Master Storage...

I've shown you the major rooms of the camper, except for the master bedroom.  It's HUGE.  Not.  It basically holds a RV Queen mattress (shorter than an average sized one), the surrounding cabinets, and about 18" on either side.  I have mentioned to get dressed in the living room, right?  Please don't come by uninvited.  You may get an eye full.  ha!

 This is our bed.  We have taken out the "luxury mattress" that was sold with the camper because it was hard as a rock.  We invested $250 in a memory foam RV Queen and it is worth its weight in GOLD.  It's sooooo comfy.  I got it on Overstock.com. 

 

On my side above my wardrobe, Shannon bought little $1 totes to hold socks and underwear.  It's a great way to stay organized.  I have a few t-shirts and jeans folded up there as well.

Every week or so, I change out my wardrobe.  I work in a professional environment, and can't look homeless, so I try to keep it casual but nice at the same time.  I have coordinated my outfits with jewelry and shoes so I look like my old self.  I have 2 totes under the camper that I pull from.  Organization is key when living in small quarters.  Shannon has done the exact same thing on his side, so I didn't feel the need to showcase his personals, but you get the idea.  So, this is how we do our room! 

Water

We don't have water on the land.  This has been a bit of a problem for us, as our animals require water.  Our well is expected to be drilled next week, but in the meantime, we had to think outside the box.  So we bought one.  I found these food preservative tanks on Craigslist and drove nearly 2 hours to pick it up.  We washed it out, went to a commercial plumbing store to fit the valve to a garden hose, and we were in business.  We are blessed with great neighbors, and our one neighbor has graciously allowed us to use his well to fill tanks and water troughs.  We may give him some pork for his generosity.  :) 

We rinsed out the tank, and filled it about half full.  We have a F-250, but that tank holds 250 gallons of water.  And that's heavy.  Half of that will last the pigs about 4-5 days.  We park the truck on a hill and let gravity do the hard work.

We connected a commercial grade hose and my ingenious hubby put a water float on the trough.  When the water gets too low, the water fills up.  No more thirsty piggies!



 

I used to be obsessive about water cleanliness with the pigs.  Then I realized that it's a losing battle.  We do rinse out the troughs every week, and you should see the layer of mud on the bottom.  They come to drink with dirty snouts and that dirt makes for dirty water, and the heavier bits fall to the bottom.  If the water gets too dirty, I do change it out, but as long as it's semi-opaque, I'm happy.  They don't seem to mind.  After all, they pretty much eat all that dirt.  God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt. 

The little ones aren't tall enough to reach over the side and drink.  I love to see their little hooves on the edge. 

Weekly Moving

 We believe in pasture rotation.  We haven't always.  But after seeing what livestock can do to pasture (pretty much eating it down to a moonscape, but leaving weeds) I researched pasture rotation.  Since we don't use any chemicals on our farm, and therefore, don't spray for weeds, I wanted to discover how people did it back in the day before nasty chemicals.  They moved their livestock daily, and weekly.  We decided to give it a try.  Pigs are rough on pasture.  It's a fact, but a fact we will use to our advantage.  They are the ultimate tillers, and we plan on exploiting their gifts.  We moved the pigs on the above lot for one week.  Surrounded by 400 ft of electric netting we bought at Premier One Fencing.  We use a 1 joule solar charger.  It's AMAZING!

After one week, it looked like the above pic.  So, we moved them again.  They rooted up stones, and turned over this rich soil, leaving behind manure. We will let it rest for about 10-12 weeks.  By that time, the whole grains we feed, in addition to the residual grass roots left behind, will have reseeded and it will be lush and thick again.  We will put them back on it.  See how it works?



We moved them to a larger lot full of trees, brush, thickets of ferns and of course, their favorite--grass.  We added 200 ft of fence so now they have an area of 600 ft of fence surrounding them.  They have already started eating the brush and undergrowth. 

 

 

Pigs are smart, so a busy pig is a happy pig.  They have friends, and lots of work to do.

 

They know their job, and they do it well.

 

Big Momma loves being out on pasture and woods.  Look at her round belly full of babies!

This is the moonscape reseeded.  This is barley, rye, maybe some oats and wheat.  The whole grains in their food, have already started to sprout to cover up the bare earth left behind.  SCORE!