Our pigs that we have been raising have now been slaughtered and the meat distributed. It was the longest we had kept our pigs, these were Berkshires x Gloucester Old Spots and were slow growing. However, there was little fat on them when they were butchered so we must have been doing something right.
A group of villagers got together a number years ago to raise pigs on a small plot off and rented to us by a village landowner.
Over the years it has gone from strength to strength. As with everything Covid-19 put paid to our activities in 2020 but we were able to source some weaners last year and they have been growing over the past few months. The batch we had this time around were Berkshires crossed with Gloucester Old Spots. Berkshires are a slow growing breed and we have had these pigs for longer than we anticipated. Normally we send them to slaughter in late autumn but as we got them later in the year we have had to keep them over the winter. However, they seem to be ready to go.
I enjoy watching rugby and paid a visit to Kingsholm yesterday to watch Gloucester play Wasps. Sadly the result did not go Gloucester’s way, they lost 21-27. First half was a bit scrappy but things livened up a bit in the second when all the tries were scored.
Cropped image taken on my iPhone.
Spring came to this part of England a couple of weeks ago which meant the I was out and about with my camera. My latest trip was a pleasant drive to Guiting Power where I parked the car and walked over to Kineton before making my return in time to buy lunch at The Cotswold Guy, a deli in Guiting power.
My first choice of food supply was The Old Post Office which as well as being the village shop also has a cafe. Sadly it was closed for refurbishment, this was during Cheltenham Festival week which surprised me, but there you go. I’ll have to return some day to sample their wares.
However, the weather these past few days has seen snow and overnight frost so maybe Spring is not quite here yet!