Names tell us apart, something about our past and where we come from. The power of a name has long been immortalized in literature as well as religion. While the names on our farm might not have such deep context, they do allow us to know when an animal was born, track ancestry and help us keep tabs on the health and well being of individual animals. And…it allows us to have some fun!
We use a yearly naming scheme for all animals that are born or come to our farm each year. And it is time for a new naming scheme as Jenga (2009’s game year) is getting ready to pop with some new kids!
So, tell us your ideas and/or vote on ideas that have been suggested and then we will need names. There aren’t many rules for the naming scheme:
- ideally not too cryptic, we like lots of folks to be able to suggest names
- Broad enough to handle 20+ goats, dozens of piglets, poultry flocks and such
- Not counter to the mission of the farm (candybars & diseases have been past suggestions. While they may offer some fun names, we thought might not really be good in the marketing front!)
Themes we have used:
2012 – Mountains
Grace's kids: Everest, K2 & Annapurna
2011 – Egypt
2010 – A Space Odyssey
2009 – Games
2008 – Revolutionary…our initial year inspired by our name, the Green Mountain Girls, a take on Green Mountain Boys, but food revolutionaries.
And then there are the movie stars that came to us with their names in 2008- Ingrid (Bergman) & Grace(Kelly)
Theme ideas that have come forth…(but keep coming with more!)
Checkers and one of her 2011 piglets, Pig Tut
- Flowers
- Literary Characters
- Countries
- World Leaders
- Virtues
- DesignersAll Posts
- Mythology
- Weather
- ……..
Send us your ideas, votes and/or post them on facebook!
We will keep a vote and tally going tomorrow at the farmstand…you never know we may even need a name by then!
People say you shouldn’t name animals that you are raising for meat, it makes it too hard. But on our farm, name or no name, we know our animals, the pigs, the kids, even the poultry, at least as a group, we have small herds and we care.
Saying goodbye to an animal because they are off to the butcher can be sad. We each have different connections to different animals and we do mourn their loss. Soon, we will say goodbye to Checkers, our first sow that was born on our farm. She will be missed and always appreciated for the gifts she brought all of us –piglets, joy and laughter, and in the end delicious, healthy food all while living a good pig life. It is hard to ask for more than that.