PIGS

 

The time had come for Simon and I to get some pigs and in our typical fashion we saw an add in the local newspaper, talked to our friend and that was pretty much how it happened.  We had 2 weeks to get a pen erected, house built and a quick self-help lesson in pig husbandry.  Actually to be honest my husband Simon has always been keen on getting some rare breed pigs but the time or place hadn't been right and now that we are settled it just seemed the next step on our journey to getting more and more self sufficient.  We have shared this experience with another chef and dear friend Ed which has been great to feed off information from one to another and to share with costs, food and general up keep.

Simon and Ed built the pen with foraged wooden pallets, some tin and straw.  With a little effort and team work they built a fantastic home for the soon to be housed pigs.  They had a warm, dry house and plenty of room to root, run, wallow and do whatever pigs like to do.  For all of us this was quite a big role to take on and one that we all took very seriously as pigs may not require a daily walk they still require stimulation, they must have routine with a well balanced diet and they like a clean home.  Whoever said pigs were dirty is beyond me!

We got two pigs as they are sociable creatures and they like company which for us is hugely important that they are happy!  They were 10 weeks and weighing around 20kg each when they arrived in March and now at the end of May they weigh close to 100kg!! Amazing to see just how fast pigs grow, you can almost see them grow on a daily basis.  We have foraged for food from the many fruit and nut trees which line parks and grow wild throughout the neighbourhood, we now have a pig bucket in the kitchen where all food scraps (except meat) go into, which has been great for us as a family to reduce our waste.  It has taught us so many things since owning the pigs for one don't under estimate their intelligence and humour.  They keep their house immaculate, they go toilet in pretty much the same place all the time and they love food and foraging.

We feed our pigs twice a day and often throw in plants which have gone to seed, chickweed or any fresh crunchy bits and bobs from our property to give them a little snack, we also found that they adore milk which has been kindly given from the milkman, bread from the baker and scraps from our kitchens.  Well this has been a journey of raring the pigs, it has taught us as a family about the respectful and important role of raring happy, healthy pigs and taking control what they are feed so we know what we are going to be feed!

Looking back we have learnt a lot about what to do and what not to do.  We advise that getting pigs in winter isn't much fun for us or them.  Too much rain is a pain for us and them, that is obviously when you can see what destruction pigs can really do to your property and the amount of mud and puddles that can appear from having just 2 pigs.

Well the time has come for us to almost say good bye to these intelligent creatures and this is another first for us and one that we are excited about but also a little apprehensive as even though we have distanced ourselves and tried not to get attached you still do have feelings as you do spend a lot of time regularly feeding and mucking them out.  You see little characteristic appear and quirky things they do and you realise just how smart they are. We are now planning our next stage of pig farming and that is pig eating and this is the part where we as chefs turn our skills and passion into respectively preparing our pork and turning it into joints of meats for roasting, brining, curing and preserving.  This is what it is all about...

Two weeks left and we are ready for stage 2 ......MEAT!