Showbags

Katelyn and I have just spent the better part of four days of babysitting our pigs (Tinkerbell, Wendy and Peterpan) at the 'Life on the Farm' display pavilion at the Royal Hobart Show.

It was an interesting experience with highs - like watching little kids 'ooh' and 'ahh' over the pigs, and talking to various older people about their childhood recollections of the Saddlebacks, and lows - like losing my 4 year old son for 15 minutes in the crowd (it felt like 15 hours!).

L , Peter Pan and Wendy at the Show

It was a great opportunity to meet new people and try new things - I broke my rule of 'No Meat off the Farm' and tried a Porteus Beef Burger, created and cooked by Stuart Smith. He was able to tell me where the cow had been raised (his father-in law's property), it's weight, breed etc, plus where he sourced the honey and tomatoes locally for inclusion in the burger itself, as well as his homemade sauces (the zucchini relish was delish!).

How could I not support a local making a 100% Tasmanian product! - it was mighty tasty - I ended up coming home with a box of the burgers to share with family during the course of the challenge - if they last that long!

Our Plymouth Rock Rooster - Best of Breed

We also took 4 Plymouth Rocks to compete in the Poultry section - our birds came 1st and 2nd in their classes - though I must admit they were the only Plymouth Rocks there!

I've found the experienced Poultry Persons to be most helpful and willing to share ideas and advice on how to improve our birds - I've come home with contact details of other PR breeders we may be able to get stock from to improve our lines. Katelyn also purchased a new Rhode Island Red rooster - he's beautiful, but I'm not sure how many roosters we can sustain, and at $50 he will be a very expensive roast chicken if he's surplus to requirements!

It's been a busy few days - I'd never have guessed minding the pigs and floating about the show would be so knackering! Looking forward to some home time so I can sit and reflect on what I've learned and want to gather more information on - about dairy and meat goats, beef cows, bee-keeping, the RSPCA certification program, value-adding to your product, and the possibility of starting a competitive pig class at next years event.

J & L - Can we go home now, Can we get a showbag? Can we go on another ride? This is BORING!!!! I love the show - can we come back tomorrow????