agriculture – Page 4

The Old House in the Woods: A Childhood Wonder Goes Up in Flames

When Mom would tell my brother and I to go play outside, one of our go to things was explore the woods that edged our property. The woods were always a magical place, full of adventure and lots and lots of briers. We would discover animal tracks and pretend to be explorers. On one of our many explorations, we discovered an old house.

It wasn’t some mystery house that no one knew about. My grandpa used to know the lady who lived there, but to my brother and I it was a domain filled with wonder and adventure. The old house had been abandoned for 20 years after the woman living there had died. Inside, there was still some of her dishes, an old fridge, a bed, and so much more. Most of the windows were still intact and you could still walk on the floors, though one side sagged.

My brother and I always felt some sort of reverence when perusing the house. At a point someone lived there, and left behind were the earthly belongings she could not bring with her. To children, the house was filled with mystery. We could only conjure images of the way the house used to be from our imaginations. Oftentimes, we discussed if we would find forgotten treasures (we never did and wouldn’t have kept it anyway). Adding to our wonder were words written on one of the walls. There, written in pencil was the name of my grandpa and his telephone number. To a child this might as well have been the discovery of Egyptian hieroglyphics. We were so excited and ran to tell my grandparents about our find.

Over the years we explored the area around the old house, discovering a well that we were strictly forbidden to go near. We also explored another abandoned house in the woods at my grandparents. This one had been abandoned since the 60’s and was too far gone to enter. Instead, we would peep in and use it as a backdrop for photos.

The old houses always held a certain allure to me. They were my castles in the country. We made sure to share the fortresses with my two younger brothers as well, and they dubbed it Monster House after one of their favorite movies. Just as it had for my older brother and myself, the old houses captivated and intrigued my youngest brothers too. It is a special part of our childhood–being able to step back in history.

Last night that history was laid to rest in a display of fiery inferno, providing one last mystical show for my brothers and I. The owner of the houses decided it would be best to allow the local volunteer fire department to receive training practice and burn the buildings. In this way, the houses wouldn’t pose a threat to anyone as they further dilapidated and would also give the fireman in the community a chance to practice their fire fighting skills. It also gave us quite the show.

Last night we said good bye to old friends. Gone is the childhood mystical fortress that held such wonder. In its place stands a lone brick fireplace and the memories of days gone by.

March 12, 2015 by ruralris Categories: Daily Farm Life, family and funTags: burning, childhood, fire, history, memories, old house, smoke, volunteer fireman Leave a comment

Feminine Farming

I am a girl.

We all know what this looks like. Sure there are many different types of girls, but a girl is a girl– xx chromosome plain and simple. For me being a girl means being able to wear dresses. It means makeup and heels. Being a girl means I give directions via landmarks and eat chocolate as stress relief. I am prone to bursts of emotional breakdowns and like to talk about my feelings, but I am also more than a dressed up emotional female. I am, and always have been strong-willed and independent. When I was two, my dad put me in time out and told me not to get out of that chair until he came back. When he came back, I was clear across the room. I hadn’t gotten out of my chair, I had taken the chair with me and scooted to the spot I wanted. Dad laughed and said that I was going to be trouble.

I am opinionated and at times a little cold-hearted, much to my mother’s chagrin. I am smart, competitive, sassy, and classy. Being a girl means that I have the joy to be a daughter, granddaughter, sister, girlfriend, and hopefully, one day a mother.I embrace being a girl and all of its feminine qualities–even in farming. For me, it is feminine farming.

Feminine farming looks different for every woman out there who farms. In case you were wondering, that is 1 million lady farmers. While each one is different, they all share a common goal of feeding the world, and I am one of them.

For me, feminine farming has evolved in the 13 years I have lived on a farm. I started with a “I have something to prove” attitude, always wanting to show up the boys. If they were lifting feed bags, I wanted to lift just as much. If we were wrangling goats, I wanted to be the last one to back down. So many times, my dad and grandpa would fuss at me for not letting my brother or them take care of it. I didn’t want them to take care of it, because I knew I COULD do it. I was missing the point that I SHOULD NOT necessarily do the heavy lifting that the guys were more capable of doing.

I won’t lie, that mentality is not in the past. It still comes up and I have to remember that my 6’4″ brother is better equipped to move the huge stack of 50 pound feed bags than I am. That doesn’t mean I don’t do things. I still get muddy, poopy and gross. I wrestle pigs and goats. I can drive a nail and work power tools to fix the fences and pens, but I have also embraced my more feminine side when it comes to farming. My muck boots are pink, and my jeans have bling on them. Sometimes, I have to run out in the pasture in heels to get a goat’s head unstuck. Somehow, I still can’t back a trailer like the boys can, so I let them deal with that.

