Smokin'!

Alisa made the second pick-up, collecting the smoked items. Here is the list!

smoked bacon 1.19 smoked bacon 1.08 smoked bacon 1.23 smoked bacon 1.25 smoked bacon 0.9 smoked bacon 0.81 smoked bacon 0.93 smoked ham 1.55 smoked bacon 0.93 smoked pork shoulder 2.69 smoked ham 4.65 smoked bacon 1.15 smoked bacon 0.88 smoked bacon 0.97 smoked bacon 1.19 smoked bacon 1.1 smoked bacon 1.05 smoked bacon 1.03 smoked bacon 0.96 smoked pork shoulder 2.47 smoked ham 1.41 smoked ham 4.87 total 34.29

Meal #1

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• 4.5 pound loin served with bleu cheese, butter, and sherry sauce
• Swiss chard saute'd with pig fat
• salad (no pig)
• rolls (no pig)
• wine (no pig)
• peach crisp (no pig)
• Seth Low and Anne Low; Michelle, Jarrod, and Emma Sisk; Mike, Alisa, and Jonathan Croft

The Numbers

We have some data regarding Gerard's outcome.

• Final estimated "fighting weight": 250 +
• "Hanging Weight": 202
• Weight of the cuts I picked up today: 102
• Weight of the smoked cuts I'll pick up next week: ?
• Below are the cuts that I picked up today and their weight. This includes everything that is not going to be smoked:

Cut	Weight (lb)
Pork Loin	4.89
Fresh Boston	5.12
Pork Ham	6.76
Pork Ham	7.38
Fresh Boston	4.56
Spare Ribs	1.3
Spare Ribs	1.12
Ham Steak	1.51
Ham Steak	1.57
Fresh Bacon	1.29
Fresh Bacon	1.05
Fresh Slab Bacon	1.58
Fresh Slab Bacon	1.44
Hot Sausage	0.63
Hot Sausage	1.04
Sweet Sausage	1.12
Sweet Sausage	1.04
B'fast Sausage	1.25
Bones (2)
Fat (4)
Pork Chops	1.96
Pork Chops	1.17
Pork Chops	1.24
B'fast Sausage	1.28
B'fast Sausage	1.25
Hot Sausage	1.13
Sweet Sausage	1.04
B'fast Sausage	1.3
B'fast Sausage	1.17
Hot Sausage	1.14
Sweet Sausage	1
B'fast Sausage	1.19
Hot Sausage	1.04
Pork Chops	1.2
Pork Chops	1.14
Pork Chops	1.2
Pork Chops	1.28
Pork Chops	1.47
Pork Chops	1.13
Pork Chops	1.19
Spare Ribs	1.41
Pork Chops	1.18
Pork Chops	1
Pork Chops	1.13
Spare Ribs	1.39
Pork Chops	1.39
Pork Chops	1.48
Pork Chops	1.1
Pork Chops	1.29
Pork Loin	4.46
B'fast Sausage	1.21
Hot Sausage	1.03
Hot Sausage	0.96
Hot Sausage	0.94
Sweet Sausage	1.12
Sweet Sausage	1.15
Hot Sausage	1.04
B'fast Sausage	1.35
Hot Sausage	0.98
Sweet Sausage	1.15
Sweet Sausage	1.18
B'fast Sausage	1.27
Sweet Sausage	1.19
B'fast Sausage	1.19
B'fast Sausage	1.23
	101.99

Here We Go

At this point, I would like to recognize Gerard's #1 fan, our very own David Low. Two-year-old David was enthralled by his visits to the pen, repeating "Big Pig," "Bless You, Pongo" (when anyone, not just Pongo the pig, sneezed), and "Rusty Scratch" (after seeing the 600 pound Rusty scratch his leg vigorously on the post in his pen). David Low, pig fan extraordinaire!

Just a few hours now before it goes down.

D-Day

Friday will be our pig's final day. Seth and I will meet Joe the slaughterer and Neil the pig farmer at 7:00 a.m. and drive the product to the processing place after that. Get your goodbyes in now. Rest assured that the circle of life continues; there are 10 new piglets in the pen next door!

Big Pig!

Gerard has grown. Our expert pig-weight-estimator, Marianne Croft, puts Gerard at 180 pounds. He is big, active, and approaching the terminal.

Buns in the Oven!

We have more news from the pen this week.

Gerard's neighbors, Pongo and Rusty, are expecting a litter in mid-April. It seems that Rusty's aggressive romantic approach was successful, at least in the most basic way. In the past, Pongo has had litters of 9-10 piglets and has successfully weaned them all.

Gerard weighs about 80 pounds, according to our expert farmer. He should be up to 220 or so (butcher weight) by May or June!

We here at Gerard the Pig have completed our search for the #1 pig fan in the world. Tune in next time for a biography of our contest winner!