Monthly Archives: April 2019
NO VACANCY!
JAZ Farm is officially full up. There is no vacancy and no more room at the Inn – unless you want to sleep in the camper!
The farm is set up in sort of a “U” configuration. Permaculture dictates that you lay out your place in zones: the house area being Zone 1, the parts of the homestead that need daily attention (like gardens and livestock, etc, thus the shortest walking distance away, being Zone 2, and Zone 3 being things that require less attention, like the orchard and pasture, etc. We call our daily routine in zone 2 “doing the stations of the cross”. Go outside and deposit compost, walk over to the coop and get eggs, take care of the boy goats, tend the pigs, and make sure everyone has food and water and is healthy and happy. Then take a walk around to the west to feed and water the donkeys, then the turkeys, then the girl goats. After breakfast, go out and work in the gardens. Do it all again in the evening.
As of today, all the stations are full again! After having a conniption because my piglet supplier had forgotten me and promised an entire litter to one person, she called and admitted she had forgotten and felt really bad! GOOD! Evidently, she has a new 4 month old girl spawn. Remembering back the 24 years ago that happened to us, I was willing to be a compassionate grandpa figure.
Anywho, she held two little piggies back for me. As usual, with farm things, I didn’t expect to be getting them today. At 2:00 this afternoon I found out they were available. At 5:00, they were in their pen! I scrambled to rake out the hut, lay down fresh straw, get to the feed store to get something for them to eat, and get water in one of the buckets. Then off I went in my little POS run around car with a dog crate in the back. Got there ok, and it is always fun to see the mom who sprung ’em. As usual, she was the size of a Buick and endowed in a way that would make Stormy Daniels blush. Would guess momma sow to weigh in at 6-700 lbs.
We were also going to get a “gilt” (baby girl pig) to keep for future breeding, but the breeder didn’t have one due to forgetting about holding them for me. But, after seeing her pregnant future mommas, she told me that there will be many available around the end of June. We aren’t in a hurry and that should work out fine. Considering the scarcity of pork that is on the horizon, I’ll take what I can get.
These are the youngest little guys we’ve had (6 weeks). Today was weaning day so they have never been away from mom before. If you have ever done the rhyme “This little piggy went to market, etc., etc.” The one that is the little toe: “Went Wee Wee Wee all the way home”, must have been made up by a farmer. They SCREAMED all the way home. I think I need to go to an audiologist. We’ve experienced it many times before, but there is something about a freaked out pair of baby pigs, in a dog crate, in the back of your car, that really drives the point home. SQUEAL!!!!
So JAZ Farm is full up. The tally is thus:
- 2 and sometimes 3 bipedal humanoids
- 2 Labrador Retrievers.
- 2 Barrow piglets (castrated males)
- 2 Nigerian Dwarf boy goats (bucks)
- Two donkeys
- 3 Nigerian Dwarf girl goats (does)
- Half a dozen Bourbon Red turkeys
- 35 laying hens
- 26 broiler chickens
- 8 turkey eggs cooking in the incubator
- Depending on the day anywhere from 2 to infinity barn cats
- Half an acre vegetable garden and a work in progress fruit and berry orchard
That ought to keep us plenty busy. If you need anything take a number and we’ll try to act like we are concerned. Leave a message, someday we’ll get back to you.
Tomorrow I’m going to have to go out and rig up one of the dog fences around the pig hut. These little dudes probably don’t even weigh 3 pounds at this point so they can likely squeeze through some of the fence holes. They are secure enough for now, but once they get over being freaked out, they will start exploring. Right now they are even shorter than the lowest electric wire 12 inches off the ground.. Thank goodness they grow fast.
Here are some initial pictures- Not very good ones as they kept trying to hide under each other. They weren’t feeling too photogenic.
PS: Zina found out we got them and drove all the way out here to see them, just walked in the door. Could have predicted that one! Let the worrying and fussing begin. She loves the creatures!
