Wild Hogs Patch

A family lives off the land in North Jacksonville

Barbecues at Dean Black's place don't begin with a trip to Winn-Dixie's meat counter but with a trek to the hog trap.

Fish fries aren't planned around what a fish market might have on ice, but by what's writhing in the nets or on the lines in Thomas Creek that runs alongside their rural North Jacksonville property.

Everyday meals aren't brimming with bounty from the produce aisle at Publix, but with fruits, vegetables and herbs that thrive on more than 100 acres where Black lives with his wife, Kim, and their children: Nathan, 19; Savannah, 18; Hunter, 17; Alanna, 12; and Silas, 11.

It's land that they live on. And off of.

And while doing so requires that everyone put in work on the weekends and at the crack of dawn, and before school and after work, Black said he sees it as a way to carry on a family tradition, as well as teach his children lessons in life and skills in sustainable living.

"When I get off work, this is what I do after dark," said Black, who owns an Amoco Transmission Center in Mandarin. "Everybody chips in."

Except maybe, when it comes to trapping feral hogs. Right now, that's a job for him and his sons.

"See that? That's hog rooting right there," Black said recently as he pointed to a couple of hollowed-out spots in a patch of wild grass not far from where they had set a two-stage wild hog trap.

"Usually, if we're planning on a barbecue, we'll trap 'em in here and we'll feed 'em and take care of 'em. We were having a graduation party [for Nathan], and we wanted five hogs for that."

Hunting and fishing is in Black's blood. His ancestor is Obediah Barber, an early explorer and landowner who hunted and farmed around the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, and whose log cabin is now a historic landmark. But so is growing his own food - which is taking on a new resonance these days by way of the sustainable living movement.

"You can produce an amazing amount of food in a little space," Black said. "You can take your grass clippings, put them on your compost heap, and then put the compost on your vegetables.

"... We want our landscape to be largely edible."

For the most part, it is.

On a recent day, Black, Hunter, Silas and Alanna were out harvesting beefsteak and heirloom tomatoes that were bursting from huge pots on the back patio. On the side of the house were Roma tomatoes, as well as bell peppers and hot peppers.

The tomatoes were particularly impressive.

Pin Patch | Wild Hogs SC Forum

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