For a while it was starting to look like the drought was breaking, though not really much rain here. But in the last few days we’ve had persistent rain, heavy at times and have now turned back into a bog. At least our water worries are alleviated. Plenty of underground water and it turns out that the stop/start of our water supply was related to the pump filter getting clogged up. Peter got phone advice and fixed it on the spot. The woodstove’s been lit, food cooked on it and in it, and baths are back on tap.
The rain is seriously highlighting that some of our animal houses are not completely water-proof. The pig house remains clean and dry, though most of the run is a quagmire (and a bit smelly too). Some of the rabbit and chook houses are now sporting very unattractive tarpaulins to keep the sleeping-quarters dry. Peter’s done some work on them, and plans to do more once vintage is over (very soon). The improvements to the accommodation will also make them more mobile and accessible, which optimistically should reduce time needed to get them fed and kept clean. We’ve just worked out that we’ll need 4 rabbit runs to house all the different ages/sexes. Gandalf will get a bigger run to himself, the females need one each, plus one for kits which are weaned but not big enough to sell or eat.
The baby rabbits continue to eat and grow. Belladonna, the younger NZ White doe-rabbit, has added her own brood - another nest-ful of kits. These are still way too young to leave the nest, and until they do, we won’t know how many there are. This time we were alert to the early signs of her plucking out her fur. We removed Gandalf immediately and provided lots of hay for nest-building. Gandalf is doing his ‘I’m not impressed’ act again. Perhaps he has to look after himself when the women are raising their young. The other kits are now 7 weeks old and are vigorously growing and gorgeously cute. We’ve been researching how to sex them. It’s not an easy task at this age (and everyone has a tale about getting this wrong) but we do need to know so that we can advertise them for sale. The plan for those that don’t sell is to go in the freezer. We’re going to ask $30 each, so should re-coup costs relatively quickly. Either that or have lots of delicious rabbit meals. At least it would make a change from sausages, though they are still retaining their popularity...
The chooks are growing, and we’ve just transferred the 5 teenage chooks (born and raised at Derryn’s) into the main run. Fingers crossed they sort out the pecking order without too much trauma. The other younger chicks are now 6 weeks old and will stay put until they’re big enough to join the flock. It’s time to think about a cull, as it’s getting quite expensive to feed 20 chickens. Over to you Peter…
Derryn came round and helped to shape and lightly prune the fruit trees, which are now looking so much better. Some look like ballerinas with their lower branches pulled down with twine. This should improve the tree form, allowing light in and encouraging fruiting on the lower, more reachable branches. The orchard’s still an overgrown mess otherwise, but it’s yielding plenty of herby greens for the rabbits and the chooks. I’ve decided to pull out the low fruit hedge/bee food plants from the orchard, and transfer them to the veg garden where they will receive more attention. This will mean that the orchard can be easily grazed once the fruit tree leaves have dropped – that should tidy it up a bit.
The veg garden is looking much less overgrown, even vaguely tidy in places, especially the mandala beds. Plans for developing it are progressing. Instead of using a pond liner, we’ve decided to sink an old bath tub and a large water trough as water features, both of which were already on the property. It’s just a matter of starting to dig. Then it’ll be onto converting the original huge oblong beds into more manageable mandalas. There are 20 sacks of horse manure, several barrow loads of flat rocks (thanks Sam!) and heaps of cardboard, plus a car bootful of seaweed from Kaikoura (thanks Ander and Billy - it was a beautiful day along the fabulous east coast, especially at Kekerengu). Once the pasture growth slows up, paths will be put down using old cut-open stock feed bags as weed-mat, and cardboard, and then covering them with the wood-chips that Peter created from the mountains of willow pulled out of the wetland. Current production of veg is still relatively prolific (even carrots), and there are plenty of veg seeds and seedlings planted for winter.
Peter is bringing home buckets of crushed grapes from the winery, which is much loved by the cows. It has increased the cattle’s tame-ness - even Aphrodite and Persephone who have always been timid. They are now quite barrel-shaped, so hopefully a couple of gorgeous calves to come in July. The cows love the grapes so much they hang around the paddock gate whenever we’re around. This makes it tricky to manoeuvre around them at pig/chook feed times, and requires extra vigilance with keeping the gate shut (eh Peter??). They’ve also been known to lean against the chook enclosure, damaging the chicken wire. The adventurous chooks take immediate advantage of the breaches and go on walkabout. One day Bob decided to join in the fun, and I’ve still got the hole he tore in my jeans to prove it.
The pigs don’t share the love of grapes. Last year’s pigs did relish them, but this lot are much pickier it seems. I keep giving it to them in the hope that they acquire the taste, but with limited success. They do seem to enjoy pretty much everything else, including acorns. Happily they were gifted a huge quantity (thanks Tania/Tania’s mum/Saskia /Marcus!) which significantly bulks out their food supply. If you asked them, they’d be adamant that they are half-starved of course.
The autumn bounty has provided opportunities for foraging: wild apples, stone fruit, fallen leaves (for composting) plus a bumper crop of sloes alongside the road just outside Renwick. I’ve been collecting sloes every autumn for years, and this is the very best crop. Some of them are huge, maybe some kind of damson/sloe cross. They’re all put to good use in gin and vodka – yum. I’ve also created vanilla and quince vodkas, which last year were very successful, though didn’t last long. There are large batches of strawberry jam, quince jelly and pear& vanilla jam, and I hope that’s not the end of it.
The solar panels are proving to be very effective. The last couple of power bills have been really small ($90 and $73) so they are already starting to pay for themselves. The long hot summer has helped. During the rainy days we were only generating enough electricity to boil a kettle, but now the sun’s making a comeback that will increase. The days are shorter but hopefully the reduced solar energy will be off-set by the use of the woodstove.
It’s time to start battening down the hatches and preparing for winter. There’s definitely more of a feeling of being connected to the land and the seasons when you live in the country. Daily activities like the animal-feed rounds take longer, but once you get over the chore concept, it’s such a pleasure to be outside, seeing and feeling nature. It’s hard to imagine life without it.
