Ok, it's November, and I said I'd post more frequently than this.
No excuses, it's just that I'm tired at days end and just want to sit and veg out for a while. Oh, wait. That's an excuse, isn't it? So what's been happening? Lots. The garden got overgrown, but with the help of some HelpXers we have managed to get on top of it again. The Berry rows have gone nuts (berries=nuts... nah) Growth is unbelieveable. The berries transplanted into the old vineyard have been very successfully scratched up by the chickens and thus destroyed. I'll be transplanting some more advanced plants soon to replace them, as well as fencing the chickens out. I managed to find 4 cabernet sauvignon vines that have survived and they will be nurtured and later transplanted. The Shiraz are hanging in there too and a few dozen Chardonnay have survived. Making wine in a couple of years, and of course the berries make wine as well. We had two litters of Wessex Saddleback piglets. So damn cute and mischieveous. Sista, the mare, is about ready to foal again. Should be only a few weeks off now. My BlueDog, thought to be getting fat and lazy, turns out to have been busy in another way, and is very pregnant. So, puppies on the way. It's been a while since any decent rain and the grasses are drying and crisping now. There won't be feed around for long and I'll have to buy hay in. We've got too many goats now, and we're waiting 'till we get the coolroom up and running to knock 'em all off. That'll save some grass too. I still havent progressed on the chicken plucker and when done will process all the excess cockerels. We're getting somewhere near 40 eggs per day now, and saving specific breeds for incubating and hatching soon. Tomatoes are in and up, as are the zucchinis, carrots, lettuce, radish, potatoes, broad beans, snow & sugar snap peas, spinach and silverbeet. PZ just made a batch of rhubarb champagne for these hot days. She's out in the gardening now, watering, and I feel as useful as tits on a bull, sitting here typing instead of out there doin' shit too. The wind is rising and with todays temperature it will dry out even more. I really need to set up and test the fire pump ready for this fire season. And hope we never need it. I've got a million and one jobs lined up for the workshop, and just never seem to get around to doing them. Got a yard vacuum cleaner that I want to repair to running condition to suck up the horse shit to use as fertiliser and mulch. Just another job. Had a good WIN at a sale last week. Scored a Jacuzzi/Spa for $10, including the pump. Will install it asap for use during the hot weather, and, heated it could be used during the cooler months as well. Just the accompaniment for rhubarb champagne. enough for now, there's shit to be done.
0 Comments
....we have had some additions at the farm.
PZ has acquired a "one horsepower, ride on, lawn mower" named Darcy. He needs some hoof trimming and will need a bit of re-training but he's a lovely quarterhorse gelding, rising 14yrs. Had a bit of drama loading him onto the float for the trip home and hhe damaged his rear legs but it'll heal up well. Four new lambs so far, 3 Dorpers and one Damper (Damara x Dorper) Seems like Rambo the Dorper ram has done his stuff well. Lovely hefty, healthy ewe lambs. Our 'chicken plucker fingers' have arrived and we are now awaiting for me to get it together and build our own "WhizzBang Chicken Plucker" (see YouTube). This will enable us to process the large quantity of cockerels that are fattening in the chicken vineyard. Egg production is rising as the weather is warming up and we are expecting better tthan 60 eggs a day when in full production. The geese and ducks are also beginning to lay. I discovered the other day that I had, in amongst my scrap pile, a soft serve ice cream freezer that had been given to me as junk. Scrap metal. Well, I bypassed the controller and hotwired directly to the electric motor. Stand clear..... energise! Well, to my pleasant surprise it started to run and within nine (9) seconds it was freezing water in the ice cream chamber. So it's full speed ahead to strip it down to the compressor unit, then get the local refridgeration guy to come and set it up on the coolroom, so we'll be able to process our livestock more professionally. Looking foward to summer, although the weeds are already starting to sprint thru the garden beds. All of the orchard trees have now budburst and the berry rows have got prolific growth spurts already. It's going to be a busy summer. enough for now, there's shit to be done. I forgot to mention, was that the HelpXers stripped the posts and wire from the western vineyard giving us, effectively, one large paddock area. We already had the chooks in that area and now we were able to segregate Equineox from her mother and the rest of the herd and commence her training. As of two days back, we now have another horse, Darcy, a quarterhorse gelding in there to keep her company. A bit of re-training required with Darcy, but he'll be quite the asset in the way of companionship and transport. Darcy is Patricias new asset.
