Press the play button. Nothing announces "Farm" as well as a crowing rooster.
These "crosses" could be found at the "crossroads" of towns, indicating where stillborn babies and those who died under one year of age had been buried. Statistics reveal that almost 30% of babies died before reaching 5 years of age.
This is a "sarrasin" plant - buckwheat. Today, we can find buckwheat "galettes" filled with various fillings, mostly in northern France. Bretons claim to have the best recipes.
Animals found on the farms of those days, including curious little goats.
Cows and bulls.
Sheep, both white and brown.
This garden had samples of all the plants cultivated during the Middle Ages. Many of them had medicinal uses for snake bites, digestive problems, coughs, and other ailments.
The "garden shed" filled with sisal baskets.
In addition to the garden plot, there were shrubs with various berries, and fruit-bearing trees.
Press the play button to watch video.
With all this bounty, the farmers would make wine then take their produce and go to villages further afield to trade for other goods. Trading would take place all along the Dordogne and as far away as northern Spain, following the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela.
A stable for horses and bovines.
Fowl: ducks, geese
"Lavoir" where women would come to wash the clothes, and men would bring their animals to drink from the troughs.
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| Drinking gourd |
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| Washboard |
Rocks around the "lavoir" where clothes were "beaten" to cleanliness.
A dipper for anyone to use as needed when thirsty.
A storage shed for straw and grain.
This village had various houses on display, one typical of a peasant farmer, another for the land-owner, and one for the local priest.
After seeing these beds, I'll never complain about a lumpy bed again!
Bee hives.
Babies had it rough in those days and would sometimes be found frozen in their cribs during particularly harsh winters. Parents were told not to keep the baby with them in bed for fear that the adults might roll over and smother the baby. During the day, they would be packed with moss (used as a diaper) then swaddled and hung out of harm's way so that "maman" could go about her business. If the mother worked in the fields, the baby would be slung on her back.
Spinning and weaving.
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| A symbol of France |
Plow
Smoked meat getting them through the winter.
Separating the wheat from the chaff, then storing the grain in big baskets. Always a cat on hand to ensure the rodents wouldn't eat the grain.
This pig looks like the ancestor to the "sanglier", wild boar.
The little local chapel.
Skulls of the dearly departed...
The life expectancy for women was 43, and 48 for men.
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| Cemetery |
Wheelbarrow and the farmer's wife's only "other dress" hanging to dry on laundry day, as well as her husband's shirt.
Press on the play button.
Bringing in the crops and the fruit of their labours.
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Loved this! I often watch an historical re-creation series on BBC, currently airing the Edwardian Farm. I love the picture of the cat. Noffie, my huge, black cat, was a great hunter and would have been at home here. Margi
ReplyDeleteI watch that Edwardian series too, which made our visit to the medieval farm that much more interesting. I do believe that the picture of the black cat is your reincarnated Noffie!
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