Watching Grass Grow

A week of sunshine has made a big difference in our spring/summer pastures. In the north block of summer grasses, mustards, and amaranth (which we did not seed and is also known as pigweed) have almost completely covered any exposed earth. Photos below are from this drizzly Wednesday.

The mostly mustard seeded south block showed more dramatic growth. We think the ground might be ready for hogs as early as mid-March. I can't wait!

Sows and Piglets

Grouping a few sows and their piglets together gives all little ones more opportunity to nurse. Good thing, because piglets are hungry throughout the day.

This Duroc sow rolls on her side and calls for her piglets to nurse...

Watching Grass Grow

Ground is plenty moist and the sunshine this past week jump started the mustards.

European Wild Sows

European Wild crosses are a great fit to our operation and do well in the open pastures. Below are sows in their first trimester.

Barley

We're growing 30 acres of grains again this year. More than half that acreage is seeded with barley. Barley is an excellent feed not just for its protein value but for its higher content of essential amino acids compared to that of other grains.

Photos from a Sunny Morning

These are from last Wednesday.