We stapled up feed sacks over all the cracks in the wallboards and over all the windows. By the time we were leaving, ice had formed on the metal gates in the barnyard, the mud in the road had become a frozen crunch, and a heavy frost was covering the hillsides. The low tonight is forecasted to be 18 degrees and the high tomorrow just above freezing. Tomorrow night the weather man says will also be 18 degrees and the 10 day forecast shows below freezing lows for the next 10 nights! The first week of life for these piglets will be a very cold one! Their first four nights are predicted to be 18, 18, 21, and 15 degrees with the highs only in the 30s!
This is the most piglets we have had to date, and if they all survive it will mean a substantial amount of possible cash. If we can sell 25 of the piglets in January for the going price of $40 each, it would mean $1000 in our pocket in just 5 or 6 weeks! If we sell them at a bargain basement price of $25 each, it would still be $625. And that would still leave 2 of them for us to raise as market hogs which we would either put in the freezer or sell for around $100 each live, or have processed and sell the packaged pork for a substantial profit. I really can’t believe we have 27 piglets! From what I’ve read, Hampshire pigs usually do not have litters this large.
Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow!
I did take pictures and I will try to add them to this post someday soon.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sassyfras on December 5, 2008 at 3:23 am
We raised pigs when we first came to the farm. I can still remember our first litter. I loved watching it. Our oldest, now 33 was just a little gal and she stayed out in the barn for hours, because she was afraid the mommy would roll on them. She will never forget the things she learned, or saw. What a great learning tool. The Farm, thanks for sharing
sassy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heritage Hill Homestead on December 5, 2008 at 7:34 am
Great update on your new additions! I have never been around pigs much, I didn't realize it took so long…..5 hours wow. I am used to goats and they are much shorter, of course they don't have 14 either! You were truly blessed as you said with possible income very soon, how wonderful for you. Isn't it something that they gave birth at exactly the same time.
Marilyn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
amanda on December 5, 2008 at 10:23 am
My hubby and his Daddy used to raise pigs when hubby was a child in the mountains of W. VA. He told of a time when the little piggy's came on a really cold night. His Daddy bought them into the house!
I'm not so sure that I could have done that. But hubby said that pig farming was how they got their money and he wasn't about to let those pigs freeze to death.When its your living, you do what you have to do.
Happy Farming!
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
I think you can now officially call us "pig farmers"! This is the 4th set of piglets we’ve had from our two sows and this time it all went by the book. We noticed that our boar Rufus was trying to breed our sows, Nellie and Sally, about 3 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days ago. (The books say a pig’s gestation time is 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days.) I had projected a due date of December 5th back in September, so on Wednesday, December 3rd, we led Sally and Nellie down from the pig lot to the barn to get ready for giving birth. They are each 2 years and 3 months old now, and they have become old hands at giving birth. We put several bales of straw in their stalls and made them comfortable. I am so glad we moved them when we did, because the piglets came a day early (which was within the margin of error). When they gave birth in July, they surprised us and caught us off guard. We lost several of the piglets in those litters, partly because of poor planning, I think. But this time it felt like we knew what we were doing; I felt like a professional pig farmer!
In Sally’s stall Christina exclaimed, "Here comes one!" I looked over at Sally and Christina for just a moment and then trained my flashlight back on Nellie. I couldn’t believe that the beam revealed another piglet for Nellie! It must have come out just a second or two after Sally’s. This scene was repeated again about 5 minutes later. Christina delivered another piglet of Sally’s and I took a picture and then looked back at Nellie. This time my flashlight found two brand new piglets still attached by the umbilical cords to Nellie! They must have come, back to back, at nearly the same time Sally had pushed hers out!
