Winter is almost over

I have the pigs out in the paddock free ranging today. We currently have a visiting boar here (Romeo), to keep Juliet company. She took about a week to get used to him but now they a star crossed lovers. They are out digging up the paddock which is going to be ploughed up for potatoes soon.

Our house cow Daisy is in the backyard eating the grass which is so long now. I cant mow it because it has been too wet.

There are a few small signs of Spring emerging though. Some daffodils are popping up. There are baby lambs in paddocks, although ours will not be born for another couple of months.

Soon I need to start working on the gardens. The fruit trees all need pruning and the vegi garden needs getting read for planting. Soon I am going to be very busy.

We currently have a steer in a big freezer outside waiting for the butcher to come on Friday. That will be a years worth of organic and humanely farmed beef for us. The animal was killed last week on our farm while it was eating some hay. It died in the paddocks it was born and raised on. I am happy to have meat from an animal which I know suffered in no way.

Since I have been on a vegetarian diet I have found it a lot easier than I expected. Although I wont give up meat in the long term. There is too much great food I would hate to give up. I am going to be very fussy about what meat I eat from now on though. I am no longer going to eat any meat which hasn't been farmed locally, which means I will no longer buy any meat products from supermarkets and I will ask questions about meat in restaurants. Take away meat products and processed meat products I will no longer indulge in.

My goal is to produce all our meat products here on our farm, a goal I am not too far away from.

 I am a little more than half way through my vegetarian diet experiment. I cant say I feel any better or any worse from giving up meat. I haven't lost any weight or put on any weight. I probably have eaten more since giving up meat. I feel fine but really no different. I haven't had any cravings except for anchovies but I have been a little disappointed I have been missing out on all the fresh fish Scott and Dustin have been catching in our new boat. Really though, I cant say I miss it very much and it has been easy for me. I suppose I didn't eat that much meat anyway.

Dustin is back eating meat again. He decided when I tried to feed him tofu that being a vegetarian wasn't for him :)