PIGS WIPED OUT INVASIVE SPECIES IN A WEEK! - Himalayan Balsam, Missing Sheep and PIGLET UPDATE 

Lovely to see this, pigs are "rotivators" and uproot these perennial weeds. When we cut, strim or mow them we just encourage seasonal growth. The farm campsite we go to in Snowdonia for climbing said exactly the same thing - the pigs make short work of any bracken in the area but the National Trust only tolerates sheep grazing in the National Park for dogmatic reasons. Hopefully they will see the benefits.

Holy shhhhhh.... That is impressive. They did a great job. I love how she came running over when you said "whey from the dairy". That got the pig seal of approval.

Gives the pigs purpose and food. Excellent. We’re gearing up to do the same thing on our homestead in Wisconsin USA.

Pigs have done fantastic work - give them a raise 🤣🤣

My father in law used pigs to clear a parcel of land overgrown with brambles, nettles etc. Fantastic animals and far better than the sound if a 2 stoke strimmer, well done guys

I think it’s brilliant how excited you are and how infectious that excitement becomes. Especially with the fact your using animals as a work force, which they are clearly enjoying rather than as an exploit for meat or other byproducts. Brilliant video

Great land management really nice to see at a time when our environment is under threat more than ever.

Very impressed by Maggie's sheep herding!

Great farm management, your workforce are doing a great job, makes a massive difference 👏

Incredible what light work the pigs make of it... Also getting the feeling you should have got a sheepdog...

Good to see those pigs tearing up the invasives! The one problem with your creek is that you don't have any beavers or Beaver Dam Analogs in it to slow down and spread out the flow. As heavily channelized as the stream is, it's acting like a chute and the rainfall speeds down like on greased rails. The beaver dam analogs help to slow down the flow of water and spread it out. This creates aggradation, sediment falling out of solution and building up the bed. While it sounds like that would increase flooding, the exact opposite happens. Of course, there's only so much you can do if you're one small piece of property on a long stretch of creek, but it's worth considering. You still get the same flow of water, but it's controlled and there aren't those big pulses where you're afraid your pigs might get washed away because the water rose in a blink. Something to think about, that's for sure. I know they've just reintroduced beavers back into England, which is awesome, but I'm not seeing a lot of people use Beaver Dam Analogs to control the flow of the rest of the little streams. Beavers used to do it, but that doesn't mean we can't learn from them and do it ourselves. There are a ton of good videos on RU-vid about BDA's and how they've been successful in the States. Oh, and see about getting a scythe. They're two times faster than a "strimmer", with none of the costs of constant fuel use or replacement bits. I wouldn't have thought that'd be the case since the "strimmers" are new and new is supposed to be better, but you can see the videos where they're compared side by side in races. Get one that's sized to your body and you'll be able to keep the weeds controlled a lot better. Plus you'll actually look forward to it because scything is fun. Always have hated using strimmers because of the mess they make, though those new battery-powered designs are pretty good.

Great video!! Love all the updates especially how clever the pigs are clearing all the overgrowth. Pigs eye view of the piglets ~ excellent 😃😃

Pigs are marvellous. So admire your approach to the land and the animals. And it look like you’re all enjoying it too. Thanks so much for sharing 🙏🏻

Absolutely amazing I love the work ethic and how you are naturally using the animals to help the farm. Love all the content! Thanks for the updates and all you do 👍👏🥰🐷❤️xx

Tim, I reckon you have stepped into hodgepodge heaven there and filled both boots! Very productive and enjoyable update. 😎👍✅✅✅✅✅

Magee is number one sheep dog I couldn’t shop laughing she really is good at her job the pig are coming on so fast the way they grow love watching you guys 👍

Piggin’ amazing! Such versatile animals to have on the farm. Real team players 🐖

Very impressed Tim! I share your viewpoint that creatures can do some of the work you would need to do. Seems that the experiment worked for all involved. Good show!

"It's like the worst color dog to have for sheep." 😂 Looks like good herding material though. Excelent video.

Nice to see the mini bacon rolls are doing just fine !

What a great channel this is.

I’ve never seen a sheepdog that looks like a sheep, before. Love your work 👍

The balsam is a big provider of nectar and pollen late in the season, your local pollinators will have grown to rely on it. Essentially as you clear areas now you will create a dearth when the brambles finish. I strongly suggest you plant late flowering flowers (wild flowers) in its place to help the pollinators at this time or your cleared land will end up barren of bees etc. Tree pollen is early season, you want something that flowers start of July and can go right thru to late September/ mid October when the Ivy takes over and gives the insects their last fuel up before winter.

