We hopped in an Uber and rode to the town of Rabat. Here we visited the Tax-Xierfa museum of Agriculture. It had only been open a few months and when we were there we were the only visitors. We were greeted by Fiona the donkey. She is retired now and was hanging out in front living her best life. The ticket taker was the daughter of the man who put the entire museum together. He collected the items on display, dug out the foundation and built the building! Amazing work. He really knows his stuff as he has been a farmer all his live. There was an audio-visual presentation that showed him working the fields and the whole family operating some of the displays. a little gem of a museum and well worth out time.
Passing the walled city of Mdina
Quite nice
Another city on the adjacent hill
An impressive arch
Hi, Fiona
An unimposing entrance
Pops operating one of the pumps
They has their fresh produce for sale
Yes we bought some!
A much bigger pump system
Buckets connected to ear other
Extra buckets
The water flowed in the rock gutter and was delivered to various locations including downstairs
Gorgeous gourd
Onions hanging
Another well but this one had a bucket and pully system
Wooden pully
An iron gear
The farmer in his field
Dressed up for the video shoot
Wine cellar
A device to keep the oxygen out but to let the CO2 out
Notice how the walls are rough hewn out of the native rock
The entire downstairs was one large room with alcoves cut out of the rock on the sides
Woodworking tools
Tilling the soil
Weights and measures
A medieval looking device, perhaps pulled behind a mule to break up the soil
Old time plows
A simple grave
What a crock pot
Bikes were high tech back in the day
These mallets have seen better days. So much use has mushroomed all of the working surfaces
Many a strong swing has this big hammer seen
Same story for the chisels
Thy may look like chess pieces but they are standard weights
Why 56 pounds, that seems like an odd number. It is four stone in old Imperial weights and is also an amount that is tossed in the Highland Games
Writing on the sprocket
A mock up of an old kitchen
Blue enameled pots and pans
The headgear for the donkey
Perhaps the family name
1881 grain grinder made of stone
These wheels were made for turning
A cute toy truck
Weaving baskets and hats
Another grinder
There is access to the well from downstairs too
Looking spiffy
Well worn sandles
Tiny olives on the tree
Getting our veggies and heading out!
