Well after my first week of WWOOFing I can add a few new learnings to my repertoire! Thanks to Sandy and Ad (and their great library of books too!) I can now dispatch, pluck, gut and cook both chickens and ducks, make pate, bottle stock, make ricotta and haloumi cheeses.
I also now have a better understanding of how to preserve some foods as jams and jellies.
For those chickens left standing after the weekends freezer stocking duties, there have been the regular chores of feeding, changing water and mucking out the hen house followed by a fresh layer of wood shavings to keep the girls happy!
It's been great also getting the handyman skills reignited, initially with repairing the clothes line which was badly sagging, fixing cupboard handles and this week's task of constructing new duckling and chick enclosures to keep the next generation of poultry safe until they are ready too for the freezer. Weeding, mulching, pruning and keeping the dogs entertained have also kept me busy.
Lined up already in the coming months is some work with hosts breeding heritage chickens and then another host where I hope to learn about alpacas plus the day to day running of farm life. Currently on the lookout for some closer experience with dairy cattle and maybe some horse handling skills.....
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