We have pigs Joyfull and are only in Derbyshire if you happen to be passing by.
This is our third lot. We have joined forces with a friend who has the land and share the costs and upkeep of them.
The first four we had were two Tamworths (that belonged to our friend) - not keen on the look of the pig but have to admit they tasted wonderful and our two which were one Gloucester Old Spot/Berkshire X and one Middle White. I loved the little Old Spot but out of the four the Middle White tasted the best. But it was not such a good rooter as the others so wouldn't be ideal if you did want them to churn up the land (which is what we wanted them for).
Then we had four mongrel pigs from a friend. They were a cross between Tamworths, Berkshires - you name it, they were crossed with it. They weren't quite as cute as the others but taste wonderful.
We have now progressed onto six pigs. Four pure breed Berkshire Blacks (although 3 of them seem to be more of a brown colour than black!) and two Saddleback/Oxford Sandy and Black X. They are all about 10 weeks old now.
None of us have had a problem eating them - we always knew that's what they were for. The four children (our two and our friends two) range in age from 8 to 13 and also don't have a problem eating them. They all go in with the pigs whilst they are small (they get a bit too rough as they get older - the pigs not the kids!!) and pet and groom them. And they give them names.
And they call them by their names when we eat them.
We also have turkeys, again with our friends, although we don't get too involved with them - just let them out in a morning when we go to do the pigs and feed and water them in the evening if we are taking over the evening shift (our friends do the evening/afternoon shift as they see to their ponies then). Last year we had 8 and this year we are progressing to 16.
The two men are also considering sheep for next year and possible a couple of Highland cattle although that is still a little up in the air.
As I am typing, I have an enormous joint of pork, dry brined into a lovely joint of ham, roasting in the oven and pork skin sitting in the fridge, drying out ready to be made into home made pork scratchings.
Keep working on your OH - it really is worth it for that amazing taste of pork.
