Greg’s Aunt Chris visited us this week. She had never been to the farm before and getting to show her what we’ve been working on all these years was really special.
We took a long stroll around the farm together and started at the top of the farm, showing her the barn and the small city of hoop-houses we built by hand, one by one, year after year.
Next, we made our way down the hill toward the “Maternity Center.” There were 2 new litters of piglets to see and like always, they captivated everyone’s attention. I took a quick look over and saw that Chris (and Greg’s parents who were also with us) were all smiles.
We kept walking down the gravel path until the flock of laying hens and the surrounding pastures at all different stages of re-growth were visible from our weekly paddock rotations. Chris didn’t seem to be in the mood to limbo under the criss-crossing electric wires (can you blame her?), so we watched them from a distance and shared about how and why we rotationally graze our animals.
We continued down the gravel road to the House Field, a sweeping 7 acre field that’s being grazed by our Thanksgiving turkeys right now. We paused here and watched the turkeys move about, grazing on the thick carpet of green clover that Greg frost-seeded last winter and the amazing backdrop of bright orange and red trees. It was an awesome sight.
Next she met the cast of characters that are our breeding sows, who are living in the far East corner of the House Field beneath a grove of maple trees. She told me their massive size surprised her and I realized that even though I see them every day, they still surprise me, too.
The last stop on the tour was to the Back Field, which we’ve always thought to be one of the most beautiful spots on the farm. It’s a long narrow field surrounded by huge old growth trees (like oak, maple, and black walnut) on one side and a little creek with a younger forest on the other. It has the perfect combination of sun and shade and it’s pefect for our big pig herd. The 35+ pigs came over to the fence to greet us and then got right back to rooting up and grazing the protein-rich fall pasture.
After the tour, Greg and I felt so happy. Not just because we got to spend time in the sun, on a glorious fall day, with our family. But because, we were reminded once again, that this farm and all that comes with it, is meant to be shared.
With love,
Your Farmers,
Jenney and Greg