Farming organically

Linda and I met for lunch today at Whitmuir Organic Farm.  At least it was a bright day today, unlike the two previous visits I’ve made there when there was snow all around.

 

It’s a lovely farm, on a gentle slope with views over the duckpond, and the countryside beyond, to the Pentland Hills in the distance.

 

 

 

After lunch and browsing the shop we found that we could go to visit the sheds and poly-tunnels housing pigs and their piglets, ewes and their lambs. 

 

 

I had to see the piglets! 

 

 

They were in a big shed, with the mums and other “ladies in waiting”  lazing around, while they played and ran around.   Take a look at this beatific smile!!! 

 

Most of my piglet photos were blurred as piglets don’t stand still too long, but later I got photos of  week-old orphan triplets – tiny Tamworths – their tails as straight as pokers.  (I read somewhere that their tails only start to curl after a few weeks! )  They were being bottle-fed by Meg.  I do hope I didn’t hear anyone say Pork chops!

As well as the pigs, there are cows and sheep, hens, geese and ducks at Whitmuir.  The meat they sell in the shop is butchered at the farm, and they also grow a great variety of crops to sell.  Next week the U3A gardening group is paying a visit to the farm for a guided tour, so no doubt I’ll find out more about what goes on there then.  Today was only a quick look around.  I’ll be interested to see how the Tamworth triplets have grown by next week too. 

Oh, and by the way, when I got into my car this morning there was a fine layer of dust on the windscreen!  It hasn’t been parked in an area likely to get traffic dirt over it, and I don’t normally have to clean the screen after only a couple of days parking there, so I’m saying it was ash from Iceland, though Linda told me that the News said this morning that it had only affected Shetland and the far north.  Who knows? 

Talk again soon.