by Kathiey Voshell
Yesterday afternoon Joe and I decided to go on the Piedmont Farm Tour. I had never heard of it, but this was their 16th year. There were 40 farms on the tour this year. We only had a few hours and wanted to see them all, but realistically knew we had to narrow it down. So with our guide in hand, we selected 4 farms to visit….let the fun begin….here are a few shots of our adventure!
Joe listened to the talk given by the farmer. He learned about sustainable crops. He said that after a field was harvested, turkeys and chickens came in and ate from the site; when they were done, they send in the pigs and they clear the land. Everything works together. Makes total sense. Of course I was off taking pictures and playing with the puppies so I missed most of the talk, but that’s ok because I love taking pictures…..and petting puppies:-)
As I was reading about each farm, I kept coming across lines like “happy chickens,” “happy cows,” and “happy pigs.” I could not imagine what this meant. But as I wandered the properties I began to understand. These animals were happy. They were in a great environment. Open spaces, plenty of room, plenty of food and water. They seemed content and were well cared for. Yes, I know the final end for many of these animals is our table, but it is good to know that they lived their life as they were meant to. We had heard horror stories about how some animals are kept, and I was glad to see a better way. I want to start buying my meats, eggs and veggies from local farms as much as possible. They need our support.
We saw this dog in the field with the sheep. He was HUGE. It was like he did not even see us. He only had eyes for his sheep. I thought he may be a Great Pyrenees, but Joe, who attended the lecture, told me that the breed name started with an “m.” So off to Google I went. I found one called a Maremma from Italy. This must be the one. They can weigh anywhere from 65-110 pounds and are bred just to be livestock guardian dogs. Someone asked the question, “what are they protecting the sheep from?” The answer was coyotes. We were told (well, Joe was told, I was taking pictures:-) that coyotes hunt in packs. One day the guardian was not with the sheep and a pack of coyotes killed 12 lambs. Awful! He also said you won’t find many stray cats in the area because they too are prey for coyotes.
Great saying….”Save water, drink wine.” I think that will be my motto:-)
When I was a baby my dad had dairy cows. I don’t remember much about it, but I do remember my mom saying it was hard work and that you had to be there every day to do the milking twice a day. When someone asked one of our hosts if they had to be milked daily, the response was, “yes, we have tried to explain holidays and vacations but they just don’t seem to understand”:-)
We had a wonderful,wonderful day at the farm tour. Next year I hope to visit more farms. Great fun and if you are good student like Joe, you will learn a lot too:-)
Enjoy Your World Everyone:-)
