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Pig Group Report October 2011 - At last – the outcome!

The two boars have been to the butcher, come home, and been sampled by the three partners in the Transition Monmouth Pig Group.

As the instigator of the project, I am extremely relieved to report resounding success: The boars were certainly fatty; but equally certainly that made their meat wonderfully tender and tasty. No fibres in the meat, no hard chewing, and dense flavour – it was real luxury. And plenty of home-produced, “resilient” cooking fat.

The boars had got very demanding and bad-tempered by their end. It was a pleasure to be eating them, rather than being eaten. The gilts are different – more playful – which will make their send-off more difficult; but I really don’t want to have to tangle with well-grown males again. [Agreed ! -Ed]

The locally-sustainable-feed plan has worked really well, but it has displayed with great clarity the difference between commercially-managed pigs on the one hand and, on the other, commercially-managed beef and sheep, both of which latter I kept for 20 years. By using a hardy native breed of cattle (North Devons), we produced late-autumn beef that, in feed terms, had cost around one pound of coarse (non-muesli-grade) rolled oats for each pound of beef – the rest of the feed was hay and grass.

Our Pig Group pigs have cost approximately 230kg each in feed – for a return of about 50-60kg meat, which includes a good proportion of fat. And the pig feed was good organic barley and split peas which could, in famine or with lots of herbs, have been used for human food. It seems illogical that beef should be so much more expensive than pork; I suspect that time-taken has an impact (5 months for pigs, 18 months for our beef), the litter size (12 piglets, one calf), and also possibly the area of land needed for each animal. It’s hard to work out realistic comparisons when the husbandry methods are so different.

So it is plain to me that, to provide sustainable pork, the amount of cereal/legume feed needs to be reduced as much as possible. We are attempting to recreate a back-yard pig-keeping culture so that in a much more severely localised future, people can still have a cheap local source of tasty protein. It happened during the last war, after all. As a complete beginner with pigs, I fed quantities according to the text books; next year I shall give the weaners less bulk feed, only once a day, and make up with lots of vegetable waste, from my own garden and, if possible, other people’s. This year’s pigs turned their noses up at turnips and cabbage leaves, though sweet juicy beetroot were popular enough. And their weed-clearing activities soon petered out. They were obviously not really hungry!

There will be plenty of spare meat from the last two Transition Pigs, which will be on sale, cubed and frozen in 500g bags, for £1.75 (which is the production cost), from the middle of November, from Ann Eggleton at Little Mill Farm: anneggleton@waitrose.com, or 01600 780449. If you would like to become a Pig Group Partner next year, get in touch! If you have a load of spare waste veg next summer, let me know!

Can you survive a zero growth economy? More serious thoughts from John’s woodshed...

Economists and politicians express a widely held view that economic growth, as defined by a constantly increasing Gross National Product (GNP) is important because if growth stalls the following occur-

•It’s called a recession when GNP growth slows and stops ,economic “experts” consider it to be a calamitous judgement on the health of the nation; it reflects political failure.
•Maggie Thatcher memorably said in the 1980s “There is NO alternative” to monetary policies, by which she meant printing money and manipulating interest rates.
•People despair about how they will maintain their lifestyles and all the purchases they had planned as their jobs and future are threatened.
•Pensions are almost unredeemable in that the income generated from buying an annuity is far less than expected, the same goes for any income from savings.
•It makes it difficult to manage and explain all that debt that we and the banks have run up. Interest rates may be low, but the banks will not lend money, as the rates they use to borrow money amongst themselves are high. Countries in debt paradoxically find that they become even more overdrawn to the world economy

When we view austerity and declining income, the citizen loses trust in their government and there is clear evidence to show a rise in social conflict and demonstrations. A study of European history between 1919 and 1999 showed unrest to be twice as high when spending cuts reach 5% of GDP compared to times of stability. The Chinese state is seriously concerned about keeping its GNP rising at the level of 10%/ year, it believes that wide spread social unrest will threaten its political existence if the people’s aspirations are thwarted. As unemployment among under 25 year olds in Spain has reached 46% and the Greek people come to grips with austerity we see protests against the financial sector in 900 cities and 80 plus countries (The Economist)

The riots in London this summer bring up two points,

•Firstly, that if youth unemployment reaches levels of 25%, as has happened in London then it’s hard to accept being excluded from the consumer market. Poverty is an increasing problem because of the inflated costs of housing and childcare in the capital. This interestingly reflects London’s success as a financial centre.

