We began our day with a trip to Crawfish Haven…
Today we harvested Crawfish, learned more than we needed to know about crawfish, and ate crawfish for lunch…
We began by walking about 1/2 mile out on the levees around various small ponds where the crawfish are raised.
These red-topped devices are the crawfish traps. They are baited with a piece of fish; the crawfish crawl into the trap but cannot crawl out. Don’t ask me how this is accomplished…
They have these strange flat bottomed boats which actually roll along on the bottom of the pond – the water is about one foot deep. The boat is propelled by this strange drive wheel (almost like a paddle wheel) that rolls along the bottom of the pond and pushes the boat.
The crawfish farmer generally does this work alone, but sometimes they have paying guests. Here we are waiting for the first group of us to get out of the boat as it arrives at the shore…
Before the next group can board they want to move the boat to another adjacent pond. It simply rolls out of one pond, rolls across the land, and rolls down into the next pond…
They did off-load the “catch” from the previous trip – two bags of crawfish…
Once we board the boat and we set out into the pond we see how it works: The driver has these red-topped traps. He throws in a piece of fish and he sets the trap in the water, picking up another that has been sitting in the pond. He dumps the crawfish out onto this odd table…
The table has bars that slope towards openings where the bags are attached. You sweep the crawfish towards the openings and they fall into the bags. Small crawfish fall between the bars onto a surface which allows them to be swept back into the water…
Lynda tries her hand at assisting the crawfish in sliding along the bars and falling into the bags…
After twice around the pond our two bags are full and we land and climb off the boat.
We watch the next group board, and we walk back to the crawfish house. Here we gather for lunch.
But before we eat we learn a little about the crawfish.
Crawfish grow for about one year, molting about once per month and growing one size each time. If they are not caught sooner, they might live two-three years. The growing season starts in September, and, depending on the weather, the farmer might get two crops per year. The optimum water temperature is 72 degrees; it is a little cold this season… They can harvest about 500 pounds of crawfish per acre per year. Major predators are otters and minks. Alligators keep them away, but there are not many alligators around these parts…
Lesson over, we get in line for our crawfish. These have been boiled, the most traditional way to cook crawfish – similar to boiling lobster. In case you don’t know what a crawfish looks like, it is a miniature lobster, sort of like a fresh water lagostino…
Here is what each of our lunches looked like:
This is my platter (I asked for a small portion)… Before…
After…
You see, you pull off the tail, pull out and eat the meat from the tail (the meat is about the size of a tiny cocktail shrimp), and throw the shells back of the platter. It is quite a labor intensive operation. I believe your fingers will wear out before you get full…
Along with our meal we were treated to a Cajun singer and musician…
We enjoyed our meal; soon we were on our way back to the Villa.
We had a relaxing day; the GAM scheduled for 4:00 was called off due to about 20 minutes of thunder showers…
At 6:00 we set out for The Barn, to hear Cajun music…
The building was built in 1946 as an cattle auction barn. There was a small rustic amphitheater overlooking a pen where the animals were brought in to be bought and sold. Today the amphitheater seats are still the same, but they built a stage atop the animal pens…
We found a place to sit fairly close to the door, because you never know when leaving is the best option… The rest of the Airstreamers found their seats, too…
There were three musicians, being introduced here by one of the owners of The Barn…
When they got to playing it was a real toe-tapping scene…
They finished after more than two hours – longer than I can sit on a hard, backless bench… But it was a fun evening to see how the locals have fun, and to hear (more) Cajun Music…!
And an enjoyable time was had by all…
Adventures in the Villa 