Piggles again

The call came in - six piglets have arrived at our friends farm just 13.6 miles east of here.  More are coming but only two will call our farm home for the summer.  We are hoping for a good mom out of this years piggles and the other will be for our pork, bacon and ham dietary needs.

There remains one minor problem.  The pig pen hasn't been touched since December.  You may remember that this pen was built for two piglets to live in for a few short months in the fall.  We are now talking raising two pigs to almost 300 lbs each before the end fall this year.  Salvaged electric fencing wire and fenceposts from the old cow pasture will be relocated to the 1/2 acre we have selected for the pigs enclosure.  A decision remains to be made on whether we are going to keep the existing shelter made from salvaged pallets and OSB and try to create two pastures coming from it or disassemble it and start over moving the shelter to a new location.  We have researched batteries and solar-powered fence chargers and hope that we can find some money to purchase one before the pigs arrive in about thirty days.

Meteorologists have delivered on their promise of warmer weather this week.  My step-daughter asked if she could go swimming as temperatures approached eighty degrees this afternoon.  We had to remind her that it is still April and the ice only went out of the lake a couple of weeks ago.

Although almost unheard of in Northernwestern Vermont, we will be picking up the battery and the oil for the riding lawnmower - in the middle of April.  Other goals for my 'weekend' will include finishing the greenhouse, putting the floor down for the new shed and finishing the waste diverters for between the rabbit cages. 

The to-do list never seems to get any shorter and I am often left to wonder if we will be able to to make any significant progress towards self-sufficiency while working full-time plus overtime at an off farm job.  Lots to think about.

The rabbits seem to be doing better - thank goodness.  If all went well we should have the first Wandering Moose baby rabbits by Sunday.