I was tempted to shy away and spare you the details this week. But I’ve come to see that something powerful happens when we make the effort to understand not just where our food comes from, but the journey our food takes from the pasture to the plate. So this is our week in less than 500 words.
So, please do me the honor, and imagine the biggest pig you’ve ever seen on our farm, one of our sows, preferably. And then imagine her belly so full of piglets and engorged with colostrum that when she struts around the paddock looking for her next meal, her belly touches the ground.
We were trying to figure out when our sow Ruby was going to deliver. And this was exactly the sign we were looking for. When it came, we knew labor was just a mere few days away.
Next, we waited for her to make her nest. Not the taco-shaped or v-shaped beds the pigs will often make when it’s cold outside and getting ready for a long slumber.
But a big round pad, that’s tall enough so it won’t compress much when she lies down and starts doing the hard work of labor – a nice landing pad for her brood.
The last sign we look for is the restlessness. This one, can be hilariously obvious or incredibly subtle depending on the sow.
And this time, it was as obvious as could be – Ruby spent several hours frantically rearranging her nest so that each flake of straw was right where she wanted it. And then she went full tilt and destroyed the door to her house and added that to her nest too.
When all those boxes were checked, as they were last night, we knew it was a matter of hours now. So we turned on the heater and kept an eye on her from afar, through the webcams mostly. And we waited…
Each piglet that hit the ground next felt like a gift – a gift that’ll enable us to provide YOU with the best quality food sometime next fall, after these pigs will have lived a full and happy life on pasture with us.
It’s a simple, really. And yet, meat raised this way, is such a rare and special thing…
Your Farmers,
Jenney & Greg
PS – It’s a FRESH PORK WEEK so this is the perfect time to get stocked up with all your favorites. Supplies are already running low so click HERE to order ahead!
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