Piglet and His Two Friends Have Arrived.

For over a decade Keith and I raised our own hogs from farrow (birth) to finish (self explanatory). We focused on the Red Wattle hog which was, at that time, a critically endangered breed. We worked hard within our own breeding lines, to raise quality meat and breeding stock. When we sold the Chatsworth Farm we sold all our Red Wattle stock as well and now the breed is only considered "threatened" which means their numbers are continuing to grow.

Now, we only raise a few hogs for ourselves and a couple other select folk, aka relatives, over the summer months. This handsome group of three came from stock we sold to another small farmer in Illinois two years ago.  It's good to see some familiar faces! Both in the hog and in the farmer. We brought these three home two weeks ago. They were eight weeks old then. A healthy group, raised with great care, we know they'll grow fast.

For the first couple weeks on The Poor Farm they have a small, cozy hutch and a little fenced in yard. Along the back of their paddock is a hot wire which trains them to electric fence so that by the time we turn them out into their big pasture, around mid-April-they will hopefully have learned to respect  our electric fences.

It's a theory anyway.

Every year at least one bozo goes THROUGH the electric fence instead of backing up when he gets shocked, and there is a bit of hog Olympics that follows. We chase them, they run, we chase some more and they run some more and eventually someone gets tired and goes home. Sometimes it's them, sometimes it's us.

They will be raised on organic corn and raw milk from our cow. In addition they'll have lots of room to run, rut and roam, to be real pigs not more pork on the hoof crammed into a concrete-floored confinement building.  When it gets hot we'll flood certain areas of the pasture for them so they can  take frequent baths. Pigs can't sweat (so stop saying you sweat like a pig cause they don't and you can't) thus it's important to keep them cool in the heat of the summer. The mud also keeps their skin moist and helps suffocate ticks or other bugs they may be hitching a ride on their hides.

We won't name these guys other than calling them pork chop or sausage butt. We learned years ago not to build long lasting relationships with those who will not be...long lasting.

Milk House and Family Cemetery Updates

Well now, life is looking up. After months of frustrating issues here on The Poor Farm, we've had a bit of sunshine. Literally. All week it rained and now it's sunny.

In addition, I did "take my man out" to see the building we were interested in. It rained of course but we slogged through the field anyway. Measuring 42 by 46 feet it is a size that would work very well for us but alas, poor Yorick, it may be too big for our mover.

So we are considering:
     Looking for another mover with bigger equipment (in this situation size does matter).
     Looking for someone who can split the building in half and move it in two sections.
     Looking for a another building

We both liked this building though. It's sturdy, well made and with enough rust to fit in well with our "motif" we've got going on here. The inside is roomy enough to build a short loft, maybe 5 foot high which would give us additional storage room. The current floor is dirt so won't be hard to dislodge it. Inside the construction is strong and the wood trusses, beams and posts are in good shape. She has some external bangs and dings but all of us born in the 50's suffer the same.

I really like this old gal.  I'll let you know what we decide.


On the Family Cemetery Side...
     I received a call yesterday from our county coroner. I had called him first last fall when we started down this ashes to ashes road. Very nice man who had called IDPH (better him than me) and then spoke with several other coroners as well. His conclusion was this, "There is nothing precluding you from doing this." He did advise me to work with our county zoning office which I've been trying to do for months, still no answer from the man in charge of that department, and to be sure and register that particular piece of our property with the woman who records such. As he stated so adeptly, "You don't just want anyone digging you folks up."

Well, if I'm dead, I don't suppose I'll care, but if the grandkids are out playing in the yard...

Soon, Keith and I will mark off that area of our property and I will start looking for an antique metal fence to put around it, or we'll just use wood pallets. All depends on what kind of mood I'm in that day. These two examples below are on ebay. Love them both.

Finding Dory, and a Decent Sized Outbuilding to Keep Her in.

pinterest.com

As you all know, building a milk house/storage building out of tires is a no-go this spring. Thanks again Illinois EPA, you're a peach.

