Pig Pasture

This week we made a new pig pasture. We used three strands of electric wire (doesn't need to be very tall as pigs are not good jumpers) and tied off to trees instead of corner posts. It covers a large area, with lots of clumps of shade tress included. Seeing as the pigs root around, we followed the contour of the land, so that they can create swales for us (as they push the earth downhill, it levels off a patch that then collects water better).

Leo enjoyed the work. He walked around with us at times, got us each tools we needed or water, and then went and sat under trees and played with some toys when he got bored. He was good as gold.

It was super hot weather, and we were both pretty exhausted after finishing, but it had its own rewards. When we let the pigs out, they started exploring all over. Our previous, younger pigs were very cautious and it took them a long time to really explore, but these girls had no such inhibitions. Having spent all their lives prior to coming here on a concrete floor, the allure of real dirt and trees was too much. They followed us around all over the pasture. They seem to respect the fence pretty well, having both been shocked a couple of times (the shock is not painful, just uncomfortable enough to make you want to avoid doing it again).

It really is great to see pigs on pasture. Can't wait until the rains come and it all greens up.

For more photos, click here.

Homestead maintenance

We usually have our two closest friends, Armando and Estela, come up and help us with the house. Armando, Abe and I build; Estela keeps Leo out of trouble. Last week however, they couldn't make it, so we took a break from building.

We did a few bits and pieces to the building site, like fill in with sand, but for the most part we used the time to catch up on some stuff around the property. We made a new road into our place, did some maintenance to the road up here, fixed the fence in a couple of places, worked on some compost piles. That kind of thing.

This week we got back to the kids' rooms though.

Grazing our land

When we bought our property, it was severely over-grazed, the land nothing but earth and a sporadic blade of grass or two. Now, after two years of resting, the grass is waste-deep and thick again. It's time to reintroduce animals...

We don't yet have any grazing animals, not until our pond fills up this rain season, so we are borrowing our neighbor's cows. His land could use a break, and ours needs mowing.

Grazing makes the grass's roots spread out and you end up with thicker, more lush pasture. The trick is not to leave the cows in any one place for too long, as that will damage the roots. You want to try and imitate nature's herds, which move as one and keep moving.

With that in mind, we divided the southern part of our property into various paddocks, using electric fencing. We will rotate the cows each week, and then move them to the northern part of the land.

Our grass will be trimmed, fertilized and ready for the rains.

For more photos, click here.