December 2014

Welcome pigs!

Paid work is just starting to wind down, but farm work isn’t quite so obliging.  We’ve just had some very welcome rain – not quite enough to make me dance naked around the garden in joy, but a happy occasion nonetheless.   Not only does the rain do the watering for us, it also means that outside work takes a back seat for a change.  It gives us a chance to get on with some inside work instead.  Though there is housework galore to be done, there are other indoor priorities like writing cards, buying presents, decorating the tree, the Christmas cake and gingerbread house.  Making mince pies and planning food and festivities definitely come before mopping the kitchen floor and cleaning the toilet.

The wetland has had another make-over.  Lynne and husband Miles came over to plant the 186 native plants that Lynne had grown from seed as part of a garden course project.  Lots of flax, cabbage trees, kowhai, kahikatea, kanuka and tree fuschia, plus a few others that I can’t remember right now.  Lynne’s putting in the first plant in the photo.  It was a really great day and everything went surprisingly smoothly.  Good company and good food - the lovely Lynne also provided lunch in the form of delicious bacon and egg pie (made from their own produce).  All up a very exciting day, and great to spend time in the wetland and see lots of the original plantings up close.  Here’s hoping that most of them survive and thrive and set the scene for more native growth. 

Bees are very busy, and recent hive checks have revealed that the new hive does indeed have a queen who is getting on with the business of laying eggs.  There’re plenty of bees, brood and pollen, and even some honey stores.  The original hive was left with 2 boxes of brood, topped with a queen excluder and a honey box above.  I’ve no idea how it could have happened but somehow the queen ended up in the top honey box, above the queen excluder!  She’d also been busy with egg-laying as there was plenty of brood in the honey box.  That must be a real rookie mistake, though it was easily rectified by moving the boxes around.  Here’s hoping there’s a honey flow happening soon, as I’m onto my last jar.

The orchard is not only beautiful, it’s also bountiful.  Most of the fruit trees are growing and maturing several fruits, and their foliage is lush and healthy. The photo shows some of the Bramley apple crop, which should eventuate into apple pies and crumble.  The irrigation was amazingly was still intact from last year, so easy to re-attach.  An extension pipe has yet to be fitted so that the nut trees can be watered on the same system.  That’s in with a chance of reaching the top of the priority list next week, though will probably be usurped by Christmas.

Madame Cholet is now a riot of green.  Most of the plants are taking off – tomatoes, cucumber, chilli and aubergine.  Peppers have been a flop.  The current pepper seedlings were bought after the ones I raised from seed got chewed to death.  The new ones look to be going the same way.  It’s the same story for the melon seedlings although the new ones are still alive and maybe even growing.  I’m not sure what’s eating them, but have scattered some slug pellets in case. 

The veg garden is verdant and abundant.  We’re eating a range of greens, lettuce, broad beans, beetroot and leeks.  Potatoes are also maturing so we’ll have new spuds for Christmas dinner.  Even the corn crop is finally looking promising.  Early corn seedlings were scoffed by rodents (which in retrospect is what I suspect also happened last year) in the tunnel house, so others had to be raised in the house under a mini-cloche.  Most have survived transplanting into one of the keyhole beds, so hopefully the corn circle will become a reality.

The hen mother was starting to get cabin-fever, cooped up with her boisterous off-spring.  She was trotting up and down the same stretch of fence-line repetitively.  Then she started to lay again, so we moved her back into the main run with the others.  Hopefully a bit of adult company was what she needed.  Cornelius continues to rule his roost, and has developed a very loud and penetrating cock-a-doodle-doo.  This presents somewhat of a problem, as our ‘guest accommodation’ sleep-out is right next to the run.  We’re still working on this.  The cute chicks are still too young to be sexed, but if one (of the 4) turns out to be male, then we can consider dispatching Cornelius.  But not too soon, as we’re also hoping that another hen will go broody so we can get more chicks.  One hen did sit on a clutch of eggs, but disappointingly she abandoned them when we decided to move her out of the main house/run into a more private space.  No hen has done this before, and we have usually managed broody hens in the same way.

