A Hundred Sheep and a Hundred Onions

Since my last trip to Okfuskee Farm over a year ago, Bobby Tucker has acquired access to 150 acres of land. This has allowed him to expand his sheep operation from a few dozen to well over a hundred, as well as add four steers. Fun fact: these cattle tossed a bunch of grass onto their backs. We wondered if it was to help them get rid of flies, but the internet is failing to immediately verify that for me, so maybe they were just making themselves ghillie suits to get that +2 stealth bonus. It’s impossible to say.

Left: A veritable stampede. Right: If you look closely, you’ll see grass on the backs of the middle and left steer.

Their lush, photogenic home is ideal for their health and they actually move with joy, as strange as that is to say. Because Bobby moves them frequently between paddocks around the property, they have learned to come to the sound of his voice because they know they’re going to get fresh grass. I kid you not — one of the steers was cantering. The cattle walked so close I could almost touch them, which is scarier than it sounds when there is no fence between the four of them and the one of me.

Right: Cantering cattle. Say that five times fast.

In addition to moving the animals, water supply, and mineral licks, we put in some temporary fence. The goal is to make all paddocks with permanent fencing so pasture rotation is a breeze, but construction takes time so lightweight electric wire gets them by for now, with just a bit of legwork.

Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go.

Harvesting onions came next. I didn’t know onions grew so far out of the ground. It made them a lot easier to pull out than I expected, although they occasionally required a decent tug. Pulling wide spherical objects for so long gave my forearms a unique workout. After removing them from the ground we placed them on wire shelving with a fan by it to maximize airflow for drying, a process which will take a few weeks. The blanket in the middle picture below is to prevent them from getting sprayed by the nearby irrigation system.

Afterwards, Bobby sent my friend and I to harvest blueberries, but what he didn’t tell us were that the berries were for us to keep! Nothing can come close to the sweetness of freshly picked berries. We each took a couple of pints back, feeling like bandits after Bobby’s generosity. Picking them was surprisingly time-consuming, since they can only be grabbed a few at a time at most if you want to avoid the ones still ripening.

The 90 degree air with nearly 100% humidity left me so drenched in sweat that my skin and eyes became irritated raw, which was a first. Drinking 80 ounces of water before noon wasn’t enough to stave off the post-heat headache that lasted the rest of the day, either. My friend, clearly much tougher than I, seemed unfazed, making only one nonchalant remark: “It’s warm.” Warm?!

Much character was built that day. I hope to be back soon.

Seen above Okfuskee’s outdoor walk-in fridge.