INDIANA EXCHANGE: Couple return to Indiana to farm

SPENCER, Ind. (AP) - When most people retire, they expect to relax a little, take on fewer daily chores and have fewer responsibilities.

That's not what happened for Jerry and Paula Perron, owners of Bittersweet Farm in Owen County. The couple moved to the area from Denver, Colorado, after owning and operating the Brain Workout Center for 17 years.

"When I turned 75, I told Paula, I'm done," Jerry told The (Bloomington) Herald-Times (http://bit.ly/2gejWg7) recently while walking in the grassy fields of the 17-acre farm. That was in 2011, when the couple moved to Indiana onto the farm they say is "a little bit of heaven on Earth."

Jerry considers himself a Midwesterner even though he spent time in Colorado. The couple actually met while living in Sherman, Texas, and raised their children in Elkhart before moving to Colorado. They knew they would eventually return to the Midwest and decided to try farming for the first time in their lives.

Bittersweet Farm has chickens, turkeys, pigs and dogs, but they're not the usual types. Visitors will be welcomed to the farm by their white, shaggy-haired dog Jackie. She's a Maremma sheepdog, a livestock guard dog indigenous to central Italy and known for protecting sheep from wolves. Jackie protects the Perrons' hogs and fowl from coyotes.

The Perrons first raised Finn sheep along with guinea fowl and heritage turkeys. Currently, they don't have any sheep on their farm because the breed they had were high maintenance. Because they enjoyed raising sheep, they are now looking at a couple of heritage species that would be hardier.

The couple now raise heritage hogs, both American guinea and mulefoot hogs. The American guinea hogs were once on the critical list because there were fewer than 100 guinea hogs in the United States. But enough people have begun raising the hogs that now the species is no longer in danger of disappearing.

"There are a lot more (American guinea hogs) than there were just five years ago," Jerry said. He's quick to point out that the breed, which came to the U.S. from West Africa in the 1800s, almost disappeared during the Civil War, when soldiers from both sides ate and killed so many of the hogs.

The Perrons first purchased Fred, Ethel and Emma from a farm in northern Indiana. "They rode in my car in a little crate," Paula said while looking out across the pasture at them.

Another hog, Julie the Mulie, is another breed, a mulefoot hog, so named because its feet are one hoof, not the split, cloven hoof of most pigs. She's a little "shy," according to her owners, and is currently nursing seven piglets after she was bred to an American guinea hog. All the piglets are also mulefoot, and follow their mother through the woods on one side of the Perrons' property.

In a nearby pasture, 6-week-old piglets lie in fresh straw as sun shines down on them. "Their personalities are wonderful," Paula said, surveying the brood from the other side of a fence. "The guinea hogs love to have their bellies rubbed, and behind their ears, too."

"Hello, girls," Paula calls out to four black pigs in another part of the pasture. Three American guinea and one mulefoot-cross pigs that approach the couple, sniffing and giving soft grunts as a welcome. Each one touches noses with Jackie the dog, who sniffs each back. The couple haven't named these hogs, because they are going to be sold for meat.

Traveling to another pasture, the Perrons look out over the barrows, or castrated male pigs, and their American guinea boars. The barrows and boars are munching on grass tufts in the pasture. Seeing the Perrons, most walk over toward the fence, emitting grunts of welcome. "Hello, Phineas," Paula calls to the main boar, still eating grass a distance away.

When the barrows reach between 215 and 250 pounds, they are ready for market. "We sell some to the local restaurants," Jerry says.

"We also sell them to private individuals," Paula adds. Recently, they had a chef from a local restaurant come out to pick his next hog, who will soon be large enough for market.

The meat of the American guinea hog is different from what most people purchase in the grocery store. The meat is red and has a different taste since the hogs are grass-fed. Because the hogs are active, the meat is also well marbled. "The meat just melts in your mouth," Paula said.

American guinea hogs are known as lard hogs and that, according to Paula, is why they were popular in the 1800s. She renders lard and uses it to make pie crusts.

While the Perrons freely approach most of their livestock, they are a little cautious with their barrows and boar. They are more careful after Jerry was attacked by the boar named Fred. "His first attack was his head on my shin bone," Jerry recalled. Jerry quickly put a board between the boar and himself. "We did a dance for about 10 or 15 minutes while Paula got some food to distract him," he explained. That was the end for Fred.

Now Phineas is the principal boar on the farm. In the fall and the spring, he mates with certain females, spending time in the girls' pastures. "The ladies don't let him eat so much," Paula said. "The boys let him." So, once Phineas has completed his task, he's back in with the boys.

The Perrons also had a flock of turkeys to show visitors. There was one tom - TomTom- a broad-breasted bronze turkey, and three hens.

"He's going to be a problem," Paula said, half under her breath. The tom and hens were Thanksgiving dinner for the Perrons, who celebrated it with their family. Paula's concern was the fact that TomTom was too big to fit into a single pan. The tom they harvested for last year's feast dressed out at 32 pounds.

But, alas, TomTom dressed out at 26ˆ½ pounds. The hens were 22 to 24 pounds each, so the Perrons decided to eat a hen or two this holiday instead of TomTom, who will be saved for another meal.

___

Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com