Just because I am a farmer, does not mean I wear coveralls, and have manure on me all the time (only when required).

Just because I am a girl, does not mean that I am helpless in the barns. Because I am a girl who is a farmer and enjoy partaking in feminine farming, I bring a little pink in the barn. I like to hold “conversations” with the animals and cuddle the newborns, naming everything that comes on our property. I let the guys lift the feed bags when they are there. I like to dress up and wear heels, but I’m not afraid to go rescue an animal in those heels. I curl my hair for livestock shows and wear the sparkliest belt I can find, even though, I may be wiping a pig’s butt at the same time. I paint my nails, even though I know it will only last a day after working outside on the farm.

I am a girl. I am a farmer, and daily I practice feminine farming.

March 8, 2015March 8, 2015 by ruralris Categories: Daily Farm LifeTags: #farmlikeagirl, agriculture, farming, feminine, girl, International Women's day, women 2 Comments

Why do we dock lamb’s tails?

If you have not met Grover, here is our little Southdown/Leicester cross lamb.

Isn’t he just the cutest? I thought so too 🙂

Today Grover, like any lamb on our farm, got his tail docked. Docking a sheep’s tail is not simply for aesthetic reasons, it has health reasons too. It isn’t cruel, but rather, it is beneficial to the animal.

Why do we dock?

It isn’t because the tail looks a little funny, although, I must say, it does look funny.

If the tail was not docked, the wool that grows on the tail would become caked with feces and urine. This isn’t just gross when it comes to shearing time, but it also is unsanitary for the sheep and can cause irritation. In addition, docking also reduces the chances of fly strike, a painful condition caused by blowflies laying eggs in the fleece and the maggots burrow into the sheep’s flesh. The sheep often dies within a few days of fly strike occurring. Some studies have also shown that docking tails increases growth rates. For these reasons, we dock the lambs’ tails within the first week of life. Some sheep do not necessarily need to have their tails docked. Hair sheep, do not have the thick wool, and it does not pose as much of a problem.

How do we dock?

There are different ways to dock a lamb’s tail. We use an elastrator (we also use this to castrate).

The elastrator tool puts a thick rubber ring or band on the tail, cutting off blood circulation. Around 10 days later the tail falls off. It is inhumane to use the elastrator on older lambs, which is why it should be done after 24 hours old but not after 1 week. Another tool to dock is an electric docker.

This tool cuts and cauterizes the tail simultaneously. It can be done in older lambs, but it is still best to do it on young lambs.

Are there negatives of docking?

Yes, if done incorrectly. It is important when docking lambs to not make the tail too short. If the tail is too short, it increases the chances of a rectal prolapse.

I'm making sure to leave a certain amount of tail. — I’m making sure to leave a certain amount of tail.

Does it hurt?

A little. The younger the lamb, the less stress it causes, though. When we put the band on Grover’s tail, he did a little butt wiggle, and went straight back to mom. He acted like nothing was wrong. We have had some lambs be a little more sensitive, and act like there is something on their butt, which there is. They are always fine within the hour, though.

A quick drink from mom is all Grover needs

Is docking tails inhumane?

No, it is not. I have read where some people think that farmers have bred sheep to be unnatural in their wool production, and that is the only reason that we have to dock tails. While there are different breeds that have various kinds of wool, sheep naturally have wool. Farmers did not breed sheep to have an excess of wool. Those in the wild, do not have the same type of fiber as a domestic sheep, and do not even need to be sheared. For thousands of years, sheep have needed to been shorn for their fleece. It isn’t a new phenomenon caused by selective breeding. Farmers breed for quality of wool and quantity, but regardless of the quantity, any amount of wool on the tail will cause unsanitary conditions. While docking may cause some discomfort, it is often no more uncomfortable than getting a vaccination shot.

Docking is beneficial to the lamb. It is not just for the farmer’s sake, but also the animals. Grover did not seem to mind one bit about his procedure. He didn’t cry or really squirm. I think he was more concerned that his mom was calling for him and we were touching his butt. He was just dandy.

Sometimes, our best efforts fail

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, things happen anyway. It is like flu season. You do everything you can to not get sick by washing your hands and staying away from those who have it, and yet, you still get it, despite your best efforts.

