Working Out
My workout today was working out...side. I'm choring with Chuck in the mornings a couple of times a week, partly to be supportive and partly for safety. The sows are having their babies right now. Since we choose to have the sows farrow outside in small A-houses, instead of an indoor farrowing house, Chuck needs to go into each A-house when pigs are born to check them and work them. We try to choose mothers from breeds that are gentle as well as have good conformity and large litters. However, nearly any breed will show some protectiveness with a new litter of pigs.
I come out for chores so that if a sow gets upset I can distract her so that Chuck can move out of the pen safely. An angry sow can be pretty formidable.
While I'm out there I water all those sows at the same time that Chuck is feeding them and checking them. I carried 2 1/2 gallons of water to each of 36 sows this morning.
Then, since I was already outside anyway, I decided to tackle the compost pile. Organic matter will compost by itself over time without help. If you want it to happen faster there are things you can do. Mixing green material with brown material and adding dirt or manure helps a lot. Turning the pile occasionally also makes a big difference. Today I turned this entire pile.
I used a pitchfork and lifted every bit of that pile from another area and moved it to this spot so that it would mix and compost more quickly. It was an excellent workout. Hopefully, by next fall it will be great for the garden and our soil will be a lot better because of it.
I wish I had turned it already last fall. I like working outside but I have this disconnect. I don't like going outside. Once I am out, I find I usually like the work. Getting myself out of the house is the hurdle. I'm too content to be where I am. There is plenty to do inside the house. Why should I change clothes and go out?
Today, since I was already out and I was not uncomfortable with the weather, I decided to go ahead and do the compost instead of walking for exercise later. It feels better somehow to get 'real' exercise rather than walking nowhere and walking back. I feel a little sorry for the dogs, but there are plenty of days they can walk with me.
I come out for chores so that if a sow gets upset I can distract her so that Chuck can move out of the pen safely. An angry sow can be pretty formidable.
While I'm out there I water all those sows at the same time that Chuck is feeding them and checking them. I carried 2 1/2 gallons of water to each of 36 sows this morning.
Then, since I was already outside anyway, I decided to tackle the compost pile. Organic matter will compost by itself over time without help. If you want it to happen faster there are things you can do. Mixing green material with brown material and adding dirt or manure helps a lot. Turning the pile occasionally also makes a big difference. Today I turned this entire pile.
I used a pitchfork and lifted every bit of that pile from another area and moved it to this spot so that it would mix and compost more quickly. It was an excellent workout. Hopefully, by next fall it will be great for the garden and our soil will be a lot better because of it.I wish I had turned it already last fall. I like working outside but I have this disconnect. I don't like going outside. Once I am out, I find I usually like the work. Getting myself out of the house is the hurdle. I'm too content to be where I am. There is plenty to do inside the house. Why should I change clothes and go out?
Today, since I was already out and I was not uncomfortable with the weather, I decided to go ahead and do the compost instead of walking for exercise later. It feels better somehow to get 'real' exercise rather than walking nowhere and walking back. I feel a little sorry for the dogs, but there are plenty of days they can walk with me.
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