Before + After | Pigs Clearing Forest

This is what they've done, and this is what they're gonna do. Let's run the pig fence all along this, Jonah. Okay, so let's go around here and just pick up these sticks we cut over right here in our path. Let me switch you guys, and then let's go where— oh, we will need the chainsaw. Look at that, there's logs right here.

Why don't— this is already done for— this has already been cleared.

Why do we want them on it? Well, because I want them to disturb this so that actual grass comes back instead of, uh, bramble. So a week is maybe about right here. Let's aim for moving them in a week. So maybe let's shoot right up through here. See that? See that? You think we can do that? 10 minutes? No way. Even if it was cleared, I don't think we could move it all in 10 minutes.

We can, we can do it in 20. We can go 10 minutes past.

I think so, I think so. I like that. When you try to do the impossible, you end up doing— you might not get it, get it, but you end up doing more than you thought you could. Look, this is perfect disturbance, fellas. Guarantee grass is gonna grow right there. Good job, guys. Today is Saturday, we rest. It's like 7:45. That's a restaurant. Starting at 7:45, but it's also the 12th day the pigs have been in their paddock. Not a whole lot of food scraps today, but we do have all this leftover skin. You see, my mentor Joel Salatin said you gotta move pigs. They can't stay in one place longer than 12 days. If they're like in a forest or pasture. We're not talking about like a deep bedding system. Deep bedding system's different because they have that carbonaceous diaper, as he would say. Coming for you guys soon. Let the big mamas out first. They go straight to the compost pile. It's amazing. You know why? Why move pigs every 12 days? Well, Joe Salatin said to. No, seriously, this is something he's been doing for 40 years. He has a proven track record of creating nutrient-dense food, which is better for people, and leaving the Earth a better place than when he found it, and keeping animals alive and well. Those were some of the happiest animals I've seen. No, but I'm pretty sure you move them 12 days, they're— there's a length where I guess parasites are gonna develop or affect them. Um, they're in their own waste. This is— just want to keep them moving or give them a carbonaceous diaper like this. We have a bit of trouble here. We're going to need to get a longer pen because this door has, I don't know, spread there. The only thing holding these guys in right now is this pen. Little apple cider vinegar, health maintenance. So it rained last night. The question is, did our wood chips under the shed stay dry? Well, we still have a leak. We still have a leak. We tried to lower this carport so rain would run off better. It's cocked. It's still leaking. Why? Why? Okay, it used to leak there, and it's only on the side. It's only on the side here, which the gutter will help. We're gonna install a gutter on that Tuesday. Look at you. All right, let's change their diaper, so to speak. We don't have enough food scraps. That's a great day to grab some frozen guts from the chicken slaughter. Let that fall out through today. We'll feed it this afternoon. Lively bunch, plenty of food. All right, you ready to try this? The grass is wet, it's a little steep right here. I'm gonna try to angle. I couldn't of course not go straight up, but can I angle? But how steep? Let's try to angle it just as steep as we can. How to make this turn without losing it. I'm going steeper than I thought I could. Honestly, I thought I would be having to go through there where there's actually a break-in line, but I made it way up here, which means I'm going to be more parallel tomorrow for my move. I'm going to be able to move right through there. I got the fence up. I'm not used to you. You're stuck in here now, Laurel, huh? It's been a while. Go see him. No, you can do it. Come on, Laurel, come. Okay, she's getting a little rusty. I'm not playing that. Come on. Come. Yay! Good morning, Josiah. Will you hook up our fence? There's a rubber mallet right there for the grounding rod. Free the birds. For those of you who don't know, that's a guinea. That's not a chicken. We have the guineas to free range. This is handy because the guineas like to visit each posse, so they end up roaming the entire farm. Unfortunately, there's only 2, but fortunately we have 8 more growing on.

Hey, Papa. Yeah, Laura left to go hunt a mole down.

Oh, good for her.

She was barking at the ground.

Good for her. 22. Time to move pigs. There's a dead chicken in that bucket. What happened?

It wasn't doing well. I just knew it wasn't gonna survive it. I think its wing was starting to go rotten. I thought it was gonna make it fall off. Okay, um, this needs to be fixed. I have screws that I can fix it with, but that's way too loose.

Let's tighten up those bottom— do you have the tool to tighten up the bottom ones?

No, but I got tools.

I don't even know if we'll need that for sure. We need that piece that where you can tighten the bar. That tool? Yeah, where you can tighten the bar. Do you know where that is?

Probably up in the old barn, but I got hand tools in my workshop. Okay, I'm gonna go put screws into it and tighten it up.

Sure, that's not what we need. We need the one tool that does it all, but gives him ownership in this place. Let him do that. All right, that's for this dead chicken Uh, Jonah put one out of his misery. Good for him. Turn that problem into a solution. Got all our tools. Hopefully we'll need very few of those tools because I don't think it's a big clearing move. I think it's actually already pretty cleared. We are missing something. That's pig net. Um, Cliff Davis recommended sheep net until the pigs were 100 pounds, just to— coyotes. They're 100 pounds, I'm pretty sure. So let's go with pig net now. Got 2 nets. The good news about this is it's a less wire to electrify, so it's going to be even hotter. Been waiting on Jonah. Let's see what's going on. I think it would have just been easier to go to the old barn and get the right tool. I think he wants to use his shop though. What's going on? Okay, did you find a screw that would actually go in there? Hey, if that's not the right size, it's just going to strip things.

It's the right size, look, see?