•And secondly, if in a buoyant growing economy poverty is accepted, then it certainly will not be in a society that has lost hope of jobs, educational opportunities and fair affordable housing. In the USA 58% of the real economic growth over the past 30 years has been captured by 1% of the population (The Economist)

Recession is an economic disaster as judged by most economic pundits, the Boom and Bust years alternate resulting in hardship and then rebounding into unrealistic spending .

There is an alternative which is a steady state economy, something that The Transition Movement recognises has to happen in a world of finite resources and limits to population growth.

Let’s look at one country which has been through this scenario recently-Japan. Japan has the same GNP as 10 years ago, it has slipped back in the economic ratings, its youth have had to accept that prospects and unlimited prosperity are not guaranteed; but it remains one of the best places to live on this planet and the trains still run on time. But that is not to say that changes have had to be made in the labour market and vast adjustments in domestic arrangements. The Japanese economy has had these conditions forced upon itself by economic forces, it surely would have been better for these wide social changes to have been planned.

We, in the UK still marketise everything from Hospitals (PFIs) and Old People’s Homes ( Southern Cross capitalising on the very fabric of the buildings). We persist in the mistaken belief that if we all reduce our debts, money will once again become something that can be manipulated and inflated by the financial services to provide us growth and prosperity.

If we want a Sustainable and Resilient future we have to ask the Economists and Bankers to devote their intellectual and entrepreneurial skills to think the unimaginable. T hey should ask themselves why are there no serious models to run and understand steady state economies?

Resources

1. The Economist Oct 22-28 2011

2. http://www.managingmymoney.com/NewRealities/FACING-reality.pdf

3. http://transitionvoice.com/2011/10/the-big-lie/ Interesting information about transformational change in Japan

4. Debunking Economics Steve Keen (2011) Zed Books London/New York

Pig Group Report 1- July 2011

The Transition Monmouth Pig Group pigs have been in the orchard at Little Mill Farm for five weeks now and have so far been a resounding success.

They have made a complete clearance of the weeds in their first penned area (see photo), have provided bucketsful of dung to activate a long-term compost heap, and have more than doubled in size and appetite since their arrival.

As well as doing good work, their mission is also to educate their owners, with a view to re-establishing an enthusiastic and progressive backyard-pig-keeping culture – as far as is possible within current legal restraints. For instance we have learned that pigs love old lettuce and beetroot, but won’t sniff at broad bean haulms, which are loved by cattle.

A further aim, we feel the most important, is to attempt to rear pigs in a totally locally-sustainable way. All processed pig feed (including organic feed) contains soya meal amongst other undesirables – soya meal means rainforest destruction: trans-global transportation: high-energy processing: etc. All very non-Transition. So the TM Pig Group pigs are fed on locally-grown, organic barley meal or wheatmeal (75%) and kibbled yellow peas (25%). We were unsure at first how this would work out, but the pigs have thrived wonderfully. It probably helps that they are an old breed (Oxford Sandy and Black – one of the rarest) whereas modern pigs have been cross-bred and rigorously selected to do well on the high-protein, globally-damaging, soya-based feed. We are going right back to basics here and learning fast.

It may well be that in September when the first two go to the butcher, they are more fatty than your average supermarket pork. That is no bad thing. Locally-sustainable rendered pork fat for cooking is much more “resilient” in the face of our approaching problems than imported, highly-processed soya or peanut oil. And the flavour! The tenderness!

Pig Group Report 2 - August 2011

Well, the Learning Curve has been suitably steep. In principle, the pigs have done extraordinarily well - pig-knowledgeable people who have seen them have been astonished at their size and vigour for their age, and the feed costs for locally-produced organic feed have been half, or even less than that, of the cost of processed, soya-based pig-nuts.

By September we expect to have produced top-class, fully free-range, organic, locally-sustainable, “resilient”, rare-breed pork, at a cost of less than £3 a kilo freezer-ready. Check that out at Waitrose! Mind you – labour and housing costs are not included in that.

On the other hand, these perfectly-reared porkers have shown extraordinary initiative and inventiveness in living their lives the way they want:

First, they grew to the point where the flexible, movable posts for the confining electric tape were a fun thing to push over and walk past.

Then, there was one weak point in the orchard boundary fence which I, naively, hoped they wouldn’t find, as they would have to power their way through the blackthorn thicket which concealed it. Of course they did. As it happened, their exit from their confinement within the electric tape had worried me, and I had closed the gate across the farm drive a couple of days earlier – so at least they were limited to damage on the farm, not up the lane and to any vehicles that encountered them round a blind bend!

We suffered pig-ploughing of the front lawn, the banks of the drive, the area around the sheep shelter on the largest field, and the surrounds of the cartshed, for three weeks, before the fencer could come and replace the ancient, tattered netting at the north end of the orchard.

