Sustainable Sunday. Nobody should have to Behave the way You Expect

So why am I always surprised when the animals do something unexpected.

As I walked in the sun I was not looking for little black pigs. I was following the little turkeys - bringing them back onto the farm after they had taken themselves for a wander down the track. It is all about bugs for turkeys, no insect gets past safely and they are turned around and around and inside out and up and down chasing the bugs.

Now they were leaping from side to side ahead of me, on their long thin stilt legs, set wide apart like cowboys, running, awkwardly being herded home, their tiny bony bums swaying from side to side, clasping their cloak wings tight like models in some wildly imagined European fashion show. I was watching them run in front of me with their wild bottom wobble and thinking I should have brought the camera because they were just so funny and you would have laughed. Then I looked up and saw two shiny tiny black balls running up to the cows in the field. Far off in the middle field.

I squinted at the field trying to make sense of what I was seeing.

Huh, I thought.

Then.

Oh shit, I thought. The Pop Pops have escaped.

Just as I called out POP-POPS! Come on Pop Pop, a big black cow set her head down to sniff at a tiny pig and both piglets turned and ran across the field and through the gate and up the path to the barn straight to my calling voice. Snorting and huffing. There were only two. Had the other two not escaped?

Help! I called to the house. I need help! I sang. My Texas visitors poured down from the porch. Go slow, I called gently to them, so as not to scare the babies. They crouched, (the Texans not the piglets) arms out, tiptoeing. The piglets screeched to a comedic halt. The Texans tried aiming the little pigs back up to the barn as I raced ahead to get the bucket and some grain.

I spend a lot of time training each group of animals to a particular call precisely for this scenario. PopPop I called again and the other two called back from inside their run. I grabbed a scoop and popped a little grain into the bucket noisily. Pop Pop I called again and the runaways turned from teasing the Texas wranglers and raced for me once more. I shot ahead of them to open their gate, two wee piglets shouting with delight at my heels then threw some grain into their run to keep the other two in there, held the gate open and the adventurous duo came barreling through the gap after me, honking like little black geese back into their run. Heads down and eating the grain they are seldom allowed. Squealing at their near miss.

Merciful heavens, I said.

And looked back up the track to see the turkeys once more trotting the wrong way. A tick must have turned them around. I sighed. Turkeys I called, and me and the texans went after them, laughing at farm life.

The Cows

You can tell when it is going to rain because the cows lie down out in the field.

Today they did. Lie down. And so it rained. Hard.

The Turkeys

As you already read they are exploring. Literally following their noses.

But still supremely alien looking and not in a good way.

The Pet Pigs

Jude, FreeBee, Wai and Tima.

All good!

More on them tomorrow at thekitchensgarden.com

The Charlottes

Living under trees, playing in the rain soaked mud is a long way from the slatted floors, automated feeding and watering systems of the commercial building they came from. But with this rain there is a corner of the pig paddock that is getting a bit smelly. The Charlottes have toilets way too close to my pathways. At least Jude and FreeBee are generous enough to perform their toilet far away from the beaten paths.

But the Charlottes were literally raised in a metal pen with a slotted floor with all their poo falling through to a stinking great manure heap below them. So they are used their own stink. And poop anywhere. Luckily all their feed is vegetarian so they don’t smell TOO bad.

But Why do they have to poo right close to the gate. And right where they eat. For outside pigs they need a lot of housework!

The Pop Pops

Guinea Hogs were nearly extinct by the late 20th century.

But they are plentiful now and so far - a delight. ( pooping right down the end of their yards). Finding loose boards to crawl under. Eat No everything. Raised by a pig mum to have some manners.

The Ducks

The pond with its ducks and fish is like my outside lounge. The ducks sleep lazily. Deeply happy as only a duck can be. Watching them sleep on the water with fish passing below us deeply meditative. Still!

The Chickens

Going Off the lay. Only a dozen eggs a day from this lot!

This happens in a world where we do not rely on supermarkets for food. There are times in a year when we have piles of eggs and other times we have less which forces us to eat seasonally and sparely. We don’t waste food when we have to work this hard to grow it.

The Fields

Corn plants curl their leaves during dry weather to reduce water loss and protect themselves from drought stress. And until this morning it was indeed getting a little dry.

Then this morning we got heaps of rain and the corn unfurled and grew another few inches!

The organic corn is now high.

I am late with my newsletter today so I will stop here.

I am fascinated by anyone manages a life PLUS writing actual books! In fact we are going to have some guests addressing that very question week after next. At the kitchensgarden.com.

Sometimes I just can’t do both! But - still here! Still sorting through the stories to start that book.

Have a gorgeous evening/morning.

Celi