*******Please Subscribe To My Blog…..It Really Helps*******

We’re coming up to some really hot weather in the next few weeks…..

Most of our pigs have their own shaded areas…where they can repose out of the sun…literally with palm fond fans…..

But recently all of the dead trees have been taken down…and it’s looking extra sunny out there…..

My older daughter and I are doing research on what vegetation can take the place of the old removed trees…..

…..and offer both shade and windbreaks for the piggles…..

Live oak trees are great…and very desirable…but they’re very slow growers…..

My daughter thought fruit trees would be a good alternative…and then we’d get the added benefit of the fruit too…..

But we have to be careful…..

For example…..

A Loquat Plum tree would be great…it’s a fairly quick grower…and they do well in our Growing Zone too (9-B)…..

Plus their plums are tasty and in large quantities…..

………….But………….

Their pits are poisonous…and you know the pigs are not likely to spit out the seeds…after scavenging the dropped fruit in their pens…..

After some more research…..

My daughter thought maybe Papaya, Moringa, Ginger, Mulberry, Hibiscus, and/or Magnolia…and of course…Banana plants would be okay to try…..

Bananas grow quickly…and they offer dense foliage…..

So that one’s high on our list…..

Plus we lost our old mulberry tree…so I sure wouldn’t mind another one of those…..

Hibiscus?…Sure!…..

My daughter and I thought that maybe pretty colorful flowers would be a fun contradiction…next to muddy wallowing pigs…..

Plus…it appeals to our unique Swamp Humor…..

Now we have a porcine horticultural game plan in place…..

But in the meantime…..

My daughter and I (mostly my daughter) are finishing the construction on the partially completed sheds…..

In Clover’s pen…the posts are already in the ground…and the rafters are already nailed up…..

We just nailed the furring strips in place…and we need to mount & tack down the 5-V crimp tin roofing…..

Well…we got the furrings secured…..

But…because it was early afternoon…the tin was already too hot to handle…..

…..and my daughter reminded me of the blisters she got on her legs trying to push through with tacking down the tin on the other pig sheds…..

So tomorrow…..

We’re going to get up early (wear our work gloves–which I (oops) didn’t wear today)…and nail up the tin panels while they’re still cool enough to handle in the morning hours…..

The teenagers already have their shed completed…so is the shed in Scott & Beau’s pen…..

Mama Pig will be the last one to have her shed constructed…..

…..Why?…..

Because…no one is eager to go into her cage to build it…..

But…we’ll figure something out…..

In the meantime…Mama Pig is happily making mud puddles and mud pies and mud masks and mud baths…..

She’s very creative…..

*****Just musing and spit-balling here*****

Maybe…we could put three of the four posts for her shed outside of Mama Pig’s pen…that would mean…we’d only have to (quickly) sink one post…while inside her pen…with her(?)…..

Then…we could put up the stringers & rafters & furring strips & tin…while we’re sitting on top (and out of reach)…..

See………….It’s Do-Able…..

…..not necessarily highly-rated by OSHA…..

…..(the Occupational Safety and Health Administration assures that workers have a safe and healthy work environment)…..

But…It’s Do-able…..