Canesister's 2025 journal - Bushel & Peck Farm

drstratton

Herd Master
Golden Herd Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
1,119
Reaction score
4,722
Points
343
Location
Eastern WA - USA
Had a GREAT weekend so far.
@fuzzi came Friday afternoon. The cats were very welcoming! 😂 And we had fun chatting & making a delicious dinner.
Up early Sat to pick up my friend Carmen & head to the swap.
We met up with @farmerjan & @Mini Horses . A bit of breakfast, a lot of walking, a little shopping & lunch in the feed shed on stacks of feed bags.
Thank goodness that we were in my small car..... there was a mammoth donkey colt there that was in desperate need of a rescue home. He looked like he had had a rough start 😢
Poultry of ALL KINDS, pigs, sheep, goats, & many many many other critters of every shape & size.
I came home with a bag of paw-paw seeds & 2 new roosters.

View attachment 121363
View attachment 121364
Sounds like a lovely day!
What a great picture! I just don't know which name belongs to each of you. 💗
 

canesisters

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Messages
2,130
Reaction score
10,128
Points
533
Location
South Eastern VA
The one & only downside to the Gilmanor swap........ 1000's of people & port-o-pottys

Screenshot_20250920_205746_Facebook.jpg
 

Mini Horses

Herd Master
Joined
Sep 4, 2015
Messages
12,410
Reaction score
42,719
Points
768
Location
S coastal VA
I stop at a clean truck stop about 40 miles before the swap location, on drive there -- avoiding the porta-pots. But the number of people & vendors is getting overwhelming. In just the couple yrs I've gone (2x a yr) the increasing numbers are staggering. If you're actually there for a specific, hopefully purchase -- 😁 good luck!!
 

farmerjan

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 16, 2016
Messages
12,622
Reaction score
51,758
Points
768
Location
Shenandoah Valley Virginia
I agree with all the girls... It is getting just TOO BIG. There were more chickens, turkeys, guineas, ducks, geese, "poultry" there than last year... of course in the spring there are tons more baby chicks etc...
BUT it is overwhelming... A 2 day event would make it more doable... and we walked alot and were "bushed" after a few hours... No way to see everything, look at all the booths, unless you are so terribly methodical and (in my case) at least 20 years younger and used to doing marathons... Plus the feeling so winded from this "cold bug" or whatever I had...
But there were also several new vendors... and I am NOT trying to "peg" any religion or faction... but more Amish/Mennonites and they brought TONS of chickens/poultry.... and one thing that concerns me is that there is a greater possibility of diseases when there are that many birds in such "big" flocks... not the smaller individual "breeders", people that are more local......
One of the reasons I bought the 2 guinea hens from the guy... he had like 20 there, a couple pens of chickens... NOT a huge amount... and they looked clean and well cared for...
Maybe that is partly why I didn't buy the big black langshans, they were in a crowded pen, a little rough looking... didn't need to bring home a problem... although they were in a smaller "booth" .... but.....
Lots of "flea market" type stuff too... Didn't used to be all that much stuff...

Oh well, it makes the farm owner A LOT of money..... Between the booth costs for each vendor, and the $5 parking fee for each car... That's just the one event and he does several there... Sure is a whole boatload more money than he made just farming...
 
Top