Ewe-lambs, Ram-Lambs, Ovines and Bovines! Animal Terms at Red Gate Farm

As you drive around the farmlands of western mass, you may see a field of cattle and you intuitively think: “A field of cows!”  But are they truly cows?  What’s the difference between cow and cattle or bull and ox for that matter?  Let’s look at animal terminology for our animals on our farm:

Bovine

Our oxen are Steers.

Bovine- a term used for cattle including domesticated cattle, bison, and buffalo. All Cows are cattle, but not all cattle are cows. Cattle is a term used for more than one bovine.  A Calf is a young bovine under 6-10 months of age. Heifers are young cattle not ready for breeding. Cows are mature female cattle. Bulls are male cattle for breeding, and steer are bulls that are neutered.

Ox- are cattle used for working on the farm. Oxen (plural for ox) like on our farm, are typically male steers because male cattle grow to be larger and more ideal for using to pull or move heavy items on the farm like wagons or logs. Cows can also be oxen and trained for work too.

Ovine

Our Ewe and her two lambs.

Ovine- a term used for sheep.  Lambkin is a newly born ovine.  Lamb is a young ovine under the age of 1 year old. Ewe-lamb are young female ovines.  Ewe- an adult female over the age of 1 year old. Ram-lamb are young male ovines. Ram are male ovines over 1 year old for breeding. Wether is a term for neutered ovine.

Caprine

Wallace and Gromit are wethers.

Caprine- is a term for goats. A Kid is a young caprine under the age of 1 year old. Doeling are female kids under the age of 1 year old. Doe is a female caprine. Buckling are male kids under the age of 1 year old. Buck is a male caprine for breeding. Wether is a term for neutered male caprine. 

Porcine

 Our Pigs (not yet mature swine).

Porcine- is a term relating to swine. Piglet is a porcine under the age of 14-21 days old and still nursing. Pig is a term for young swine not yet fully mature, and it also includes mature swine with an adult weight under 150 pounds.  A Hog is a term for mature swine with an adult weight over 150 pounds. Gilt are young adult female swine. Sow are adult swine for breeding. Boar is a term for adult male swine for breeding. Barrow is a term for young neutered male swine while male swine that were neutered after maturity are called stags.

Fowl

One of our Pullets.

Fowl is a term used for two biological orders of birds which are game/land fowl (Galliformes) and waterfowl (Anseriformes). Gamefowl or Landfowl is a term for domesticated chickens, turkey, pheasant, and quail. Waterfowl is a term used for domesticated ducks, geese, and swans. Poultry is a term relating to domesticated fowl which include all domesticated gamefowl, landfowl, and waterfowl raised for meat and eggs.

Chicken: A chick is a newly hatched or very young chicken before they develop feathers. Pullet is a term for young female chicken that has yet to lay eggs and is under 1 year old. Cockerel is a term for young male chicken under 1 year old. A Hen is an adult chicken 1 or more years old. Cock or Rooster is a term for adult male chicken 1 or more years old.

Duck: A duckling is a newly hatched or very young waterfowl before they develop feathers. Young Duck is a term for female waterfowl under 1 year old and Old Duck is a female 1 year or more old. Young Drake is a term for male waterfowl under 1 year of age and Old Drake is a male 1 year or more old. We have one Old Drake and One Old Hen at the farm.

Our two waterfowls: an Old Duck and Old Drake.

Just like scientists use specific terminology in their field of work, so do farmers and people who work with domesticated animals will use specific terms to describe the animals they work with. The more you work with domestic animals, the more these terms come into play of common use. Next time you see a field of cattle, hopefully you can see whether they are truly a field of cows or not!

Source: Livestock Conservancy. “Animal terms and their proper usage.” 2020, https://livestockconservancy.org/resources/animal-terms/. Accessed 8/17/2023.

Oh Hello Summer Garden

We’ve had a wet start to the summer… but with the first real rays of summer sun and temps up the 80s we’re ready to jump through sprinklers in swimsuits, lick dripping popsicles, and dunk our heads in the stream!

