A Big Day for the Piglets

The piglets quarantine in the Piggy Palace for a week after we pick them up. This allows them to settle in and gives us a chance to spot little problems before they become big problems. Yesterday morning, the husband did one last walk of the fence line to make sure it was secure, then let the piglets out to explore:

They had a few unpleasant encounters with the electric fence—the only way to learn—and took a mid-day nap in the Piggy Palace. The rest of the time was spent nosing around. This group came back to the Piggy Palace when it got dark, which is great. We’ve had batches of pigs before that decided that the pasture was their preferred place to sleep. With bears around, though, that isn’t the safest place for them, especially when they are small.

While the pigs were out exploring, the husband and I planted potatoes:

We planted the usual varieties: Red Pontiac, Teton Russet, and German Butterball. We used potatoes left from last year’s crop, augmented by a few pounds of new seed potatoes.

Once the potatoes were in, I finished pruning out the raspberry patch and cut back the lavender hedges. And after those jobs were done, I came back to the herb garden and cleaned and weeded the raised beds. If I don’t stay on top of the quackgrass—it came in with the topsoil for the beds—I’ll have a bigger mess on my hands in a few months.

I was a bit sore by late afternoon, but it was that good kind of sore that means that my body is stretching and working.

Today is the husband’s birthday. No doubt he will celebrate it by working. 😃

I tried to finish the Free Range Slacks yesterday afternoon, but things were not going well so I gave up. I know better than to keep pushing when I am making stupid mistakes. I’d like to finish them today, but I also have one last tray of seedlings to transplant.