Behind the Scenes

On farms there are always jobs that are clearly visible from the outside and sometimes attract a bit of attention. Like the alpine pasture drive of the cows, horses or heifers in recent weeks, or the haymaking in the meadows. But sometimes it’s the small tasks that fill farm life and are only noticed when they aren’t done :-) And it’s exactly these I want to tell you about today!

There are jobs that must be done all year round to maintain the quality of life for animals and people. This includes the barns, which farmers thoroughly clean during the summer months, since most of the animals are on the alpine pasture or in the meadow at that time. The barn is pre-washed and then cleaned properly with the pressure washer, and afterwards everything is “whitewashed out” so that the animals move into a clean barn when they return in autumn.

A special task is the twice-yearly cleaning in the children’s barn: paints collected from the painter, after the cleaning work it’s time to get to work repainting everything that has lost its color.

In everyday life the children’s barn is swept, the pens are mucked out daily, and if there’s a bit of disorder anywhere, it’s tidied up. But there are also special cleaning days in the children’s barn. When the cleaning buckets, rags and feather dusters are brought to the goats, sheep and pigs, then on Friday it’s: Ready, set, CLEAN! The wall tiles all around are wiped down with a damp cloth, all surfaces are dusted, the animal descriptions are dusted and the ceiling is freed from our eight-legged friends. So if someone comes into the children’s barn and sees an intern or the farmer climbing around on the walls between the barns swinging a broom, there’s no need to worry! They haven’t turned into witches, they’re just cleaning the ceiling ;).

Besides these ongoing jobs, you’ll also find seasonal tasks on the farm. The farmers clean out the water ditches and have them dredged so that there’s no threat of flooding when there’s heavy rain. The wood is chopped for winter and brought to the farm in dry weather. And Grandpa on the alpine pasture, alongside all the work with the animals, always takes care of chopping the wood so the stove can be fired up.

In summer I as the farmer’s wife am only to be found in the house in the mornings; in the afternoons the work usually takes place outdoors and helps me let my soul unwind. At the moment we have to constantly weed our plants, flowers and crops and are already in the middle of harvesting the blossoms, nettle seeds and bird’s-foot trefoil seeds to dry them for our herbal teas and hay pillows. But berries also grow here and we’re already looking forward to making fresh jams and juices from them.

Life on the farm consists of a great deal of work and new things keep coming up, but it’s still important that every farm resident also treats themselves to a little break now and then. Whether it’s a little afternoon nap in the sun, a cup of coffee by the fish pond, time with the children, sleeping in a bit longer or a little walk. But that’s recommended not only for farm life, but for everyone, even if it’s only fifteen minutes! If only it were always that simple :-) A lovely time to all my farm story readers!

Your farm lady Katharina from Zittrauerhof