Woofing Log: Rhubarb and a Shitty Day

These few days have been a really good learning days. Two of the most exciting activities that I’m going to share are rhubarb harvesting and the other one is quite shitty… not as in having a bad day, but dealing with actual shits!! Oh well, more like compost actually

Rhubarb or rabarber (in Swedish) is one of the plants that are not so common in my birthplace. In fact, I’ve only seen it when I started my study in Sweden last year. Furthermore I’ve only seen them in the form of juices that are sold in stores. Yesterday I happened to have the honor of harvesting them together with Valentine. The method of harvesting is by pulling the stem by the length of it so as not to break it. The leaves are then thrown away as they are poisonous. At the end of the day we managed to harvest one full wagon of rhubarb stalks. They are going to be processed for marmalade and juice. I’m quite excited to taste it when they’re done, as this is my first time harvesting something.

Wagon Full of Rhubarb stalks

Pile of Shits!!!

Fertilizing the Field

Harvested Rhubarb

Today is full of shits!! What a shitty affair!! I’m standing on a pile of shits!! Shits, excuse my language, was the main theme of today We were transporting the shits that had been composted for a year to the field to fertilize it. The shits or also known as manure were from the sheep house that was used during winter time. The shits are mixed with straw to produce good fertilizer.  At this farm, I see for myself that most of the things that are done here are always connected to one another. The sheeps are not only raised for their meat and wool, but the manure is also very useful in producing fertilizers for them plants. Fertilizers are not cheap at all, so by using the waste of the farm animals, the farm can cut down the cost of operation. This also contributes a lot for the farm to be more self sustaining.