About Us
I was a carpenter and a cabinetmaker for thirty years, self employed for the last fifteen. My wife and I were mostly homesteading on the property we now farm. My brother in law called one day in 2011 and said he knew a guy who had two feeder pigs (feeder = weaned but not grown) for sale, did I want them? Well yeah I want them... So we raised two pigs and processed them for our freezer. This coincided with my becoming burned out on contracting. So the shift to full time farming happened.
Elysium is heaven in Greek mythology. The story is that if you live a worthy life you get to go to Elysium and work at what you love forever. So here I am growing pigs.
I have a love of reading and a desire to produce better than others. I'm always trying to improve what we do. I learned about pasturing as opposed to just small pens. I learned about fodder, and why it's so beneficial to my animals. I have a friend who is super-smart teach me about fermenting our dry feed. I read, and bought different breeds. If the breed didn't perform the way we expected it was cleaned off the farm and the search resumed. We have driven all over the country for the genetics we have. I have a vision of what the perfect hog is: phenotype, hardiness, meat quality, and temperament. We're always trying to get closer to that goal.
Our Practices
We pasture our hogs in the woods where they have the space to be the animal God and nature intended, and able to express the behaviors they're built with. We have enough space that manure breaks down naturally, enhancing the quality of our soil. My sons own a tree service, and we amend all of our pastures with the wood chips from their business.
This does several things: One, the hogs root and mold it to their desires. Two, while it breaks down its sequestering carbon. Three, it allows us to build high spots for placing their houses, and giving them dry areas to eat and rest.
Everything we do is to have happy, contented animals that never know stress in their lives.