Instead we are driving about the area in search of a building we can move here. We considered another grain bin but framing this one in with all it's round walls was no picnic, and design wise, a boring old rectangular building will meet our needs best.

We have found a farmer who has agreed to move the building for us, once we find it, provided it does not interfere with his planting schedule. Thus if we can't find an appropriate structure soon, the move will have to wait till May. Not the end of the world, but the sooner we can get a building here, the more time we'll have to finish the inside, make repairs, paint etc...We are after all on a tight budget and expect whatever building we can afford will be a fixer-upper, which we can handle. It just has to be sturdy enough to move and in better shape than the old beauty above.

The good news is this, we may have found a building already! We noticed it sitting out in a field awhile back, located about 12 miles from us, and it appears perfect...from a distance. All metal (with a good amount of age appropriate rust) it looks quite sturdy and able to be moved. Since it is surrounded by fields, all the way up to its walls, it seems unlikely it's being used for storage, and its removal would be more land for the farmer to plow. Today Keith located the field in our Plat Map book and the phone calling began.

I started with a gentleman who sold us some doors two years ago, he lived about a mile away from said building. Yes, he did know who was farming that land and gave me a name and phone number but before you go, he said, how did those doors work out for you? I explained they were still in storage at our daughter's house, that we'd use them for a bigger house we might build one day. The tire house? he asked. And off we went for 10 minutes about THAT topic.

Eventually I was able to hang up and contact the man who farmed the land around the building in question. That man's wife answered and it took awhile for her to understand the nature of my call. Eventually she gave me her husbands cell phone number...which I called. He answered but was more suspicious than his wife. Yet, after I mentioned some other farmers we know and he mentioned some he knew and we finally landed on a couple we both knew-whew-he decided I was legit.

He admitted they were not using the building and the owner of the land was not using the building and maybe it could be sold. What do you think a building like that is worth? He asked. I suggested Keith and I take a look inside and then maybe we could agree on something. You do that, he said, you take your man out there, then call me, then I'll call the farm manager and then we'll just see.

"We'll see",  he said. Now, if that isn't a done deal, I don't know what is.



P.S. Blogger and I continue to struggle. Due to a huge influx of spam the last month or so getting past my block settings, I went into comment moderation mode. But while rereading comments made on last two posts, and then approving them and commenting on them myself, they suddenly disappeared. PLEASE KEEP MAKING COMMENTS, I'll get this blogger issue fixed I promise.

Milk House Update

                               
THIS ?                                                                    OR THIS?       (makingthishome.com)

First, my apologies for such infrequent blogging again. I know some of you find it nearly impossible to get on with your own lives without knowing what's going on with mine. I'll get better...or I won't. I'm also had these annoying Blogger issues with many more spam comments being made now, than in the last 7 years I've been blogging. What a mess. You would think for all I pay Blogger for this blog...oh yeah, it's free...never mind.

So, an update on our milk house project, the building we hoped to construct with the used tires left on The Poor Farm, so they would not end up in a land fill like the millions of tires already there.  The new building we'd  use for cleaning and storing our milking equipment, for storage of our chest freezers (currently in the 1865 shack house on the property) and for a root cellar area to store all our canned goods, potatoes, apples  and onions. The building we could use in part as a green house for earlier garden starts and extended garden growth.

Yes, THAT building.

Well, after completing the seven page BUD (Benefit Use Determination) application for the Illinois EPA (environmental protection agency) and mailing it in and waiting and waiting and emailing and leaving voicemail messages, and waiting for a response, we finally got one.

They said no.

Actually what they said was, the project was being denied because we did not get an engineer to sign off on it. When I explained again how small the project was, how it was for our own use, how all we wanted to do was convert some of the tires left here into a useable, attractive, inexpensive, ecologically friendly storage building, they responded:

Even if you are only building a dog house with those tires you need to involve an engineer.