After weaning and segregating Equineox we have let the others, Sista, Baby and CharlieHorse, along with Angus the angus steer, free roam in the forest. They come up when called about every other day for a ration of lucerne, just to keep them in touch with us and a food supply, even though there's plenty of pick in the forest. A couple of weeks back we sold the old meat saw then added some cash to upgrage to a newer model, although no bigger. This new saw is safer and has the facility to produce sausages as well. We have now planted two of the rows in the eastern vine that the HelpX prepared for us. Youngberries, 60 of them, at every second dripper, with 4 strawberries to go into every other hole. PZ estimates about 500kg of fruit from these two rows. I am also in the midst of transplanting the remaining grapes (shiraz) into row 4 to re-establish my effort at winemaking, but I'll also be using the berries for wine as well. Progress on the shed extension is slow, with part of the superstructure blowing over in a wild windstorm. My fault for not securing it well beforehand. No damage, but a temporary setback for sure. We desparately need male helpers to progress some of the 'heavier' type of work like the extension and the kill/butcher rooms, and the erection of the coolroom/chiller. enough for now there's shit to be done. So, it's several months since i posted and a lot, too much in fact, has happened."Spiderman" Dave left and Tim arrived for two weeks.
The day Tim left we has some british girls arrive (helpX). Due to my lapse in BioSecurity it cost us dearly. You see the day before they arrived, Lilly our mini sow had farrowed 11 cute piglets, including 3 dalmatian colours. One of the helpers failed to tell us that she had a cold and told us the next morning. It was too late and the piglets caught cold. Result: Ten of them died over the next week. A loss of $3500. Now nobody goes near the pigs at all. We also had a young French couple for several weeks. Despite a partial language barrier, they started off quite ok. Baptiste dug holes for the orchard plantings and Raphaelle took up the task of weeding the garden area. Great progress in several areas. They also prepared the first 6 rows of the vineyard for the raspberry transplanting. We've had lungworm go thru the sheep, and despite an oral drench we lost quite a few later in the winter. Had a couple of lambs born in the pst few weeks with still more due. We've got two litters of 3 piglets. One set from Sox, our smallest sow, and one set from Penelope, our largest (Homestead Hog) sow. Our Wessex Saddleback Heritage breed are due to farrow soon we believe, but not sure of the due date. Our Wessex boar, Ashcott, was too young we think, so the piglets due will be crossbreds and go into the HomesteadHogs market, or our freezer. Wedgetail Eagles have been harassing the chickens as well and if the truth be known probably taken a few. Jess has been tanning skins taken from a couple of goats and has done a superb job, so she's booked for all future kills. Our construction slowed to zero while the last batch of helpXers were here as they required constant attention, but we got some of the drriveway tidied up by moving stuff to the old rabbit shelter and creating a workshop. Got Sarah(Ferguson) tractor up and running after a fair bit of repair work to the radiator and managed to rotary hoe the upcoming corn and potato beds. We've put in 3 new fruit trees as well. Managed to get the north boundard fence reconstructed so the horses couldn't escape but i'm not sure it's sheep proof. We're looking foward to constructing a shower and composting toilet near the helpX caravans. That way they have adequate water without depleting the roof tank, and the septic won't overflow every other day. They'll just have to be responsible for their own firewood to heat their water. There's probably heaps i've failed to remember, but thats what happens when i let it go for so long. I'll remember sooner or later. enough for now. there's shit to be done. After saying I should post more often I find it's a month since I last wrote.
But we haven't been slack, au contraire. We've had our share of ups and downs. PZ was crook for some time, first hurting her back unloading a trailer full of bricks, then she had the most horrendous toothache which lasted nearly two weeks. She's over it. We had a HelpXer here, Spiderman Dave, from the UK. Closest thing I'll ever have that resembles a slave. He couldn't sit still, and when finished one job, he would just make up something else to do. I mean, who ever heard of mowing then raking the paddocks? We made arrangements to sell Angus the angus steer, and so Spiderman dug in and built us a stock loading ramp. Looks like some sort of weird tree planting exercise but I'm sure it'll get Angus onto the transport. We started on the barn (house) extension at last, only six months late, but at least we've started. Pulled off the corro wall sheeting and, so far, we've got the posts and a few beams in place. Last Thursday I picked up a new Wessex Saddleback barrow(boar) that we will mate with our two gilts. Spiderman Dave also took to the shovel and filled in much of the driveway that was destroyed during the rains. We're in the process of setting up another caravan for HelpXers because we have had an influx of enquiries and it would be nice to get a crew of people working on our projects. enough for now theres shit to be done The vernal equinox came and went without any fanfare.
Then, late yesterday (22nd) we had some rain. And some more rain. Then more rain. 52mm in about 20 minutes or so. Thats not such a biggie in many ways, but when you open the door to the other end of the shed and find 4" of floodwater raging through the floor and out thru the front of the shed, that's a biggie. If there was some sort of a drop or step we could have gone white water rafting. Luckily we had moved all the chickens to their new house down in the vineyard, so they're at least dry. Now I'm off outside to survey the consequences of such a downpour. enough for now there's shit to be done. Its a bit scary when your chickens look like little Velociraptors
Mid March, and PZ has recovered from several weeks of (various) illness.
