Rural life presentation

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plowing
plowing
An illustration from the Lutrell Psalter (14th c.) shows a man plowing with a heavy plow (one with a coulter and moulderboard), drawn by teams of Oxen (Gies Daily 127). The coulter and moulderboard made it possible to plow heavy soils. Previously, the farmer would have to plow each field twice, once straight and once at right angles, in order to turn the soil over.
Fields at the Weald & Downland Museum
Fields at the Weald & Downland Museum
These fields at the Weald & Downland museum show how medieval fields were very long and narrow. The heavy plow harnessed to a team of Oxen was very cumbersome to turn around. Long narrow fields minimized the need to turn the plowing team.
thresher
thresher
Illustration of a man threshing corn from a calendar illustration for August. c. 1250-75 (Gies Daily 148). Notice the tied sheafs of grain waiting to be threshed.
Coppiced tree
Coppiced tree
These green shoots are coming up in a ring around the outside of a coppiced tree stump. All the woven wattle fences and walls would have come from coppiced or pollarded trees. These thin shoots would also have been desireable for the kitchen's firewood. Coppiced trees produce much more wood than clear cutting and replanting. It also lengthens the life of the tree. (The Great Oak in Sherwood forest was once a pollarded tree. it is around a thousand years old.
View of the stump
View of the stump
Holding aside the green shoots, you can see the stump from the coppiced tree. These shoots can be harvested in a few years for firewood, or wattle. If they are left, they can be harvested as larger pieces of wood. Forests in England were intensely managed. Rights to collect firewood, nuts, and to hunt were all carefully enforced according to the custom of each area.
Stack for making charcoal
Stack for making charcoal
Charcoal burns hotter, more evenly and with less smoke than burning wood. People known as charcoal burners made charcoal by the following process. First they stacked cut wood into a triangle.
charcoal 2
charcoal 2
Then they stacked taller wood against it.
charcoal 3
charcoal 3
When the mound of wood is big enough, they stack wood over the top to form a roof.
charcoal 4
charcoal 4
The wood is covered over first with wet leaves and grass, then with soil. Airholes are poked into it and a fire is shoved down the central hole to catch the wood inside on fire. Then the top hole is plugged and the wood is left to slowly char over several days.