Once again our state government demonstrates their common sense approach to all things slightly unusual. Rather than allow us to do something productive with the rubber circles on our property, rather than accept the internet searching I submitted about the benefits of building with these materials, they want us to pay an engineer at approximately $100-$300 an hour to tell them the same information.

Also, the gentleman who called me with the BUD application denial information, made it very clear they had ninety days to approve or disapprove an application, implying of course, that our proposed project, if ever approved, might not get the go ahead for several months.

So much for our budget, (which was only $5000 to begin with) so much for our time frame of building the milk house this summer, and so much for common sense. But, as good homesteaders will often do, we've rolled out plan B. As it evolves, I'll tell you about it and don't worry about the plans for using the tires, we're not giving up, we're just reworking our plans for initiation next summer instead of this summer.

We're thinking of building a church with those tires, claiming religious immunity from overreaching rules and regulations. If it's good enough for Mel Gibson it's good enough for me.

Before I go, a couple other fun tire facts for Illinois. You can only haul or transport nineteen tires at one time without a license to do so. Thus if you are hauling TWENTY tires to your grandkids house for a playground project you better do it late at night, take the back roads, wear a red wig, and drive with your lights off.

Also, you can only keep fifty or less tires on your property without a tire storage permit. If you have fifty-one tires you must have the storage permit which requires you to keep them all covered and/or inside of a building, because we all know that forty nine tires harboring mosquitoes is so much better than fifty. Which all begs the question, if Illinois EPA would allow us to build our building, where all the tires would be filled with dirt and NO mosquitoes could breed in them, wouldn't the tire storage issue solve itself?

Finally, I discovered this little number on the internet and I had to wonder, what engineer signed off on that and how could I get his number? Oh wait, this is probably an California design not an Illinois one.

Drunk on the Power of Full Time Homesteading

Spring hits me as hard as Fall does. When I could be enjoying-for just a brief moment-the emerging green grass or the flush of beautiful fresh eggs,  I am instead rushing mentally ahead making lists of all the tasks which must be done these next six months. This year, my level of HTA (homesteaders task anxiety) is particularly high. I reason that it is due to the shift in our roles here. I am now home a hefty part of the week, while Keith is working one full time job and one part time gig.

The "job" provides us with income. The time spent on the "gig", is bartered for animal feed. A decade ago I worked off farm and Keith was here (or there since we lived somewhere else), and I pretty much left the farm decisions up to him. I helped when I was home but bringing in the cash and keeping up with household stuff, was my domain. Now, the house, the homemaking, my writing, a good ahre of outdoor animal chores, and soon enough, the garden, will all be my primary focus.

While concerned with how it will all get done, and it never does, does it?, I'm feeling a bit drunk with the power. I imagine that while Keith is at work I could...

  Rearrange all the fences to allow for lovely pathways through the property
  Construct adorable pasture gates out of bent willow branches and old jewelry.
  Paint all the out-buildings a matching shade of lavender.
  Attach flower boxes outside the chicken coop.
  Teach myself to weld and turn all our metal garbage into charming fake flowers or reptiles
          or garden gnomes!
  Pile all the burnables into a big hill and have the most awesome bonfire where my female friends
          and I will drink dandelion wine and dance nak...never mind.
  Build a village of treehouses or old campers for our grandchildren to hang out in.

Pinterest.com

First though, I'll have to deal with the fact that I don't have the same building, welding, repairing skills my husband has, and there is still, despite my loud letters of complaint, only 24 hours in the day.



If I jump into the above outdoor fantasies, I'll have to give up the cooking, food prep, laundry, writing, helping out with grandkid babysitting things I am currently neck deep in. Not to mention, but ok, I will, all the outdoor projects. Like the new milk house that must be built this summer.