The Retreat Discovery So Far
Just a meme update. No farming or collapse stuff. Just this. Wouldn’t put it out there if it wasn’t a big deal. If you’ve gone through it yourself, just remember – You went through it. You didn’t cause it. It wasn’t your fault. If anything, you were one tough S.O.B. After all, you are still alive. That, in itself, is something of a miracle. Stay strong. If the retreat does nothing else other than affirm this, it was worth it. The world is psychotic. To be awake in a world that slumbers it’s way to it’s death, is enlightenment.
Why We Are Going To Be Making Piggy Babies
Just wait until the Midwest flooding and livestock losses get factored into this as well. You ain’t going to be eating bacon everyday for breakfast anymore. Remember, China OWNS Smithfield foods. They will ship the pork back to their country and leave us with the manure lagoons. Futures up 60% YTD!!!
>>Demand from China is surging as African swine fever, a contagious diseasethat is nearly 100% fatal for domestic and wild pigs, has decimated that country’s hog herds.<<
“The global market won’t have enough pork to supply China,” Ma said Tuesday in an interview in Beijing. “The deficit won’t be filled even with poultry or other meats.”
https://www.agriculture.com/news/livestock/what-happens-if-african-swine-fever-breaks-in-the-us
“Today, Smithfield sends more than a quarter of its pork abroad, especially to China, which received nearly 300,000 tons in 2016. Part of what made the company such an attractive target is that it’s about 50 percent cheaper to raise hogs in North Carolina than in China. This is due to less-expensive pig-feed prices and larger farms, but it’s also because of loose business and environmental regulations, especially in red states, which have made the U.S. an increasingly attractive place for foreign companies to offshore costly and harmful business practices.”
Woohoo! Preppers Be Wakin’ Up!!
I have been filtering through the Prepper sites, Homesteader blogs and video channels that I follow. I can’t stand that most are kind of religious whack jobs and too often Preppers just come across as tinfoil hat wearing consipiracy theorists. A huge number are seriously narcissistic and think that they are somehow “bestowing” their greatness and over inflated sense of self on the readers and viewers. It’s something pretty serious that has affected me, and is a big part of my summer retreat, so I’ve become selective.
I ran across Canadian Prepper whilst vacuum sealing pasta today and my jaw dropped. Someone woke Up! It isn’t comprehensive, but damn, even an admission is better than listening to people deny human involvement or worse yet, thinking we are going into a new ice age because of the sun!
Hats off my friend you made my day!
At Least It’s Spring In The Seedling Room!
The Second bomb has come and gone. Not as strong as the first one but we are snowbound and the highway is still closed. The snow was heavy and it has frozen everything closed. Zina is out trying to get the barn doors open so the critters can go outside after being holed up for a day and a half. We are keeping an eye on road conditions to see if we can get Zina to work but if not she’ll work from home again.
It was an excuse to work in the seedling room though. All the plants that need to be started ahead of time are in and the room is starting to look like a bit of a jungle. The baby birds are almost ready to go out into the coop. If we can just get dried out again that would be helpful.. I have a semi load of soil ordered for the gardens and new orchard but he would sink to his axles if it isn’t dried out. It’s happened before and the ruts are still in the field to prove it.
Plant all the things!
Bomb II!
Woohoo! Blizzard warnings have been posted. It is currently 75 degrees. Hurricane tomorrow. Yeehaw! This one will be heavy sloppy snow. Batteries are charged. Here we go again. Bye bye Midwest.
Oh Goodie! Another One! Summer and Winter All In One Week!
We live in Romper Room and Mickey Mouse Is Our Guru
Pretty Much Says It All. Why I’ve Dropped Out For The Summer.
Too bad we can’t make the world do this. Mirrors can be an interesting place. They have the potential to eliminate the abuse caused by blame and scapegoating. As we were saying the other day at dinner, being the junior rooster in the pecking order just flat out sucks. End suffering, support your local roosters. Polish the mirror.
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