Intriguing or Disturbing?

I consider myself to be a city girl.

This country life is so new to me, and I'm completely unaccustomed to it.

I'd never ridden a horse until I met Josh.

I'd never been on a ranch until I dated Josh.

I'd never milked a cow until after I got married.

I'd never lived on a dirt road until we moved to Salmon.

I'd never driven a tractor until a few years ago.

I'd never fed a pig until last year.

After each new country-life experience I have, I feel like I've accomplished some great task.

And because I'm such a curious person, sometimes I witness things now that I never would've thought I'd see growing up as a city girl. But, living on a ranch, I'm given the opportunity occasionally to see something new and I take advantage of it, just because I'm curious to see how it all works.

Like, for example, I've seen our female horse be mated. Intriguing, but I never want to purposefully watch that activity again.

I've witnessed cows giving birth. It's super interesting, but kind of gross, too.

And I've also watched our male horse be castrated. I took videos and pictures because I thought the whole process was so fascinating, as well as a little disgusting. But, I never want to see it again, or hear that c-rrr-unch sound again, either! {shudder}

And now I've got a new item to add to the list: last week, I looked on as the butcher cut-up our pigs that we'd been feeding and growing all summer long. Except, this time, I didn't purposefully intend to witness the procedure.

The night before it happened, Josh told me the butcher would be coming out to kill and cut-up the pigs the following day. He placed the pigs in a corral right next to the road to help make the job easier for the butcher. Knowing what was coming, I vowed to stay in the house all morning long until I knew for sure the task was done and the butcher was gone.

But much to my dismay, Josh called me late that morning and said he needed me to go give a message to the butcher regarding the pigs. So, I walked down to give the butcher the note, and saw that he had already started the job. He was cutting the skin away from the second dead pig's body. I was horrified, but could not force myself to walk away. Dang my curiousity! So I stayed, whipped out my cell phone, and took some photos instead (hence, the poor quality of these images). After he was all done skinning the second pig and removed its hooves, he attached a hook to the first pig, and pulled a cable from inside his truck until the pig was lifted completely off the ground. He finished removing its skin, cut its head off and split it open.

It was at this point that I started to become very nauseous and sick to my stomache. But, I couldn't just quit watching what I had started. I felt like I needed to see the job to its finish. My brain was saying "suck it up, tummy! we need to finish what we started!". So, I obeyed and I stayed.

After he cut the pig open, all of its inards came tumbling out--the stomache, the bowels, the liver, the heart. Everything. The intestines looked so weird: like one giant squirmy gray snake. I was too shocked at the image to even take a picture of that (luckily for you!). The butcher placed the guts, the head, the hooves, and the skin in the garbage can that he'd later take to the dump, and put the pig on the back hook in his truck and prepared to do it all over again on the second pig.

And it was at this point that I left. My stomache had finally overruled my mind, saying "I did it! Okay?! I watched it. Are you satisfied? Because I'm not, I'm upset. I hope you're happy". And my brain was saying "Yes, I'm very happy now, thank you". And my stomache was saying "Good, then let's go, otherwise you're gonna witness your insides being thrown up all over the ground too". So, I obeyed and I walked back to the house. And the whole way home I told myself over and over "dont throw up, dont throw up, dont throw up". Fortunately, I didn't throw up. Unfortunately, my stomache was sick the whole rest of the day.

When I picked up the boys from school that afternoon and told them what I'd seen, they were all sad that they didn't get to see it! They walked down and were excited just to see the remaining puddles of blood left behind as evidence. So, I suppose it's a good thing I DID take these photos! And I decided to post them, just in case there are any others in the world who find the whole thing intriguing but have never had the opportunity to see what I saw.

Most things that I've had the opportunity to witness on the ranch-life have been more intriguing than disturbing. But in this case, every single thing I thought was intriguing about it became completely overpowered by all of its disturbing factors. Seeing the pigs be cut-up was nothing but disgusting. And for those of you who find the whole thing just as disgusting as I did, and have NEVER wanted the opportunity to see what I saw, I'm sorry if you're sick right now after seeing the images.

