January 2015

 

Working night shifts over New Year meant that it didn’t exactly begin with a hiss and a roar.  Christmas was pretty memorable though.  The gorgeous Rachel and Geoff, Sam and Joe flew into Woodbourne airport and we spent a few heady days at home before setting off for Westport.  Joe did the karate chop honours with the gingerbread house before we all tucked in.  The highlight of Christmas Day itself was undoubtedly ‘Egg Roulette’, though the three-leggy, egg-and-spoon and sack races were quite competitive, and the box game ‘Linkee’ agitated a few egos.  The West Coast was magical as always.  The sea at Carter’s beach, south of Westport and just across the road from the campsite, was beautifully warm and wavy – just the place to wear everyone out at the end of a sunny day. 

 

The weather has been, and continues to be magnificent, but only if you’re holidaying.  Farming and working in 30+⁰ heat can be pretty heinous, and drought is looming its ugly head.  On the plus side, it’s motivated me to get round to extending the orchard irrigation to include the new nut trees.  And the hay was cut, turned, baled and stacked without any need for speed.  It remains very satisfying to see the hay in the shed, albeit stacked higgledy-piggledy.  It’s the same with firewood and food-preserving – preparing winter supplies somehow nourishes your primeval soul and warms the cockles of your heart.  It’s a good feeling.

 

The rabbits haven’t sold yet, but there has been some interest so we’ll see how that goes.  No more hens have got broody.  The 4 chicks have grown rapidly.  We returned their mum to the rest of her flock, but that put her back to the end of the pecking order.  She wasn’t impressed, and managed not only to escape from that run, but also break back into her previous run to be with her chicks.  Quite a feat.

 

 

 

 

Sam and Billy managed to locate a source of clay in the Onamalutu River whilst walking the dog one day.  It’s beautiful stuff – all silvery grey and velvety.  They’ve now increased the volume to a wheelbarrow full, so building a pizza oven has hit the radar again.  We’ll probably need to get more bricks and some builders sand, but essentially we’re good-to-go.  Just need to find a little time, that’s all…

 

 

The Artificial Inseminator has been round and done the deed to Hera.  Peter was there and has picked up a few tips in the hope that we can do the next insemination ourselves.  Hera was definitely showing signs of being on heat, but Athena hasn’t done so for several weeks.  There’s still an outside chance of her being pregnant (from Zeus), so it’s really just a waiting game for her to declare herself.  All 3 of the cattle are hefty, robust beasts.  Zeus can be a bit of a handful at times, and stubborn with it.  Peter manages him with ease, but there have been moments when he’s turned on me and given me an aggressive stare.  I always make sure to have an escape route. 

The sheep are shedding.  Well, some of them are.  The photo shows one full-shedder, one partial, and one non-shedder.  All the same breed, but some must be less pure than others.  We’re hoping in time to have the luxury of choosing the best shedders from which to breed.  Hopefully the next generation of sheep will have a few more ewe lambs.  Rambo has lived on with us for much longer than we’d anticipated, and we don’t want him to impregnate any of his daughters, so we’ll be looking to get a younger replacement as soon as it’s feasible.

 

 

 

The division of the single beehive into 2 separate hives was successful.  Both queens are laying well.  The original hive is also gathering plenty of spare honey, though the frames will have to be moved around the hive boxes as many have a mix of brood and honey (plenty of it capped).  Though I’m managing to get the bee smoker fired up and smoking really well, I’m still quite clumsy and seriously upset the bees when I open the hives.  The photo shows one of the hives several hours after I checked it out.  There was even still a cluster around the hive entrance the next day.  Oops.

 

 

 

The orchard continues to delight.  Some trees are not fruiting (maybe next year), but most of the rest are weighed down by their fruit-bounty.  Even the 2 mature trees (plum and peach) that fruited so profusely last year are again heavily laden.  Some of their branches hang over the pig run, so hopefully they’ll be gifted from above.  The plums are pinking up nicely, so are thinned whenever I’m passing for pig treats.  In time (a very long time) the nut trees will also be able to contribute to the pig treats.  In the meantime they’re leafing-up well, optimistically rooting-up well too.

The pigs are still cute, and still hungry.  They seem to particularly enjoy their sprouted grains (wheat, barley, maize and peas) – quite satisfying because it’s a real chore to rinse all 5 buckets twice a day.  They’re a good protein source, much cheaper than commercial pig tucker and we’re going with the assumption that they’re nutritious.  They also enjoy weeds (how convenient!) and any other waste from the veg garden and orchard.  Though they have plenty of shade and water, they are susceptible to sunburn, and have a tendency to become pink behind the ears and backside.  I’ve heard that some pig-owners lather them with sunscreen, but I’ve drawn the line at that.

 

The veg garden is truly a wondrous place.  It took me a half-day to entirely weed the beds and paths on the left side.  Much easier than last year, when it would have taken the same time to clear half a bed.  Potatoes and peas are being harvested, along with onions, beetroot, artichokes, broad beans, silver beet and kale.  Carrots and beans will be ready soon, and the bulbous sugar beets are becoming huge.  Those in the photo resemble feet both in looks and size.   The soft fruit has also been amazing.  Bags and bags of blackcurrants and gooseberries are in the freezer, and raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries and redcurrants are regularly grazed.

    

Madame Cholet’s crops are also coming of age.  Tomatoes and cucumbers are ready, and the chilli, melon and watermelon plants have survived the slugs and are growing away.  The basil isn’t very prolific, nor are the pepper plants, though they have also survived the slugs.  It’s been necessary to water twice a day when the outside mercury hits the late 20’s and above, but this is now easily done as I’ve installed an irrigation system in there.   It’s just made up of off-cuts from the orchard irrigation – not ideal but considerably better than nothing.

 

This month’s blog is early only because I’m away working on the West Coast.  It’s quite liberating to just have myself to look after, to have a little head-space.  But I do miss home big time.   Not just the people, but also the place: our sanctuary.  It’s the only place I’ve ever lived that I’ve felt a connection to, and a responsibility for honouring the land.  We’re really happy with the work we’ve done so far to this end, even if it means we’re turning into unsocial hermits.  In the meantime the boys are growing into adults.  Lucas turns 20 today – no longer a teenager.  Must be getting maudlin in my old age!  Talking of old age, I'll leave the last word to Rachel and Geoff: