We don’t typically keep our animals indoors, but during the winter, when we’re expecting little ones, we do. We want to be there to keep an eye on the babies.  That… and they’re so darn cute we don’t want to miss out.

Once the weather warms abit, we’ll turn them out on pasture.  There they will remain until next winter.

Yesterday was cold and windy.  That’s why when I called our local well & pump service company (Marcus Water Well Co), I told them to wait for more suitable weather.

Today was just as cold but not at all windy.  Today, Marcus service guys came out with the truck to check things out.  Last year they replaced a pressure-switch but felt that the pressure-switch was fine this time – they didn’t even order one for us.  Based on our phone conservation on Monday, they thought the well problems we were experiencing  was a little more serious.  They were right.

After 3 hours work, pulling the pump out of the casing and replacing the pump… we have normal water pressure again – something we have done without for months.  The suspected problem was a worn bearing, causing the impellers to wear down.  The worn impellers could pump some water, but not enough to maintain a substantial working water pressure.  Total cost of the repair: approx. $1000.  $625-650 for a ½hp submersible pump and 3 hrs labor (x 2 guys).  Would I hesitate to call them again?  No, I would not hesitate.

Compared to other well service companies, they are the least expensive. The added bonus is that they do good work.  We have quite a few service companies available in the Willmar, MN area, but most of my neighbors use these guys.  Their service is very good.  How would I know?  I used to work for one of the big well & pump companies.  I will not call the company that once employed me.  I did once.  Their bill was double that of Marcus’.  When I called them on it, they slashed the bill by half.

Every dollar we spend on repairs is a dollar we won’t have to spend on the  farm house that we’re having moved in this spring.

As I approached the waterer, I could hear a sizzle.  It was the heating elements “frying” whatever was in the stainless-steel trough of the waterer.  My first thought was that the underground water-line had froze.  I thought that possibility was doubtful, since it had been so unseasonably warm, up until this last week.  The one way to make sure the buried pipe was NOT froze was to check the hydrant and waterer down-line from this one.

Once I reached the Ritchie waterer, out in the cattle pasture, I could see there was still water in it… but was the water still flowing from below?  A few yards away was the hydrant.  When I pulled the lever, there was a rush of air… then water.  OK, good.  It meant we had water flowing through the pipes underground.  From that, I knew our problem with the other waterer was/should be inside that other waterer.

The problem at that moment, was this… it wass getting dark and we don’t know how long the goats and sheep have been without water.  I went to the house and let Carol know the situation.  After a short pow-wow near the barn, we found a small stock tank and a few water buckets.  Just like the first 20 months we were on the farm, we were once again filling a stock tank by hand.  To our luck and surprise, the animals were not that thirsty.  After about 16-20 gallons of water, they stopped drinking.  Cool.  I could breath easy.  I’d look at the frozen waterer tomorrow.

This morning, with an inch of fresh snow on the ground, I popped the top of the green waterer and noticed that it wasn’t froze inside.  The float mechanism moved freely and there was moisture on the flexible tubing.  Hmmmm.  I felt of the heat cord – it was warm.  I replaced the cover, figuring the problem was below.

The last few days, here in Minnesota, have been brutally cold – the  high temp. for yesterday was -2°F, with wind-chills below -40°F.  Other days, we were lucky to see 5°F.  With that said, I understood if the waterer’s thermo-tube couldn’t prevent things from freezing inside.

Once I opened the side access door, I could see frost in the thermo-tube and on the water valve.  I tried moving the valve lever.  I couldn’t – it was stuck.  Lucky for me, I had installed an outlet inside the waterer cavity when I put in the Ritchie waterer.  Having an outlet made things so much easier.  I unplugged the waterer electronics and plugged in my heat-gun.  After 4-5 minutes, water started to flow.  Needless to say, I was quite relieved.

I re-plugged in the waterer, closed the access door and preceded to mentally pat myself on the back.  “Ah yes… a job well done,” I thought.

What really surprised us it that the Ritchie waterer froze, but the pipes in the house have not.

~Rich

Farm raised, 3 pound ham

Pictured above is one of our many 3± lb hams that we have available for sale this year.  Our soy-free, pastured hams are easy to prepare.  Thaw, unwrap and bake.  It doesn’t get any easier than that.  If you’ve never made a ham before, these are the hams for you.  Our ham was so good, it would have been a shame to put a glaze on it.

I’m lucky, most of our main meals are home grown.  The green beans, in the photo, are from our garden, but the potatoes are not.  They’re potato flakes (my favorite).  Growing up during the TV dinner years, I have never been able to shake my appetite for the instant spud.

~Rich

PS:  IF you’re interest in trying on of these delicious hams, call us: 320.220.3235. Or email us.

For the folks who have been wanting details about our pork: GOOD NEWS… we have figured out our costs (processing, feed cost, the purchase of the feeder pig and added-in is a little for our time).  Here is the updated Farm Products Price List.

We sampled some of the pork last evening, prepared as simply as it could be – no overnight brine and no fancy herbs or spices… just a pinch of salt, a little pepper and some poultry seasoning.  Carol broiled a couple of the nicely marbled, ¾” pork chops in the oven.  The chops turned out delicious.  The kids thought it was the best pork their mom had EVER prepared.  I agreed.  2 thumbs up!

