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.
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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. |
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
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