bacon day is set
We're getting very near to the end of this part of the pig project... the date has been set to say goodbye to our two boys, and hello to an awful lot of pork.
Tuesday is offically Bacon Day.
Up until today they have actully been making it easier for us to send them away to the big bacon factory. Sam and I were arms deep into some DIY on our new house on Sunday, and had to down tools and rush back home to deal with a mass breakout. When we arrived the boys had been sucessfully tempted back into their run with buckets of food, but the garden was slighlty worse for wear. Not only were there perfectly formed trotter prints across the lawn and flowerbeds, but the orchard had three or four Minty-nose-sized holes in it from some moss digging attempts.
We spent over an hour trying to reinforce the fences. Desparation has set in with trying to contain the pigs, and our ramshakle defences now include large rocks, breeze blocks, tree stumps, branches and even holly clippings in a bid to stop the pigs getting close enough to the fence to dig under it. It looks a bit like Steptoe's yard, but fingers crossed it seems to be working!
Other than the containment 'issues', the whole pig run is a huge wet, stinky, clayey mud bath. It looks bad, it smells worse and the thought of it ever being a prize winning vegetable patch seem a long way off.
However today the sun has come out, and the boys are playing the 'cute' card. No escaping, just lying next to each other sunbathing. Maybe they realise that next Tuesday is planned as Bacon day....
I thought I would feel sadder and more emotional this close to the big day, but there is actully a big part of me that is relieved. We'll be able to really get on with our DIY without having to feed them twice a day, the house can be left with no worries that there will be Pigs wandering through the village on our return, and we'll finally be able to pay back all our friends with fantastic tasting bacon, sausages and joints!
We are currently watching the River Cottage 'pig in a day' DVD over and over, ordering supplies - sausage casings, knives, mixing boxes, salt etc and planning the who, how and when of the big butchering event. We'll take pics of the whole thing from carcass to eating the final bangers and let you see the results!
Tuesday is offically Bacon Day.
Up until today they have actully been making it easier for us to send them away to the big bacon factory. Sam and I were arms deep into some DIY on our new house on Sunday, and had to down tools and rush back home to deal with a mass breakout. When we arrived the boys had been sucessfully tempted back into their run with buckets of food, but the garden was slighlty worse for wear. Not only were there perfectly formed trotter prints across the lawn and flowerbeds, but the orchard had three or four Minty-nose-sized holes in it from some moss digging attempts.
We spent over an hour trying to reinforce the fences. Desparation has set in with trying to contain the pigs, and our ramshakle defences now include large rocks, breeze blocks, tree stumps, branches and even holly clippings in a bid to stop the pigs getting close enough to the fence to dig under it. It looks a bit like Steptoe's yard, but fingers crossed it seems to be working!
Other than the containment 'issues', the whole pig run is a huge wet, stinky, clayey mud bath. It looks bad, it smells worse and the thought of it ever being a prize winning vegetable patch seem a long way off.
However today the sun has come out, and the boys are playing the 'cute' card. No escaping, just lying next to each other sunbathing. Maybe they realise that next Tuesday is planned as Bacon day....
I thought I would feel sadder and more emotional this close to the big day, but there is actully a big part of me that is relieved. We'll be able to really get on with our DIY without having to feed them twice a day, the house can be left with no worries that there will be Pigs wandering through the village on our return, and we'll finally be able to pay back all our friends with fantastic tasting bacon, sausages and joints!
We are currently watching the River Cottage 'pig in a day' DVD over and over, ordering supplies - sausage casings, knives, mixing boxes, salt etc and planning the who, how and when of the big butchering event. We'll take pics of the whole thing from carcass to eating the final bangers and let you see the results!