We have constructed most of a new chook house from recycled materials. Total cost :about $10 for nails. The tomato picking continues nd PZ has posted her Tomato Sauce recipe for the sauce connesuer. I picked another few kilos again today. Bought a Mouli to process it all. The nights are getting colder now and the fire is lit. Toasty warm in our new rooms, but I'll have to light the old 'Rayburn' fireplace to keep the hot water supplied. It's been continually satisfying to be eating our own produce. There's a continuing cycle in the garden to achieve closer to self sufficiency, but with persistence it will become a self supporting cycle. enough for now there's shit to be done. We're into Autumn. Never really had a summer, except for a few hot & very hot days. The rain kept on and the growth has been wonderful. Normally everything dries out and goes crispy, but this year we've had a green summer.
Time to start thinking about sowing pasture for winter feeds for the livestock. I have enquired at local suppliers and we're ready to get about the preparations. The work continues on the house. Staircase still hasn't been installed so we are using the ladder to go to bed. PZ has had a bad couple of weeks. Firstly with a bad back (from helping me with heavy stuff) and now with a bad toothache, which must be horrendous by the noises she is making. PZ is one tough girl, and for her to show pain like that.... well, it's more than I could bear. I'm just a 'big girl's blouse'. I finally had to carry out trailer repairs after it started to disassemble itself on a trip to Yass to pick up a steam cleaner. Bugger me if the spares I bought were the wrong size and I had to go back to swap them over. But, new spring bushes, U bolts, cracks welded up, tyres swapped, and the lights re-soldered, she's almost like new. Almost ! PZ was busy in the vege garden (before the toothache scenario) and has cleared several more pads for the autumn/winter plantings. Looking foward to lots of home grown to see us thru winter and into spring. Mind you, there's still harvest of the summer crops and the associated bottling and preserving. Plans afoot for more helpXers to arrive later in March and that will help with the winter plantings and general farmwork. Lilly is looking a little pregnant, Penelope should be, and Sox probably is from what I saw in the pigpen ;-) Some of the sheep must have been at it as well. Either that or the native pasture is very agreeable to them. Well, the Mixomitosis has eliminated all but one of the rabbits, a boy. A devastating loss. Time, infrastructure, and lots and lots of money down the drain. Damn annoying that the government wont allow innoculation against Mixi, and it costs people dearly. Beurocrats, pfffft. enough for now there's shit to be done. WOW, end of February, where does time go?
Ok, so our helpX girl left after giving us some breathing space to get things done. We have progressed with the shed renovations and, thanks to Scott, have gyprocked the second bay. PZ now has the original bay as her preserving and cooking kitchen. Upstairs is also progressing and we will have to have some insulation before the cold weather hits. I won a spiral staircase on eBay and when installed will save the hassle of climbing a ladder to bed. LOL. The mixo has claimed all but two of the rabbits, out of a total of 67. It was devastating to have to put down so many to such a hideous disease. Notwithstanding the loss in dollars for initial outlay, breeding and feed etc. We had to move the horses back into the eastern vineyard because the grass is growing so fast. They join the sheep (24), goats (7) and cows (3) to keep the grass at bay. Angus the angus remains in 'The Big Paddock' by himself. The chooks are in the process of being moved to new yards at the western vineyard, which will leave the barn for storage and sick animals. Speaking of the barn, the tarp roof was only short term and I have started fitting second hand sheet iron to the roof. Looks good. I won a good buy on eBay for a coolroom that turned out to have a freezer room as well. Need to prepare a floor area now to install it, then we'll be able to get on with home kills and animal processing, as was always the plan. Got the old water tank installed to use as a grain silo. Just need to get the grain to fill it now. Need to progress the bush poles to support the vege garden netting cover. The corn is gruesome and has grew some. Like the song "Oklahoma" where the corn is high as an elephants eye. Same as ours, as long as your elephant's eye is 4 metres in the air. Because of the continued rains, along with the heat, is has been a green summer with weeds and growth everywhere. Good in one regard, annoying in other ways (weeds). Last night we ate well, with everything except the butter supplied from our own animals and garden. So damn pleasing. We had a duck sitting on eggs in the poly tunnel and hatched 7 fluffy yellow ducklings. Damn Kookaburras have reduced that number to 3 now. Nice to have native animals around, but must they eat our livestock. I'll have to try and blog more often, in short bursts. It should be easier to do, and remember. Enough for now..... there's shit to be done. |
Mike
Owns a small piece of the Earth and along with PZ we are transforming it, bit by bit into regenerated soil, to produce our own fresh, wholesome vegetables and fruit to complement our free range livestock. Archives
November 2011
Categories |