There have been some developments since my post on New Year’s Day. About six months ago I reached out to Peace Ridge Sanctuary, a farm animal sanctuary in Brooks, Maine, that gives, according to their mission statement, “permanent sanctuary to abused and neglected animals, with a particular focus on farmed animals”. Though my pigs don’t …
Just before my family and I left town for the holidays, I ran into John Hodgman at the general store, and he mentioned, matter-of-factly, that my pig blog was to be featured on his Judge John Hodgman podcast. Until now what I’ve written over the last six months has been read by a very small collection …
I’ve been dreading the last two days. Fear of the unknown, I suppose. Professionalism, reverence and respect prevailed, however, along with a little luck. Yesterday afternoon, I drove six pig carcasses to a butcher a half hour outside of Bangor. They’ll come back as chops, roasts, bacon, ham and fat. I instructed the butcher to …
On December 5th and 6th, Blue Hill Itinerant Slaughter is scheduled to slaughter a half dozen of my pigs. On the 7th I will drive the carcasses to Maple Lane Farms for processing. At this point I don’t know what my role will be, if any, in the slaughtering process; we haven’t worked out the …
I can’t keep a dozen pigs for the rest of their lives. Caring for twelve two hundred pound animals through good times and bad for the next fifteen to twenty years is a commitment of energy, time and money beyond my reach. If the decision were entirely up to me or if I were surrounded …
Bacon has a long history of killing would-be vegetarians. This weekend at a wedding reception in Connecticut I, without thinking, plucked a bacon wrapped scallop from a tray and had the delicious morsel poised for consumption when I stopped, stunned by the power of bacon, and tried, without success, to continue my conversation with a …
Thus far I have not referred to my pigs with proper pig terminology. Female pigs who have not yet had piglets are called gilts. Once they become mothers, they are sows. Male pigs are boars, but castrated males are barrows. When Nathan delivered my pigs a few months ago, I believe he told me that …
Trout, one of the pigs here for the summer, was always game for a belly rub. She’d amble over, stretch herself out, and wait for attention with her eyes closed, a picture of relaxation and trust. So it was curious, yesterday, when she and Truffle were shipped back to their farm of origin, that her …
In July of 2011, after a run of 50 years, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange ended the trading of pork belly futures. There was a time when the consumption of bacon, the most critical third of a BLT, saw a bump in the summer, and the future price of pork belly was something of an indicator …
Got a call from a Bangor TV station today looking for a ten minute good-news interview about something positive happening in my town. (Full disclosure: This was not a random inquiry; I’m part of town government.) The station is going to be in the neighborhood tomorrow to film a segment on the sale of the …