Wattlebank Park farm is a 200-acre mixed farming operation ran by Nadine Verboon with her husband Clive and their three teenage children, near Wonthaggi in Gippsland.
Farming on Wattlebank Park farm for the last 17 years, Nadine runs dairy, beef, sheep and pigs, has been direct selling beef, lamb and pork for the past seven years and has her own line of cow’s milk cheese.
"We were a traditional dairy farm first. I have a large passion for producing food. I loved vegetable gardening. I love cooking. I love learning old skills. Then I decided one day that I wanted to get a pig," Nadine said.
Like many people passionate about farming, her one pig turned into three pigs, then three pigs and a boar, to where she is now, a full-time free-range pig farmer and pork producer.
As a result of being registered with the local council and Agriculture Victoria as a pig farmer, one day, Nadine was asked to take a rescued miniature pig from a house block in one of the local communities.
She didn't want to say where from, for fear of reprisal from the people that the miniature pig was rescued from, as it is illegal to have livestock within town boundaries.
That rescued pig, named Chin Chin, due to her short legs that means she trips over and hits her chin, was with farrow.
This is how Nadine ended up with her pet miniature pig, Snoopy, Chin Chin's grandson.
Raised in the house, since he was born, Snoopy has become one of the family at Wattlebank Park farm.
Now living in the chicken coop with his 'bestie', Ando the roster, Snoopy greets everyone that comes up the driveway.
When no one outside of the family is on the property Snoopy, regularly wanders around the farm as a free-range pig.
"The kids talk to him every morning when they go and get on the bus. And if he's out, he hears the bus come in, and he'll run up the driveway like a dog, to go meet the kids," Nadine said.
Now weighing over 100 kilograms, standing a metre tall and just as long, Snoopy is no longer allowed inside.
Nadine had to reinforce the back door of her house to stop him ramming the door and would "just barge his way through," Nadine said.
"He still thinks he's a little tiny piglet the size of a teacup. And he wants to sit on your lap," she said.
"It's like one of those comedy scenes in a movie; you see people diving over this pig to try and stop it as it's running through the house and through up the hallway and into Dakota's bedroom."
As Wattlebank Park farm is a primary producer and must adhere to regulations and biosecurity protocols set by Agricultural Victoria and the local council, not much has changed under the cover of COVID-19.
You were never allowed to enter the farm, uninvited, under normal circumstances.
Under social distancing guidelines, in place under the cover of COVID-19 restrictions, everyone on the property meets the one person per four square metres rule, with the space per person being closer to one person per square kilometre.
But there is one thing under the cover of Covid-19 that has changed; home-schooling.
The three teenage children have been home-schooling, since the Victorian Government introduced the measure on 28 April 2020.
Home-schooling means Nadine's three teenage children; Dylan, Dakota and Harry, are home to help with the pigs.
Currently, Nadine is sharing the farmhouse with teenage children, a husband and eight piglets.
Recently on a freezing and stormy night, one of the saddleback cross pigs had a litter of 9 piglets, eight of which are now living in the family's kitchen.
"It was a bit cold the other night when she had them. So, we took them inside and left the strongest Piglet with her. It's a little grey one," Nadine's daughter Dakota said.
The piglets need to be fed every two to four hours, a duty which Dakota shares with Nadine, day and night.
"Mum does it (feeds the piglets) between two and four in the morning and sometimes during the day. And then I'll do it sometimes during the day and then all at night," Dakota said.
"I get to spend more time with all the pigs because of home-schooling of coronavirus,” she said.
Credits:
Jaci Hicken