Births, Birthdays, and Deaths

Last week, we got a new addition to the farm – a baby calf. After staying up late and checking on Chloe, our Jersey dairy cow, several nights in a row, we were surprised by a shout from Don at lunch on Friday. We all ran up to find Bridget carrying the cow and Don leading Chloe in from the pasture. They set the calf to nurse, and it was already trying to stand up! We also learned to milk. The calf was finally named Charlie, although Calvin, Che and Clarence were suggested, along with “Catie with a C” if it had been born on Katie’s birthday).

Katie’s birthday was on Tuesday. Geoff made black beans (her favorite), and we had ice cream, chocolate zucchini cake, and presents. Saturday Katie and I managed to finally get over to Greenfield, which is awesome – they have a community owned clothing store and also still have a local department store. And we went to have burgers and beer at the People’s pint, which was amazing. Lots of local, grass-fed meat and dark beer.

Sunday, we slaughtered the first four pigs. Saturday morning we separated out the four largest with a gate and some hog fence, and then Sunday at 1:30 when the processors were supposed to arrive we went in to push them into another smaller pen. Three went right away, and the fourth wouldn’t go. Luckily, they didn’t arrive until 3:30 so we had plenty of time to coax her in. The way they do the pigs is to get in the pen, shoot them, and then slit their throats so that the blood drains out. Like a “chicken with its head cut off”, they kick a lot for about 2 minutes after they die. Then the meat processing guys hang them up with hooks through their Achilles tendons (apparently, stronger than bone), and they cut off the skin, the hooves, and take out the innards. Then they saw the pigs in half with chainsaws down to the jawbone, which they cut through with an ax, and throw them in the back of their truck to butcher them at their place. Once you saw them in half, you can see the thickness of the fat layer, which is one of our indications of their condition. We distribute them to shareholders who have bought shares of the whole live animal.