Gleaning

One of the big expenses in raising pig is your feed bill.  So any sort of free or low cost feed you can offer to the pigs is a real big plus.    Special thanks to John Postema over at Flower World.  He has 60 acres of orchards where he grows apples of various types.  John is very picky about the apples he makes cider out of, which is good for me.  He also makes a small quantity of wine of various sorts. 

This is a barrel of grape skins and seeds that I picked up from a batch of red wine they're making.  The pigs heartily approved of this.  In fact, it was so popular that I thought that they'd kill each other trying to get to it.  While they were eating it you could hear the grape seeds getting crunched up.  I think it's the alchohol content that makes it so popular. 

Next on the menu is a barrel of apple pomace -- this is the material left over after you squeeze the apples for apple juice.  The consistency is a little like pastry dough; a little dry.  It smells good; like apples. 

Only the top is brown, the rest isn't oxidized, and when I looked carefully i could see all sorts of different color apples; green and red and yellow.  I gave a barrel of this to the cows, and one to the sheep.  The sheep ended up not really eating it.  The cows ate it all and begged for more.

These are apples that didn't make the grade for apple juice.  These went to the chickens and turkeys, and I'll use them as pig and cow treats for the next week or so; a 5 gallon bucket at a time.  The pigs love them; I have to be careful to spread them out so that one pig doesn't hog them all. 

I got a whole pickup truck full of these apples.  I love this time of year.   Thanks again John!