Smallholding : Keeping Pigs

The pig can be a great addition to the smallholding.
They can be bought in during early summer to deal with any excesses that the holding will start to produce. For us June marks the time of excess. This excess should increase throughout the summer untill late
September or early October.

This four months of plenty is ideal for the smallholder that doesnt like waste. As it is this waste that will help produce your pork and bacon for the coming year.
I can hardly think of something so useful to the family that can be achieved in such a short period, just sixteen weeks.

Once the days start to shorten and cool, you know that the pigs will soon move to the freezer, as will ours at the end of the month.
One less job for the cold winter months. It is very easy feed young piglets, but as they grow so do their appetites. Ours currently take a great deal of feeding, waste from the holding supplemented with rolled oats. They do very well on surplus milk and whey, a great source of protein.

Pigs can be kept outdoor on 'grazing' or in a pigsty. We have chosen to keep ours in a concrete pigsty, as we have found them to be masters in escaping!

They are very easy to keep once you design and build an efficient pigsty. If done correctly, they will only need twice daily feeding and weekly washing down the toilet area.

They are very clean, as regards where they go to the toilet. They will choose a spot away from where they sleep and eat so as to keep those areas clean.

You can throw all waste garden material like lawn cuttings and waste vegetables into them and they will gladly turn it into manure for the compost heap.

During winter we empty out the compost heap onto the veg bed and as a result we have wonderful soil.

While I think that pigs are wonderful animals, I am also very aware that they would gladly knock me over. I would never allow the children or dogs into the pigsty as I have seen them eat a chicken and a magpie while alive on different occasions. The birds were helping themselves to the pigs dinner and the pigs helped themselves to the birds! Worrying! They really do have powerful jaws!

But damn they are tasty...salami..yum!

Smallholding : Starting Now!

People are very welcome to visit us here and do so regularly. They ask us questions about our lifestyle and seek advice on changes in theirs.

I always find one common thread in their responses as we chat. And that is excuses!

Excuses for the many reasons that they do not live like us, and yet they admire and long for it.

We have been given every excuse you could think of. 

Anything from :

Our kids aren't grown yet

We'll do it when we retire

You have more time than us

You have more space than us

Your better at it than us

If I had a home in the country then I could home brew like you..

Etc etc

If I am to be brutally honest, these excuses annoy me. 

We have more and younger children than any we have met yet.

The have a smaller house than any we have met.

We have less acreage than any we have met. 

Hubby works full time and has a long commute. 

Things are not that 'easy' for us, but we choose to do it. Simple!

Yes, it is more work. We do not have time for watching tv. We barely sit down. But we are happy ( and busy ) together. 

Our house is small and easily gets cluttered, especially if there are demi johns of brew everywhere or stacks of laundry to be done. But it does get done.

Every one has the choice to move in this direction if they wish. It is a choice and it is ok to not want to, but be honest about that choice.

Don't make excuses.  We do so much here on just one acre. It is our choice and when our family is reared we do not plan to live like this. We currently have responsibility to our young family so why not to the smallholding. But when they are reared, we do not wish to be so committed. We wish to be freer to travel and be spontaneous with our lives.  

In the mean while, we have making memories for our children as they grow.

When people ask us for advice, we give the following.

Start where you are.

Whether that is in an apartment or a large farm. Everyone has space for a demi-john or a few herbs on the widow-still. It is about widening your skills base. From attending a few craft courses or learning how to make your own jam or bread.

Improve your social skills. 

You would be amazed at people's generosity of time and skills when someone shows interest. I feel that this is the most valuable skill. It is a learnt skill so can always be improved on.

Don't wait till you retire.

There is never a good time to do anything in life. You need to make the time. It is a physical lifestyle that's suits youth better. The biggest factor is having to change old habits and mind sets. It is easier done young.

Just do it, as Nike says.

Learn to control your fear of change and be brave. By doing something new, you will learn more than any number of books could tell you. If it doesn't work out, that's okay too. At least you tried and gained experience, leaving no regrets.

Pace yourself.

Try not to take on too much too soon. I am guilty of this one! You will be overwhelmed and more likely to fail. I am in the habit of growing too much veg and not cook/ bottle/ store them. I get overwhelmed and feed them to the pigs. I would be better to grow less and get the benefit of them.

Smallholding: social skills

I think the most important skill to have or be prepared to learn when starting on the road to self-sufficiency or a smallholding is good social skills.

Social skills are much underrated and little discussed when it comes to farming, smallholding or even prepping. And yet I feel they are the most important factor on the successful outcome of the endeavour.

It is a skill that is almost lost in many places and especially in the youth. We focus a lot of energy on our kids to acquire as much as possible. It can only be a benefit.

I can only speak of my area and what I hear and see within it. I live in a tight rural community. I am from the area and have family here but I lived away for many years and only moved back three years ago. My husband is from the city centre where his family ran a shop.
I feel this gives me a foot on either side of the fence. I can see the point of view of both locals and 'blow in's.

Can I point out that we had 'city tinted glasses' on when we moved and that they only came off after a year or so.

These are some points that I have relearnt and now put to practise:

It is seen as rude to be shy.
Salute your neighbours and make small chat with them when you met them at the side of the road or pass them on the road or in the shop. Even if you think they don't know you, they do!

Call and visit your neighbours, especially if they are elderly. It is better to be too friendly than too distant. Don't be worrying about interrupting their busy lives.

Ask neighbours for help and be happy to give it. It is the biggest compliment to give or receive.

Funerals are a big thing here. You always attend them even if you barely knew them. Very rude not to as its a community gathering.

Young families instead of retirees are more valued and welcomed as they fuel the community. Their kids will go to the local schools and play local sport. The parents will work locally if possible and establish a tie to the area.
Where retirees are seen to compete against young couples for houses and outbid them and also contribute to ghost/holiday homes. These give nothing to a community but high property prices.

When people move in and keep to themselves, the locals consider them to have 'opted out' of community and then deem them odd.

While the truth might be very different. They could be lonely and isolated and longing for community. They simply don't have the skills to do so.
A good solutions to this would be to visit an elderly neighbour regularly and get them to teach the social norms of the area.

Smallholding: Milking goat or cow?

We started out with a pair of milking goats about five years ago. Our son had milk allergies and it was difficult and expensive to buy goats milk. We bought 'Mona' and 'Daisy', a saanen and a toggenburg. They were both in milk and used to being hand milked. I remember how shocked and overwhelmed I felt when we brought them home and I attempted to milk them. I felt a huge burden of responsibility for them, what if I can't milk them fully out and they get mastitis? Or worse, die! I was well prepared for them and had done a large amount of reading on the subject but nothing beats diving in! I assured myself that if things didn't work out, it was always possible to sell them.

So we had milking goats! Mona was a great goat. Easy to milk with a large blown udder, just like milking a cow. She give over a 5 litres a day and was a delight to milk. She was a large goat so was less inclined to climb and jump thankfully. Daisy was a different story! She was very excitable and would jump on you like a dog. She was restless at milking time. She would turnaround after or during milking quickly and drink all her milk in the bucket. She had been bucket reared! Her teats were tiny and it took ages to get less milk from her.
Both goats were well bred from good dairy stock and produced large amounts of milk. We later sold daisy and went through many more goats. But they were even worse and only give 2-3 litres a day. For us this doesn't make it worthwhile. We now realise that we were spoilt with mona and that her kind doesn't come by very often.
The biggest challenges with keeping goats were fencing, and keeping them out of the veg garden and away from anything you value, even your car!! They don't like grass but prefer hedges, trees, bark and flowers. They produced unwanted kids that were unsellable and had to be given away. The kids are cute at first but their climbing/ damage soon wears on you. We didn't enjoy the taste of the goats milk but the kids loved it and drunk large amounts of it and I made plenty of soft cheese from it. The milk was nice on the day of milking, but I don't enjoy warm milk. It developed a ting the next day and by day three it had a distinct goat taste.

Some time later we got a jersey cow. Again we were nervous about the responsibility and commitment involved. They are bigger and grumpier? But we were pleased to find out that a cow is sweet, calm and very generous with her milk. We first got Rosie, then Penelope and now Mama-moo. And I love cows! Sure they are a bigger investment but the calf they rear each year hold value and will fill the freezer or pay her feed bill for the year. Of course they need more acreage and there is legal requirements for testing and herd numbers... But they are great!
You will have so much milk, cream, butter, yogurt, cheese and ice-cream. Your veg garden will be so fertile with all that manure and your family will be healthy from raw, clean, whole milk. They are easier to fence and will help feed the hens, chickens, dog and cats.

People should consider what suits their personal circumstances.
Do you have much acreage?
Are you comfortable with large or smaller animals?
Will small children be involved?
Have you good fencing?
What do you intend to use the milk for?

For us Mona was a great goat and Mama-moo is a great cow. I would now never tolerate a bad, unruly or unproductive animal. Milking a bad animal makes milking a horrible chore, but milking a great animal makes it a delight. And it is the same investment in time and feed so you might as well enjoy it!

Many years from now, we might downsize to a goat but right now we love our cows milk.
I would love to hear other people's experiences.