Jenny-Jack Sun Farm "good food news"

Pigs shift spots on our farm via a 4’x8’ stock trailer for a few reasons; first, their allotted 8-9 month stint expires and their loaded to be processed. Second, they have properly performed their foraging and rooting tasks on a piece of ground and need to transition to fresh ground. Thirdly, six week old piglets need separated, or weaned, from their mother, and finally, if, or honestly, when, a pig, due to higher intelligence or indecent arrogance, chooses to constantly escape our generous bounds of confinement. So, as one can surmise, we are not daily shuffling the pork pieces, but it does occur routinely and it is always shrouded in dizzying spontaneity where the farmer needs cooperation and the pig is just looking for a good meal and a good time. It’s a battle of the wits and it’s really quite embarrassing when the pig prevails. Nonetheless, here is how the typical pig move happens: we detach the two-strand, electrified, poly-wire gate, back the trailer in and begin searching the immediate area for rocks, bricks, or anything available to prop the back end of the trailer as the nose releases and raises from the hitch. By this time the pigs are at once captivated by this new shiny object to back scratch and playfully pound with their powerful snouts. And some could care less; they see the gate down and dart for freedom. Those are the ones that make you not lose a single cycle of sleep on processing day; as we know from history, it only takes one mischievous, wild-eyed leader and a generous cast of fiery followers to cause a bout of chaos. Normally, these “special” pigs are restrained by the two or three sets of hands we have attempting to establish order, but every once in a while we’re hauling ass in hot pursuit with Harold the Blue Heeler nipping fearlessly at their heels and the birds and squirrels perched tree-side act as audience, chiming in on cue with belly-heaving screeches of forest-filling laughter. Once the trailer is stationed and the tractor removed and the stretchy gate re-attached, one person pours food from the top of the trailer onto the floor hoping to allure at least one. On processing day we are looking for the three or four largest ones, on weaning or paddock-moving day we are looking for the boarding of each hog or piglet, and when we are acting as police we are solely seeking the scandal. To answer every reader’s question, yes, I am confident, there is an easier, more efficient way. A better, more user-friendly trailer, a single holding corral, permanent paddocks connected rather than separately pieced throughout the farm, and, of course, pre-planning, but who has time for that? A fellow hog farmer we follow on Instagram posted a picture the other day with a short paragraph expressing the sanity that tends to befriend the small, working farm. He said, “Today I’m questioning my sanity. Tomorrow I’ll work on a plan. Proactive farming is a crutch for the creatively challenged.” The prideful, prickly guard softens when you hear peers slowly wading through similar quagmire, and the spirit lifts a bit when hog rearing perspective alters from my, “how can I spend money not there to fine tune a marginally profitable enterprise” to this gentleman’s edict of using available resources for creative solutions. Of course there is cost there too. Spending basement level dollars on piecemeal infrastructure saves cash and massages the creative tissues of the brain but it does cost you in headaches, repair, and the hands needed to keep it all running. Answers don’t come easy around these parts, but the process has to count for something, and for now, the plan is to sally forth and try to be patient and not so stubborn to believe that a fix can’t come in lots of different pieces. Spring Farm Dinner The annual farm dinner is happening on Saturday May 14th this year. For details check our website or the dinner Facebook page, www.facebook.com/dinneronthefarm. Cost this year is $45/adult paying with check or cash and $50/adult paying with credit card at https://squareup.com/market/jenny-jack-sun-farm. Children under 12 years old are $25.

Wednesday On-Farm Market What to expect this week on the table: Kale, Collards, Arugula, Spinach, Rainbow Chard, Mustard Greens, Green Garlic, Green Onions, Lettuce, Sunchokes, Japanese Lettuce, Radish, Pickled

Sunchokes, Collard Kimchi, Kale Kimchi, Farm Eggs. Vegetable Transplants: Tomatoes, Peppers, Basil Farm made items: Comfrey-Aloe Cream, Elderberry Tincture, Ginger Tincture, Turmeric Tincture, Hibiscus/Lemongrass/Mint Tea.

Oinkment: A super effective sunscreen made by CSA member Jenn Collins. Made with micro-ionized zinc oxide and lard from our pigs. Rubs well into skin and smells like peppermint. $8

Farm Pork: Sliced, smoked ham, link & patty sausage, roasts, pork chops. White Oak Pastures beef marrow bones and roasts, Comerford Farms ground beef. ALSO, Sue Batistini will be here with her homemade sourdough breads and tasty baked goods. This market tends to be small but festive; folks shop while catching up with old friends, exchange recipe ideas, talk with the farmers and chef, and stroll through the fields where all the produce is grown. We would be honored to be a part of your weekly good food grazing routine. Pictures of the Week

This pregnant Sow, Mole as we call her, escaped and made her way to the shop for a snack. Harold’s got it though; he’s got that hungry look in his eye.

Chris harvesting ‘Alabama Blue’ Collards behind three rows of quickly maturing cabbage being cut for some CSA deliveries this week. This heirloom collard is a seed we’ve been saving since we started farming. Our farm mentors, the Glovers, passed it along to us and we’ve continued to grow it, save it, and pass it along.

Strawberries ripening into peak season. We harvest three days a week and make sure our CSA members at least get a weekly pint, although we planted more this year hopeful to offer the occasional quart. It’s still a tad early so we will see if they catch a growth spurt.

Where to find our produce and products: Our produce may be found at: Market on Broadway in Columbus from 9-12 on Saturdays On Farm Market Wednesdays from 9-5 (Help yourself service after 12!), We have a 120 member CSA with drop-off locations in Lagrange, Columbus, and On-farm. You can also find our produce on the menu of Food Blossoms Catering out of Hamilton and 153 Main Bistro in Pine Mountain. Take good care, Chris and Jenny