Chris & one of the boys on the big day.

After months of collecting fruit and nuts, setting up fencing, and letting the pigs teach us what they like and don’t like to eat, we’re finally eating what we like, PORK. Our two 3/4 Red Wattle borrows were finally taken to the butcher a few weeks ago and the last meat, the ham steaks, are back and it’s all ready to sell. We were anxious to taste our natural, hormone and antibiotic-free, free range, pecan/apple/persimmon/walnut/acorn/corn and forage finished heritage Red Wattle pork and are delighted to say that it’s all excellent! I’ve feasted on pork burgers, pork chops, bacon, pork steaks, pork chili, and of course ham and loved every bit of it. Now I can’t wait to share it with you, the customers.

We decided to keep a whole hog and we’ve already sold some so there is a limited supply left for those of you who read this. We’re selling by the pound, $3.75/lb for 20-22lb packs and $3.50lb for  a half that is around 70 lbs. If you check around, this a great price for what you’re getting. The variety packs are as close as possible to an even share of all of the cuts… so it will be approximately 3 pounds of pork sausage, 3 pounds of ground pork, 3 pounds of pork steak, 5 pounds of pork chops, 2 pounds of bacon, 1.5 pounds of spare ribs, 3 pounds of ham steaks (either fresh or cured), a pound of hocks, and some neck bones (which are optional and only $1/lb). That’s actually closer to 21 or 22 pounds, but that is more or less the breakdown and most of it is vacuum packed for a long life in the freezer.

Contact me at steven @ franciscanfamilyfarms. com if you’re interested, or if you have any questions.

Not seeing much rain in the last few months, these cows were a little on the skinny side but they should shape up well on our 10 acres of grasses and legumes. Right now they are in a small paddock of their own. We’ll wait a while to introduce them to the rest of the herd.

We’re growing in another area too but this was a much cheaper purchase. Two Saturdays ago we picked up a buff rooster and a red hen at a local poultry sale. We’re hoping that one of our hens will decide to sit on some eggs and eventually hatch us some more chickens! We could have used this rooster a few weeks ago when we had an especially broody hen. The rooster is proving to be very well behaved and so far is doing his job.  :-) His name is Bruce and he’s a big buff colored bird that must have some Cochin in him because he’s got feathers on his legs.  Geri has been saying for months that we needed a rooster named Bruce.

The hogs continue to eat thier fruit, nuts, bread, corn, and grasses and adding on pounds! I’m picking up persimmons every day to feed them and yesterday was able to get about 2.5 gallons from our 2 trees. The loved it. I also had a neighbor come and ask if I wanted his walnuts so I hope the hogs develope a taste for them too!

I’ll try and get some pictures up this weekend.

About a week ago my wife and I picked up about 8 Walmart bags full of apples from her grandmothers yard. Nearly all of these apples would have gone to waste but now they are helping to add weight and flavor to our Red Wattle hogs.

We are blessed with numerous pecan trees and 2 large persimmon trees on our farm and hope to use these to help finish the hogs each year. This past week the first persimmons started to ripen and finally the hogs realized that these were good after all. It’s amazing how nasty something can taste until it is “ripe”! I’ve got high hopes for persimmons being a great hog feed. I’ve read that in Europe people used to finish hogs by pasturing them in persimmon groves. I tried a few of these little squishy fruits but can’t see them haveing a large presence in our kitchen because so much of the fruit is it’s large seeds. All the better for the hogs though, those guys love to munch on nuts! 

After the hurricane sent strong winds through on Sunday there were loads of persimmons and still green pecans on the ground so I’ve been gathering these and putting them in a trough for the hogs. They root through the fruit and find anything that’s ripe to gobble up. I’m hoping that like a tomato, these persimmons will ripen with time, after they’ve fallen from the tree.

Next I’m trying to get the hogs to try some Black Walnuts that are starting to fall, and even a few pawpaws that I was able to get from a neighbor. 

What kind of free wholesome foods have you found for your critters or yourself?