The garden is coming into its own this time of year, cranking out sweet summer berries, crisp carrots, and our first abundant bouquets of flowers. These first weeks of summer students help in the garden by planting seedlings, catching potato bugs and cabbage moths, and harvesting arm loads of garlic scapes.

We love to play in the garden too! Kids love using mortars and pestles to squish flowers and leaves into garden “ink”. We’ve seen some truly stunning creations this year made from not much more than pansies!

Spring School Programs 2023

Can you believe it, the school year is already over! We were delighted to have so many hardworking, fun loving students on the farm this Spring. We worked on bog bridges, mucked so much manure, watched lambs be born, and planted out the garden. Thank you to all our wonderful school partners!

Spring at Red Gate

By Elizabeth Rennert

CROCUSES BLOOM IN A MUDDY SPRING GARDEN

Spring has sprung on the farm, and new life is bursting forth in all directions. The winter snow is melting away, revealing the green grass and brown soil below. Colorful buds are shooting up, indicating the abundant growth beneath the ground. A walk through the garden reveals snow drops, and crocuses, and the first daffodil buds as well as empty-looking beds soon to be filled with vegetables, flowers, and herbs.

One of the most exciting signs of spring on the farm is the arrival of new lambs. The barn is a flurry of activity as the ewes give birth to their adorable, fuzzy little babies. The lambs are born wobbly and unsteady on their feet, but they quickly gain their footing and begin nursing. The barn is filled with the sounds of bleating lambs, exploring their new world, and getting to know each other.

oNE OF THE FIRST LAMBS BORN IN 2023

The arrival of school programs brings a certain liveliness to the farm as kids explore the new program building, and experience the first overnight winter programming. Students snowshoe out to check on the maple tree taps, shovel paths through the remaining snow, and watch with hushed anticipation as a ewe gives birth.

sTUDENTS HELP REPAIR AND SORT GARDEN SIGNS

Spring on the farm is a time of growth, when the world is filled with new beginnings and endless possibilities. The arrival of new life, from the lambs in the barn to the crocuses in the field, fills us with admiration for the joys of nature and the beauty of the world around us.

students plant carrot seeds in the garden

Being a Counselor at Red Gate Farm

We are delighted to share an interview with Elizabeth Rennert, one of our amazing counselors from summer 2022!

1. What made you want to be a counselor at Red Gate Farm? 

I’ve always loved working with children and being outside, and this seemed like a perfect way to combine them. I had some farm experience prior to this summer, but I was excited to learn more!

2. What's a favorite memory you have from this summer?

One of my favorite memories came during the “Cone Hunt” portion of Farm Olympics. Each team was tasked with finding as many small soccer cones as possible, hidden all across the farm. When the hunt was first announced, my team huddled up, consulted our very detailed map, and made an elaborate plan to cover the whole farm. We split up into pairs and sent one pair into the woods, another into the garden, and the third up to the sheep and chicken pastures. As soon as the hunt began, the teams ran off in search of the coveted cones. I headed to the garden with two campers and we searched high and low, peering behind plants and poking into the garden shed. We went up and down each row, shouting “I got a five!” and “I found a 15!” as we discovered the cones. We were sure we had gotten all of them in the garden, and were ready to move onto the cabin circle, when Jake walked by and laughed, saying “There’s at least one more!” After about another five minutes of meticulous searching, turning over individual leaves, we finally took a step back and found the last cone, balanced perfectly on top of the scarecrow’s head! 

Another favorite memory came during the very first day of day camp. My campers and I were exploring the stream, and playing around in the mud. One camper stepped into a shallow-looking puddle that unbeknownst to us was actually quick-mud (a combination of quicksand and mud)! He quickly stepped out, however, both his shoes stayed stuck! I quickly started digging around, but it seemed as though the shoes had found another dimension. The rest of my campers grabbed sticks and started trying to scoop out mud, while I continued to feel around, hoping to brush against rubber, rather than just rocks. After about ten minutes of searching the shoes were recovered, and my camper went home with the same shoes he came to the farm with!