The rabbits are fine and dandy, and up for sale.  We’ve decided to stick with the decision of not continuing to keep them, and they’re worth more alive than dead.  Hopefully they’ll be snapped up as their breed (NZ White) is quite difficult to come by.  It’ll be a sad day when they go, but no regrets.  Mostly they’ve been a very enjoyable and engaging project. 

Pigs are go!!  We managed to get hold of 4 Large White X Hampshire pigs at 6 weeks old.  We selected the biggest 4 of the litter and have ended up with one girl and 3 boys.  For a while we thought they were 2 boys and 2 girls, but it has become obvious that we were mistaken.  They were named by Rea after characters from King Lear – Cordelia, Regan, Edmund & Edgar.  Shakespeare’s Regan was female, but ours now has to be male.  A bit of artistic license perhaps.  Cordelia is the biggest and is currently chief pig.  They’re bigger for their age than pigs we've had previously, and are already growing rapidly.  They're reaping the benefit of veg garden crops going to seed.  When they get beetroot, they look like they've put their lippy on (as modeled by Cordelia in the photo)!  They are demolishing their sprouted grains (wheat, barley, maize and peas) and have shocking table manners.  But their presence is uplifting and their peaceful grunting is like music to my ears.  It’s great to be back in pig-land again!

The wild bird population seems to be increasing.  A flax flower spike just outside our living room is frequently visited by tui and bellbirds, and there are often quail on the driveway.  There’s a busy starling’s nest in the car port, built under the tarpaulin on the high shelf.  Their young are constantly chorusing.  The photo shows them, or rather their beaks, anticipating their next meal – which they seem to do a lot of.

Insects are also profuse, including lots of honey bees and bumble bees.  The flower bed hosts many of these visitors.  It’s great to see these plants serving their purpose, and a warm and fuzzy feeling that I grew many of the plants from seed.  Several others self-seeded from last years’ flowers.  Every now and then I add a perennial plant in the hope of filling all the gaps.  The straw mulch has been really effective at keeping the moisture in the soil and reducing weeding.

The wine has been happily neglected for weeks now, and I'd assumed it would be ready for bottling, but only the demi-johns of Sauv Blanc and Mead were clear enough to bottle.  The others still had too much sediment.  Peter has printed off some labels which look quite effective.  Right now they are drinkable, but very much taste like young wines - here's hoping they mature into something well worth drinking. The mead is labelled 'Ti Kouka', which means 'cabbage tree'.  We have lots of Ti Kouka on the property, and the flowers they produce are much loved by bees.  Our honey is 'Ti Kouka honey' so it fits the theme. There's also 'Silke's Sassy Sauv', 'Powell's Pea Pod Wine', 'Krusty Krab Apple Wine' and 'Perky Peach Wine'.

Lucas has been busy graduating and has decided to continue with another course in web design next year in Christchurch, rather than get full-time work.  He's hoping to get part-time work within the design industry as he studies.  Sophie's earning her dollars at Air NZ, and they're happily ensconced in a central apartment.  

Sam and Billy have both felt the need to earn money so have been (relatively) willingly doing jobs for us. Sam is the 'mower man' and it turns out that Billy has a talent for poo picking.  Quite enterprisingly he's been selling sacks of cow poo ($5 a sack - come and get your bargain poo) - under the name 'Poo-well's Ltd'!  He's also been monitoring the eel population in the wetland.  The photo demonstrates the dangers of posing for a photo and thereby taking your eyes off an escape-artist wriggly eel.


Rachel, Jif, Sam and Joe are in NZ (in Russell) and are heading our way next week to share Christmas.  The cake theme is 'London' in their honour.  The last time they came we went mud-wrestling on Christmas Day.  This year we'll have more traditional after-dinner events - the sack race, egg-and-spoon race, 3-legged race, and of course, egg roulette. Bet they can't wait....

So another year comes to a close.  Another glorious year on the land, indulging my feral nature.  Tending the land is both my craft and my art.  There's nothing worth celebrating more than the beauty of a row of carrots (you can just imagine mine here Karyn), or the twining koru of pea tendrils.  I've been trying to think about what I've learned over the 3 years we've been here.  Too many mistakes to remember, but also plenty of 'wow' moments when we've got something right or when the beauty that surrounds us suddenly reveals itself.  
Quite profound eh?  On reflection, my best advice to any would-be small-holder is: 'Never put an egg in your pocket'.  

Merry Christmas!

November 2014

The spring winds have arrived with a vengeance.  Thankfully Madame Cholet has withstood the onslaughts, though there are a few branches down around the property perimeter.  Using straw as a mulch has been wonderful in so many ways, but creates other issues when it’s dry and windy.  The base layers have mostly stayed in situ, while the looser top layers are all over the place, often swamping new plantings.  Temperatures are becoming balmy and the wind-free days are generally glorious.  Wild life like this beautiful dragonfly is profuse, but pigs remain elusive, though not for want of trying.  Perhaps it’s too early in the season for them to be widely available.  If necessary we’ll pick some up from Christchurch, but that’s a long trip which we’d prefer to avoid for their sakes.

We’re missing the serene presence of Aphrodite and Persephone.  So are Athena and Zeus who seem to be wandering around rather more aimlessly than before, and getting into less mischief (hope not famous last words).  They were trucked away to homes near Christchurch.  We’ve kept in touch with Persephone’s new owners – she was a gift for a family member and they’re delighted to have her.  They’ve said they’ll send us a photo of the new calf when it’s born.  We’re watching Hera and Athena carefully to see if they’re coming on heat.  They’re possibly overdue, meaning that either we missed their last heat, or that they’re already pregnant.  The latter would only be possible if we stuffed up Zeus’ castration – totally possible of course, though a convenient mishap if that’s the case.

The sheep are in the process of shedding and look really untidy. The paddocks are equally messy, with blobs of wool lying around everywhere.  In places there are big mats of wool, looking from a distance like we've got some dead sheep.  A couple of the sheep have shed pretty much completely, some barely at all.  One lamb (in the photo) has shed in a very unusual pattern, and unfortunately earned the new nick-name ‘Monk Mullet’.  It’s hard to believe that the boy lambs are just 4 months old.  They’re increasingly robust, less playful and look as big as their mums.  One ewe separated herself in another paddock from the rest of the flock for a few days, probably in an attempt to wean her boisterous twins.  They’re all back together now and seem contented enough.  We’ll look at processing 2 or 3 of them in January, rather than do all 7 at once later.

Bees are very happily buzzing everywhere.  Lots of bumble bees, as well as our own honey bees, are enjoying the flowers and blossoms.  I managed to get hold of several queen bee cells, and have separated my hive back into two.  It’s too soon to go back in to check, but there’s lots of activity around both hive entrances.  Hopefully a new queen emerged and has returned from her mating flight.  Brood in the form of eggs will confirm that – can’t wait to get in there and see.  The original hive was chock-a-block of bees when it was separated.  There were even new honey supplies, so it should survive the loss of a few frames of brood which were transferred into the new hive.

Madame Cholet is now packed to the rafters with seedlings.  All of the straw bales are planted up with tomatoes, chillis, aubergines, basil, cucumbers, peppers and melons.  They are watered twice a day most days, and the bales are compacting nicely.  The melons are being seriously nibbled by something, but everything else seems to be hanging on.  There are still a few seeds to tend, but most can be directly sown outside now.   

We’re down to 6 rabbit kits, and the buck.  There was another run of rabbit deaths, so there are now several buried beneath newly planted natives (mostly cabbage trees) in the wetland.  Those remaining are still skinny and raggedy, but otherwise seem healthy enough.  We were pretty much resigned to losing them all and had kind of made a decision about our rabbit-keeping future, but now we’re not so sure what we’ll do if these 6 make it to adulthood.  In the meantime they’re enjoying excess greens and various other crops from the veg garden. 

The veg garden is beautiful.  There’s an impressive volume of veg growing in there, some of which we’re eating.  Leeks, spinach and silver beet are going to seed so are being replaced with seeds, rather than seedlings.  Carrots are popping up (don’t deny it Karyn – you’ve seen them), as are beans of many varieties, spuds, snow-peas and peas.  Seedlings of tomatoes, lettuce, basil and corn have been planted out.  Corn was a flop crop last year, and so far this year it’s not looking promising.  Rodents or birds ate the corn in the tunnel house, so I’ve ended up growing them in a tiny heated mini-cloche in the house, then potting them on for a few days before planting out.  Some have survived, others have succumbed to being swamped by straw-mulch.  The rest are yet to be transplanted, so fingers crossed there is something of a crop to share with the chooks.

The mother hen is doing a great job with her 4 new chicks.  They're adorable bundles of fluff, growing rapidly.  She's a strict mum, and mostly they do as they're told!  None of the other hens are broody - hopefully that'll change because we'd love a few more chicks.

The wetland water level is very low.  There’s only one smallish pool of wetland water left.  Sam had been commissioned to take a few photos for this blog, and literally found himself thigh deep in the bog when trying to get shots of the resident eels.  The Marlborough region is generally low in water for this time of year.  There are threats of water bans, which shouldn’t affect us as our supply is pumped up from a well, but is worrying nonetheless.  

The orchard is experiencing an explosion of growth – trees and pasture.  It’s open to the sheep in the hope that they’ll whittle away at the grass and we won’t have to mow in there.  Alas that’s way too optimistic, but they do go in there from time to time to munch.  A fair crop of fruit is setting, which is really exciting.  The soft fruits in the veg garden are also looking pretty abundant, and some may even be ready soon.  Redcurrants are colouring up, and gooseberries are fattening. 

Christmas is coming but short of sending a parcel to the UK and topping up our alcohol supply, it hasn't really hit my radar yet.  I have been granted my request for reduced teaching hours next year – hurray!!  That means I’ll be teaching on average 3 days a week, and will be taking up opportunities for clinical practice the rest of the time.  That’ll include Blenheim and the West Coast.  I’m keeping fingers crossed that financially it’ll all work out, and that I’ll feel like I have a better life work balance.  And of course, that I’ll have more time to spend at home pottering around at home and on the farm. 

Hey ho, roll on 2015 and its promise of reducing the life sentence feel in favour of the life style. In the meantime - welcome glorious summer and the chance to relax.

October 2014

It’s been a lovely October.  The birds are singing and the paddocks are lush - a fresh, youthful green.  We’re starting to think pigs.  The spring winds haven’t been too troublesome yet, and we’ve had a relatively pleasant mix of sunshine and rain.  The trees are all in leaf or blossom, and veges are flourishing.  The main downside is that paid work is also flourishing, though daylight saving does compensate for that to some extent.

We do still have rabbits, though only the buck and 14 youngsters.  All the mothers and the entire first litter of 7 kits (pictured in last month's blog) are gone.  One of these kits outlived the others by a couple of weeks before eventually succumbing.  That was a sad day because I’d let myself believe that it was over the worst.  One of the 14 kits is blind (no eyes) but it seems to get along alright.  They’re all quite stunted and scruffy, but are lively with healthy appetites.  They’re nearly old enough to be vulnerable to calicivirus.   It’s an awful thought that the virus might still be around, though there’s nothing to do but wait and hope.  Keeping them alive in the absence of a mother always was a long shot.

Our broody hen has just been rewarded with a couple of beautiful chicks.  There may be a few more to come yet, though the hen isn’t the most dedicated egg-sitter.  It’s interesting that none of the other hens have gone broody yet.  Bob was dispatched to the freezer, leaving Cornelius as the only rooster for his harem.  Other than the broody hen, they've all been moved back to the original run.  There’s more space for them there, and the baby chicks won’t have competition for food.

Both Galloway cows have now sold and will be heading to pastures new near Christchurch sometime soon.  That means that I won’t be able to hone my Artificial Insemination skills on Aphrodite after all.  Instead I’ll have a try with Hera, though it may be harder because she hasn't yet calved.  We’re just waiting for the pistillet (insertion tool) and for Hera to go on heat, then it’ll be all-go and out with the disposable gauntlets and lube. Can't wait!

The new nut trees in the nuttery are all looking fabulous.  Their buds are bursting into delicate new leaves, so hopefully they’re getting well-rooted.  The apples, pears and cherries are flowering now, and so is the fast-growing Quince tree.  One of Ange and Matt's pear trees is thriving (photo above), the other sadly not. Comfrey is popping up everywhere, and makes a welcome addition to the rabbit food.  The orchard irrigation will have to be extended but that can be put off as long as there’s still enough rain.  It's looking really verdant and abundant - a real pleasure to look at the trees and remind myself that I planted them.  Though I've made many mistakes with planting of all kinds, I'm really glad that I stuck with the plan of getting fruit trees in sooner rather than later. Though it wasn't a well thought-out plan at the time (particularly in terms of irrigation, tree spacing and how to manage the pasture itself), we managed to cobble things together and trouble-shoot the problems that cropped up.  It's a little higgledy-piggledy, but everything's alive and looking healthy.  We should get something that resembles a crop by the end of summer.  Maybe even enough to share with the pigs.

Peter’s tacked together another couple of raised beds in the horse arena.  One of them has been prepared with newspaper mulch and any other organic material we could find.  Old hay and straw, a few buckets of top soil gathered up, some remaining compost, and, very satisfyingly, a huge volume of shredded office paper.  It’s unlikely that any of them will be planted up this year, though I did manage to find some bargain olive trees which will need to be heeled in somewhere. 

The flower garden is beginning its summer show.  There are already lots of flowers which are being visited by all sorts of bees, including bumble bees.  It’s been really satisfying to be adding plants which I've grown from seed.  So far forget-me-nots, sweet pea, echium, poached egg plant, cosmos, arnica, zinnia and poppy, are planted out, and plenty more to come which are still in the tunnel house.  There are also lots of seed-grown tansy and rue which will line outside edge of the chicken run.  They are insect-repellent plants which can be cut and thrown into the run/hen house in the hope that they’ll reduce the mite population. 

Madame Cholet has been a hive of activity – seeds and seedlings in and out, potting on and planting out.  The seedlings are moved onto the shelves in the gin palace for a few days before being hardened-off outside.  I lost a load of seedlings early on when I foolishly planted out seedlings directly from the tunnel house.  Since then there’s only been frost-damage to a tray of marigolds, which happily look like they might recover.  Some plants will stay in the tunnel house – cucumber, tomato, chilli, aubergine and melon.  Mostly they’re not quite big enough to be potted into the straw bale beds, but it won’t be long.  

The keyhole beds are now home to onions, leeks, kale cauliflower, cavalo nero, beetroot, lettuce, purple potatoes, asparagus, Jerusalem and globe artichokes and broad beans.  Lined up to go in next are carrots and beans (runner and bush).  I did do some weed-killing of the veg garden perimeter where the pasture weeds were invading.  Not a good feeling, but hope not to have to repeat it any time soon.  I got a truck load of mulched macrocarpa (for the cost of a few beers) which has now been spread over the internal pathways.  It smells heavenly – a fresh pine scent that fills the air as you step on it.  Another load should complete the rest of the pathways and help reduce the persistent pasture weeds which are finding their way through.  The corner of the veg garden by the pump house has yet to be turned into beds and paths.  I’d planned to have done this by now, but it’s probably going to have to wait until next year before it gets proper attention. 

I'm still waiting for my new queen bee, and all is looking well inside the hive.  Maybe next time I look there'll be some queen cells anyway, and I can split the hive with those. Derryn and me have finished our beekeeping course, without completing the last modules. These were specifically industry-orientated and since we didn't want a qualification, there wasn't any point in going ahead for the sake of it.  Much as the course was enjoyable and very informative, it's a relief to not have to do any more assignments.

On the home front everyone is happy.  Peter’s making progress on several farm projects, and has even managed to get on with some thistle-bashing. Lucas is nearing the end of his course and has already been doing some design work for a company who have offered him work next year.  He’s done lots of work for the Marlborough Bee Club, including the website (www.marlboroughbeekeepers.co.nz).  Sophie is about to start her new job with Air New Zealand, having just finished her course.  Sam is gearing up to year 12 exams and Billy is just pottering along.  I’m keeping everything crossed that job-share plans for next year will materialise, so that I can be more often released to spend time at home. 

The Onamalutu River, just behind our place.

Home sweet home.  

September 2014

The arrival of the spring weeds puts a bit of a damper on the early season, but otherwise it’s great to have sprung into spring.  In contrast to this time last year, it’s been pretty dry.  A recent rain sprinkling was welcome - enough to get the weeds growing, but more is needed to thoroughly soak the ground.  Daylight Saving begins at the weekend, and I'm looking forward to more outside evening time.  I’m writing this month’s blog from Greymouth (renowned for its rainfall!) where I’m working for a couple of weeks.  Somehow I've managed to land a night shift on Saturday, so I'll get the pleasure of working the extra daylight saving hour.  No surprises there.  Since moving to the farm I’m finding it hard to be away from home, though the freedom from the daily chores is refreshing and right now it feels like I’ve got all the time in the world.

The lambs are utterly delightful and have grown rapidly.  Like the kids they like to play with the tractor inner tube.  They usually have an early evening session when they bounce up and down and in and out of the ring.  They all seem to be hale and hearty and have finally lost their tails - that took a while longer than we expected.  We've found the tails in the paddock.  Probably they've also shed their testicles, but curiously no one's found any of them on the ground!  Perhaps they have a little farewell burial ceremony for their lopped-off bits when we're not looking.

 

The bees seem to be happily buzzing, and Derryn and I spent a morning with beekeeper Phil who showed us how to use queen cups to raise queens.  It’d be great if I could separate my hive back into 2 hives and use a queen I’ve raised.  Unfortunately that’s looking a long way off as a recent sugar shake varroa test revealed 72 mites.  I was hoping for less than 10, so this was quite a blow.  I treated the hive straightaway with Apivar and will repeat the sugar shake test next week to check that it’s working.  The photo shows the mites in the icing sugar.  Yuk.

 

The orchard is totally bursting into bloom and leaf.  Even the new nut trees are awakening from their slumber.  The herb garden has had a serious weed-out and is now heavily mulched with barley straw.  The remaining native plants which Peter brought home from work have also been potted on so should be easier to plant out.  I'd heeled them into some weighty soil bags to keep them alive.  They didn't all make it, so hopefully this will give them more of a fighting chance.  They'll eventually be planted into the wetland. 

 

 The veg garden is actually looking good, in places at least.  Most of last year’s crops are eaten, but some of the autumn/winter planted veg is ready - mainly spinach and leeks, and a few beetroot and lettuce which are fattening up.  There are many seedlings sprouting in Madame Cholet and potatoes are next up for planting.  The fertility of the soil has been enhanced by large volumes of delicious compost courtesy of fellow-midwife Marion.  She has horses so creates magnificent compost – happily for me in volumes too great for her needs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cows and sheep are happily munching on the fresh pasture, and now that our boundary fence is secured (hurray), they’ve been moved along into a couple of paddocks which we’d been avoiding for fear of wanderlust.  We’ve asked the fencer to come and fix up the interior fences too, so maybe the orchard, veg garden and woodlot will truly be no-go cattle and sheep zones.  Hopefully then it’ll just be a case of keeping on top of freeing the fence lines from grass/weed growth to stop it matting up the lower fence wires.  Persephone, the only pregnant heifer, has been sold to a new family in Canterbury so will be gone soon.  I’m planning on having a go at artificially inseminating Aphrodite in a couple of months as we still have one Galloway semen straw.  I just need to source some equipment. 

