Of the two feeder pigs, one has met it's destiny today. The soul reason for him to live was to provide food for us. He actually turned out to be a cool pig.
We got him up to about 230 pounds. I did not want him any bigger because of the quality of the meat. Anything above 250 and you get more fat and it cost more to process.
All of the meat will be cured and smoked right here where he was raised.
Here is the cost analyses:
Pig - $50.00
Feed bought - $107.00 (not including scraps from the gardens and the kitchen)
Processing - $85.00
Total invested = $242.00 or $2.20 per pound of processed meat.
(Prices are as close as I can get from calculated estimations and some record keeping)
This also does not include man hours and about 20 gallons of water a day.
I got one more pig to go. Her date is at the end of the month, but I don't know if she will be ready. I might have to keep her one more month.
Way to go. The bucket of vegetables makes me jealous! I've succumbed to buying from a local CSA every 2 weeks and get just enough to satisfy us till the next delivery. Although my tomatoes are coming in little by little.
ReplyDeleteDo you process the pork fat into lard? I have one local connection to buy bags of lard but my weekends in town haven't coincided with theirs yet.
DFW
Thank you DFW. If I was to have the same year as the last one I would be doing the same. I am lucky that this garden season has provided for us more than enough.
DeleteYes, we get the fat and render it into Lard.
MDR,
ReplyDeleteYour pig looks pretty healthy and he will bring you some really nice meat. It looks like your garden boxes are producing some nice vegetables there. Have you started canning your vegetables?
Thank you Sandy. The wife is making Pickles as we speak. I have froze several bags of squash. We eat all the Okra we can pick. The Green Beans get eaten quicker then they can make. The Corn will be Froze, the Pumpkin seeds will be toasted and the innerds will be canned for pumpkin pie filling. The Tomatoes are being canned for pasta sauce. The three different kinds of peppers are all being dried and stored. The watermelon will be made into wine. The Sunflowers will be dried and seeded. The Potatoes will be harvested this weekend and we will see how many there are before we decide what to do with them. All the onions were harvested, some dried, some pickled and the rest is stored. All the carrots have been canned.
DeleteI am sure I am forgetting something.
We have a butcher down the road that gets his pigs from an old farmer that he knows. We got a good amount of great tasting pork for a little under $300. I figure that was good. Expecially since I didn't have any man hours in it.
ReplyDeleteSFG, I could have went that way but decided to go the hard road. As it stands now, that is the way I am going next time.
DeleteI'm SO jealous of your tomato's! All mine are still green and at least two weeks away from a salt shaker! Looking good. We have kicked around the idea of raising a couple of pigs but... I'm still not convinced. (might be cause I still don't have my "dream goats" yet)LOL!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sci. There are a lot of things you can do with green tomatoes. Two nights ago we fried some up and OMG they were great. Last week we made some kind of green cheese tomato and that was good as well.
DeleteDream Goats? I would like to see those.
Homegrown ham and bacon...nothing beats that! Looks like you hit the jackpot on your garden. How is the shade idea working out?
ReplyDeleteColey, I think the shade is why I am getting what I am. We are already up to 100 degrees here and by this time last year the gardens were burnt up. The shade and the sprinkler system is the only difference.
DeleteThis is the best garden I have had in years.
my little gardens are growing and blossoming. i have lots of itsy bitsy veggies and hope they get bigger faster. but, it is all looking good. the mailman just delivered my new dehydrator...so i am gonna be learning something new this summer. :)
ReplyDeleteAnony, you will enjoy the new tool. Ours never shuts off. We dry all our Herbs, Peppers and make Jerky. During the off months we dry eggs, Bananas, fruit roll ups and anything else you can think of.
DeleteHave fun with it.
and Daddy has bacon on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Rob
DeleteI imagine it was difficult to process this pig, but I always feel that if a person has the chance to raise their own food, it's better than having to buy it from another. Let us know how it tastes! Your veggies are awesome! I think you are gaining all the knowledge you would need to sustain your family on a higher level, if ever needed. For now, we both have supplementation efforts that bring such awesome life lessons. With the high winds recently...is the greenhouse repairable?
ReplyDeleteLana
Lana, Difficult, no way. It is what we do and that is why we raise them. Just like the chickens, the goats if need be and the rabbits.
DeleteI try and learn something new everyday. I am not an expert on anything.
This is the way I have lived my whole life. I had to "learn" to live in the city when I did it for four years. This homesteading is in my blood.
The Greenhouse is in need of repair. Some of the panels were lost in the storm so I need to find something to replace them, but yes it is repairable.
I too am jealous of your bucket of veggies but I guess I will have to be please with my tiny little tomatoes and occasional pepper for right now.
ReplyDeleteOne of our pigs goes this weekend. We will be doing it ourselves but have never done it before.
Thanks Becky,
DeleteGood luck on your pig. We have processed our pigs many times before. This time I wanted a professional to do it because of the different cuts of meat I am wanting. I do not have the tools and the saws to do the job the way I want it done. Plus I really do not have the processing area built here yet so it would not go as well as needed.
Have fun with it.
That's really great. Congratulations!
ReplyDeletei'm jealous of the garden too - awesome job that you are doing, buddy and that shade thing was a great idea! i'd love me some fresh pork, too!
ReplyDeleteyour friend,
kymber
Thanks Kymber, it is the best thing I have done yet.
Delete