Sunday, July 21, 2013

Springtime in the farms

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In spring all trees start to flower and it is wonderful to see Mother Nature work at its best.





In the fields there are flowers everywhere in springtime.







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SPRINGTIME IN THE FARMS       
Dear readers, after the boring winter as I have written in my last post, a winter day in the farm, the only time that one can say that living in the farms could be better that living in town was and is at spring time, because those natural things that make life interesting in the farms happen, you see one can observe Mother Nature wonders as they occur at very close range; and springtime is the time when most of those wonders occur one after another. Therefore, life in the farm becomes more interesting and wonderful after a cold and boring winter when finally spring comes. Early in spring when the weather is fine it is nice and warm to stay outside doing odd jobs, like preparing the soil in the kitchen garden and planting some seeds that will soon grow, you see in the temperate zone as the temperature rises the plants start growing very quickly, this fact of life even by itself seems to bring some joy after the cold winter, as one observes what is happening in spring time.
For a start we would be thinking finally wonderful spring is here
During early spring it would be wonderful, if one could be able to forget all worries in the world, and look at the work of Mother Nature at its best. You see, today you look at one tree and you wonder whether it is alive or dead, because its twigs seem really lifeless; but in a few days, when you look at that same tree again you can see a few flowers and some small leaves on its twigs, and in a few more days the whole tree will be in flower, and also its leaves will be growing on its twigs very rapidly, all the trees start flowering and growing quickly at springtime after winter, all grass and seedlings grow faster and everything is greener and full of life, also the birds that throughout the winter seemed timid and sad, now start to sing and they sound very happy. In the country there is a change in the air in springtime and everything and everybody feels happy in spring, there are lots of sunny and mild days in spring, so the sunshine and the mild days tell you that the dreadful winter is past, so better times are ahead for the farm people and for the farm animals as well.
So let me describe the changes that spring brings in the country of the town that I came from: After looking after and hand feeding all farm animals during the winter, which was a very boring job, now spring is welcome. I am saying this because, in springtime the way of looking after the farm’s animals changes a lot, because in spring most of the farm’s animals will be feeding on grass, and most of them will be grazing in the paddock during daytime, and there are a lot of other interesting happenings. During the winter and perhaps most of the year, the large animals have been hand fed in the stable with straws, oats and hay, but now gradually they will be let loose to graze in the paddocks. So as soon as the grass in the paddock grows enough early in spring, the cows are let loose in the paddock for a few hour each day to begin with, and then as the grass starts growing faster they will graze in the paddocks all day long. The next on line to graze in the paddocks are the pregnant mares, followed by the rest of the animals: So that in mid spring all animals that are grass eater will be feeding only on grass; that is during the day in the paddocks and at night with fresh harvested grass, which has been purposely grown and cut from the farmers. As you can see the farmers are still busy to look after the farm animals, but now it is not as hard as in winter times and the weather is usually fine, and every day that go past it becomes warmer, so a more relaxed way of life can be enjoyed and there are also other happy happenings, you see, spring is the season of hope and in spring we start to harvest many things, there are plenty of vegetables in spring as everything grows pretty fast, also in the fields things grow fast, there are plenty of fresh peas, green beans, broad beans just to name a few, the farmers go around with great hope in their hearts, they hope to harvest plenty of everything, when they are ready to be harvested. But at the same time the farmers always look at the sky, as they fear bad weather that can ruin their crops. This can really be a real problem when stormy weather approaches, as all the work they have done during the year can be ruined or destroyed in a few minutes. So hope and heartbreak are there ever present, it is not an easy life being a farmer. This was also one of the reasons that I left farming and migrated to Australia when I was still young, hoping for a better and easier life in Australia. But now let us talk about the farm animals, as they are a very important part of farming and also how we the farmers use the farm animals in many ways; but I think that I have said enough in this post, so see you in our next post, Cheese making the old ways.  
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Genzano it story
Spring times in the farms
IS GOING TO BE CONTINUED; 
Next time with, Cheese making the old ways
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