I tossed and turned throughout the night knowing that at 5 am Maine Man would awaken and prepare to take the life of one of the pigs. A few minutes ago at 6 am I laid in bed wide awake as I heard the fatal shot. My heart started to beat faster and a few tears came down my face. I am saddened that the pig has lost it's life in order to sustain ours. I also have an extreme sense of guilt knowing that MM is out there doing this dreaded deed by himself. Would I have felt that way had a went to the market to buy some pork chops? No way, and chances are our farm raised pig had a much better life. Sometimes people ask, "how do you do it?" Well, even though I am not the trigger man, it is not easy. I am thankful that we have MM who is able to do the task and is skilled at butchering .
On a lighter note we will be getting a greenhouse. It is the one in the previous post second picture down. It is 92' long. It will extend our growing season on both sides, provide a good place to start seedlings, and a great hen house in the winter. Off to wake the children for school.
Good day all!
20 comments:
That is something I know I would never be able to do, but then I have never been exposed to meat/animals, so I can't say much..... I'm glad you have such a skilled one to take care of it in the best way possible.
92' greenhouse! Wow. That is HUGE, I can't wait to see the things you can grow in it!
I don't know how I would react if we raise our own chicken or pigs and then butcher them. I have no problem watching hubby "process" ducks/geese that he shot.
But like you said, you own farm raised animals have/had a better life than the commercially raised ones.
Congrats on getting the greenhouse!
We had pigs when I was young, we always had to name them ham and bacon. That was my Dad's way of reminding us why we had them. It really worked and I still love the taste of it!
Good luck with that green house, we are trying out our first cold frame this year! I hope we both have success!
It's funny you write about this....I just watched (for about 5 minutes-it's all i could do)a documentary on HBO about Factory Farms and how they treat their pigs. It was horrifying and i am sure it got worse if i had the stomach to watch it further. I made a vow to only buy meat from the Farmer's at the Farmer's Market, because i believe that these animals are raised up with respect and comfort and when it comes time to "process" them, it is done with the utmost respect and kindness. Since i am not blessed to live on a working farm, or have the courage to do the "processing" myself, i am grateful to folks like you who are responsible and do it for us. Honestly watching something like that just for 5 minutes has really made a difference for me. If you saw the other side of supermarket meat, you would feel better about the lives of your animals raised to feed your beautiful family....
Gratitude IS the quick death at home as compare to the horror of the trip to the slaughter house.
Congrats on the greenhouse. Lucky you.
I grew up watching my grandparents do this. I can remember a time when I was very young helping to make sausage. I never really thought anything about it as it was a way of life. You are right about your pig having a much better life.
A 92' greenhouse, wow! Oh, the things you'll grow. What fun!
Isn't it funny... Who would think we would come to understand and respect our food sources?! How many people actually do... not many. They think nothing of going to the grocery store and just picking up whatever, whenever. As we grow as farmers, we will understand, respect and love the life cycle all the more.
PS: Wait til you taste your loins!!!!Mmmm...so worth it!
I understand about the pig. I've never had a pig but I expect that they have a lot of personality?
Mike has to be the one to put animals down here too. Let me know how it tastes.
I think you said it right...hard as it was for MM, the life that pig lived was so much better than he might otherwise have lived.
Congrats on the greenhouse...can't wait to see it up!
I don't know if we could ever raise animals to eat for exactly that reason. I don't think I'll ever go back to buying meat from the store- we've been buying direct from the small farmers here but I don't know if I could eat something I've been introduced to.
I'm so jealous- a 92' greenhouse! Wow, what fun you'll have with that.
Judy
Circle of life....
Congrats on the greenhouse should be a great addition..:-)
Thanks for all your comments. The next posts will be pork, pig, and sausage making. Imagine that!
Farm life is hard in a few ways...this post being about one of them...I will never learn my lesson and stop naming the calves we kill for beef....so great on your greenhouse! Oh I'm so jealous! I've been telling Norm for a few weeks how I'd love to have one! You animal pics were awesome!
Do you have to heat the green house in order to get seedlings started?
Kelly
I agree with everyone else Kim- even though it's never easy to take the life of an animal you "know", you can take so much comfort in knowing it was well taken care of during it's life. I can't wait to read the upcoming posts!
I, too, feel so lucky that I have a husband willing and able to take care of this side of things. You're right, some people shudder to hear of it, but then turn around and eat meat elsewhere without a second's thought. It is the hard part of farming. Even Jake says it isn't easy, and he's been doing this all his life. He has to go into a certain "mode", he says, and just concentrate on physically going through the motions. We always take a moment to thank our animals beforehand.
My brother-in-law did his own butchering this year...right now we just garden and we get a little ham for free from them:)
P.s Can't wait to see your greenhouse...we put ours up last year:)
Renee
gardendesk.com
I will have to second GreyWolf. It is much more humane to do it at home. I also find it funny when people tell me they could never hunt pheasants (my husband hunts pheasants) and I ask if they eat meat. And they usually do. Then I ask if they know where that meat comes from and how horrific the life of those animals is. At least the pheasant had a good life and was out in a clean environment and had a quick death.
Good for MM. He can provide for his family without being a hypocrite about it.
I can so relate to this post Kim. Very well spoken. Good for you guys, taking the responsibility yourselves, but it is never easy, nor should it be.
Thanks for sharing. My H and I would like to have pigs, but are freaked out about having to do the dreaded slaughter.
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