3. What is it like doing farmwork with kids? 

It takes a bit longer, but also is much more rewarding and often more exciting. I was helping two five-year-old campers complete an “Epic Wheelbarrow Journey” by moving five wheelbarrows full of hay from the Big Red Barn to the garden. These campers were determined to complete the journey and were not daunted by the difficulty of the task. As we began our journey, the first trip there and back went by relatively easily, with one camper steering and the other guiding. However, when you’re pushing loads of hay that weigh as much as you do, your body can tire out pretty quickly, and we hit that hurdle at the beginning of round two. To combat this, I created a mental map of sorts that plotted out our course. But rather than just calling our obstacles by their traditional names, we came up with fun names, like “The Compost Pile of Stinkiness” and “The Picnic Tables of Doom”! My campers even dubbed the duck pen, “The Ducks of *Panting Noises*” and acted out Elvis and Daughter each time we passed by. This added some much-needed energy to our journeys, however by the third round, my campers were beginning to tire again. That’s when we added a speed stretching break, where between trips we would each take turns leading a 10-second “stretch”. Stretch is a loose term since they ranged from touching your toes, to spinning in a circle, to lying flat on the ground and making a funny face. These stretches, and the names of our obstacles, added quite a bit of energy to what could have been a monotonous, or even frustrating, task. Working with kids allowed me to experience farm work through new eyes and appreciate the innate joy of everyday tasks. 

4. What did you learn or discover this summer? 

This discovery might have occurred in the fall, but it was definitely due to my summer at Red Gate. Prior to this summer, I was confident in my plan for the future; I would be a high school math teacher. This has been my dream for years, and I’m even studying education in college. During the summer, I had the opportunity to spend all day outside, doing work, eating meals, exploring the forest, and even relaxing under a shady tree. I’ve always enjoyed spending time in nature but going back to school in the fall, and sitting in lecture halls for hours each day, I realized how much I truly love being outside. While education is still a huge passion of mine, I’m now exploring outdoor education since this summer helped me realize how important being outdoors is to me. 

5. What are you looking forward to most next summer?

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again and meeting all the new campers! 

First Snow

The days before the first snow at the farm are full of activity. The staff scrambles around the farm tucking away tools, winterizing machinery, and stacking firewood. The animals need to be moved to their winter homes, old barn windows need to be sealed, the last leaves need raking, and every last hose needs to be located and drained and wound up and put away and we rush to get it all finished before dark! And then everything is done. The first flakes of the season fell last night. They were welcomed by a farm ready for a winter’s rest.

I arrived early this morning to a peaceful, snowy farm. Jack and Thor the oxen are in their winter quarters. They don’t seem to mind the snow. They are much more interested in who will bring them breakfast and just how soon it will arrive. The sheep are in the next barn over. They have all spent the night inside and their fleecy bodies have made the barn toasty. The majority of our ewes are pregnant and the barn will be full of bouncing baaing lambs come March. But for now, the sheep barn is still and quiet.

The Garden seems quiet too, but beneath this first sprinkling of snow a few crops still think it is summer. When I peak under a plastic tunnel, I find lettuce still lush and ready for harvest.  If I wanted to, I could dig down in the soil and find carrots sweetened by the cold (I do not want to, it is too early in the morning to eat carrots). These and other hardy vegetables I expected to find still thriving in the garden. But I am surprised and delighted to also discover some cheerful pansy faces in new winter caps, undaunted by the cold.

The promise of new growth is hidden everywhere in the garden right now: buds have already formed on blueberry branches, garlic bulbs beneath a layer of straw are sending tiny roots down into the soil, and sturdy, smooth raspberry canes promise heavy yields in the coming year.