Did you tighten the bottom ones already? Yeah. Well, do you have a smaller adjustable wrench? This has a— or your Leatherman. This one has a nut on the bottom. You have to hold that. You're getting it. Good job. Yep, okay, and then screw that one in. All right, there you go. Here we go, let's clear the perimeter. Yeah, just know that the fence is going there so you don't have to go too far in. Okay, good. Did you bring a string trimmer? That would just be easier. A little bit of fuel, but that's probably all we need. Let's get it started, let it warm up, put on the chaps. Josiah, I'm done with this machinery. Will you put it up? Thank you. Put it in the trailer. We've got this mode all around. Jonah, you're already starting to put up the fence. Yes! Look at this. I love it, I love it. That's like our toughest spot. I think this spot isn't going to be as hard. Plus We're gonna get the cows in here. We've already got a path pretty much worn down. Yes, I love how this is all coming together. Jonah, is that one? So we'll do good with just one more. I was right, just two. Well, hey Lily, good morning! How is everything? How's Mr. Brown? Is he really— Mr. Brown is still asleep. Good, he's not driving Mama nuts. I like to take Mr. Brown in the morning, give Mama a break. Plus, I love working with my children. This is a perfect thing to do together as a family. Could I do this a little bit faster? Probably, but maybe not when they're this age, when they've been going along with me since they were 6 months old on my back. How do I get How do you get kids to be invested in this, someone asked? Well, it's all they've known, and they get good rewards if they help. Where's my camera? Oh. Good job, Jonah. That's the gate. Open it up a little bit further. Thank you. Now here's the tricky part.

The fence.

Uh, there's that psychological barrier here. I learned something at Joel Salatin's. There's a psychological barrier there. I mean, maybe there's a physical because this is a more visible fence. No, hold on, hold on, I got a plan. Please put that down. The end's right here, Jonah. So the plan is I'm gonna pick it up right here and just unwind it to right there. Yeah, actually, that would be better if you actually did that. And then— yes. Oh, thank you. I was hoping you'd put them in the trailer.

Okay, thank you.

I don't really need them. Thank you. Okay, you'll pull that up and I'll lead with the bucket. Okay, I'm pretty sure they'll follow me anywhere I want them to go. Will you guys? Oh, we don't want to spill any here. This is not where we want it. It's good to get you a taste. Now you'll follow me anywhere I want to go. So easy. All right, Jonah, can you come hold the camera for a second? How about let's start up in the corner and work our way that way? My little foresters, where they were, where they're gonna be now. Grass! There's actually a seed bank of grass in the soil that they're going to encourage to come up. So excited about that. Okay, let's get this, uh, this shelter out of here for them. You're gonna roll that up for me? Taking the handle from that end to this end is easy. All right, we didn't have to move the Energizer. There, you got your tester?

No, but I know it's hot.

One more thing to do. 9:22. See, I smell it. I smell— I smell pig. You know what that means? It was right time to leave. But look at what they did for us, Jonah. That's incredible! We can actually get in there now and get at these trees. Good job, piggies!

This is what they would have done to the whole thing. Okay, but it's good that we moved them out.

It's true, we should have made this about half the size.

Yeah.

All right, Jonah, if you'll get this hose out of here. I think we have enough hose to get up there. I'm gonna get the water. Putting the water over here did help. Look, Look, look at how they underbrushed. Amazing.

I'll carry the lid.

Thank you. You carry that lid, I'll carry this. You're such a help, Lily. You know, I could get work done faster without the little kids, but what's the point? What's the point? First, we're growing niños. Right here. What? Oh, okay, let's do a— yeah, that's a good point. You want to put the water up here near our water line. Oh, I like that it's near a tree. Hey. How's it going in here? It's going good. Mr. Brown stayed at the house. You slept till 9? Call the Inquirer. Okay, wanted to cuddle. Are you gonna— are you gonna milk with me? I'm about to go milk. Okay, not gonna do it. That's a detour. You two are cute together. Switched cows, switched helpers. You ready for this? How's the cream going, babe? It's going good. It looks like it's getting us cream and no skimming it, but it's so full like this, you gotta scoop it out first. You're almost done, aren't you?

Papa, can you read me a book?

Sure, one book, and then I gotta go make breakfast. Left foot, left foot, left foot, right foot, right. Feet in the day, feet in the night. Time to make breakfast, Mr. Brown. So I was looking for a tray to put the— bake the pancakes on. Well, guess where our tray was? These are our berries that we froze yesterday. Just added fruit to our freezer back. Lily, you want to go get breakfast with me? That's why they call this the kitchen garden. Just walk right outside, conveniently grab some breakfast. Here you go, Mom, in your favorite mug too, your Alaska mug.

Oh, it's so hot.

It's so hot. I guess you can't have it. I can't drink it. Okay, so how's your sunburn?

It's actually doing a lot better. I mean, it's still a little bit— there's a little bit of pink in my arms and on my nose, my legs, but I'm wearing pants.

Yay!

I could not wear pants last night.

There we go. And you're having coffee, first time on GAPS diet.

Yeah, this is the first time I've had coffee since January.

Decaf. Decaf. And the kids are gonna have a mountain. It looks like it's gonna rain though, so I'm gonna need to cover the wood chips. That time when you put your boots on backwards, you just have to keep going because you don't want your mulch to get wet. That time when you go out barefoot. Oh no, I'm going to look at my garden. Oh, she meant to. She meant to. Nice day for a nap. Oh, you kidding me? I'm soaked, not from the rain, but from pouring water all over myself. Jonah said that her seeds are sprouting. That's what she was gonna look at. That's good.

Look, that poor guinea is trying to stay dry in this weather. I guess he was up here looking at himself in the window. And as you can see, the screen was tore off by Royal.

When I—

I'm gonna get around to that too. I'm gonna replace the screen, and then I'm gonna put hardware cloth over all the windows that we want to be able to open, let the cats get into.

The cat did rip—

That poor guinea.

Uh-huh.

Mama, the cat did rip open our room. Close it completely.

Yeah.