Hi Tim! Pigs are very smart. I've been raising them for years. If it got zapped for trying to go out the gate, it's not gonna do it again. First, be sure you WANT him to come out, because once he figures out he can, HE WILL! You have two options 1. Make an opening somewhere else in the fence and let him "find it" - mine follow me to where ever I call them - 2. (what I would do) Feed him just inside the gate. Just dump the feed and walk off. Each day move the feed a little farther out the gate. Once he sees if he sticks his head out of the gate he doesn't get zapped, he'll come out. Like I said tho' Once a pig finds a weak spot - they'll use it over, and over ... They will always remember how they got out. Around here, if one gets out, first thing we do is look for the break, mend it, them put 'em up. If we can't find the break, we just put 'em up and stand there watching. They will go immediatly to the spot with the break. Best of luck to you! Cristi

Thanks, Japie. Xavante it is! Sorry, I didn't notice it off to the side in Kerry's picture. I guess I should have done a nudicaulis search before posting. I see another on FCBS called Blackie, which looks very close to my smooth one. Mine's not exactly black, but I suppose it could be under different conditions. All of the hybrids I've done are with aequalis, which is my favorite of the bunch. This one is aequalis x La Tigra, I'm calling it Cranberry Frost: This is an old scanned photo of aequalis x Silver Streak. Sorry, the color is a bit too saturated there. Some clones are reddish, others mostly silver, and none are as red as Cranberry Frost. Of course you've seen this guy a couple of times already. Not an intra-specific cross, but the nudicaulis came through loud and clear, which it usually does. It is n. aequalis x ramosa Festiva, AKA Heather Tweed: Where's Bob with his picture of Parati? That's another nice red and silver cv.

My story: I work full time Monday - Friday. I make a decent wage for the low stress nature of my job, but this job will never take me anywhere. There is no ladder to climb. What I make now is what I will always make and the company is not interested in cross training me for any future openings in other departments (it's a tiny company). Don't get me wrong - they love me, but the service I provide with the skills I have only pays so much. This is not the first time I have been in this situation, it seems that most of my jobs had no room for advancement. I've been working since I was 14 and I am now closing in on 50 so changing jobs doesn't seem realistic. I have always had a weekend job (or two) just to help pay the bills and because I like to work. I am getting tired of working 7 days a week. My latest side business is a booth at the local flea market selling anything and everything from my garden. I sell mostly plants (herbs and ornamentals) and crafts (bird houses and feeders). I hope to include produce once that season starts. My house sits on .75 acres and is mostly shady so I grow and sell a lot of hostas and shade perennials. I've sold crafts before at booths at craft fairs but this is the first time I have manned a booth each and every weekend. It is doing quite well. I even think it is selling more plants than the other plant vendors. I work well with the customers especially the foreigners because I either speak some of their language or can communicate well with their broken English (I grew up overseas). So everything is going better than I had planned. But, am I crazy to start daydreaming about quitting my day job or even switching to part time? Currently after selling for the past month I am bringing home 1/4 of my regular jobs paycheck. Not sure what will happen when the weather gets hot, nor what happens during the winter (market is year round, one large plant vendor stays open all year just on a much smaller scale during the cold months). So how long does it take to double you income or how feasible is it to quadruple your income. It is only me doing all the work, so it would be hard to participate in more than two markets but I would like to sell at one of the smaller farmers markets nearby. Any advice???

I love good flea markets that sell junk and not so much new stuff and clothes, altho there is one here that sells mostly new stuff, appliances, clothes, etc...mostly hispanics...but once in awhile there will be a good buy on a piece of junk because they really aren't interested in stuff like that usually. I like yard sales, estate sales, auctions, dumpster diving, curb shopping. I am mostly into stuff for the garden now, since I've filled my house a few times over, but I won't turn down a neat piece of junk for the house. Last week I found two old faux bois planters. I had to think "WWMD?" Ha! Not really. (What would Martha do?) Martha collects faux bois...fake wood...made out of cement. I jumped at them for $10 for both.