All together, I witnessed Nellie giving birth to the last 6 of hers and the last 5 of Sally’s. I got home at about 4:30 and the last piglet was born at about 7:00. When Matthew had gone to check on the pigs earlier this afternoon at about 2:00, Nellie had already given birth to two piglets with one of them still attached by the cord. He flew down to the house on his 4-wheeler to let everyone else in on the news and then raced back up the hollow. Erica, Christina, Simon and Lisa with Timothy in her arms, arrived at the barn shortly thereafter. They were on hand to see Nellie deliver her next several and Sally’s first 9. Sometime around 4:00 Timothy declared he had had enough of standing around in a cold barn, so Erica and Simon took their screaming brother back to the house. Lisa stayed a couple of more hours and Christina did not leave until it was clear that all the piglets were born and safe.
Christina actually delivered all but one of Sally’s piglets. As each one came out, Christina made sure their airways were clear and she wiped them off and made sure they found a teat to nurse on. So, after 5 hours of birthing, Nellie had 13 adorable piglets nursing and Sally had 14 beautiful, healthy little piglets nursing.
Matthew and I did not leave until 9:30 because it was important to winterize the barn as much as possible. We stapled up feed sacks over all the cracks in the wallboards and over all the windows. By the time we were leaving, ice had formed on the metal gates in the barnyard, the mud in the road had become a frozen crunch, and a heavy frost was covering the hillsides. The low tonight is forecasted to be 18 degrees and the high tomorrow just above freezing. Tomorrow night the weather man says will also be 18 degrees and the 10 day forecast shows below freezing lows for the next 10 nights! The first week of life for these piglets will be a very cold one! Their first four nights are predicted to be 18, 18, 21, and 15 degrees with the highs only in the 30s!
This is the most piglets we have had to date, and if they all survive it will mean a substantial amount of possible cash. If we can sell 25 of the piglets in January for the going price of $40 each, it would mean $1000 in our pocket in just 5 or 6 weeks! If we sell them at a bargain basement price of $25 each, it would still be $625. And that would still leave 2 of them for us to raise as market hogs which we would either put in the freezer or sell for around $100 each live, or have processed and sell the packaged pork for a substantial profit. I really can’t believe we have 27 piglets! From what I’ve read, Hampshire pigs usually do not have litters this large.
Praise be to God from whom all blessings flow!
I did take pictures and I will try to add them to this post someday soon.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sassyfras on December 5, 2008 at 3:23 am
We raised pigs when we first came to the farm. I can still remember our first litter. I loved watching it. Our oldest, now 33 was just a little gal and she stayed out in the barn for hours, because she was afraid the mommy would roll on them. She will never forget the things she learned, or saw. What a great learning tool. The Farm, thanks for sharing
sassy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heritage Hill Homestead on December 5, 2008 at 7:34 am
Great update on your new additions! I have never been around pigs much, I didn't realize it took so long…..5 hours wow. I am used to goats and they are much shorter, of course they don't have 14 either! You were truly blessed as you said with possible income very soon, how wonderful for you. Isn't it something that they gave birth at exactly the same time.
Marilyn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
amanda on December 5, 2008 at 10:23 am
My hubby and his Daddy used to raise pigs when hubby was a child in the mountains of W. VA. He told of a time when the little piggy's came on a really cold night. His Daddy bought them into the house!
I'm not so sure that I could have done that. But hubby said that pig farming was how they got their money and he wasn't about to let those pigs freeze to death.When its your living, you do what you have to do.
Happy Farming!
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
Friday, November 14, 2008
Homeschool Dad Blog nominee
Hello to all my homesteading and homeschooling friends! I just found out that this blog has been nominated for an award for the Best Homeschool Dad blog!
I feel honored but I realize that this blog was much better in 2007. 2008 has not been the best blogging year for me due mainly to some technical difficulties. I have not been able to post pictures from my home computer since this past spring, and as a result I have not been posting much at all lately. It just hasn’t been as fun.
Many of you that are coming from other places will likely wonder why this blog was nominated. If you looked around here a bit you have probably been disappointed! Those of you that are not a registered user with Homestead Blogger will only see a few posts that I have made available to everyone. Some of my posts are even restricted to fewer eyes as they are only viewable to those on our friend list. Sadly, these would be the posts that might lead one to vote for me as a good homeschool dad. Only if you are on our friend list can you see pictures of my children and many of the activities we have done together as children and father.