Our hogs are fed a very unique (and somewhat expensive) feed.  The grain that we feed is our own Certified Organic wheat ($9/bu).  We do not feed soy products and we don’t feed nutrient deficient GMO corn ($5.40/bu). The pigs also get hay during the winter and are pastured during the warmer growing season.  From time to time, we feed them excess baked goods and vegetable scraps from the kitchen and garden.  We think they’re treated [almost] too well.

Our pigs live outdoors, in deep straw bedding.  Even though they have access to a small hog hut, many times we find them buried in the straw, outside.  It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s snowing or not.  They love to be out and about. 

Remember, many experts say that for every $1 you spend on good quality, natural foods, you are likely to save $4 on medical expenses, down the road.

If you don’t have room in your freezer for a whole or half hog, no problem.  We are selling our pork by the cut/package.  We will be processing another hog in February… Mark your calendar.   Make sure you call Carol ASAP to order or reserve your cuts.  320.220.3235 (cell)

~Rich

Home-made goat jerky

We still need to fine-tune the seasoning/spices, but it’s still tasty.  Goat meat is quite lean – perfect for dehydrating.

To our customers: Thank you for giving us an opportunity to serve you and to provide you with food you can live with… food that is good for you… and food that came from plants & animals that were treated as God intended.

To our friends: Thanks SO much for helping us. We appreciate your encouragement, support and the help you give us when we need it. You give this area its sense of community.

Curly Sue is due any day now

Curly Sue is one of our purebred American Guinea Hogs that is pregnant.  She was due to farrow yesterday (Dec. 21).  As you can see in the photo, her underline is developing.  As of this morning, we could not express any milk, nor is her mammary area warm to the touch.  This leads us to believe she may be more than a day out from giving birth.  But really, who knows?  She’s a first time mom and with that said, anything can happen.

If you are unfamiliar with the American Guinea Hog, it is very likely that this type/size of hog was what was common on most homesteads around the time of Laura Ingalls.  Remember seeing those wire fences around old farm houses?  Some folks say it was to keep the chickens out of the yard, yet many sources believe it was to keep their small breed, family hogs in.  With the pigs fenced close to the house, there was a “safe-zone”.  Since hogs are omnivores, they would keep this area free of snakes, mice and rats, as well as weeds and tall grass.

Guinea Hogs are small, deep-bodied, lard pigs… one of only a few domestic pigs that can survive on pasture alone.  In fact, even a small amount of grain can fatten this breed of pig so much so that they may not be able to reproduce.  Often, feeding bread and/or a few small scoops of oats with hay is all these pigs need to live well, when being raised in pens.  Otherwise, good quality alfalfa/clover/grass-mix hay is all they need during the winter months.  We like feeding food scraps as treats.  The American Guinea Hog, at adulthood, is only approx. 100 lbs. – perfect if you don’t have a lot of room in the freezer at processing time.

We love our little lardos.  They love to be scratched/itched and they come running when they see people.  They love the attention… and the treats we usually have for them.

UPDATE:  Curly Sue had 5 seemingly healthy little ones on the 23rd of Dec.  There are 4 gilt piglets and one boar.

You can find many more pics (including birthing photos) here on our Curly Sue FB album.

Our area has a 90% chance of “enjoying” a brown Christmas.  A white Christmas is defined [by our local TV weather guys] as having at least ½” of snow on the ground (often referred to as snow-pack).  If you view our webcam from time to time, you can plainly see that we have no snow.  Any white we experience is usually nothing more than the frost each morning.

No snow makes it quite nice for those of us who hadn’t quite gotten all of our fall duties done.  It does, however, bring concern for next spring.  How will the lack of snow effect the soil moisture content for next spring’s planting and growing season?  Also, snow helps insulate the ground and helps prevent the production of a deep frost line.  The problem with frost going too deep is that our buried water lines can freeze.  Here in MN, our average frost line is usually 3-3½ ft.  Anything deeper and we have a very good chance of losing our water to the barn and our automatic waterers for the cattle and the goats, here on the farm.   The area of concern is under the driveway.  It is so compacted that little air is left in the soil.  In 2008, we had a cold winter with little snow – our water line froze in Feb or March and didn’t thaw until May.  Back then it wasn’t much more than an inconvenience, but now… it would be catastrophic.   I’m not sure if it would be possible to water all the livestock, using 5 gal pails, as we would need to collect water from the hydrant near the well – 100′s of feet from the nearest animal enclosure and over a 1,000 feet from where the cattle are.   Just to lose our water supply to the barn would be devastating.

Another concern is our small vineyard and new hops bines.  Winter-kill is huge cause of vine & bine causality.  Without moist ground and plenty of snow-cover, the root system of the grapevines & hops plants dry-out.  The plants then die.  Our first winter with grapes was a tough one.  We lost nearly 40% of our vines, due to winter-kill.  We really don’t know how hardy our hops are, since this was our first year with them.

Brown will give an odd feel to Christmas this year if we don’t get snow.  That’s for sure.  Maybe we’ll get a few flurries.  That’ll be better than nothing.

~Rich

As you may have noticed, I put a few lights up on the blog… and yes, I’ll be taking them down by the New Year.  It may seem a little redundant to have a photo of the blog, well… on the blog.  But, since this gets posted on our Facebook page, I thought it would be a nice touch.

Christmas lights on a blog are sustainable

Carol and I hope you are all having a wonderful AND safe Christmas thus far.

And yes!  Blog Christmas lights are a sustainable Christmas decoration.

~Rich