Looks like pigs in pig heaven! Great video Tim.

What a wonderful video! Thanks so much!

I am loving your channel since you moved. It's kind of comforting to watch in strange way. I love seeing the progress of how you're doing things both with the builds and the farm management. As someone who's never farmed in her life, how do you learn what to do? Do you have experience yourself? The pigs are amazing. I had no idea they ate so much! Do they eat pretty much anything?

Sheep and pigs are looking well. Great video, cheers

That's working out great with pigs clearing the land ,and Mags very keen to help out she obviously picked up on what your doing with the sheep and she's pretty good at stopping when you tell her seems a natural and still a pup really, and yes to more pig spam lol

Omg, your pigs are proper troopers. They did a great job! 😍

Thanks for piggy update.We live next to a Country Park, there used to be a pig Farm about a mile away from us. On the right day it was stinking. One of the joys i suppose. later🤐

Bravo

Very cool before and after!

As well as the variety of content being interesting i thought it was worth saying that your skills in front of the camera are increasing day on day. Always been engaging and interesting but getting slicker by the day. Really enjoying watching this family project develop. Good luck with the balsam. Evil stuff.

I guess as part of your longer term planning you'll need to think how you'll adapt to climate change, drier summers with flash floods and wetter stormier winters are predicted to be the new normal. Great episode.

Great effort hams! Properly cleared that land.

The piglet with the black ears is a little sweetie!!

Love the piggies, love videos. Thanks from Bill

Hogs can clear just about anything. Almost unreal.

Another brilliant video, going to have to share it with my Lagotto friends

Good little pigs. Amazing how much they have gotten through. I wonder how much of the cleared nettles and invasive species would return? I suppose in a way, it doesn't matter if you always have pigs to chomp through it?

That made a nice change from trailer building. Thanks. I still like the trailer build though.

Would love to see some sausage production !

That's awesome

Loving the cyclical approach Tim, it’s working so well. Is there any danger the foxes might get at the piglets if you move them down? Really looking forward to you getting started on the bees, I’d suggest you make up a few swarm traps and bate to try and catch a free swarm early next year(I got mine started this year)!

Do you intend moving the pigs each time before the balsam flowers have set seed to munch through both balsam and nettles?

Brilliant in a week it's all done for free and organically

I know it might be a silly idea but what about some beavers to keep clear your brook?

Can't help but think you need a quad bike Tim. Or a side by side. They're both great fun! 😏

What a great dog, really does well with those sheep.

Absolutely genius using Maggie as a sheepdog, she can sneak up pretending she’s one.. and then herd

Clever dog

I read the title initially as “Pigs wiped out by invasive species in a week” 😂 Glad it’s the other way round!

Piglet spam joke haha So good it had to be in there twice :D

goats work as well

Being a towney, could you tell me if any of the Balsam's parts having passed through the pigs would end up as fertilised seeds or fertilised cuttings in the soil?

Great to see the piglets. I was wondering about the sheep needing more water during the summer when it's around 40C. They might get most fluid from grass when it's wet, but when it's drying out, do they need more water?

4:16 "supposedly makes great honey ... " My research came up with "Some beekeepers comment that honey from areas of high balsam growth is less tasty or even has off tastes."

Piglet Spam LOL oops

Another fascinating video. It would be a shame if a flash flood took your pigs though ! I wonder if the water would knock out the electric fence and the pigs could escape to high ground. Or maybe you could build an escape route with strong fencing.

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OMG, Read the first 3 words and went “oh no”. Then read it properly. Phew. 😀

BEWARE!!! .... The Phantom Sheep-Rustlers .... AARRGGHH!!!!!!!

Could pigs be the answer to Japanese knot weed

If its not proprietary, can you explain how you get those pigs butchered or marketed in your country? I know a lot of your viewers are in the US and we can not get pigs butchered for sale only at a FDA facility which is very expensive and no mass butchery would buy from a tiny homestead producer.

Lots of use of goats to keep grass down during fire season. But pigs!

Piglet spam ….🤣🤣🤣

Some dodgy editing lol. Repeating yourself about spam @22:13

I wish my idiotic neighbor would do this with her 2 pigs instead of keeping them in a shed.