Steve Cyclone

I have a nice, ranch double-wide on a mostly unfinished full size concrete block basement. Can you build a RMH in a basement? And how would you get the heat to evenly rise to warm the main floor?

I've read all the replies and it's been fascinating. So far, I've only sold live chickens & cow/calf pairs, so I'm no pork expert, but to me it seems you need to plan for the end in the beginning.

By that I mean finding your customers and their price points first before going in whole hog, so to speak. There may not be a big enough market for you to make money. I know a farmer who sold his pork shoulder for $8/pound at the farmer's market. You can find bone-in pork shoulder at the the local market "on sale"  for $0.99/pound. Clearly, he needs an outside job to support himself! :-) (I'm one of the small number of customers he has for boneless pork chops, pork shoulder, as well as buying $5/dozen eggs)

I guess I don't understand the nitch your trying to fill. You think there is a demand for heritage piglets? If you're selling to a grower that might work, but they need to buy your piglet, raise them over the winter and market them themselves so your unlikely to extract the highest price from them. If your selling to another homesteader that might work but they will likely only buy 1-3 piglets for self-consumption unless THEY are trying to get a retail market going. In that case you need 4 to 11 homesteaders that want a fall piglet. It most definitely sounds like a feast or famine business model that would need a lot of research and prep-work.

Since you've got the hogs and piglets already it's a little late to worry about what you could have done. I guess I would spend all my time actively recruiting homesteaders to raise a hog or two for home consumption. That would include both information on why heritage breeds are best, where to have them butchered, how to build a cheap shelter, how to feed them, etc. I saw a YouTube video by some lady on building a 16' x 16' temporary hog confinement for two pigs for a homestead just using four hog fences and a couple posts. What she liked was that after they grew she could take the setup down rather than have a permenant structure. It's not very animal friendly but it could work.

If you build your own customer base, and they grow to enjoy the taste of home grown hogs or the experience of growing them themselves you could have a regular winter heritage piglet sale...or not. >;-) Good luck!

This may be too big.



https://centennialwoods.com/

Hester Winterbourne wrote:I also think that one of the most worthwhile things you can do with a community garden is the get the beneficiaries (i.e. those "in need" that you are going to give the produce to) involved in the planning, growing and harvesting. It's along the lines of the old saying about "give a man a fish".

That can be part of it. It depends on if you want them to have them help other people with their lots or give them a free/discounted lot and let them grow their own.

If you have problems with getting volunteers you might go the other way.

Cut the area into lots
Assign or rent the lots to people who want one
Let them keep the produce from their lots
Have an agreement with them that they will donate either half their food or cash to the group

Those that want to keep their own produce will donate cash, those that want cash will sell the second half of their output to the group. This way you can have people work on the their garden plot when their schedule works for them, but you can also have social times when people are encouraged to work on their garden so they can meet their neighbors. I would bet that some will donate mostly all of their produce and some cash.

So did this get done?

How did it work out?

I saw a video once of a feeder for goats (who like to waste hay) that had them take a step up and then reach down into the feeder. I have no idea if it would work for cows. Anyone ever seen it?

I found this different Kickstarter campaign. They are only trying to raise $50 so I pledged $1.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1502440605/silkies-an-adorable-uber-fluffy-chicken-hatch-a-lo

I guess I'm to late to tell anyone about this? >