2 part-time homesteaders trying to leave the earth a little better than we found it
After Hypatia (a.k.a. Honeybunny, a.k.a. Mommabear) farrowed her first litter of piglets on St. Patrick’s Day, we gave her some time alone with her new family, separated from the rest of the herd. After about 5 weeks, we integrated momma and babes with the other two adult pigs, Alexander Hamilton and Eliza, which went smoothly. … Continue reading Making Mistakes: Life and Death on the Homestead
At the beginning of September, over the course of 3 very long days, we butchered our first pig on the farm. I’ve been struggling to write this story because I couldn’t think of a way to make it engaging or funny. But Josh helpfully pointed out that wit and narrative aren’t always necessary. Until 70 … Continue reading Home butchering the homestead pig
“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing poorly first.” -Joel Salatin Whenever Josh and I tell someone that we live on a farm, the polite followup question is inevitably “what do you raise?” I think most people are hoping we’ll say tomatoes, but “pork and chicken,” is what we say. “Raised on grass, organic feed, … Continue reading Growing up as farmers and processing our own pork
The piglets are 10 days old today. They’ve grown a lot since their birthday, and they’re beginning to fill out. Honeybunny continues to be an excellent momma. We’re so impressed with her. Today was was a big day for the piglets. They had 3 big milestones: Most of them ventured out of the farrowing hut … Continue reading Big day in pigletville
People who raise pigs out on pasture all have anecdotes with a similar theme: the day you look at a pig’s paddock and think “they’re almost out of forage, I should move them tomorrow” is the day the pigs will move themselves. Or, if you notice a weak spot in the fence and think “a … Continue reading Making bacon
We came home from work last Thursday to find our two gilts (girl pigs) missing from their paddock. This was not completely unexpected. The wire fence surrounding their paddock is old and loose in places, and they had pushed under it twice the week before. Once they made it as far as our junk pile, and once into … Continue reading Underestimating the determination of a bored pig
It’s spring, so of course there’s so much going on at Bellfern Homestead, and I’m too tired to organize it all into an interesting and themed narrative. This is going to be a casserole-style blog post: take what you have, mix it all together, add cheese, and hope it holds together. We’ve got over a hundred chickens … Continue reading Spring on the farm
Josh and I grew up in the Midwest–me in Illinois, him in Ohio and Iowa. At some point in our childhoods, we both came across the game “Pig Mania,” and it’s not because it was a virally popular game at any point in history, not even in the Midwest. It’s a dice rolling game, except that the dice … Continue reading Makin’ Bacon
As the summer ended, we felt that we knew the homestead pretty well. We knew where the pasture was thick and healthy, and we knew where it transitioned into sedge–an indicator of a low area. We had a mental map of the labyrinth of electric fence wire in the pastures, and how to direct current … Continue reading It’s the rainy season.
We had a pig scare today. Big Boy stopped eating last night, and he laid down to sleep while the other 3 (Tugboat, The Corporal, and Number Two) fought over dinner. He’s a pig, so dinner should be the absolute best part of every day. Something was wrong. I went to bed feeling anxious, but … Continue reading Food for thought: antibiotics vs. organic meat
Bellfern Homestead 