Since the veg seedlings were planted out, the chooks have been confined to barracks.  The two roosters don’t seem to be getting on like they used to, and Cornelius has taken over as top chook.  The poor hens take the brunt of them proving their superior masculinity, so one of the boys will have to go if we are to avoid their death-by-shagging.  It’s a difficult decision because this Bob is the gentlest Bob we’ve ever had – quite unusual for a Rhode Island Red.  Unlike his predecessors, he’s never shown any sign of aggression to humans.  Cornelius isn’t aggressive either, so we just have to decide whether we want to hang onto Rhodies or continue with Cochin crosses.  I’ll probably leave that decision to Peter.

The rabbits have been occupying our time and emotional energy lately.  A little while ago we had 4 litters of rabbit kits.  The first litter is now around 7 weeks old, and the other 3 were born around the same time 3 weeks ago.  All was going well until we found one of the mothers dead.  There was no warning, no obvious health decline, so it seemed to be a mystery.  Her kits were still alive so we divvied them up and put them in with the other 2 litters of the same age, in the hope that the adoptive mums would look after them.  To our dismay, the next day another of the mothers was also dead.  This was an even bigger problem as it was unlikely that these kits could possibly survive - one mother surely couldn’t raise 3 litters?  We were debating whether it was kinder to let them die or to euthanize them, when another possibility dawned.  The mother of the 7 week old kits may still be lactating.  Perhaps she would adopt them.  It was a very long shot which ran the risk of them either being killed by her or by neglect.  We didn’t predict that she’d also die a couple of days later.

A little research revealed the cause of death was likely to be calicivirus – a particularly virulent and nasty disease killing rabbits within about 24 hours and which is currently prevalent in our region.  Young rabbits don’t get it until they are several weeks old and this time of year – late winter/early spring is the commonest time for it to break out.  Vaccination is possible but would cost $120 per rabbit initially, then a $60 booster jab annually thereafter.  Not an option alas.

Probably we’d been lucky until now, but this may well be the beginning of the end of our rabbit venture.  I don’t know how many more dead rabbits I can face burying.  In the meantime we have a litter-and-a-half (10) of rabbit kits which Billy is keen to save.  So far this entails twice daily milk feeds, gently squirted into their mouths, followed by rubbing their tummies, a little stroking and then returning them back to their run which has been scrupulously cleaned and re-assembled in the dining room.  They are incredibly cute and this is generally a very pleasant task, though quite a challenge when you have to do it before work/school.  The chances of them surviving even with this level of care is still small, but the alternative would be to euthanize them.  Fingers crossed there’ll be photos of them in next month’s blog.

The fruit bushes gifted by Ange and Matt have all been re-homed.  The pear trees are in the orchard, some of the raspberries were claimed by friends and the remaining raspberries, currants and gooseberries now have their roots in new beds in the horse arena.  They are raised beds (no chance of digging through the hard core under the gravel) enriched with more of Marion’s compost.  They’re constructed from the wood planks which held in the horse arena base.  We figured we didn’t need them to do that anymore, so they are resurrected and put to a different use.  There are more to dig up so other beds will be created.  In time hopefully they will hold feijoa, citrus and olives, and anything else that comes to mind.  Maybe eventually sunflowers or grains.  Peter’s also working on plans for a second pig run in the horse arena if he can cobble together enough building materials. This will mean that we can rotate the pig accommodation – which we’ve read is a good way to reduce the risk of disease build-up.  We plan to get more piglets towards the end of the year.  Hopefully there’ll be an excess of fruit by then to keep them happy.

 

Sam has attended the College ‘Formal’ for which he required a suit and a haircut.  The usual deal applied – he had to submit to being photographed if he wanted our financial contribution.  It’s never easy to capture him smiling, and this was no exception.  He’s in the local paper fairly frequently with his musical events, and only one so far has pictured him with anything other than a frowny scowl.  Whatever….

 





My favourite quote of the month came from a speaker at the NZ College of Midwives Conference in Hamilton at the end of last month:
‘Words cast spells.  That’s why it’s called spelling.  Words are energy – use wisely’. 
This really struck a chord with this word-lover, even though I’m guiltier than many of word over-use.  These blogs just aren't getting any shorter, despite it being nearly 3 years worth of entries.  Here's to the next 3 years of happy memories!!