Miss Pettitoes

The Pig I've Always Wanted. Here is Miss Pettitoes our new pig. She is a Hampshire/Duroc cross and is as sweet as can be! She is our newest attempt at growing our own meat. Some of you may remember our tragic attempt at turning our duck, Ping, into duck-dinner. The roosters were another venture to put into the "FAIL" category. Just three nights before the day of butchering, something (likely a raccoon or weasel) dug into their cage and killed all seven cockerels (one was missing, the others, it appeared, were killed for the fun of it??!!).

I am beginning to wonder how early American farmers did it, and I am gaining great respect for those living/who lived in an agrarian culture. So far, this micro-farm/hobby-farm business has produced very little, practically speaking (granted I am not doing this 24/7, and am not truly dependent upon the results of my labor). Our garden produced very little this year, especiallly in comparison to our luscious 10'x10' little garden in our Shoreline backyard. We have two birds that produce eggs, four birds in all, and...let me see....we've lost eighteen birds to wildlife and/or accidents. Not the best survival ratio for chickens and ducks at our place. Lillian apparently, hasn't reached maturity yet...no signs of fertility. And before she begins milking, she has to kid (have a baby(ies))...and before that, let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees. And speaking of bees, we didn't have enough honey in the hive to harvest, the stuff that was there we had to leave for the bees to eat all winter long. So, I must be patient. Farming is a science and an art. And it takes a lot of time and hard work, its expensive and dirty. And we aren't very good at it--yet...we are determined to see if we can do this. So...I will not get attached to Miss Pettitoes, I will not get attached to Miss Pettitoes!

The standard is to raise this type of hog to about 220-250 pounds. This should take around 5-7 months. We've been told and have read that a 220 pound hog produces about 150 pounds of edible meat. So, if this works out for us, we should have some pork-chops and bacon to share--even if we do get another deep-freezer.