I have been blessed with 5 wonderful children, and we have been blessed to be able to homeschool them on this up and coming farming homestead the Lord has given us. I do not feel comfortable, however, sharing our experiences with the entire world wide web.
If you are new to homestead blogger, I would encourage you to look around my blog and other great blogs here. You might even want to register and have your own homesteading blog!
If you are a registered user and especially if you are our "friend", I would encourage you to go to this link and vote for Pure Water Hollow Homestead!
Wouldn’t it be neat if one of our homesteading blogs wins a homeschool award! The odds are greatly against me, I know, but it’s fun anyway!
Thanks, and God Bless!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
amanda on November 14, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Our blog will be pulling for yours!
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry on November 14, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Just voted for you, my friend.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belle on November 18, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I voted for your blog! I think you have a wonderful blog! I love reading your blog and I have learned many new things by reading your blog, like how to sap trees.
My blog is in the 2008 Homeschool Blog Awards too. I am in the Best Homemaking or Recipe blog. As soon as I found out that I was in for voting, I went to my blog and found all of my post and my entire blog to have been deleted. I was very upset to find this, and I have no idea of how it might have happened. All of posts about sapping trees were deleted too. So, I have to repost all of my posts.
I think I am going to copy all of my posts and put it into a document on my computer. You might also want to do that, incase your blog was ever deleted you could simply copy all of your post and repost them. You have a wonderful blog and I would hate to see all of your posts deleted.
Good luck in the 'polls'! I hope you win!!!
Belle
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CandyFoote on November 25, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!
Candy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rob on December 8, 2008 at 6:32 pm
How exciting to get a response so soon. I have read your past few blogs and you have indeed stimulated imaginations of your lifestlye. We use that word like we actually can choose a lifestyle, when I think we more point ourselves in the direction, then bounce off the bumpers of life like a pinball, but along the way we become skilled at holding our breath so each moment pauses and we can savour it.
But give credit to the deep peace God has generously given us… like see pigs scrambling in the pen, but instead of the mud we see the beaty of birth and the wonder of design… the miracle of the moment.
I appreciate the privacy factor you have implemented. This is a neat place, this site, safer than most, but even if the weirdos on the net did not exist, some privacy is important to the family.
I intend to both exercise sharing, and caution as you will see in my next entry. A trip to the property ( in words), but I will not actually share the location, though to friends, even here I develop and trust, I will share that information. I even intend to offer visits(cheap holiday) for the brave and trusted friends … for all that I have is not my own,,,but to be shared. So stay tuned just in case some day opportunity knocks and you have a chance to get away. And if is just too far, or too hard or too much… I invite you to journey in my blog. God speed and light your way …
I feel honored but I realize that this blog was much better in 2007. 2008 has not been the best blogging year for me due mainly to some technical difficulties. I have not been able to post pictures from my home computer since this past spring, and as a result I have not been posting much at all lately. It just hasn’t been as fun.
Many of you that are coming from other places will likely wonder why this blog was nominated. If you looked around here a bit you have probably been disappointed! Those of you that are not a registered user with Homestead Blogger will only see a few posts that I have made available to everyone. Some of my posts are even restricted to fewer eyes as they are only viewable to those on our friend list. Sadly, these would be the posts that might lead one to vote for me as a good homeschool dad. Only if you are on our friend list can you see pictures of my children and many of the activities we have done together as children and father.
I have been blessed with 5 wonderful children, and we have been blessed to be able to homeschool them on this up and coming farming homestead the Lord has given us. I do not feel comfortable, however, sharing our experiences with the entire world wide web.
If you are new to homestead blogger, I would encourage you to look around my blog and other great blogs here. You might even want to register and have your own homesteading blog!