But, to end on a positive note, the single good thing to come from all of this is the delicious ham and pork and bacon and sausage that the butcher is preparing for us! Because PORK is definitely my favorite food group!!! And home-grown pork is truly the BEST (despite the process it goes through to become so)!!!

piggy tales & a "happily ev-fair after" ending

Last summer, Ammon had such a positive experience raising his 4-H Swine Project for the fair. Remember the story of Phineas and Ferb? Well, he liked them so much, and had such a fun time at the fair, he decided he wanted to do it all over again this year.

In May, we picked up the piglets Frosty and Oreo:

At first, Ammon was so excited to have them! But within a week or two, everything seemed different than last year. In 2009, we got Phineas and Ferb for $100 each from a swine farm in Moore, Idaho. They were nice, calm pigs. This year, we got Frosty and Oreo from a swine farm in Leadore, Idaho. One of the girls in our 4-H club had gotten her pig from there last year, and it earned overall Reserve Grand Champion in quality at the 2009 fair. We thought we could get a good quality pig from there too, plus they were cheaper, only costing $75 each.

But these pigs were not nice and calm like Phineas and Ferb. Frosty and Oreo were hyper, jumpy, nervous pigs. We hoped they would grow out of it. Ammon spent a lot of time this summer feeding and watering them everyday, and hanging out in their pen with them so they would be more comfortable with him. I think they got used to him after a while, but they never became friendly with him.

Over the July 4th weekend, the pigs escaped their pen. That NEVER happened last year. As told by Ammon in his 4-H story, this is what happened:

"I was playing in the yard when my mom yells at me 'AMMON, A NEIGHBOR CALLED SAYING THAT YOUR PIGS ARE OUT AND ARE DOWN AT THE CATTLEGUARD. GO CHECK THEM!!' So I ran to the pig pen and sure enough, they had escaped from the new pen we had finished building that afternoon. So I ran back up to the house crying my head off and I said through tears that they weren’t in their pen. My parents were telling me to 'stay calm' and that 'everything’s going to be alright'. They said 'ride your bike down and try to spot them', so I rode my bike along the road back and forth twice with no luck. I went back up to the house and told my parents the news. Then dad pulled out his motorcycle and told me to hop on. So then we rode around the neighborhood asking the neighbors if they saw the pigs. But still we had no luck. So I went to the house to eat dinner while dad went to his high school class reunion. When my brother Jonah got up to the house for dinner, he said 'Ammon, I know where the pigs are'. I said 'where?' and he answered 'in grandma’s lawn'! So I told mom that I was full and went outside wearing only my crocs on my feet for the adventure ahead of me.
I was down at grandma’s house looking for them when the same neighbor that had called earlier drove by again and said that my pigs were just down the road, and sure enough there they were. So I went back up to the house, called dad, told him where the pigs were, and asked him what to do. He said 'keep an eye on them and wait until I get home'. Well apparently my mom’s idea of keeping an eye on them is trying to catch them. {in my defense, that's not what Ammon told me when he got off the phone} My mom finally got the ATV started, and we began the hunt. We went down to where the pigs were. My brothers and I were behind a fence trying to scare the pigs in the right direction. We were having a lot of trouble because they had gotten into a hayfield, and the hay was taller than me. I was as happy as could be when grandpa pulled up in his tractor (not so he could run over them up but so he could help us). While grandpa was helping us we made much better progress. We finally managed to get Oreo in her old pen. Now we just had to catch Frosty. Mom had managed to get him onto the road where it was easier to catch him. After a lot of running, cussing, and almost giving up, we got the pig to a place where it couldn’t escape and that’s when dad returned home. After a lot more chasing, diving, cussing, and running, my dad finally got a hold of Frosty and put him in the pen with Oreo.
Thankfully, they haven’t escaped since then! And I’m glad they haven’t, because I didn’t want to experience that all over again!"

It was NOT fun at all, chasing those stupid, hyper pigs all around for over an hour. I hated them after that, and Ammon and Josh weren't so fond of them either following that inciddent. If they hadn't been so small, I would've had them butchered that day!!

