This past week has been a reminder never to take anything for granted. For three years, we have been raising pigs and cows for meat and milk. Our breeding pair of Yorkshire pigs have been our pride and joy. Not only that, they have been a source of love, grief and entertainment. All of that changed this week. We came home from a charity event for special needs children to find our boar missing. We were shocked to find that our boar, Obama had been shot and killed. After a few days of sorting out the details, which I have decided don’t matter anymore, we went to pick up Obama at the processor.
Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. All of the men came out to tell us that we had raised such a huge hog, weighing in at 727.5 lbs, the biggest they had ever seen. We loaded up 6 boxes full of pork and headed home. We now have a 20 cubic foot freezer full of delicious pastured pork!
Also, most of you might know that our dairy cow, Daisy, recently had a calf. We initially thought that the calf was a bull (YAY! more beef) but now we are pretty sure that it is a heifer. Either way, we have been blessed with another cow and more milk than we know what to do with. Daisy did try to jump the fence and go back to her “herd”. In the process she got a cut on one of her teats, making it hard to milk her. This farming thing we do…..sometimes you have to remember that its not all cake and ice cream. Sometimes you have to take one on the chin and remember to take the bumps and bruises with a smile on your face. Because the only way you can truly appreciate the success is to plow throw the disappointments!