Before that, there was the memorable day when I went down to the feed-room to put together their evening meal, only to find that they had burst the bolts and marauded in. The place was completely trashed, and four over-large pigs were flat-out and snoring in a welter of torn paper sacks, kibbled peas, barley meal, rolled oats and layers' mash. It took a lot of whacking to get them on their feet and out of there.

Such is the charm of pigs that one can’t help forgiving them. At least, so far. The two boars are due to go to Neil James’ abattoir in Raglan in the next few weeks; Neil is a perfectionist butcher, they will be booked in for a set time and will be delivered and then killed at once before they know what is happening.

So long as I and any volunteers can get them separated from the two girls and into the trailer at the specified time . . . . . . Don’t hold your breath . . . . . .

The First Bread-making Class – 23rd July at Little Mill Farm

At 11am the five bread-makers arrived at the farm (from Monmouth, Abergavenny, and Penallt), and by 3pm they had each successfully produced a hot crusty wholemeal loaf to sniff on the way home and tuck into with as much butter as they could face.

Along the way we all had a hugely sociable time. At first we chatted over coffee in the large hall, getting to know one another and learning the basics, and at intervals through the day we inspected the Transition pigs and the highly productive veg. garden.

Then into the kitchen for the messy fun, getting the yeast to work for us, and mixing and kneading the sticky dough. See the photo for a graphic representation! But the first batch of warm yeasty water didn’t froth up at all. It looked for a few minutes as though bread was off the menu altogether – but the second batch did perform as it should. At least it enabled the beginner bakers to learn that yeast is a live thing, and needs to be treated right to work right. While the loaves settled in their tins and rose gently in the warmth from sitting over hot water, and then were put in the hot oven to bake, we had lunch in the hall; nearly all locally sourced, including the cheese and salami, and the carrot soup, salads, and stewed damsons from the farm itself.

Pat on cue, 45 minutes after going into the oven, the loaves came out; hot and fragrant and wholesome. Everyone was highly pleased with their success (see photo), and felt that the day’s £6 cost was good value for such a loaf!

We hope that everyone who came has caught the enthusiasm, and will continue to bake for themselves in future, and moreover help anyone else interested to get into such a rewarding (and resilient!) occupation. And there will be more baking days at the farm if there is enough interest.

http://www.soilassociation.org/Whyorganic/Climatefriendlyfoodandfarming/Sustainableanimalfeed/tabid/1183/Default.aspx

Pig Group Report September 2011

The Transition Pig Group pigs continue to astonish. I had been told to make sure to separate the two sexes in time – after about four months. So I was caught somewhat by surprise one day to watch them, heads down in the feed, when there seemed to be much more of a double bulge at the rear ends of the boys than had been visible before. A further check the following day confirmed this! My guru, consulted, said “unusual but not impossible”; so I took prompt action. Separating them was easy. They always came to the orchard gate if they heard me on my way with the buckets, the boys being far more pushy (sounds familiar), so I eased the gate open a little to let those two out and managed to close it again firmly in the face of the girls. The boys followed the buckets to the next field, and were fed there, and the girls (who had followed along the fence) were left in the orchard.

I had thought that it was only sheep who have the useful trait of showing you (by enlarging them) every smallest hole in the fence that they can find. No, pigs are just as good. Next day, there was one of the boars back in the orchard. I got him back to his new field the conventional way, through the gate; the largest girl followed along the fence; and they were rushing to get together again through the hole that he – or she, or both – had dug under the fence at that barbed-wire-free section I hadn’t known about. So, back to the orchard, let both girls out, shoo them down the track away from the boys’ field, dash down to find a ladder, use it to block up hole under fence, chase girls around farm till they could be got into a field which I was fairly sure had no holes in fences except into woodland . . . . . I should also mention that it seemed likely that that larger, enthusiastic girl was in season, being a bit swollen and shiny and pink in the vulva. Guru, consulted again, was even more surprised, but my description convinced him.

So, sorry folks! - no nicely mature bacon, ham and sausages this year; the girls have to go to the butcher much sooner than planned. If I leave it too long, I will be helping at a farrowing in the mud and snow and dark of Christmas week, and it will be suckling pig for Christmas dinner.

Since that hectic week, things have settled down nicely. All four are still growing well, and the boys will be off to the butcher in the last week of September. The girls will then go back to the orchard, where I hope they will tackle a little more of that weed-infested ground that I originally got them in to clear. They will really miss the woodland and the stream, which are the natural habitat for pigs, but they won’t be around for very long.

