when things go rotten

It happens to the best of us. Things get away from a farmer and start to turn. And stink. Or get too hard. Or too squishy. And attract yellow jackets. Traditional farms kept a pig or 2 around to eat those things that were no longer edible by humans, because a pig can and will eat anything.

Orchards sell their fruit, classified as number 1, for consumption as fruit. There are number 2's that are cheaper, have a few blemishes, and might not be even on each side. Most people who buy those make apple sauce, apple butter and pie filling from the number 2's. Next are apples that are good for making apple cider..these are pretty ugly, beat up, the fruit a grower wants to hide. Makes delicious and refreshing juice.

Then there are those that just go bad..they get hot and start to rot. The stink bugs really ate them full of holes, and warm weather made them break down earlier than other fruit. This is the fruit that makes its way to our farm, for the pigs, a little for the cows and yes even some for the yellow jackets..

We fill the back end of our little pickup truck with the fruit. Then, on other days, we fill the back end with stale bread, rotten vegetables, pulp from a juice bar. And every few days, everything is gone. Consumed. That's why they are called pigs.