Leweasyanna

So what do farmers do when they get away from the farm?  They visit other farms.  My family recently visited the great state of Louisiana and when we were there I was able to see a different type of farm.

The farm we visited raised rice and some soybeans.  I was surprised to find out that they also raise crawfish.  After they harvest rice they choose between getting a second cutting of rice or "seeding" their fields with small crawfish they called peelers.  Either way they flood the field again and wait for their crops or fish to grow.  

In late winter/early spring when the water starts to warm up the crawfish come up from the mud and start looking for food.  That's when the crawfish traps are baited and setup.  Everyday during the crawfish season a boat goes out into the water and checks each of the traps.  The boats use a little wheel that is powered by hydraulics to push the boat around the field to pick up the fish.

One of the first things that we ate when we made it to Louisiana was crawfish.  We bought about 14 pounds of of them from a crawfish shack off the highway (owned by the farmer we visited).  Once we got it home we poured all of them out on the table and started to dig in.  Eating crawfish is kind of an art and you have to learn how to get to the meat.  You pop the top half off and peel the bottom half off.  Being from the Midwest the closest thing I can relate this to is eating chicken wings or BBQ ribs.  I don't know what it is about food like this but why is it all spicy?

-Agrotourist Ryan

P.S. - After being in Louisiana for a week I say "y'all" a lot more.  I'm pretty sure after a year of living there I would have an accent.