Piglets

The local community college had an Earth Day celebration yesterday with activities and seminars. Our church’s communications person—who does a great job of highlighting local events—posted about it on our church’s Facebook page on Friday afternoon with the comment, “For all our gardeners, our homesteaders and our climate care advocates… see you tomorrow?”

Alas, this gardener and homesteader did not have time to attend the Earth Day event. That is sometimes the sad irony—we don’t have time to celebrate because the to-do list is so long. Yesterday was a busy day. The husband moved a dozen wheelbarrows of pig manure from the Piggy Palace over to the garden for me.

Pig manure is like nuclear fuel for plants. Chicken manure works, too, but this is the good stuff. The piles will get raked out and spread around before I put the plastic down.

While he was doing that, I raked up dead vegetation into piles for burning. The potatoes are going to get planted where the tomatoes were last year. I move things around from year to year, as much as I can. It confuses the bugs.

I also planted squash and cucumbers for the plant sale. This year, I am trying Burpee’s Butterbush, a butternut squash variety that ripens in 75 days. I’ve been planting Waltham’s Butternut, but it takes 95 days to ripen and doesn’t always make it before a frost takes it out. I’m also trying Burgess Buttercup this year. Buttercup squash is a favorite of a couple of our gardeners at church and often shows up in potluck dishes. It’s very good.

I am going to try West Indian Gherkins again, too. I started those last year and they did really well until I put them outside and they got snowed on (in June). They never recovered. I’ll give it one more shot.

We were due at the pig supplier’s farm at 2 pm to pick up piglets. She supplies piglets for many of the 4-H kids, too, and they were allowed to choose first. We arrived after most of the kids had left. The piglets were out in a big pen in the yard.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to wrangle them ourselves. Carol and her kids caught them and handed them off to the husband, who put them into large dog crates in the back of the truck. Pigs hate it when their feet leave the ground, so as soon as a piglet got picked up, it started squealing. Loudly.

I forgot to ask Carol what the breed cross was this year, but I can text her today and ask. They are usually Duroc crossed with something else—York, Landrace, etc.

Late in the afternoon, Susan’s grandsons came over (with their parents) to see the chicks and piglets. They always ask if they can play with the wooden trucks, too, so we let them do that for a while. My dad made those trucks when I was pregnant with DD#1, and they have been a huge hit with little boys.

We have rain in the forecast for today and tomorrow, but then things dry out for the rest of the week. I’m teaching a class Wednesday afternoon. Otherwise, I’ll be working out in the garden.