If you are a registered user and especially if you are our "friend", I would encourage you to go to this link and vote for Pure Water Hollow Homestead!
Wouldn’t it be neat if one of our homesteading blogs wins a homeschool award! The odds are greatly against me, I know, but it’s fun anyway!
Thanks, and God Bless!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
amanda on November 14, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Our blog will be pulling for yours!
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Henry on November 14, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Just voted for you, my friend.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Belle on November 18, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I voted for your blog! I think you have a wonderful blog! I love reading your blog and I have learned many new things by reading your blog, like how to sap trees.
My blog is in the 2008 Homeschool Blog Awards too. I am in the Best Homemaking or Recipe blog. As soon as I found out that I was in for voting, I went to my blog and found all of my post and my entire blog to have been deleted. I was very upset to find this, and I have no idea of how it might have happened. All of posts about sapping trees were deleted too. So, I have to repost all of my posts.
I think I am going to copy all of my posts and put it into a document on my computer. You might also want to do that, incase your blog was ever deleted you could simply copy all of your post and repost them. You have a wonderful blog and I would hate to see all of your posts deleted.
Good luck in the 'polls'! I hope you win!!!
Belle
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CandyFoote on November 25, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!
Candy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rob on December 8, 2008 at 6:32 pm
How exciting to get a response so soon. I have read your past few blogs and you have indeed stimulated imaginations of your lifestlye. We use that word like we actually can choose a lifestyle, when I think we more point ourselves in the direction, then bounce off the bumpers of life like a pinball, but along the way we become skilled at holding our breath so each moment pauses and we can savour it.
But give credit to the deep peace God has generously given us… like see pigs scrambling in the pen, but instead of the mud we see the beaty of birth and the wonder of design… the miracle of the moment.
I appreciate the privacy factor you have implemented. This is a neat place, this site, safer than most, but even if the weirdos on the net did not exist, some privacy is important to the family.
I intend to both exercise sharing, and caution as you will see in my next entry. A trip to the property ( in words), but I will not actually share the location, though to friends, even here I develop and trust, I will share that information. I even intend to offer visits(cheap holiday) for the brave and trusted friends … for all that I have is not my own,,,but to be shared. So stay tuned just in case some day opportunity knocks and you have a chance to get away. And if is just too far, or too hard or too much… I invite you to journey in my blog. God speed and light your way …
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Where Time Stood Still
The other day I came across a nice book about the region where God has allowed me to have my homestead. Pure Water Hollow is part of the area the author of the book calls “The Southern Appalachian Region”. This book is entitled Where Time Stood Still, and was written in 1970 by Bruce and Nancy Roberts. I enjoyed their brief history and description of the region so much, I decided to quote 8 paragraphs from pages 3-5. (Three of those pages are nice black and white photographs.)
“Today, the term Appalachia often suggests only poverty, but it means much more, for this was the first frontier of our country. A wilderness filled with beauty, it was also a place of danger and hardships. If the settlers survived Indian raids, there was still the threat of smallpox and malaria. The challenge to survive was great, and those who accepted it were a new breed, unafraid and ready to risk all.
Many of them came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, or France. The majority were Protestants, strongly imbued with the individualistic traits of their faith and a desire for religious freedom. Not always literate, they might best be described as a courageous, sometimes ornery people determined to live life in their own way. Somehow they did, and somehow they managed to survive.
The first settlers literally lived off the land, eating Indian corn, berries, and wild game. Their possessions were often limited to an ax, a knife, a rifle, and a loom. But even during those early days, these men and women never considered themselves poor. For they owned land, and this had not always been possible in Europe.
It was their land that gave them a feeling of worth, a sense of pride and of being men among men. A basic need was fulfilled, and to this day natives of Appalachia do not consider themselves poor so long as they can call a few acres of land their own.
Having pushed into the mountains by the time of the American Revolution, they raised large families in the shelter of the coves and valleys, often naming their settlements after the families who lived there. Game was abundant, the valleys fertile, the climate mild, and the country was beautiful.
