KW-26 Keeping pigs happy

And experimenting with "rest"

Happy Midsummer to you all! The astronomical solstice was on the 21st, but today, the 24th, is the day of the traditional northern European celebrations. Here at the barracks, I think we are going to mark it with a little fire, but sadly no dancing pirates.

On Wednesday this week, I slipped on the granite-clad stairs in the Big House and did my right ankle a bit of a mischief. I took it easy for a day or two, but by Saturday I was thoroughly bored with sitting around and did a full day in the garden. By the evening, it had swelled up again to twice the size that it had been before, and so some more rest is probably a good idea.

Yesterday, I got some reading done, but also, managed to tend to the tomatoes which were getting a little bit unruly. Full rest is really not going to happen, but I shall definitely not be gyrating around a camp fire either!

Tending to Pigs.

I realised, I talk about the pigs quite often, they are definitely the soul of the barracks, but only really in passing. I don’t think I have ever said much about what it is actually like to have them.

To ensure the healthy growth of your piggies, make sure to water them liberally, especially in the summer months.

The most obvious, in terms of how it affects other decisions, is that they are the only real expense of the barracks. The income from this newsletter almost (but not quite ) covers the cost of their feed, and the desire to grow their feed, and their straw, has a disproportionate effect on the decision making, and the time spent working over and above human food rendering. So let’s talk about pig food.

The fun of feeding pigs.

For at least the first week of pigging, maybe longer, I fed them huge armfuls of nettles, grass mowings, and every weed I pulled up from the garden. They were pretty tiny at the time. I found out where and how you could buy pig food online, with free delivery, and so I bought pig food.

Almost at the first feed, certainly very quickly, it was obvious that the standard pig food made them all quite aggressive with each other. Not all day, just at feeding time.

Pig food suppliers and pig farmers do not have the welfare of the pig in mind.

And why should they? Pigs will eat for as long as their is food in front of them. If you can scientifically control their food for maximum desirability which, as in with humans means sweet, calorie rich and full of fats, they get fat fast. Pig food is basically Big Macs for pigs. You can throw this stuff down in front of them and they will put on weight so fast that we get to slaughter them at 5 - 6 months old. It really doesn’t matter at all if they are healthy, it matters if they are obese. So, sure, if they go crazy, attack each other and get heart disease, who cares? We’re going to do way worse to them in a shorter time span, preferably while their are still babies and their bacon is still yummy.

So I buy them horse food. I figured that people with horses have the almost completely opposite approach to feeding their animals. They specifically want them to be happy, healthy and strong. Which is what we want for our piggies. So, generally, pig food, when we can’t grow it ourselves, is, twice a day, three or four items from the following list, plus about 20 - 40 litres of water

• five scoops of dried horse cobs (lucerne or similar)

• two scoops of horse museli

• one scoop of pig food

• all the veggie scraps from the kitchen

• whatever we can mow in about half an hour - usually around 20 kilos of grass

• a big bad full of weeds

We try to mix this up as must as possible, with the top of the list being more common than the bottom of the list. It’s not a science, there are no rules. Just keep it coming, baby!

The Week Ahead

We’re very much into the summer rotation of weed, water, mow. Trying to do enough of these every day to keep on top of things is usually enough.

It is impossible to go around every bed, and also keep things nice, and try to push ahead with projects every week. But, I do make sure that the tomatoes, potatoes and beans get a look at and some love at least once every week. Each has some biggish tasks this week, and so they are worth listing:

• string the bean gate and train the bean seedlings

• earth up all the second earlies and main crop potatoes.

• try a test plant from the first earlies (we ran out of potatoes from last year yesterday. It is time!)

• weed and mulch all the tomatoes. I did the side shoots yesterday, so that should be ok for a bit, but remain vigilant!

Pirate Gardening Tip of the Week

Pirate gardening is mostly old man gardening. It was old man gardening when I started with my first vegetable plot 30 years ago. So, mostly, it’s just old ways of doing things.

Renewing Strawberry Plants

Strawberry plants will always send out millions of suckers. At this time of the year, we pinch them out to make sure they make strawberries, not baby plants.

Let some of them set, but only as many as one quarter to one third the number of your plants. Then, in the autumn, dig up and replace the same amount of your plants with the new ones. Chuck the old ones on your autumn fire to destroy any chance of disease.

Four Years Ago

The Corona Virus Social Distancing Dining and Picnic Table. We made an artistic installation of a massively oversize dining table which could seat 8 people at an virally safe distance from each other. It lasted three winters before finally collapsing under the weight of a lot of ice, and the added inspiration from hurricane force winds.

I’ve read the internet on sprained ankles. I would be happy to hear your stories about sprains in the comments, this is after all my first one. The internet believes that the pain should go away fairly soon, but the swelling could last a while. Is this your experience?

But don’t tell me to go to the doctor. That ain’t happening!

With much pirate love, until next time, be excellent to everyone

Your

Pirate Ben

xoxo