This weekend we drove down to visit the farm that we sometimes get our meat from. It’s no surprise that it is cheaper to buy their grass-fed meat directly off their property as opposed to getting it at organic grocery stores. It’s about a 20 minute drive from our house. Here are some of the critters we visited:
The wild boar were the most entertaining. They followed you (from the safety of their very, very large pen) and squealed, but if you made a sudden movement they spooked and ran away, only to turn around and come back to inspect you. I definitely wouldn’t want to hear one coming after me in the woods–I’ve seen too many kingdom movies where important characters get attacked by wild boar and die. There are lots of exotic animals at the farm, including emus, which make the freakiest sound I’ve ever heard come from an animal. It sounded like something you’d hear in Jurassic Park. I wouldn’t want to be chased by an emu either. We also got to look at the elk and deer from a distance. Of course, there are the normal farm animals: pigs, goats, lamb, cows, horses, chickens, ducks ansd geese.
It was a fun way to shop!
While there I also got a shot of Chicory and Birds-Foot Trefoil. Both are grown as forage crops for livestock so it’s not surprising to find them in this setting.
Chicory is a perennial plant that is also grown for salad leaves, chicons, and roots, which can be made into a subpar coffee substitute. A native of Europe, Chicory has become naturalized in North America.
And Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus):
Bird’s-foot Trefoil (also known as Birdfoot Deervetch) are grown forage plants, as well as for pasture, hay and silage in agriculture. It is not native to North America and is considered an invasive species in some regions.