The path to the pond tells a story in footprints of animals exploring in the night. One of the farm cats took a stroll across our new bridge to the pond. A bird took off from the ground here, someone was digging with little paws there. The pond is a beautiful mirror of the gray sky and leafless branches. The stream that runs from the pond into the forest is low, exposing rich green mossy rocks.

I could follow the path into the forest, up the hill and down the road, all the way around to our sugar bush. The sugar maples there have feasted all summer long on  sunlight and now they are fat with sugar. They are waiting for the bright and chilly days of February and March to send that sugar running up to their crowns. I am waiting too, sugaring season is one of my very favorite times of year.

As I make my way back towards the farm, I look up and find our new program buildings framed by the opening in the trees. They are nearly complete, the last details coming together just in time for this first snow.

For now, these buildings are empty. Unscuffed, flawless and bare but full of awesome potential. In the spring, they will be filled with children. Bunkbeds with blankets thrown back, boots and jackets dripping in the mudroom, a kitchen bursting with dishes and snacks and joy! We have never had heated sleeping facilities before at the farm, our programs had to end when the warm weather did. Next year, for the first time in Red Gate’s history, school groups will be here to help lambs be born, to tap maple trees and boil syrup, to witness the blueberry buds burst into flower and the first green shoots erupt from the soil.

It is a quiet, snowy day at the farm. But I feel and see nascent potential all around. The animals, the garden, the forest, and the new program building and dormitory are all whispering about the year to come. A year full of growth, and discovery, and hard work, and fun.

It's a Spooky Farm!

Something strange is happening on the farm…The sheep are glowing with a strange green light. The chickens are going somewhat translucent in the light of a too bright moon. The ducks have dawned high collared capes and grown inch-long incisors! It can only mean one thing! It’s Halloween on the Farm!

We hope you made it out to the farm on this spookiest of nights! We had games for all ages, a blazing campfire, and a several brawny volunteers churning away at an old-fashioned cider press all evening long. We were delighted by the parade of fabulous costumes that made its way through the farm. Some of my favorite moments include watching a knight in shinning armor go bowling, discussing with the grim reaper whether or not his scythe might make a good hockey stick, and taking a picture with more or less the entire cast of Harry Potter! There was also a young sheep so convincing Farmer Ben felt compelled to double check our flock was fully accounted for.

Thank you to the awesome volunteers who came out to help! Thank you to Clark Brothers Orchards for the use of the cider press and the apples. Thank you to Atherton Farm for helping us out with the pumpkins!

Happy Halloween!!

Getting Ready for the Fall

Fall is here and with it is the cooler air! At Red Gate Farm wood is the sole source of heat which means we have lots and lots of wood to chop. We use wood for two important sources: to heat the farmhouse and program buildings; and for maple sugaring! We use chunky, split logs of firewood in our furnace. For maple sugaring, we need thin, flat pieces of slab wood to feed into our evaporator. All summer we have splitting and stacking wood to prepare for winter. In total we need over 60 pallets of firewood and about 30 pallets of slab wood to get us through the cold season - that’s a lot of wood!

Split firewood ready to be stacked and dried. We’ll use this wood in our furnace to heat the farmhouse and program building.

Pallets of stacked slab wood we’ll use this Spring in our evaporator to make maple syrup. The relatively small, thin pieces help us keep the fire at an even temperature and the sap boiling steadily.

We’ve already stacked quite a few pallets of slab wood for our sugaring season.

A small sea of slab wood is all that’s left to stack and should get us what we need for the sugaring season!

That’s a Wrap! 2022 Summer Season Comes to End

Over the past 7-weeks the farm welcomed over 115 kids to the farm. It was a fantastic summer and we are so proud of the hard work these children accomplished.

Together we took care of the sheep, weighing the lambs weekly, and herding the flock a countless number of times. Each time took a bit of problem solving, teamwork, and communication. We also took our oxen, Jack and Thor for walks daily, keeping them on a steady training routine. And who could forget our goats, Wallace and Gromit! They too enjoyed many walks this summer, albeit they need more training than the oxen. The most popular animals this summer, however, were the chickens. At almost every hour of the day you could see a camper in the chicken coop, holding one of our feathery friends.

