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.
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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. |
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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