What to do, what to do. How do you all structure your time? Have you given up sleep entirely or have you self actualized to the point that you can enjoy a cup of tea without filling a notebook with more "to-do" items. How do you find real peace, and how do you make it last longer than ten seconds?

Mucca's Big Jaw

This is Mucca

Mucca is Italian for cow.

Last week Keith noticed two areas of swelling on her, one on the right side of her jaw, and the other on the right side of her neck. He asked me to look at it closer and I was baffled. The one on her jaw was small, golf ball size, but very hard.

The one on her neck was larger, softer. Neither felt warm, as an area of infection might, and there were no signs of puncture wounds or cuts. She wasn't having any trouble eating or drinking either. But, we were concerned about parasites and because she is pregnant, due in a couple months,  we made an appointment with our vet.

To save the cost of a farm visit, we loaded up Mucca a couple of days later and drove her 30 miles to the vets office where he was able to see her in the back of our livestock trailer. I may have mentioned it before, but we love our vet! Been using him for over twenty years and he's so good and kind with the animals, and super patient with my nurse fueled questions. and Keith's experienced dairy man inquisitions, "So, should we try this? " or "Do you think it's this?" and "How can we avoid this?"

He tried to aspirate both swollen areas with a needle and syringe but got back nothing more than a bit of serous fluid. Looking at the cells under his microscope he didn't see any bacteria and because she wasn't acting sick, he guestimated it as a couple of hematomas (areas of blood collection) due to an injury of sorts.

We were relived it wasn't serious and that antibiotics weren't needed. We were also relieved that the total bill was just $87 . It's still over our monthly livestock care budget but Jan and Feb expenses in this area were low, so Mucca gets a pass. After we got her home I spent more time watching her and noticed how Alpha Cow Liz can be pushy with Mucca especially at hay feeding time. Both cows have horns and so it's likely Liz gave Mucca a push and hit her right side with her horns. Liz's horns are blunt tipped, which is consistent with the injuries seen on Mucca.

So, we'll keep an eye on her and hopefully the hematomas will absorb back into the bloodstream as they should. We also added another large Rubbermaid feeder in their pen so they each have their own feeder to dine from. Of course, they aren't doing this. First, they eat together out of one feeder then they mosey over the other feeder and eat out that, together.

Cows. If it's not one thing, it's an udder.

March, in like a lion.

Yesterday, the last day of February, was as crazy as the rest of the month. Too warm, too windy and too unpredictable. Tornado weather.

Usually that hits us here in Central Illinois towards April and May, but this whole winter has been off kilter with unstable and variable temps bringing ice storms, fog and most recently, temps so warm tulips are popping up two months early.

High winds started yesterday afternoon and tornado warnings began screaming across phones and radios around 5pm. An F3 (winds of 130-160 mph) hit the town of Ottawa about 30 miles north of us,  killing one person while causing loads of damage to the rest of the town. You can see that news report and more photos HERE.

We had minimal damage on the Poor Farm. Some of our feed buckets and barrels were tossed out in the fields, but the critters were all fine. Doing chores was a pain as I got far more hay blown back into my face and eyes than I managed to get into the hay feeders! Inside the grain bin I could hear the wind but the circular shape of our home greatly diminishes the noise. Sometimes we'll be sitting on the couch downstairs and not even realize the wind is blowing until we look out the window and see the trees being bashed about.

This is both a good thing and a worrisome thing. In our old farmhouse I tell just by the degree of window rattling how severe the storm was and whether or not I needed to round up four kids and a barn sour husband to get them all in the basement.

Now, the kids are grown and we have no basement. Oh well. I think the grain bin would do well in a tornado what with its super solid concrete foundation. Or,it might spin around a bit,but no worries, I
 always was  a girl who loved a good Tilt-O-Whirl ride.

mchaelochs.com

In two days they're predicting snow and after that we'll probably experience a tsunami. No, we're not anywhere near any large bodies of water, but this winter's weather has been so out of sorts, nothing would surprise me.