It seems that Monday was a day of visiting farmers. We had to pick up a load of sheep manure for the garden- so on go the wellies and off we go. The first farm raises sheep, chickens and Indian Runner Ducks which are apparently really good layers. I didn't have my camera, but suffice it to say they are very upright, skinny and run a lot. Just looking at them made me laugh out loud.Then we were off to a friend of the boyfriend's, who invited us to see his new calf.. only three days old. Here she is with her mom, Buttercup. They are Jerseys. The calf probably weighed 40-50 pounds and was knobby kneed, spindly legged and frisky. I think I would name her Sweet Pea.
This is Baby Cow making her way out to her mom. She was doing a lot of kicking and dancing.
These are some NH Reds, which are decent layers, with some Thanksgiving turkeys in the background.
Even though he is a vegetarian he is raising chickens for us meat eaters. There are 150 little chickens in there running around. It was amazing to me that the sides were completely open from waist level up. I asked if raccoons & fox came in to dine. His cattle dog took care of any marauders... he had to be put in his crate while we visited as he is quite protective of his livestock.
And finally this is his bread baking oven. He can cook up to 30 loaves in this wood fired oven. He built it out of found clay and straw. Pretty much everything he had he built himself- including the house and barn out of lumber he milled on his property.
It was quite an impressive operation. And he really seemed to love what he was doing.
5 comments:
oh, would that oven be considered made ou of cob? I have been reading allot on cob building. I think that is my next obsession
Oh to be a farmer....honestly....
Do you mean corn-on-the-cob? He said it was made out of clay & straw and that is pretty much it. I could see straw bits sticking out of the clay.
no, cob is a bulding material, dirt, sand mixed with straw. Like adobe. THe difference is adobe is shaped into blocks, dried and then stacked. Cob is kind of slapped on wet to create the structure. It is very 'green' and has excellent thermal mass qualities.
Little Sweet Pea... is absolutely gorgeous! When I see baby animals like that, or really take a look at my dog, even... I get pangs of guilt for my carnivorous ways. I admit it.
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