The land seemed to cast a spell over it people. Spring was and still is an unforgettable succession of wildflowers, from the first feathery white blooms of the “sarvis” to the purple mist of the redbud trees to the later profusion of white dogwood. Throughout the forests may be found every shade of green in the spectrum. Along with the new leaves come the startling beauty of the wild flame azalea, vast stretches of laurel thick with tiny pink blossoms, and spectacular pink and red rhododendrons covering entire mountainsides with a mass of color.
If these people who loved their mountains so well could not leave them in the spring, how could they do so in the fall when they resemble the palette of an absent-minded painter who has allowed one brilliant color to flow into another. Summer rains and mists are gone, and over this dazzling display is an intensely blue autumn sky ablaze at dusk with the most dramatic sunsets of the year.
It is now over three hundred years since pioneers first settled the recesses of the Appalachian Mountains, and thousands of the descendants of these frontiersmen are still there. Hospitable and essentially honest, they care little for physical comforts and they enjoy their solitude.”
I wanted to capture these words here on the blog because they ring so true to what we have observed and felt ourselves. We are truly blessed to be here, and I so appreciate those that have gone this way before us!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kathy on October 21, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I find this very interesting. Thank you for sharing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
amanda on November 1, 2008 at 10:18 am
What a great description! Isn't that what we are here for though? To work the land and enjoy the riches God gave to us? It's hard work but rewarding nonetheless.
We haven't accompolished half as much as you all but are still working at it. We are also seeing God's hand in it all the way.
We have been wanting to get a dairy cow for over a year now. funds have prevented us from it though. I believe the Lord has other plans though. He has blessed us this past week with free electric fencing and hubby has started to collect what we will use for the barn. One step at a time and always leaning on God!
Blesings,
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
“Today, the term Appalachia often suggests only poverty, but it means much more, for this was the first frontier of our country. A wilderness filled with beauty, it was also a place of danger and hardships. If the settlers survived Indian raids, there was still the threat of smallpox and malaria. The challenge to survive was great, and those who accepted it were a new breed, unafraid and ready to risk all.
Many of them came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, or France. The majority were Protestants, strongly imbued with the individualistic traits of their faith and a desire for religious freedom. Not always literate, they might best be described as a courageous, sometimes ornery people determined to live life in their own way. Somehow they did, and somehow they managed to survive.
The first settlers literally lived off the land, eating Indian corn, berries, and wild game. Their possessions were often limited to an ax, a knife, a rifle, and a loom. But even during those early days, these men and women never considered themselves poor. For they owned land, and this had not always been possible in Europe.
It was their land that gave them a feeling of worth, a sense of pride and of being men among men. A basic need was fulfilled, and to this day natives of Appalachia do not consider themselves poor so long as they can call a few acres of land their own.
Having pushed into the mountains by the time of the American Revolution, they raised large families in the shelter of the coves and valleys, often naming their settlements after the families who lived there. Game was abundant, the valleys fertile, the climate mild, and the country was beautiful.
The land seemed to cast a spell over it people. Spring was and still is an unforgettable succession of wildflowers, from the first feathery white blooms of the “sarvis” to the purple mist of the redbud trees to the later profusion of white dogwood. Throughout the forests may be found every shade of green in the spectrum. Along with the new leaves come the startling beauty of the wild flame azalea, vast stretches of laurel thick with tiny pink blossoms, and spectacular pink and red rhododendrons covering entire mountainsides with a mass of color.
If these people who loved their mountains so well could not leave them in the spring, how could they do so in the fall when they resemble the palette of an absent-minded painter who has allowed one brilliant color to flow into another. Summer rains and mists are gone, and over this dazzling display is an intensely blue autumn sky ablaze at dusk with the most dramatic sunsets of the year.
It is now over three hundred years since pioneers first settled the recesses of the Appalachian Mountains, and thousands of the descendants of these frontiersmen are still there. Hospitable and essentially honest, they care little for physical comforts and they enjoy their solitude.”
