Life on a Farm in the 17th Century

In the 17th century, many people lived and worked on farms.

One of the most important seasons in an English farmer's life was the autumn. Then, they would plant the field and collect foods, like apples and mushrooms.

People planted fields using teams of oxen, two to eight per team. They used a plow that dug into the ground, leaving furrows. Back in the day, a man could plow an acre a day using this technique.

Farmers used oxen instead of horses for plowing because the oxen could be eaten when they were too old to work and were more robust and less likely to get hurt than horses.

After plowing a field, farmers would plant the wheat by throwing the seeds and then covering them up with dirt so that the birds would not eat them. Farmers would eat pigeons, which were a good food source, even though they needed to be plucked.

People would bake bread by using ovens. They would make a fire in the oven and then rake it out when the stones of the oven became hot enough. Then, they would put in the bread and seal up the oven with bricks so that the heat stayed inside and cooked the bread.

A farmer's life wasn't easy in the 17th century, he had to plant and gather crops, hunt pigeons, and cook food, unlike today, when most people can buy food from a grocery store.