Well, despite our best efforts with Miracle, she has hit another bump in the road. Remember how I told you that we put iodine on her umbilical cord to prevent navel ill? Sadly, our best efforts failed. After a visit to the vet yesterday, Miracle has been diagnosed with navel or joint ill. What does this mean, though, and how did we decide to take her to the vet?

We thought perhaps she had somehow sprained her knee, although the chances of that happening could only have been when she would slip as she ventured off the carpet or towels onto the vinyl. It was swollen and hot, and she wouldn’t put any weight on it. This was causing issues with her mobility as she couldn’t push herself up to a standing position by herself. She could get her butt up, but that’s it. Once we propped her up, she could stand, but was unable to walk. All of this occurred suddenly after she had been walking on her own. We made the command decision to take her to the vet as the weekend was approaching, and we were uncomfortable with her lack of mobility.

When we arrived at the vet, her temperature was 104 (goats are supposed to be around 101). The vet also stuck a needle in her knee to see if puss would come out–it did. They took her to the procedure room to drain the knee. She came back with a pretty gnarly looking knee (it has a drain stitched in). The vet sent us home with instructions to give her daily antibiotic shots, to keep her knee clean, and to come back on Tuesday to remove the drain. After all this, she was pretty exhausted and slept the rest of the day. The vet said only time will tell with her outcome.

One of the things that I have found important in raising livestock on the farm is to look at the whole picture. As much as I want to just look through the window that says that Miracle will be fine, I know I can’t do that. There is a whole other window that has a bleaker outlook, but is just as realistic. So what are we looking at in Miracle’s situation?

Navel ill is a bacterial infection that can travel, not only through the navel, but also through respiratory and GI ways. Because she got off to a weak start, she was probably more susceptible to getting some kind of infection. Navel ill can affect one joint or many. The fluid that accumulates in the joint often causes permanent damage to the joint. Right now, Miracle only has an infection in one joint. She has a better prognosis because we caught it early, and hopefully, the antibiotics will keep it from spreading to the other joints. We won’t know if or how much her knee is damaged for quite some time. She may always walk with a limp. Right now, our hope is to keep it from spreading to the other joints. If this happens, her chances greatly decrease.

The good news is, she is a fighter. She is still standing and amazingly will put some weight on her leg and take baby steps. Her appetite is certainly not diminished, and she has a pretty epic battle wound.

Sometimes our best efforts aren’t enough to prevent everything from happening. In the 13 years we have raised goats, I have never had this happen. Even though some efforts failed, there are plenty more efforts to give 🙂

February 21, 2015November 30, 2018 by ruralris Categories: blog, Daily Farm LifeTags: #farm365, best efforts, goat farming, goats, navel ill, vet 3 Comments

National Cherry Pie Day: Graduate School Style

Every time I think of cherry pie, I think of the song Cherry Pie by Eden’s Edge, probably because I listened to it quite a lot when I first discovered it. That is beside the point, though. Today is National Cherry Pie Day! Such a classic deserves a nationally recognized day, am I right?

Since it is National Cherry Pie Day, I fully recommend that you eat a slice of cherry pie. It only seems right. Unless you are someone who just happens to have cherry pies lying around your counter, you might want to make one, but if you are like me, time often kills best of intentions or dreams. As a graduate student, I feel like everything is down to the wire in terms of getting stuff done. That means, doing things that are simple, is often best–including pie baking. Now, going out and buying a frozen cherry pie, is probably the simplest version, but I wanted to be a little more personal in my pie baking. Partly because it was for a belated Valentine’s gift for the boyfriend, and partly, because I feel like National Cherry Pie Day deserved a little handmade attention. So, my dear reader, here is how to make a cherry pie the graduate school way (and with a little Valentine’s/love influence):

Ingredients:

1 can (21 oz) of cherry pie filling
1 can (15oz) of pitted cherries in heavy syrup (you can also use fresh or frozen pitted cherries)
1 deep dish frozen pie crust
Pre-made pie crusts
Sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions:

Drain the can of pitted cherries in heavy syrup (I just used a slotted spoon to fish them out).

Mix them with the can of cherry pie filling and dump it all into the deep dish pie crust.

Roll out your pre-made pie crust on a floured counter. Take a heart shaped cookie cutter (honestly, you could use any shape you want) and cut a bunch of hearts from the crust.

Place them on top of the filling, fanning them out, until it is all covered.

