This update is a little late...but better late than never! I arrived at my new host's place on Thursday evening and had another supper! (I'd eaten fish and chips less than an hour before) Needless to say I have been well fed in England! Will and his brother George live in a barn conversion on the other side of Boston from my first host's (Lauren) place. It is really neat to see an old structure done up as a nice home. We took a walk down to a couple oilseed rape (CANOLA!) fields that evening. The crops looked excellent and were nearly taller than me! The oilseed rape is seeded in the fall, grows almost all year and will be harvested soon. On Friday we toured some more crops as well as the family's business. Charles Wright & Sons Ltd. is an ag merchant company that sells fertilizer, buys and stores grain and does various custom work such as fertilizer spreading and sugar beet harvesting. I got to spend some time spreading fertilizer with Will's cousin, Charles. The company has implemented some pretty modern variable rate technology (VRT) on their equipment and have monitors on the tractors which shoes you exactly where and how much fert has been spread. They also have technology on some of their machines that measure the level of plant matter and will adjust the application rate accordingly. This would be particularly useful when applying foliar fertilizer, a practice that is widely used in the UK, but is only starting to be used around my area in Manitoba.
Friday night we had a BBQ with a group of people from Lincolnshire YFC. They are just like a family - a similarity that YFC and 4-H share. It was a fantastic evening which finished off with watching pirranaconda (I do not recommend it).
On Saturday morning we went down to Revesby Estates to help set up for the Lincolnshire Young Farmers charity clay shoot on Sunday before heading to the Parrot Zoo! The Parrot Zoo is a local attraction that began as a sanctuary for hurt or unwanted parrots and has since expanded to have every sort of animal! Sophie, another young farmer, joined us for a fantastic afternoon. The weather was beautiful and we got to enjoy talking parrots of all kinds, baby reindeer, tortoise races, the meerkat town and Bengal tigers! The tigers were spectacular and we got to see the mother and her three cubs up close. We talked to the owner about the tigers and he told us that the zoo will be getting another bunch of tigers in the fall. The owner estimates that after they arrive he will be taking care of around 1% of the Bengal tiger population.
On Sunday we were off the the charity clay shoot for a day off grilling, shooting and socializing! The clay shoot was very successful despite some rain and a good time was had by all! I was honoured to receive a Lincolnshire 40th Anniversary shirt from the club and I will wear it with pride. We had a quick try at archery (practicing bear hunting) before we cleaning up/getting rained on and heading home for a relaxing evening off.
Friday night we had a BBQ with a group of people from Lincolnshire YFC. They are just like a family - a similarity that YFC and 4-H share. It was a fantastic evening which finished off with watching pirranaconda (I do not recommend it).
On Saturday morning we went down to Revesby Estates to help set up for the Lincolnshire Young Farmers charity clay shoot on Sunday before heading to the Parrot Zoo! The Parrot Zoo is a local attraction that began as a sanctuary for hurt or unwanted parrots and has since expanded to have every sort of animal! Sophie, another young farmer, joined us for a fantastic afternoon. The weather was beautiful and we got to enjoy talking parrots of all kinds, baby reindeer, tortoise races, the meerkat town and Bengal tigers! The tigers were spectacular and we got to see the mother and her three cubs up close. We talked to the owner about the tigers and he told us that the zoo will be getting another bunch of tigers in the fall. The owner estimates that after they arrive he will be taking care of around 1% of the Bengal tiger population.
On Sunday we were off the the charity clay shoot for a day off grilling, shooting and socializing! The clay shoot was very successful despite some rain and a good time was had by all! I was honoured to receive a Lincolnshire 40th Anniversary shirt from the club and I will wear it with pride. We had a quick try at archery (practicing bear hunting) before we cleaning up/getting rained on and heading home for a relaxing evening off.
This was my last day in Lincolnshire before heading off to Wales for my second week of adventures. Every tends to use different lingo and phrases - Lincolnshire was no exception! I thought I would share a few of them with you, please excuse the spelling:
1. 'Over yonder' - over there
2. 'Yockon' - hook up to something (like a trailer)
3. 'Collarodeonend'- pick up the other side (to move an object)
The last is my personal favorite but was tough to figure out the meaning of, even in context.
Will drove me up to Wales on Monday and I caught a true glimpse of the weather here as it was 20c leaving Lincolnshire and pouring rain in Wales!
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