Most of us are far removed from the farm and little nuances of life tied to the land frequently escape and astound us when we learn of them.  In the second year I lived in Italy, it came as a revelation to me that in order for a sheep, or any animal, to give milk, it has to have a baby every year.   Tuscany is a big producer of pecorino, or sheep's milk cheese, and I learned the facts of natural cheese making when my friend, Silvana, closed her dairy in the late autumn. She explained to me, as if I was a small child, that in late summer a ram is put in with the sheep to impregnate them; once the ram's job is done, he's put back out to pasture until the next year.
When a Tuscan is up to his ears in work he says...click here to jump to blog.