Our forest crews did some much needed trail work in the woods, making our paths easier to use. This included new signs along the trail, and lots and lots of brush clearing, and bridge construction too!

The true star of the summer was the garden. Jam packed with color and delicious treats, there was always something to do or eat in the garden. Campers helped plant, harvest, and process produce for meals, construct trellises and make repairs to the garden shed, and identify and collect invasive insects. Campers also made creative snack platters of cucumber, carrots, and berries. We used herbs and flowers to make prints, dye napkins, and useful salves and balms. Students also helped harvest and clean over 100 pounds of fresh produce to donate to our local food pantry!

Summer on the farm is not just about farmwork. We work hard, and we play hard too! Scavenger hunts, fort making in the woods, volleyball catches in the yard, werewolf at night, capture the flag, board games at the picnic tables. The list goes on! There’s so much that happens during a Summer at Red Gate. We can’t wait to do it all again.

Summer 2022: Day Camp Fun!

Day camp 2022 was just fabulous. Our awesome campers did excellent work all over the farm. They helped the animals by walking the goats, training the oxen, and mucking out stalls. In the garden, campers earned their wheelbarrow licenses by hauling barrels of compost into the garden, harvested produce for meals, and hunted for invasive cabbage moths. The forest crews helped us manage our sugar bush and cleared out invasive multiflora rose! After all that hard work we played in sprinklers, built wooden robots, and dyed cloth with garden flowers! We love our farm families so much, we already can’t wait for next year. Here’s a round up of some of our favorite photos from our day camp!

Growing up on the Farm

We recently sat down with Manfred and Christina Gabriel and their son Allen to talk about the farm’s past and future. The Gabriels were one of the first families to attend Red Gate Farm’s programs twenty years ago.

What made you sign up Allen and his brother, Theo, for the farm programs, when they were kids?

Christina: I didn’t really know what kind of experience our sons were going to have when I brought them to the activities at the farm. But Ben and his staff always created such a feeling of openness, with constant invitations and offerings growing each year as the boys were growing: walks in the woods at night to see owls and spotted salamanders, celebrations of spring with frogs’ eggs and baby chicks, Halloween fun, sledding, and a big bonfire in winter. There were also Film Camp and Youth Corps, homeschooling days and the annual harvest suppers and picnics… All with the spirit of: have fun, work hard, explore, learn, repeat.

Manfred: Christina and Ben created some of the first farm programs, together. Christina would take the boys over to the farm and Ben would be like, “Okay, let’s go feed the chickens!” Allen can tell more about what it was actually like, but it was wonderful for us. And then we were homeschooling for a while, for a few years, and Chrstina and Ben together thought they could do a one-day-a-week homeschooling program on the farm. And that went on for several years, and it was wonderful. And the boys just came to regard the farm as an extension of their home. They felt just as home on the farm as they did on our land.

Allen, what are your earliest memories of being on the farm?

Allen: I remember being with my brother lugging the chicken water to the chicken coop from the spigot—which is not a long distance—but I remember putting in a lot of effort to just cross that little distance. I remember it being really hard, but feeling proud. I have a lot more memories of my homeschool days. That’s where I formed and strengthened some life-long relationships, and that was the time when I really fell in love with exploring nature and the outdoors. I learned so many things that I still actually apply—and now as a camp counselor, we go hiking in the same woods that I did as a kid.

For the complete interview click here

Dahlia Giveaway

Last weekend we hauled our hoard of Dahlia tubers up out of the basement to wash and inspect. They are looking good! We have more than enough tubers for our front and main gardens. In fact, we have so many we need to find happy homes for our extras. Below are images of most of our Dahlia varieties. Varieties we have an abundance of are labeled giveaway. We don’t necessarily have extras of our other varieties—but you never know, we might be up for a trade! If you’re interested, send an email to sydney@redgatefarm.org. Unfortunately, we can’t mail any tubers.

