Standing next to a paddock where some of her older, larger pigs lay resting on Monday, Carole Soule gave me a little Pink 2.0 history lesson.
His mother, a mostly pink and black-splotched sow named Sarah, came to Soule somewhat by accident. People caught Sarah during a local fair’s pig scramble and brought her home, but as she grew, Sarah became too unwieldy for her owners.
“She was a pet – she was fed hot dogs,” Soule said. “She kept getting away because she was looking for a boar.”
In December 2014, Sarah was given to Miles Smith Farm, where she would join Charlotte, the first pig Soule said she bought for meat but unintentionally kept.
“She missed her appointment with the butcher,” she told me. “Within two hours people were in love with her. We couldn’t ship her . . . but she needed a job so we bred her.”
When Sarah arrived, she was bred, too. Several litters down the line, Pink 2.0 was born.
Like every hog at Miles Smith Farm, Pink 2.0 is a heritage breed pig. Soule isn’t exactly sure what his bloodlines are – she said it generally goes by a pig’s coloring, and many of her pigs are mixed breeds.
Pink 2.0 didn’t exactly lend himself to any type of color-identification Monday, anyway – his normally pinkish skin was covered in brown mud he acquired during a recent nap.
Soule does know she has some combination of Tamworth (red), Berkshire (mixed color), and Large Black (black) pigs in her paddock. What all of them have in common is a generally good temperament.
“The heritage pigs are very easy to handle in most cases” compared to conventional meat pigs, Soule said.
Plus, heritage breeds have the ability to withstand New England winters.
“They’re heartier,” said Soule.
They would need to be tough pigs in their country of origin, England, to survive the trip to the New World centuries ago, and to have their heritage breeds persist in pigs like Pink 2.0 today.
“These guys probably came over on the ship,” said Soule.
Age: 16 weeks
Weight: 150 pounds
Cost at this point: Previous cost ($228) + bedding + labor + feed = $257.75
(This article is part of an ongoing, six-month project by Ag & Eats blogger and “Monitor” staffer Elodie Reed, who is documenting “Pink 2.0” to see how locally raised pork is cared for, processed and eventually, consumed. Have questions or Ag & Eats news tips, events or recipes? Reed can be reached at 369-3306,ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)