A MONTH ON THE PIG FARM

James Hull, The Story Pig

It’s not over yet. I write at the beginning of February but I know it’s going to be over soon – I can feel the change coming. The battle is not won yet. And of course, the battle is never won, nature always wins in the end, but thank goodness for that otherwise – for sure we would have ruined that too!

What do I talk of? Winter of course and it’s been a tough one for us – so wet that I heard myself mumbling day after day that ‘I’ve never seen anything like it’ as I trudged miserably through the winter fields of mud. Pigs make mud, driving around in fields in winter makes mud and my life is filled with mud. But of course, I have seen it before – most likely I came in and said it to Charlotte last year too. The gloom fills my soul through incredibly tough months when every day I question why we keep pigs outside, but actually, I do know, it’s because it’s better! Not always better for me, but better for them.

And then just to mix things up we have had colder weather than we have experienced for a few years now and the muddy ruts were frozen solid. All our pigs’ water was frozen for a month – I realise how much they drink. I have to take water to every group twice a day, make sure I keep one tap on the farm unfrozen and take the hosepipe inside to stop it from turning into a 20-metre ice pop.

But that’s what’s been. It’s in the past now as at present we have been blessed with a dry spell. I have been gardening and it’s been dry enough for me to get the digger on the lawn. The sun has made an appearance and I am slightly giddy with the feeling that spring is coming. The light has changed and there is a different feeling in the air. I feel happy again. Miraculously the cold east winds have dried up the muddy pig fields and the pigs are out rootling around, enjoying the sunshine. I haven’t contemplated levelling out the ruts yet as of course we are not through it all yet, but soon!

With spring in the air, we are making plans for the year ahead. Just as the cows are turned out, skipping and jumping with excitement onto fresh pastures, Charlotte and I will be moving the cafe back outside. I doubt we will skip, but you never know, we’re certainly excited. We are likely to make the move on 23rd/24th March and will then be open Thursdays to Sundays for the summer as normal.

We are so looking forward to being out in the fresh spring air and watching our garden come to life. We are going to be making a few changes out there and can’t wait to share it with you. I have been busy making a new base to move our second tipi right next to our cafe so that it will be much nicer for those slightly inclement days we sometimes have! As always we have many other plans for the year ahead but we will keep them under our hats for now, just in case we don’t have enough time… or funds to implement them all. One thing I will share though is our plan to hold a different themed event each month at The Story Pig over the summer!

As I write there is a hard white frost on the ground, the sun is rising and the rows of lavender are slumbering in their winter coats. Soon they will start to show the first tiny flecks of green. The snowdrops are the only colour peeping through in the garden, but it’s coming. The days are lengthening now. I am relying less on my head torch and more on my eyes. I stay out until it’s dark – my head bursting with things to do and with each day, a little more time to do them. I love spring more than any other time of the year – it’s the promise of what’s to come, of new beginnings, of starting over. We humans always need hope and spring is brimming with it – greening hedges, trees bursting into leaf, birds singing, the soil drying and warming. We are not there yet but nearly, and I can’t wait!

thestorypig.co.uk

Dg

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