Another difficult thing about the pigs this year was the fact that Frosty and Oreo did not grow as well as Phineas and Ferb had. Last year, we purchased the swine food from an out-of-town feed store, but this year we decided to buy all the swine food from a local feed store. After two months, we realized they weren't growing as fast as they should have been. We think the pig feed sold in town is of a lesser quality than the pig feed we purchased last year, even though the price per bag is the same. We got our pigs at the same time and from the same place as two other boys in our club did, but they bought their feed out-of-town, and their pigs were growing very well. At the 2nd pig weigh-in, the difference between our pigs and their pigs was huge.

Two weeks before the fair, we knew our pigs would not be big enough to take. The recommended MINIMUM weight for fair pigs is 210 pounds. Our pigs were only between 130-150 pounds each. I thought we should just drop out of the fair, continue to raise our pigs until they were big enough to butcher, keep one for us, and sell the other one to Grandma and Grandpa Tolman to eat. BUT, Ammon didn't want to miss out on the fair because he thought that was the "FUNNEST" part of raising 4-H pigs. Thankfully, another member of our 4-H club came to the rescue. They traded pigs with us. They let us have their butcher pig to show and sell at the fair, and our 2nd pig that was intended for the fair would become their butcher pig. We would continue to feed and raise until it was big enough, and then we would give it to them to replace theirs given to us.

Ammon named the loaner fair pig "Mater":
He really liked Mater. He was so thrilled to have the opportunity to go to the fair and show it! A big thanks to Liz and her family for allowing him that chance!

The last week of August was fair week. On Monday, we decorated the pig pens, took Ammon's and Liz's pigs to the fair, washed the animal, and set-up the pen with wood chips and pig feed.

On Tuesday, the showmanship show was in the morning and the swine quality show was in the afternoon.

{walking the pigs from the pens to the arena for the show}

{Ammon smiling at the judge during the showmanship show}

{walking alongside Liz's and Gracie's red pigs in the arena during the quality show}

Ammon did really well! He earned a blue ribbon in showmanship, and a red ribbon in quality.
Saturday was the livestock sale. Ammon and Josh went in early that morning to get the pig washed and ready to sell. And all the boys dressed up for the event:

For the second year in a row, Tolman Ranch and Dairy had the highest bid for Ammon's pig during the auction. Last year, Ammon earned $2.65 per pound. This year, he earned $4.00 per pound. There was less animals this year, so the purchase price per animal was higher than last year.

Overall, the experience this year was NOT a positive one. I'm wishing and hoping that we'll take a break next year from the pig drama. It would be nice to have one year off before the following year when we'll have four pigs: one for Ammon, one each for the twins, and one for us to eat.

Oh, and speaking of eating pigs--ours are FINALLY big enough to go to the butcher shop next week!!!! And for me, the BEST part of raising pigs is eating them!!!

Sweet Swine

With the beginning of May came the beginning of this year's 4-H! This is the 2nd year that Ammon chose to do a swine project for the county fair in August.

For his demonstration, he talked about the different breeds of swine at a 4-H meeting:

We chose to get our weaner pigs from a pig farm in Leadore. Here's some of their larger swine:

Ammon chose a little pink one and a black & white one:

We argued the entire hour-long drive home about what they should be named. I personally liked "Porky and Beano" or "Jet & Cord" (the cowboys from the Amazing Race--one had a white hat and one had a dark hat). Josh liked "Guns and Roses" or "Schittz and Giggles".

Ultimately, Ammon got to choose because, well, they ARE his pigs. And he named them...

"Oreo"

and "Frosty".

it tastes FERBulous!!!

I was afraid the boys might have a little difficulty in eating our pig Ferb.

That hasn't been the case at all.

"It tastes a little different than the skinny bacon we buy at the store," said Ammon.

"Which one do you like better, the store bacon or Ferb's bacon?" I asked.

"Definitely eating Ferb!!!" he replied.

Every time I cook bacon, the delicious smell envelopes our home by way of smoke.

Lots and lots of smoke.

Which always produces two on-call firemen.

They get their hats on and are quickly ready to attack the smoke with their imaginary extinguishers.