I wanted to capture these words here on the blog because they ring so true to what we have observed and felt ourselves. We are truly blessed to be here, and I so appreciate those that have gone this way before us!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 comments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kathy on October 21, 2008 at 3:46 pm
I find this very interesting. Thank you for sharing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
amanda on November 1, 2008 at 10:18 am
What a great description! Isn't that what we are here for though? To work the land and enjoy the riches God gave to us? It's hard work but rewarding nonetheless.
We haven't accompolished half as much as you all but are still working at it. We are also seeing God's hand in it all the way.
We have been wanting to get a dairy cow for over a year now. funds have prevented us from it though. I believe the Lord has other plans though. He has blessed us this past week with free electric fencing and hubby has started to collect what we will use for the barn. One step at a time and always leaning on God!
Blesings,
Amanda <><
II Corinthians 5:7
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
A New Barn For the Goats
I haven’t been updating about what we've been doing here at Pure Water Hollow lately, and I really don’t have time to write much now.
We had a good September, the best thing being the new barn.
I need to take pictures of the new goat barn we had built. We hired two carpenter friends that have had a lot of building experience They had never built a barn before, but they did a great job for us and gave us a good deal on their labor.
Matthew (my son) worked with them everyday . I guess they put in about 72 hours on it. We gave Matthew a carptentry class credit for school. I figure he got more experience and learned more in the past two weeks than he would have in a public school shop class that only meets for 50 minutes a day and only builds a book shelf and a bird house for the whole year.
The barn is 12ft by 40ft with a 12ft by 30ft 2nd story loft. The goats love it!
I still want to put in some stalls, a shed roof on one end, and some other things to finish off the barn, but that will all wait for a while. First I need to get more fence up for the goats, which I hope to do next week. I was very sorry to see that T-posts have jumped up to $5.39 a piece at Lowes! I thought $3.00 was high when I last bought some a half year ago, or so.
We have a lot to do to get everything ready for winter here at Pure Water Hollow. Hopefully we will have a great October and be ready for the cold that will be coming soon!
God is Great!
added later:
Here is a picture of the construction of the barn in the early stages:
And here is what it would look like later that winter:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 comment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sheryl on October 1, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Glad to hear everything is going good. We have sold all but one of my goats. Sold or gotten rid of just about all of my chickens. We still have the pig and will butcher him soon. Price of things and time is a lot of the reason we are down-sizing our homestead. Take care.
We had a good September, the best thing being the new barn.
I need to take pictures of the new goat barn we had built. We hired two carpenter friends that have had a lot of building experience They had never built a barn before, but they did a great job for us and gave us a good deal on their labor.
Matthew (my son) worked with them everyday . I guess they put in about 72 hours on it. We gave Matthew a carptentry class credit for school. I figure he got more experience and learned more in the past two weeks than he would have in a public school shop class that only meets for 50 minutes a day and only builds a book shelf and a bird house for the whole year.
The barn is 12ft by 40ft with a 12ft by 30ft 2nd story loft. The goats love it!
I still want to put in some stalls, a shed roof on one end, and some other things to finish off the barn, but that will all wait for a while. First I need to get more fence up for the goats, which I hope to do next week. I was very sorry to see that T-posts have jumped up to $5.39 a piece at Lowes! I thought $3.00 was high when I last bought some a half year ago, or so.
We have a lot to do to get everything ready for winter here at Pure Water Hollow. Hopefully we will have a great October and be ready for the cold that will be coming soon!
God is Great!
added later:
Here is a picture of the construction of the barn in the early stages:
And here is what it would look like later that winter:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 comment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sheryl on October 1, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Glad to hear everything is going good. We have sold all but one of my goats. Sold or gotten rid of just about all of my chickens. We still have the pig and will butcher him soon. Price of things and time is a lot of the reason we are down-sizing our homestead. Take care.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)