"Spiky Pink"

"Creamsicle" Giveaway!

Purple Giveaway!

Red Giveaway!

"Hamilton Lillian"

Single Red and Yellow Giveaway!

Single Magenta

Single Spiky Pink

Single Pale Pink Giveaway!

Single Peachy Pink

Single Red Giveaway!

Single Rose Pink

"Golden Treasure"

"Center Court"

This Week on the Farm 4/8/2022

Things are starting to get busy on the farm! This week we took down all the sap lines from the sugaring season, moved and stacked hay, got a goat’s head unstuck from a bucket, started seeds and stepped up seedlings into larger containers, prepared to put up a greenhouse in the garden, and weeded our asparagus and rhubarb beds (and this isn’t even an exhaustive list). Go team!

Taking down sap lines

Moving and stacking hay

Silly goats...

Stepping up eggplant seedlings into larger pots

Getting ready to build the greenhouse

Morning Chores

Farm Manager Aiden takes care of the animals every morning! He makes sure they have clean water, plenty of food, and anything else they need (for example, the lambs have to be told how cute they are). Follow along as he drives the tractor, scoops grain, and visits each animal on this lovely Spring day!

Music: https://scottholmesmusic.com/ Scott Holmes Music Sensual Folk

A visit from Congressman Jim McGovern and Representative Natalie Blais

We were excited this last weekend to show Congressman Jim McGovern and Representative Natalie Blais around the farm! We visited the animals and hiked down to the construction site to check out the new program building and dorms (more on the construction here, if you’re interested).

Spring Photos with Jody

Jody Hopp, our amazing program manager, has been taking some beautiful pictures around the farm lately. She’s noticed the farm cats venturing outside more frequently as temperatures warm. The lambs are being born and snuggling up with their moms. The first snow drops are blooming and the willow buds are opening up!

Sap to Maple Syrup

We’ve been collecting sap and boiling away for the last few weeks. Here’s a quick look at how we collect sap and turn it into delicious syrup!

First Lamb of the Year!

We welcomed the first lamb of the season on 2/22/2022! She came a week earlier than expected, but she’s healthy and happy and already frolicking around the barn. Mom is also doing great! Her name? Tuesday!

Is that a smile?

Weighing the lamb! We use an old pair of Carhartts for the sling.

Right after Tuesday was born. Mom still wasn’t shorn!

February Break 2022

It’s been a great week! Thanks to everyone who joined us for February Vacation this year! Here’s a little peak at some of the fun we had.

Families on the Farm

We started the Families on the Farm program in October of 2020, six grueling months into the pandemic. We wanted to have kids back on the farm, we wanted to connect to our community, we wanted everyone to feel safe. We decided we’d run a small, simple program where families would be invited to help a staff member do chores. We’d limit the program to one to two families at a time, and we’d ask parents to accompany their children in case they needed help. We would all be masked, we would stay socially distant. 

I remember running Families on the Farm back then–the whole thing was very fun, very funny. How do you explain a quick release hose from six feet away? Or help carry a bale of hay? Or herd sheep? With a lot of detailed instructions, patience, and laughter. Parents stepped up to help when needed, but also spent a good amount of time blown away watching their kids lug full-sized bales of hay up hills, muck stalls, and scrub water dishes (“she’d never do that at home…” one mom whispered to me). 

Just over a year later, we’re still running Families on the Farm. We’ve eased up on the masking and social distancing, but we’ve decided to keep many other elements the same. We love the small, intimate nature of this program. It’s  a great way for us to get to know families. Jody Hopp runs the Families on the Farm now. She appreciates the one-on-one time with the families.

“It’s sweet and the interactions between kids and parents as they work together feel really meaningful. I think parents are surprised by the care and attentiveness their kids show while working with the animals–especially the larger ones!”

— Jody Hopp, RGF Program Director

Interested in coming out to help with chores? We’d love to see you! You can find out more about Families on the Farm on our program page.