Take a pastry brush, and brush milk on top of the crust gently. Be sure to cover your edges with tin foil and pop in the oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Mid-way through baking, I removed the tin foil and sprinkled sugar on top of the pie. Once the pie is done, cool on a rack, and enjoy with ice cream.

February 20, 2015 by ruralris Categories: Fact Filled Fridays, FoodTags: cherry pie, cherry pie day, hearts, recipe Leave a comment

It was n”ICE” to have a good day!

Around two inches of ice covered the landscape today. While it was pretty gross to do chores in, it made for some pretty pictures. Enjoy!

Apparently, Rocket is adverse to going in his shelter.

Our little fighter, made it through the night. We have been tending to her throughout the day, giving her bits of milk. While we were amazed that she made it this far, we are not out of the woods yet. The next few days will be crucial. She does not like to suckle on the bottle, but we are working with her. Time will tell, but until then, she is a little miracle that I like to snuggle with on the couch.

February 17, 2015February 17, 2015 by ruralris Categories: Daily Farm Life, family and funTags: farm, frozen, goats, ice, photography, pigs, sheep Leave a comment

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Farm Day

The other night, the family and I watched Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and today, I felt like I was in that movie just a bit.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised today happened the way it did. I mean it is Monday. In the midst of the string of events, I found myself laughing, though. I think I laughed because it felt better than to cry. I hope you too, may laugh at the events that follow during the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Farm Day.

Turn on the heat…

Currently all my reasons for living in the South in terms of weather have been shot to pieces. It is below freezing, and all water troughs have 2 inches of ice. That means that we are chopping ice with an ax and supplying heat lamps and knee high bedding for everyone. Farm chores can be rough in warm temperatures. They become a bit more difficult when Jack Frost is biting you. However, I will say that cleaning frozen pig poop, is a bit less messy than normal.

Surprise!

North Carolina is in one of the coldest weeks of the year, and of course, Lulu decides she wants to have babies during this unusual cold snap. As we went to feed the older group of goats, we were greeted by the sound of bleats from two kids. Lu had kidded sometime during the early morning hours, birthing a girl and a boy.

While she had done a good job drying them off, they were still understandably cold. We quickly set up a heat lamp andpiled thick bedding in an individual shelter for the new mom and babies. This was easier said than done though. Finagling drop cords and cleaning hulk sized cob webs were in order. We also had to weigh the babies and put iodine on their umbilical cords. We use iodine to prevent any infection or the potential navel ill disease. They weighed 9.5 pounds each, which is a good size for baby goats.

However, even with a good body weight, the little girl was weak and was not terribly interested in nursing. Throughout the day, we kept checking on her… in the midst of other “exciting” events.

Niagara Falls

After lunch, I went back outside to check on the little ones. When I stepped out of the door, I heard water… a lot of it. I started looking around, thinking that one of the sheep was having one heck of a pee break. Sadly, we were not that fortunate. There at the barn, was a regular Niagara Falls.

The pipeline had burst with the cold temperatures, despite being insulated. I ran out there in my slippers, but quickly traded those in for muck boots when I saw how deep the water was. I called Daddy to ask him which valve I should turn to cut the water off. The valve was under water, though, and I couldn’t see it. I got a bucket and began to bail the water out, but it refilled faster than I was emptying. Dad told me to run to the front yard and cut off the whole property’s water. This finally stopped the water. I called Mom to tell her that she had no water at the house, but I had things under control. I ran back to the barn to start bailing water again. Finally, I found the valve. My hands were blue and frozen from being in the water, and now the valve was stuck. I found pliers and used those. After breaking the tab on the valve, I finally got it turned off just as Alec and Papa drove up to help.

I left them to investigate the split pipe, while I went to hang another heat lamp for the goats. Where one crisis ends, another begins…

The Mailbox Murder

As I was walking back to the barn, I heard a BOOM! I heard Papa yell that a guy had just taken out our mailbox. Two farmers who were hauling large pieces of equipment had just passed our house and clipped our mailbox. I asked Alec to go and talk to them. When he approached them, he asked if their equipment was OK. They said it was. Alec then told them that they did a number on our mailbox. They looked past him and looked wide-eyed at the damage. They didn’t even know it had happened. One of the farmers went on his way, while the other came back to investigate the damage. He believed that the other guy had done it, but paid us for the damage anyway. He jokingly told Alec that if he heard of a commotion in Harnett County, he knew it was about him trying to get his money back from the other guy. Oh lanta!

