From Nancy & Dave:

Happy Spring Everyone!

This Thursday (7 April) is the first pick up for our Spring Quarter CSA! Your share can be picked up from 3-6pm at The Farm; let me know if any new members need directions.

Our meat CSA just turned 1 year old! Many thanks to everyone who renewed your share and welcome & thanks to new members. You can download the April 2011 CSA Newsletter here. See you Thursday and thanks!

Nancy & Dave

Hi All,

Guess who forgot that tomorrow is the first Thursday of the month?!!!! I think I’ve been so focused on moving snow (is Spring here, yet?…) and  farrowing piglets (8 litters in the last week!) that I just realized that tomorrow is March pick up. Sorry for the late reminder, but tomorrow IS pick up day for the March share (at the farm from 3-6)pm. The March newsletter will follow in a separate email next week. If anybody else spaced it like I did and can’t make the pick up just let me know and we’ll sort it out. See you tomorrow and thanks!

Nancy

From the February 2011 Hogwash Newsletter:

We are just about to start the season when Hogwash Farm is awash with piglets. We have 30 sows and two boars that produce around 400 piglets per year. Pigs can reproduce all year and our sows have two litters per year. The gestation for a pig is 114 days (or three months, three weeks and three days as the old timers used to say). Litters average anywhere from 6-16 piglets and the piglets are 2-3 lbs and are completely mobile as soon as theyʼre born. Our pigs live out side year-round and so piglets are born in all kinds of weather and usually do pretty well as long as Mom is around to protect them and keep them warm. Body heat is essential this time of the year and youʼll often see a bunch of piglets in a pile trying to conserve heat.

Sows usually farrow(birth) without any assistance from us. The piglets come out in a thin sac that usually scuffs off during birth. Labor can last several hours and it averages about 30 minutes per piglet. Piglets can come out head first or back legs first depending on where they are in the uterus. A sow usually has two placentas which can come out at any time during the birthing process and the sows often eat when they are all done.

As soon as the piglet enters the world it tries to make itʼs way to the sows belly to nurse. A piglet will nurse exclusively for three weeks and will then start eating and drinking anything the sow consumes. Piglets are weaned anywhere from 6-8 weeks and are usually 25-45 lbs.

Our Spring piglets sell out early every year and go to various farms and individuals that will raise them for six months (when they weigh 250-300 lbs) and they go for slaughter. We keep about 100 of our piglets each year to raise out for meat for the CSA and other sales.

Nancy and Dave

From Nancy & Dave:

Winter activities at Hogwash Farm Grain & hay to sows & boars Feed & water to sows with piglets New bedding hay to pig houses Round bales to cattle Collect eggs Feed and water to chickens Hay to the sheep Corn to guineas Shovel snow – paths for chickens, piglets, & us Move grain from bulk bin to pasture barrels Clean snow off of electric fence lines Clean barn stalls – manure out – saw dust in Scrub out automatic waterers Clean chicken coop Pick up waste food from Hanover Coop Deliver products to wholesale accounts Plan for 2011 production Vaccinate, castrate & notch new piglets Order supplies Winter markets

People often ask us if we get a break from the hustle and bustle of farming now that winter is upon us and with 18 Belted Galloways, 75 chickens and 100 plus pigs we are quite busy tending to the animals every month of the year. The different seasons do bring different chores. Livestock winter chores are more time consuming because of two things –
water and snow. Access to fresh water is crucial for healthy and happy animals and freezing temperatures can make it a challenge. Because ouranimals are outside year-round snow can make it difficult getting around and keeping electric fence lines clear.

One hundred pigs eat quite a bit of grain and hay during the winter, so a large part of our chores is getting the food to the pigs in the pasture. We feed out almost 6 tons of grain per month to our winter swine herd. We feed out about four round bales a week — they weigh 600-800 lbs each — to the cattle. We make all our own hay during the summer months and store it away to feed to all the animals during the 210 days of winter. Last summerʼs hot and dry weather made for excellent hay-making and we made close to 200 round bales and 1500 square bales. We make and feed only dry hay to our herds. The dry hay has to be stored under cover a opposed to the ubiquitous marshmellows that you often see in area fields.

In addition to the daily grind we are in the midst of ordering chicks & turkeys and planning field crop rotations for the coming season, tackling winter mechanical projects, processing animals, preparing taxes, farrowing piglets, working on our website, repairing and cleaning waterers and feeders for next summer, maintaining perimeter fence lines, and much, much more….

Nancy & Dave

A quick reminder:

December was the last pick up for the Fall meat CSA share. Thanks for your interest in local meat and your support of Hogwash Farm!

January 6th will be the first pick up for the Winter quarter. For those whose share ended please let me know if you intend to extend your share.

Happy Holidays & see you next year! Thanks!

Nancy & Dave

PICK UP DETAILS HAVE CHANGED!

Your fresh pastured raised turkey will be available for pick up…

• Saturday Nov. 20th at the Norwich Winter Market from 10am to 1pm at the Grange Hall in downtown Norwich
• Monday Nov. 22nd from 4 to 7pm at the farm in Norwich.

Please email to confirm your pick up day and location. Thanks!

Nancy & Dave

Meat Shares are available in two sizes for three-, six- and twelve-month periods. Share sizes are based on pounds per month. Payment is due in full by the start of the subscription. Monthly pick-ups at our farm on Kerwin Hill Road in Norwich. Monthly shares are pre-assembled by our farm and will be approximately one-half ground and sausage and one-half higher-end cuts such as roasts and chops, all in frozen cryovac packages.

The meats included in the share reflect what is available on the farm that particular month and cannot be customized.

Subscriptions also include a monthly newsletter with farm news.

From Nancy: A quick reminder:

September was the last pick up for the Summer meat CSA share. Thanks for your interest in local meat and your support of Hogwash Farm. October 7th will be the first pick up for the Fall quarter. For those whose share ended please let me know if you are intending to extend your share.

See you in October. Thanks!

Nancy

We have fresh (processed Tuesday) organic pastured chicken (supplemented with organic grain) available. The chickens are 2-4 pounds, state inspected and cryovac packed.

Also, very free ranging Guinea Fowl. Whole birds (roughly 4 pounds each) and a few heritage breed turkeys (Narragansett and Bourbon Red). The turkeys were supposed to be around until Thanksgiving, but they were too difficult to keep around for another two months. They are around 12 pounds each.

All available fresh through Sunday, including at the Norwich Farmers’ Market on Saturday, 11 Sept. Ready to eat today or freeze for later.

---

Also, a quick reminder about our Pig Roast and Farm Festival on Sunday, 12 Sept from Noon-5pm. Our way of saying Thanks! for supporting Hogwash Farm and a great chance to check out the farm. Hope to see you Sunday!

Thanks-

Nancy LaRowe
Dave Yesman

The last pick-up day for the quarter will be Thursday, 2 Sept at the farm (3p-6p).

Hancy and Dave will have fresh chickens ready Friday afternoon…so if anybody wants to get fresh chicken and wait to pick up their share on Friday afternoon, send Nancy an email and she’ll have your share ready Friday including a fresh chicken.

Also, mark your calendar for a week from Sunday (September 12th) for the Hogwash Farm Pig Roast & Farm Festival. Plenty of food, fun and animals! Hope you can all find time to come! See you in a few days.

Thanks!!!