avocadishUnexpected guests and free fertiliser
November 27, 2024
This past summer, we were host to a few bouts of unexpected visitors.
The first time it happened I froze. I love cows, I find them to be curious and friendly, and want little more than to munch a beetroot or a stroke on the nose - but they are very big and I am quite small. They are very easily spooked too, so the small action of me pulling the curtain back had one jump, causing them all to scatter. We were mostly worried about the solar panels and the garden, but the most they did was trample the rhubarb and chard a little, and honestly about three weeks after this they looked much better than they had prior to the trampling.
It’s not every day, or even most days that you look out your window and see a cow sniffing your watering can, or nuzzling your violas. They’re out for a dander, bored of their own field especially if they’ve been put there to eat the edges - they want some enrichment and it’s beautiful to watch. A sense of freedom and innocence where the world slows and you watch a cow watching a ladybird, before you jump up, remembering you have to sprint down the lane to make sure the gate is closed so they don’t run onto the road, and phone around to see from whom they’ve escaped.
Each time we get some free fertiliser and even freer cardio, building a little rapport with those around us while we help walk them back to where they live, and it gives us funny stories to tell our city friends, while opening a dialogue about animal captivity.