Seeing Stars

Sometime during trying to tend to the new babies, Mom and Grandma were breaking ice in another pasture. Somehow the sheep got out and Grandma went to chasing them. Mom is asking Grandma to stop chasing the sheep, telling the dog to get the sheep, and trying to keep the rogue little buck inside the pasture as he rams the gate. After much chasing, the sheep finally were returned to where they belonged. As Mom was fastening the gate, the buck rams the gate one last hard time. The gate hits Mom in the head, and she literally saw stars. It was just one more aspect of the day.

On the Brink

After a nice dinner of taco soup, I went to check on the kids another time. Lulu and the little boy looked fine, but the little girl was not doing good. In fact, I thought she was dead when I got there. Even though, she was in the shelter and in the rays of the heat lamp, she was so cold. I decided to carry her in the house. Honestly, I didn’t expect her to even make it from outside to the house, but she did. I started warming her up with a hair dryer and towels. Her internal temperature would not rise, though. Daddy and I decided to tube feed her, in hopes of A) getting some nourishment in her and B) get some warmth to her insides.

After accomplishing that feat, we ran a warm bath in the sink for her. This did the most good in warming her up, and she actually started to kick a bit. All of a sudden though, she seemed to stop breathing and became non-responsive. We thought we had lost her. Taking her out of the sink, we wrapped her in a towel, only to have her take another deep breath. She was still alive. Currently, she is sitting in my bathroom with a heater on her, sleeping. I have low expectations of her living through the night, but so far she keeps proving me wrong.

Ice, Ice Baby

Now, as I sit at the kitchen table, looking at the end of this Monday, the ice is coming down outside. All the animals are tucked neatly in their bedding and heat lamps, and I am exhausted. Despite it being a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Farm Day, I am thankful for moments of laughter, the teamwork exhibited by my family, and a warm home. In the end, some days on the farm are hard, and others are fun, but they are all worth it. I’m sure we will all look back and laugh at this crazy day.

February 17, 2015November 30, 2018 by ruralris Categories: blog, Daily Farm LifeTags: bad day, cold, farm life, goats, ice, kids, Monday 2 Comments

I Heart Pigs: Did You Know Pigs are Organ Donors?

With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, there has been an explosion of pink, red, and hearts. While, I think my favorite hearts are those in chocolate form, there are other hearts that I think are pretty swell. Pig hearts for example are pretty awesome. Now before you assume I’m a fan of eating pig hearts, let me clarify that this is not what I am referring to. I’m talking about how scientists are raising pigs to be organ donors for humans, including heart transplants.

This phenomenon is called xenotransplantation. While other species have been considered for the job, pigs complete the majority of the criteria. Apes are more closely related to humans; however, they are not in abundance and have the potential to carry diseases such as HIV. Pigs, when raised in a clean area, can pose less disease threat and are in abundance. The only problem with pigs as organ donors is the high response of a human’s immune system to the pig organ. Scientists are tackling this problem through genetic modification. There have been great strides made over the last decade that provide promising results for organs that are accepted by a human body. There is still much testing to be done though, but you can imagine the potential!

We aren’t just talking about hearts, but kidneys and livers too. In addition to this, pig heart valves have been used in human hearts for over 30 years. These are called biological valves. They do not last as long as mechanical valves, but they do not require long-term use of a anticoagulant.

heartvalves1 — The purpose of the heart valve is to regulate blood flow. Source: http://www.cts.usc.edu/hpg-heartvalvesurgery.html

Source: http://www.cts.usc.edu/hpg-heartvalvesurgery.html

I am so in awe of not only what science can do, but also the potential and hope it brings to people. If you didn’t heart agriculture before, then you definitely should now. I also have another reason to love pigs, as if they weren’t great enough already. I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day tomorrow, filled with love and many hearts. Just watch out for the crafty Cupig 🙂

Sources:

http://mervsheppard.blogspot.com/2011/12/xenotransplantation-using-pigs-as-organ.html

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-11-11/news/9611110192_1_pig-organ-pig-hearts-human-heart

Pig Valve Transplants For Patients Needing Heart Valve Replacement Surgery

http://www.cts.usc.edu/hpg-heartvalvesurgery.html

February 13, 2015February 13, 2015 by ruralris Categories: Fact Filled FridaysTags: facts, hearts, organ donor, pigs, science, valentines 1 Comment

Farmers Take Field Trips Too

Sometimes I think I have a fairly good grasp of agriculture…sometimes. Most of the time, though, I am keenly aware that there is A LOT I don’t know. I may have competed in national competitions that look at how much you know about livestock, and won, but I will still tell you there is a lot I don’t know. Even the things I feel I have a good grasp on, there is always more to be learned from others. That is why farmers take field trips, and I got to go on two this past weekend.

