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Well, the weather wasn’t any better for Day 2, but people again braved the sprinkles of rain and the mud puddles to come and see us.  Rarely was there a moment when there wasn’t someone there to talk to.

In the bustle of the setup and the rain, no one in my immediate family remembered a camera to take any pictures!!  So if anyone out there has any good ones that they wouldn’t mind sharing, send them along to ken@lambspork.ca and then I’ll have some to post on the website!

Thanks also to Stan and Maryann Found, our fellow pig farmers from down Bomanville way, for all their help. I don’t think we could do it without them!  www.foundfamilyfarm.ca

We went to the “Gates Open” farmers market all day Saturday.  Although it sprinkled rain on us just after we put up our tent, the sun shone between showers all day.  It was great to meet so many people interested in our pork and buying local like this.

  Having just recieved a sample of “pulled pork” fully cooked and seasoned, we thought it would be a good thing to sample to people and see what they think.  There seemed to be an overall concensus that it was wonderful stuff!  So we will definately have to get some more made!  If you were one of the people who were interested, check back here next week and we will hopefully have some pricing/availability.

Maybe we will see some of the same people again tomorrow at our Farm for Gates Open, and some new ones too!

There is a little triangle of grass that we have never worked as part of the field, across the road by the chicken barns.  So we decided it was kinda silly to be paying rent on it for nothing.  We’ve cut it for hay (grass) in years gone by, but it is not even very good for that anymore.  So we are digging in a couple short runs of tile drain.  We’ve done that before in other places and just rented one of those mini-excavators, but this time it wasn’t available the day we wanted it, so we have a little compact John Deere tractor with loader and back-hoe on it.  I think it is actually a more powerfull engine, so with a little luck it will be faster, not slower.  It is just a little harder to move along as you dig.  I’ll probably have it down to a science by the time we are done!

Although it is mostly aimed at fruit and vegetables, it really does apply just as much to pork!

Hat’s off to Hellman’s for creating this, it is well done!

Hellmanns local Canadian food video

Our one remaining mother cat had another 4 kittens this morning.  Last time they were mostly white with some orange and brown thrown in, this time they are mostly black, with some white and orange thrown in.  You just never know with cats!  They are in the straw downstairs in the barn this time, so we’ll have to find them a box before we move sows down that alleyway!

Anybody need a cat in a couple of months!??

So these last few beautiful sunny days have been spent with Dad trucking solid manure across the road, and me hauling liquid manure down the highway.  I’m pretty sure the neighbours won’t have to be reading “The Daily Squeal” to know what we’re up to!

So  in end we bought another combine just as old as the first one.  Same model too.  Hub International towed the old one home today, and it is now sitting behind the drive shed for spare parts!  Hub is still going to fix and move the 4wd to the new one, and a few other little fixes, hopefully in time for soybeans!  (with things as late as they are, that gives them a few weeks!)

Although the combine still looks like it always has from the front…

It is a little different from the back!

I was merrily going along, (making good time too!) when I thought I could smell something.  It smelled like a belt burning or something.  So, I stopped and backed up, and as the row of straw came into view underneath me, it was on fire! Ah!

Then the combine sputtered and stopped.  AHH!  I hopped out with my little fire extinguisher, only to see flames shooting out of the top and out of the bottom of the combine, as well as straw beside and the grain on the other side.  I didn’t even use the extinguisher, I just called 911.   Of course I had no idea what the street address was!

Dad showed up shortly thereafter. (he was coming already for the truck) and waved in the fire truck from the road, so they got there ok.

An half an hour later, the little pickup fire truck had skirted the whole field and put out all the burning straw and grain, and the big trucks had the combine down to a simmer.  Although it smoked off and on for a while. (we were back at 9:00 at it was still smoking, and the grain in the bin was still warm to touch!)

Anybody got a good used combine for sale!?

Seriously, I really liked that combine, and I’m feeling the loss.. 🙁