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!

Valentine's Day Gift for Pongo

Many of our readers have been wondering about Pongo, the 250-pound lady who bore many scars resulting from the amorous advances of her 600-pound mate, Rusty. I am happy to report that, as of our last visit, Pongo looked like she was really healing up; there were no fresh wounds. It is likely that Rust knew that, with Valentine's Day approaching, he had to be on his best behavior.

Gerard the pig has remained a safe, albeit likely uncomfortable, bystander in the next pen as Pongo and Rusty try to make piglets. Gerard is growing noticeably. He is more long than anything else. The photos make it hard to gauge Gerard's growth as there is no opportunity for comparison; as of yet there have been no volunteers to get into the pen with Gerard to provide some perspective.

The chickens in the coop next door seem to be increasing in productivity. We saw our first eggs, with six scattered about.

Lastly, it seems that the Cables clean the pens late Saturday or early Sunday. This was our first Saturday visit after a few Sunday visits and the look, smell, and slosh of the pen floor was very different, a lot more like your stereotypical pig pen.

In the photos you can see Jonathan and me at the pig farm, Gerard looking like he's ready to pounce on you if you make a move for his feed barrel, and Pongo (foreground) and Rusty laying in bed having cigarettes.

Week 4 Update

Seth Low, David Low, Jonathan Croft, and I visited Gerard today and there is a lot to report.

First of all, Gerard is getting bigger. His official estimated weight is 70 pounds; this number was arrived at by nationally-respected pig-weight-visual-estimator Seth Low. David Low fed Gerard a bunch of bread and cookies left over from the holidays. Last time we did this, he was a little hesitant but this time he dove right in.

Gerard's neighbors are also worth mentioning. On one side are 10-12 chickens, we're guessing that they're eatin' chickens, not egg-laying chickens. On the other side are Gerard's adoptive parents, Rusty, a 600-pound sire, and Pongo, a 250-pound matriarch. They are in the pen together because she is in heat and the pig-farmers want them to make piglets. As far as we can tell, Pongo is an extremely unwilling participant in the breeding process and Rusty isn't hearing it. We witnessed an attempted mounting that ending with Pongo skittering away suffering from a bloody ear due to a bite from Rusty's. She has marks from many such battles with open wounds and blood on her shoulder, ear, forehead, and elsewhere. She is supposed to move in with Gerard once she is preggers and I'm guessing that she's looking forward to it; it can't hurt that Gerard is much smaller and has been "fixed." The picture to the left shows Pongo's damaged ear.

We'll have more updates next time.

The Great Near Escape

On Christmas Day, only hours after arriving in Ellington, Gerard the Pig made a break for it. These videos show the hunt and eventual catch of Gerard. If you look closely, you can see George Croft make a valiant dive for the elusive porker, landing hard on the frozen tundra. Ultimately, the hero was Tom Gilmore, my brother-in-law, who grabbed the cornered beast by the hind legs. I should also mention that the catch was made possible by the dog fence constructed by my very handy father; it is likely that he never imagined that it would become a pig fence.