I have moved the majority of my life over to the new farm, with a few important things remaining at the old farm. It feels good to get a fresh start, although it certainly is stressful and tiring. Being able to re-envision and start to create a holistic farm enterprise from scratch is a freeing thing, and I have learned enough lessons over the years to not make the same mistake thrice. Now, it is a matter of getting all that needs to be done in a timely fashion.

I have a farm-mate here at my new location – my good friend Lindsay who is an ecological designer and specialist in designing and implementing regenerative farm systems (http://ecologicaldesign.land). We’ve had many a long talk about the present and future plans of Full Boar Farm and she brings a lot of insight to the table. And also great cooking skills. We’re sort of an Odd Couple in that I have a very pragmatic sort of down to earth (okay cranky) approach to the way I do things and she is focused on healthy ecological regenerative systems, which involves a lot of theory. There is a balance to be found and it will be informative to see how my systems evolve over the time spent here on this land with her as my farm-mate.

I generally watch the weather very closely because it is more or less the deciding factor in most farming endeavors. A few days ago I noticed that I had a few dry days before things got really wet and cold, and realized that it was now or never to get the majority of my pigs over to the new farm. A quick text to my dad George got things rolling, and my uncle Arlin also volunteered his time, diesel truck, and stock trailer to help move my animals. I wasn’t sure what exactly I intended to accomplish, but the morning I was to meet them on the old farm, I had such an easy time loading up my momma pigs (other then the fact that my boar was making a bee line for me as I closed up their temporary paddock, just narrowly missing letting passed me and back with his ladies) that I decided to go ahead and try to get all the younger pigs over as well. So, after we unloaded the mommas on the new farm, we went back. The first batch of pigs were loaded relatively easily. The next batch not so much. Let’s just say it was very good to have my uncle and dad there, with their indefatigable strength and can-do attitude. Two batches of pigs loaded, we still had 4 pigs left in the hoophouse. So we went back over to the other farm, and unloaded the pigs that we had. This was when we lost one that went under the trailer door. After much aerobic exercise and some fine maneuvering from George, Arlin, and Lindsay, we finally had that pig back into the correct paddock. Even though we were all tired, we decided it only made sense to go back and get the last 4, and we did. It was a long day, and I couldn’t have done any of it without my friends and family.

I’m settling into the new house as well – it’s nice to have a refrigerator and washer and dryer again after over a year without! When you go without certain luxuries for a while, they seem absolutely amazing. On demand heat is great, and I have a new woodstove in the basement that heats the whole place well. On that note, as the snow flies once again, I should go stoke the fire.