I will certainly have next year’s boars castrated!

Renewable energy powering the Island of Eigg

Two weeks holiday on the Island of Eigg is a retreat from modern living, something our children aged 10 and 14 years old complained about!

This island 12 miles off the west coast of Scotland, is roughly 5 by 3 miles, contains a huge once molten blob of hard Pitchstone almost 400m high .There are 80 permanent residents, a shop, a cafe and a small restaurant at the other end of the island. The ridge walking is superb as are the beaches and the views of the huge extinct volcano that is the Island of Rum.

Once on the island, there are no day trips back to the mainland and gradually, as days pass one begins to wonder if this is the future, the self reliance of the community and the isolation makes our reliance on our consumer culture appear distant. Although the ferry takes vehicles, it is not possible to bring one’s own car without approval from The Heritage Trust that owns the island. From a transition viewpoint, it is the way that the community pulls together and welcomes visitors that is as impressive as is its ground breaking local electricity grid which is fed by wind, hydro and photo voltaic systems, there is a full description on this link. http://youtu.be/l3n-6YHquno

An article published in the Observer last week by a journalist returning after years working in London to the family farm on the island illustrates the tribulations and joys of living on this island. http://gu.com/p/3x2m5

The Road Test of the Electric Bicycle April 2011

Transition Monmouth has acquired, through a grant from Environment Wales, the most powerful electric bicycle currently on sale in the UK.

We have passed the critical point of Peak Oil for the better grades of fuel oil and global energy needs are starting to outstrip our resources. I know that I should feel guilty at

getting into my car for a quick trip to the shops. I hardly need reminding that the

answer is to show Resilience and think of using a cheaper and less planet damaging

way of picking up the bread and the milk.

But, the Jeremy Clarkson in me enjoys the convenience of the car and the thrill of my motorcycle. How would an electric bike compare with a bike that does 0-60 mph in 3 .6 seconds, a top speed of 132mph compared to a governed flat out of 15.5mph?

So, armed with good intentions and the knowledge that the Transition Movement is also about not just looking at alternatives to being a gas guzzling petrol head, but giving the local community a sensible and creative example of how to weather the severe energy shocks, I borrowed the bike!

The bike is quite heavy at 24 Kg and before I had even ridden it I was staring to develop “range anxiety”, that understandable fear of anyone who suddenly severs their umbilical link to the household plug as they get into one of the new electric cars. The great thing about this bike is that with its 16aH battery you are looking at a 60 mile range, which is not bad compared to the newest cars whose range is typically more like 80-100miles but starts to drop like a stone when you use the windscreen wipers or air conditioning. OK, so you are not asked to pedal the electric car, but in comparison to the latest electric cars the equivalent range of an electric bike is many times greater, shall we say for sake of argument comparing it to a 250 mile range car making it much more of a practical solution.

I am a sceptic. A local couple told me in The Boat at Redbrook that their older model electric bikes just about managed to get to Whitebrook and back. I decided that the true test would be a trip from Redbrook to Mitcheldean to visit the woodturning demonstration at Toolite and that I would also buy some tools and paint and bring them back on the bike. To make it a fair test I should say that I weigh almost 14 st and not all of it is muscle in peak condition. I could also have caught the Gloucester bus using my free OAP bus pass!

I soon found out that the pedal assist mode was not much use on any hill, although it worked well on the flat. Coming through Upper Redbook I changed to throttle mode and using the highest of the three power bands I was soon powering up past the quarry and The Scowles to Christchurch. It had taken me 20 minutes and whilst I had pedalled steadily I had certainly not broken any sweat or become breathless.

Mitcheldean was reached in under an hour and I discovered that I could go a lot faster downhill than I expected, so fast that I decided to place the bike on the road as I would a motorbike, which is using the full width of the road and leaning into the bends. I found that when moving away from traffic lights the acceleration can surprise car drivers. The only problem is that the bike goes nowhere unless you are in the correct gear from the 7 available. The acceleration is also quite similar to a motorbike, but only up to about 10 mph!

The trip back was much quicker taking only 45 minutes, pedalling furiously on what at first seems a humble shopper resulted in a bus only just managing to overtake me on Plump Hill outside Mitcheldean. Arriving home there was at least 20 miles still left in the battery, although rather less in my legs.

The future is green and fit. The future is no more love handles, but six packs and firm shapely calves! The future technology does work and this bike would be a very sensible solution for a commute or shopping trip, particularly as the panniers are so large and practical. If you want to experience resilience and help your local community to plan for what is increasingly becoming an uncertain future, you can borrow the bike for a week by becoming a member of Monmouth Transition. It costs nothing apart from a £5 contribution for insurance.