The first one was to the Southern Farm Show in Raleigh, NC. The whole family went to tour the many buildings filled with farming equipment. There were tractors of every color and size, cattle chutes, irrigation systems, trailers, trucks–you name it, they probably had it.

Despite being around farms all my life and living on one, there was some stuff, I had no clue what it was. My poor dad was bombarded with questions from my brothers and I. If you knew how much stuff was there, you’d feel for the amount of questions he had to field.

After the boys had climbed on almost every tractor, combine, and Bobcat, and questions had subsided, we made our way to the horse pull and coon jump. We watched draft mules and horses pull max weights of 6,500 pounds and 10,000+ pounds respectively. It was amazing to see their grit and gumption to move the sled with weights. We also got to see the coon jump which is where mules jump from a stand still over a pole. The winner of that contest, jumped 54 inches flat-footed. The coon jump contest originated with raccoon hunting. Mule owners would brag about how high their mules jumped chasing the coons. To prove themselves, they started coon jumping. Neat, huh?

The second field trip was to Rocky Mount, NC to attend a 4-H show pig clinic. Mom, the boys and I went. We had a great instructor who talked about everything from picking out your pig, to feeding it, to showmanship. While a lot of it was review for me, there was some things that were brand new too. The boys learned a lot too. They created a skit with the other youth about the right and wrong way to show a pig. Both Isaac and Gideon got on all fours to pretend to be the pigs. They were also able to reverse roles and practice showing with actual pigs too. It is a great warm up for the up coming show in April.

They asked great questions too.

This morning they started to put their new knowledge to use when they worked their own pigs. I quizzed them a bit too. “What did Mrs. Cally say you should do after walking the pigs?” They remembered after a little searching in their memories.

Even though we live on a farm everyday, we don’t know everything. There will always be someone who has a piece of knowledge that we don’t and it is important to seek out the opportunities that teach us new things. Not only is it fun, but we better ourselves in the process. Field trip for the win!

February 9, 2015 by ruralris Categories: Daily Farm Life, family and funTags: 4-H, agriculture, coon jump, draft horse, farm, field trip, learning, mule, pigs Leave a comment

A Peachy Pig Trip to Georgia

While everyone was watching Katy Perry’s many wardrobe changes and cheering on their team during Super Bowl, I was on my way back from Perry, Georgia. Our Super Bowl food of choice was Taco Bell, which is not easy to eat in a truck. Somehow I managed to not spill (shocking I know)! Anyway, yesterday was the end to several days in Georgia showing pigs at the National Junior Swine Association (NJSA) Eastern Regional show. I hitched a ride (leaving NC at 4am) with my boyfriend Garrett and his folks to the show, and compared to last year, it was a lot warmer and a lot less white–aka not snowing.

NJSA shows deal with four purebred breeds of pigs–Duroc, Landrace, Hampshire, and Landrace. There is also crossbreds, but to show a crossbred, you have to show a purebred. I went to my first NJSA show last year in Georgia and really enjoyed it. Because there are a lot of shows all year round, people get to know each other and it becomes quite the community with pizza parties, games for kids, and of course piggies. The show consists of showmanship classes, skillathon, and both barrow and gilt classes divided in breeds. In the open show (for all ages), there is also boar classes. All in all, there are about450 contestants and 700pigs, if I could guess. You can see why it lasts from Wednesday to Sunday. One of the cool things about dating someone with similar interests as you, is you enjoy doing those things together. Garrett and I met showing pigs and doing livestock events. We talk about pigs and livestock more than most things. Even though we share a passion, that doesn’t stop us from being competitive with each other. We still compare who has more ribbons, but we also help each other out too. This show, he beat me in skillathon with a 7th place and me 8th, but I beat him in sweepstakes with a 10th. He brought home the coolest prize though–a new pig. This show consists of a sale in addition to the show. After selling all our Yorkshire pigs we brought and showed, Garrett (well, his dad) bought a cool Duroc gilt. After much debate, she was named Hazel, and is now the lone red pig in a bar filled with white ones back home.

I’ve decided that instead of giving you all the many details of our time in Georgia like spilling my drink at Steak ‘N Shake or getting pig pee on my pants, I’ll give you a bunch of pictures of our peachy pig time in Georgia.