Arrival
After a 5-hour drive from Osoyoos, we finally reached our first farm stay in BC, Canada! Two families share this 160 acre farm: Olivier, Karla, and their three children make up one family. Heidi, Paul, and their two daughters make up the other family. When we arrived, we were greeted by Olivier and Heidi. Heidi gave us a tour of their beautiful farm which included showing us all of their animals–cows, rabbits, pigs, chickens, sheep, a horse–their garden and greenhouse. We even helped catch one of their rabbits that escaped her cage.
When the tour ended, it was time to set up camp. We picked a nice spot in the shade to place our tent and then began cooking dinner on our handy dandy camp stove. While I was cooking dinner, one of the neighbors arrived to buy one of the smaller pigs for a BBQ pot luck they were hosting. AC was able to watch the process which consisted of selecting the right pig, cornering the pig to dispatch it, and then gutting it. I managed to make it over just in time to catch the end of the process and, as strange as it may sound, I found it very interesting.
Evening Chores
Following the pig excitement, it was time for evening chores. AC asked if she could help and Paul said “can you drive a quad?” and of course AC said, “yes!” So AC and Paul headed off into the field to break down the water canon and piping to then move and set up in a different field. I took this opportunity to snap some photos of the sunset and surrounding area.
While AC was still working in the field with Paul, and now Olivier, moving the cows. Karla stopped by to say hello and I chatted with her and some of the girls before they began their Harry Potter marathon. These girls stayed up all night to watch all 8 movies! Impressive, or maybe a little crazy who knows, but they loved it. Anyway, I discussed plans with Karla for the next morning to determine when we would begin morning chores and then got ready for bed.
Morning Chores
The weather definitely changed overnight from heat wave to cold front. We woke up to a brisk 53 degrees, put on our work clothes, made some oatmeal and met Karla outside at 7am to begin the day. We started with moving the irrigation system, consisting of these long metal pipes that attach to one another and spread over about 100 yards across the field.
After that, we moved over to the chickens. We moved their fencing and coop to a new patch of grass, and then did the same thing with the cows. We learned that moving the animals helped with regenerating the land. The cows eat the grass, the chickens spread the cow manure as they peck for grains and other goodies, the spread manure allows flies to lay larva … it’s a whole thing.
El Chapo
From the field, we moved on to El Chapo, the ram. He needed to be moved from his temporary pen into a new pen. I watched as Karla straddled El Chapo and “rode” him over to his new pen, then checked on the rabbits to make sure they had food and water all while AC rolled up the hotwire around El Chapo’s old pen. Then, we moved on to the sheep. Karla climbed the large stack of rectangular hay bales in the barn and tossed one down. I picked it up and immediately understood the phrase “country strong.” Those things aren’t light, but I managed to awkwardly load it into the wheelbarrow.
We fed the sheep and moved on to the small pigs. Talk about a rowdy bunch! This spring one of their sows had a litter of 22 piglets (which is a lot!) so it was a full house. We fed the piggies old vegetables that Karla acquired from the local food bank. Note-to-self, pigs love sweets, like watermelon and apples, more than vegetables like onions and bell peppers. Sounds like someone else I know… (AC). After feeding and filling the water tank, we proceeded out to the field to feed the big pigs-Toast, Ruth, and Boris. This completed morning chores, which took about 2 hours.
Shepherding
In the afternoon, we helped move the sheep into the pasture. It consisted of one person shaking a bucket of feed to attract the sheep, and then running as fast as they could, with the sheep close on their heels, until they reached the pasture. Helpers in the back helped corral stagglers. Quite entertaining to watch!
After the sheep were all set up in their new section of pasture, it was time to move the water canon again. This time AC got to drive the tractor, which she had been hoping to do since we left home.
Wrangling Cattle
Afterward, it was time for dinner. Karla and Olivier invited us over for dinner. We got to visit for a little while, but then it was time for evening chores.
We fed the rabbits and pigs again. Then we had to move the herd of cows all the way to the back of the property. Karla, AC, and I tried to push the cows towards the fence but they just walked the opposite direction. Finally, Karla’s son showed up with feed and, just like that, we were off to the races. Once the electric fence came down, the herd went running, led by the calves. I think this might have been the first time the calves were out in open green pastures and they just frolicked through the field without a care in the world. We desperately scrambled behind trying to push the cows in the right direction but cows are surprisingly fast! Thankfully Olivier came flying in on the side-by-side to help push the young calves back in the direction we wanted. Eventually we got all the cows into the pen in the back of the pasture. Whew!
We began our long walk home as the sun set behind the trees. Once we reached our camp we were beat, but definitely felt accomplished for our first full day on the farm. It was time for bed.
What a day!
Until next time,
Charli
What fun! You left Spokane in time. We are dealing with wildfires right now. Enjoy your selves.