Contact sueparkinson@phonecoop.coop or visit the Monmouth Appliance Centre on the ld Bridge in Monmouth.

... andSome stuff we did in the years 2011 onwards...

in roughly chronological order...

The first bacon sandwich for 23 years

I have been a vegetarian since 1988, but inquisitive children and the temptation of a pig that had been humanely looked after by The Transition Pig Group tested my resolve.

I had twice collected their organic feed from a farm near Bromyard and had held the gate open as they had rather noisily been loaded onto the transport to the abattoir.

We met up at Ann’s place last week with the bacon in the back of the car, and it is the essence of Transition that as Catherine works in a school very close to the abattoir in Cinderford, food miles were saved!

We sliced 10 Kg of gorgeous bacon and I have to say that even just one rasher of bacon in a roll was worth waiting 23 years for !

and for the veggies among you...

Mashed Parsnips with Almonds
1 lb / 500 gm parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks.

Cook with just enough milk to cover, till parsnips are soft.

Lift out parsnips with a slotted spoon and put in food processor, plus 2 garlic cloves (mashed with some salt), the juice of half a lemon, 25g ground almonds, and a little of the cooking milk.

Puree up in the machine, and while it is still on, pour in slowly 50ml of olive oil.

Season with salt and pepper.

Put in serving dish and top with a tablespoon of flaked almonds, lightly toasted (watch like a hawk, as they quickly burn).

As well as using this as a side-dish, you can add more oil and/or more of the left-over cooking milk to make it more sloppy and then you can serve it as a dip with crisps or tortilla chips.

...and some seasonal foraging, with the first ever Blewitt-cat [cf.Truffle-hound]

The Transition Companion a new book edited by Rob Hopkins.

The Transition Handbook came out in 2007 and has been the definitive book to summarise the issues surrounding Peak Oil, Climatic change and the benefits of community action to become Sustainable, Resilient and connected to each other as social beings.

The new book is very much a road map to show us to achieve these aims. Since the original publication of the handbook we all have become much more aware of our uncertain future. Transition no longer feels that it has to justify or preach to the unconverted. We are all now concerned by-

•The financial meltdown of 2008

•Increasing youth unemployment

•Climatic extremes and two hard winters

•Increasing fuel, electricity and heating costs

•The imminent failure of the Eurozone

By clicking on the link http://www.transitionnetwork.org/ingredients there is a full summary of the contents.

The Death or Transformation of Capitalism? John Payne cogitates while Catherine works...

The Transition Movement is unique in that it finds hope in the prospect of a more enlightened, less consumer driven, more contented and integrated society in the aftermath of Peak Oil. It does not see the end of cheap energy as a fight for resources and the collapse of civilised and responsible communities, or what is termed the survivalist scenario.

Since about 1740 the world has galloped along a path of globalisation, industrialisation and increasing economic growth. Growth enabled and financed huge technological change and taught us to expect and demand an ever increasing rise in personal living standards and rates of acquiring clothes, cars, comfort and security. In my lifetime there has been a bitter conflict between the command economies of Communism and the ruthlessly individualistic success of Capitalism. The costs have been high, both in personal human suffering and environmental degradation. In Mao Zedong’s great leap forward, when he boasted of overtaking Britain i

n economic might in three years, it is likely that some 46 million people died as Chinese society was dismembered in the interest of economic growth during the period 1957-1962.

We tend to think in terms of a contest, Capitalism triumphing as Communism suddenly and surprisingly collapsed. But what if Capitalism also slowed and faltered to a halt? Satish Kumar in Arran Stibbe’s excellent anthology The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy makes the point that 80%-90% of our present money supply races around the world and actually has no real value or secure equivalency to anything of any substance. Like Greece, but with less than Mediterranean élan we all have become overdrawn and our bank managers are unable to write the letters and find the words to bring us to our senses.

John Gray the philosopher writes on the BBC website how Karl Marx viewed capitalism as the most revolutionary form of economics, always in progress and inherently unstable; it would implode when the middle class’s pensions and security of employment became threatened. Some believe that we are at that point now and that lack of economic growth may prove Marx to be right, Capitalism may become another failed concept like Communism. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14764357

In a finite world with circumscribed resources we look to a new economic and social model which would provide us with more satisfaction and quality of experience than the present one, as we go through “the long emergency” of energy descent and climate change.

We would benefit if we could adopt the Transition Movement’s Model of Economic Localism, Sustainability and most importantly Resilience to achieve the transformation of Capitalism and avoid the uncomfortable process of its protracted death.