The Pig Roast:: Part One

Last week we hosted our first BIG event out at the farm. I need to stop calling it "The Farm" because we have a name for it now. Martha's farm has a name, right? We needed a name. We call it GoodTree Farm, a rough translation of our last name in German as a friend once told us. We've since learned that the translation of Welbaum is indeed not Good Tree, though Baum is tree, just not good tree. Oh well, as a language teacher and language lover, I can really appreciate mixups in translations. The translation was not lost, it was saved and made our name. So there. From here on out, I'll refer to our farm as GoodTree. Now, if any of you talented artists out there would like to help us make our logo for GoodTree, perhaps a woodcut print of a large, branchy, funky tree? I'd love it!
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Our event at GoodTree was a pig roast. The idea stemmed from my brother suggesting that someday we should roast a pig out at GoodTree. A plan for "some day" turned into, "when are you available to tend the pig in the roaster?" From there I did a bit more research and discovered that renting a roaster is most definitely expensive and perhaps cost prohibitive. It takes 10-12 hours to cook the hog (my new word, previously my city self used PIG.) If we had done it ourselves, in order for it to be ready to serve at noon, we would have had to pull an all nighter by the roaster. As someone who doesn't get enough sleep to begin with, my answer was no. Instead, we contacted the local meat market in Dennison, MN and inquired about their roasting costs. Spendy, yes. Worth it? Definitely. Dori from Dennison Meat Locker informed me that they can cook the HOG at 180 degrees in their smoke house and it takes 20 hours, ready to be picked up in a hog box. Sold.
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I sent out an evite for the party and fell in love with this simple, fun logo that was available on their choice list. Shhh... we used the logo throughout the event as a central theme. If you don't own any of these kind of used-car lot banners, you really owe it to yourself and your neighbors to buy some. They make any entry way welcoming. I bought them last year for our block party and have found many reasons to use them. If you're local and promise to take good care of them, you can borrow them.

We set up the potluck buffet on the cement slab that was once going to be the former owner's new garage. It made for a perfect flat surface for the food. You can take a sneak peek of the hog at the end of the table. More photos of that in Part Two. Be patient.

I don't like to use plastic silverware, if I can help it. Instead of buying 100+ forks that would just be thrown away, I sent my Dad out on a hunt for inexpensive forks. He was able to procure forks from a few thrift stores but truly hit the jackpot with a catering supply house offering used (but clean) forks for $1.65 a dozen. He snatched up 13 dozen and called it a day. We'll be set for the rest of our lives for large events and never have to buy another silly plastic fork again. Next to the garbage cans we set up bins for dirty forks and then just did a big fork wash after the party was over. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.