We have had a very rewarding experience in the last 5 years and it is all down to THE BOOK without which we would never have had the nerve to start a smallholding. The rewards have been tremendous and very memorable even with ups and downs such as the wind causing problems, the worst of which was when it vlew down the 2 sides we had erected for the shed, so that we had to start it all agaiin.
The winter before last winter though has made us realise that we really ought to stop punishing our bodies so much and that our hearts, high blood pressures, thyroid and knee problems needed looking after.
Pigs
So we contacted a local market and they were very supportive. It was however disappointing to learn that our pigs; our carefully bred herd of pigs; were not sold the way we expected. For instance, our pure bred GOS boar of 27 months; bred with 2 different strains of AI from Deer Park, did not make enough to cover the cost of the AI!
We used to sell our weaners for £40 and £35 depending on their sex. We are therefore very pleased to have had the sense to keep back one sow and one gilt, because the gilt has produced a litter of 7 and at least 5 of them are girls and the sow has started trying to make a 'nest'.
Somebody suggested we ought to make a list of everything that needs doing but we daren't! There is so much that will need disposal one way or another that it would scare us to see a list and so we are doing one thing at a time.