Dene befriending the Idaho Pasture Pigs and Large Black Hogs at We Grow LLC
WRONG SIDE OF THE FENCE
The pigs have landed and so the fun begins. We couldn’t possibly get new little pigs home without them getting out their very first night. So at 9:00 Wednesday night the whole family was trying to round up two little pigs who slipped right through their electric fence. We have never been very good at keeping pigs on the right side of an electric fence and it is frustrating, because we see other farms containing pigs in some single strand, effortless little electric fence without any swine running circles. So we set up the hog panels until our new fencing materials arrive. We’re going to try keeping them in some electric netting. It is important that the enclosure is portable because they need to be moved to fresh pasture regularly.
In the photo above, Dene is trying to make friends while they eat their daily dose of minerals. These minerals are the key to keeping them from rooting so they graze instead. The two large black hogs, a heritage breed, are on the left and the two Idaho pasture pigs are on the right. We purchased the black hogs from a family in Catawba and for the Idaho’s, we traveled to White Bison Farm in Laona which was a very interesting place to visit.
We feel things are going a little better in season two. At this point last year, we were putting five items in a share and this week we have nine! The deer have gotten into everything the past few days and really wreaked havoc just like last year. The snap peas are completely mowed off, but coming back already. Kohlrabi and red cabbage will be lacking as many are gone. Thankfully, we had some much needed help putting up a huge fence around the main field – about an acre. When we contacted wildlife control about deer problems back in April, they brought us everything we needed for the fence. Fencing is a necessary step if we plan to ever take additional action (ag harvest tags) down the road if the damage continues. Two nights so far and they have been staying out. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts.
Hopefully keeping the deer out and the pigs in,
Eric & Rebecca