It's raining again

We are certainly thankful to be out of the drought that plagued us for the last couple of years, but this fall has turned out to be much wetter than we thought it would be. The remnants of Tropical Storm Ida dropped six inches of rain not long ago, and we are getting a good soaking as I write this. This is not the ideal time to have a 4 day old calf, but a heifer was born this weekend on a cold morning and is doing great. Pregnant and lactating cows can have a hard time in the cool seasons, but the heirloom corn silage we use provides good nutrition during the gap between warm and cool season pasture so that calves born in less than perfect weather can still thrive. We say that we "raise" animals and that word is appropriate I guess but it is really Nature that does the work. Wet periods in cold weather can mean problems for hogs raised on pasture, but we are fortunate to have our hog pasture in a place where they can stay dry and have protection from the wind. I have visited farms where hogs were in several inches of mud with no dry place, and I feel that is not humane at all. We have a building that they can go into, but they seem to prefer the shelter of the trees and the wallows that they make for themselves in the woods. We are anxiously awaiting the sausage that will be ready this Friday. We can't wait to try it. Good quality meat is always something to enjoy, especially when you have the satisfaction of it coming from your own animals. We had crown roasts cut from 3 young hogs for Christmas dinner, and I'm sure that my aunt who is the "family chef" will do them justice.