Wednesday 12 January 2011

Decisions made.

Mum and babies sharing nicely Sometimes just sitting down and talking with all the input from family and friends, (and I include all you lovely Bloggers and commenters in this), fresh in the back of your mind really works. ~ We've taken into consideration our land, our time, LHs' job, my being a vegetarian and most importantly the pigs welfare and well-being. And with all this we've decided to continue with pigs but to reduce our herd to just the Kune Kunes and the Large Blacks, with Martha and Monty being sold to a good home as soon as possible and Maud going just as soon as her piglets are weaned. ~ This will enable me to cope better on the days that LH is not around, currently four days a week but hopefully by April only two, the land to cope better with more areas being able to be rested, and our breeding programme to be timed so that our income is stable and consistent. ~ We will not usually sell weaners, except to people that need them for breeding (as Jack our boar, and Liz our youngest girl are from two of the rarest blood lines for Large Blacks), we will take the pigs to meat ourselves. I have come to this decision because if we remove a good, well-reared meat source from the market peoples choice then falls to the 'not quite so well reared pigs', and as even I have to buy pork products for LH I know where I would prefer my meat to come from. ~ Hopefully these decisions will prove to be the right ones, but only time will tell. Thanks again for all the wonderful comments, they really helped me think things through during the day and helped in the decision making process when we sat down together last night to sort things out. ~ Sue xx

11 comments:

  1. I think you've made the best decision, where would we be without our local British producers, probably having to buy rubbish (well not me)look at the egg fiasco and now I hear it's pork as well, nasty. All the best Sue.

    lynn xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Sue and Alan

    Well thought out you two. Hope it all goes well in the next few weeks.
    love Mum and Dad XXXX

    ReplyDelete
  3. phew! even I feel exhausted after all that rationalising!
    So good to come to a decision- and you ARE allowed to change your mind along the way!
    Here's to the future
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. ps I just thought of something...
    Our Year of Living Simply...Our Year of Simplifying our Living!

    ReplyDelete
  5. As long as YOU are comfortable with your decision, that's all that matters!
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  6. I think you have made a very sensible decision and as others have said you CAN still change your mind along the way.

    Kune kune pigs - great characters anyway I believe?!

    It is never easy doing what you are doing, but I think you are both doing a fabulous job and working so jolly hard as well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You must feel relieved to have made your decision :)
    (Well I hope you do.)
    What you are going to do sounds great. Especially if it makes your lives easier too.
    Good luck to you both :)
    Kindest regards Sue,
    Donna x

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have been following your decision making quietly from the sidelines and think you have made the very best plan for all the reasons you have stated. I am a vegetarian too but firmly believe some animals are essential in a well regulated small holding. Heck, if we had the land, I'd keep pigs too. And like you, would rear them to feed the people I love best and those who care about welfare standards. Go you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Decisions like this are always hard to make but you have to do what feels right at the time for you. We have just sold our in-lamb ewes because, for the moment, having sheep wasn't working for us and it gives us more time and space to concentrate on the pigs - Kune Kune's too ;-) It doesn't mean we may not go back to lambing at another time and we will be getting lambs in the Spring. What's the betting we totally change our minds in the not too distant future though?!

    Rosie x

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm so pleased you have worked it out and hope you feel better for doing so. All very rational thinking and at the end of the day, you need to be happy to be able to make your animals happy. It's important to me that the small amount of meat that I do purchase comes from a good place and it's people like you who make that possible.
    Good Luck
    Alison x

    ReplyDelete
  11. Always good to come to a decision - you can sleep better now x

    ReplyDelete

Comments are now turned off for this old blog of mine. Thank you for reading the posts, I hope you enjoyed them. xx

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.