Fair Time 2009

Our county fair was the last week of August. It was finally time to take Phineas! Ferb was actually a little bit bigger and had a longer frame, but Phineas was the nicer one and easier to handle. We got his stall prepared Monday night. On Tuesday, we took Phineas in, and got him weighed and washed. Wednesday morning was the swine shows. Ammon was nervous because this was his first time time showing, but he did so well! We were so proud of him! He got a blue ribbon in Showmanship, and a blue ribbon in Quality.
For weeks prior to the fair, he thought about and worried over what he was going to wear. He's never put in so much time on an outfit in his life! He wanted to wear something nice, dress according to the showman standards, and look good too. The "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" campaign encouraged the youth to wear pink, which Ammon did--in his pretty pink belt! He also got new black boots and new jeans to wear. Grandpa Tolman gave him one of his older cowboy hats, and Ammon picked out a dress shirt that he thought coordinated well. He was a sharp-looking cowboy! And mighty cute, too!!!

Wednesday night was Family Fun Night, and the boys loved climbing over the large inflatable toys, Jonah and Micah enjoyed a petting zoo, and Ammon was thrilled that he got to shoot a gun. On Thursday, I took the boys to exercise the pig, and while we were there, they went on some of the rides. Ammon and Micah really liked the rides, but Jonah was brave enough to only go on one, during which he wailed the whole ride!

Kanyon's favorite part of the fair was seeing all the different animals! He loved poking the chickens and rabbits, climbing on the cow and sheep stalls, playing with the pigs, and petting the horses.

On Friday evening, we gave Phineas a bath again, and took the boys around the fair. We ate cotton candy, watched Kanyon scream on one ride he insisted going on, walked through all the buildings and booths, and had a great time as a family!

Saturday morning was the Livestock Sale. It was long and hot, so thank goodness for this:A few businesses and families sponsored some sandboxes for kids to play in right next to the sale. Jonah, Micah, and Kanyon all played in it with so many other kids. What a great idea!!! Ammon sold Phineas to the Tolman Ranch and Dairy for $2.55 a pound, which was above average! We are so thankful to our Stake President Beyeler for bidding on the pig and upping its price, and for Grandma and Grandpa who purchased it! Saturday night we cleaned out the stall and said our final farewells to Phineas. It was a long week and were happy to see the end of it! The fairgrounds are 15 miles away, and we had to go there at least twice each day to feed Phineas, clean out his stall, and exercise or wash him! But it was also a good experience, and Ammon looks forward to doing it all again next year!

Livin' the Farm Life

A day in the life of...

the Tolman farmer boys:

Exercising the Pigs,

Petting Grandpa's Calves,

Feeding our Horses,

Watching Cows in the Chute,

Ahhhhh, the smell of farm life is Wonderful!!!

We'd love for you to visit us; come and have a sniff for yourself!

The Haircut I Never Dreamed of Doing

After 2 months of being with us, Phineas and Ferb got their first haircuts.

Seriously, 4-H pigs get their hair clipped.

Who knew? (uhhh, I had no clue)

We took the pigs to get weighed in at the fairgrounds to see their progress, then Josh and Ammon washed them.

And then Josh and I each took a pig and clipped their hair. Including their facial hair, ear hair, back hair, bum hair, leg hair. Ew Ew Ew!

They're similar to little children and don't hold still, so we followed them around a little stall clipping away! It was very interesting, and actually wasn't toooo bad. Well except for a few parts of the pig that I made Josh do!

(Josh clipping Ferb)

(me clipping Phineas--only my hand is visible because it's hard to take a photo with one hand and clip a pig with the other hand at the same time!)

One Month Old

This is Phineas and Ferb at their one-month-mark!!!
Everyday we give them water, grain, special pig feed, and sometimes we give them their favorite--leftovers. They are getting so big!

In the last few weeks, they've really warmed up to Ammon and look forward to seeing him everyday, and he likes being around them too (despite their smell!).

INTRODUCING...

(Drum Roll Here)

Phineas and Ferb!

Not the Phineas and Ferb you thought you knew, huh?! Well, that's why we wanted to introduce you to Ammon's Summer 4-H Project! This photo was taken on the day we got them, which was the second weekend of May. One of them he will take to the fair in August to show. The other will become pork, ham, sausage, and bacon for our family this fall. Stay tuned for more details as the event approaches!