June 2015

I’m starting to write this blog from a not-so-sunny Westport where I have a bit of work.  It’s rained on and off the whole weekend so far.  I have managed to get out and take a walk along the beautiful Carter’s Beach where we holidayed over Christmas.  The rain held off until I was at the furthest point of my walk.  There must have been a big storm which wiped out some of the mature trees which had been holding the sand bank together.  The remaining tree roots make impressive natural sculptures.  The pathway down onto the beach has also disappeared, so I had to leap down and fervently hope that it’d be possible to clamber back up again.  It was, but there’s still sand in the car.

The weather has also caused problems along the Kaikoura coast.  I recently drove back from Christchurch and was naively enjoying the thrill of huge waves which were splashing up onto the main highway and the windscreen.  The road north of Kaikoura was closed, so I was obliged to spend a few hours killing time around Kaikoura beach and shops before heading back home.  It’s a hard life etc.  The remainder of the coastal journey was slow-going, as there were long stretches with only one lane open.  The lane closest to the sea was littered with seaweed, driftwood, gravel and rocks - some of them bigger than footballs.  News stories told of vehicles being lifted up by the waves before the road was closed.  Not a great photo - it was taken out of my car window whilst slowly driving along.  The sea is usually turquoise/blue rather than white foam.

The veg garden has been a little neglected, though the weeding (as much as I’m doing) is nearly complete and there are only a few places that need to be mulched with the burned hay.  Crop-wise it’s still productive, though this is mostly leeks, carrots, Jerusalem artichokes and some greens.  Extra rocks from Sam’s garden clearance have been added to the fruit bed walls, so they do a better job of holding in the mulch.  The stock crop of ‘Mammoth Mangels’ (above) are thriving and seem to be still growing when very little else is.  The sugar beet isn’t so fond of the cold but is still alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There has been progress in the horse arena, though it’s still mostly in the conceptual phase.  We mapped out the whole arena, sketching the structures already there, and realised that even with some expansion there’s still a heck of a lot of unaccounted-for space.  More than half in fact.  We really don’t want to create more and more planting beds as we already have plenty, they’d cost something to set up and then would need to be looked after.  The final decision is to fence at the mid-way point and convert the unused side, holding the entry gate, back to pasture.  This will create a small paddock which would be good for housing animals who need to be separated from their mob – like lambing ewes.  The cattle probably won’t go in until the existing young trees (which we planted very soon after arriving here) are tall enough to not be munched.  

Another gate will be put in the dividing fence for access.  Madame Cholet and some raised beds are already in position.  They will be joined by a pig pen/run, divided into 2 half runs so that the pigs can be shunted across when they’ve dug up all the greenery on one side.  We’re hoping there’re enough wood planks in the ground (originally used to hold in the horse arena hard core and gravel) to create the 3 more raised beds which will fit into the space.  Eventually, there’ll be graveled weed-mat between the structures, in the hope of reducing the maintenance workload in the long run.  We have a view of the veg garden and horse arena from the living room, so it’s a relief to finally have a plan in place which will ultimately mean that we don’t look out onto a waist-high weedy horse arena.

 

 

Our freezer is now full of tender and delicious lamb and mutton.  Though they were still technically lambs at 10 months old, the butcher and the home-kill man, Bruce, were sceptical of their age as they were so large.  Bruce thinks he might charge us more than his standard lamb-rate next time if they’re the same size!  We were a little worried that we may have sacrificed volume for quality, but this doesn’t seem to be so.  Karyn and Carol, who had a lamb each, are really enjoying the meat.  The lamb legs have been so large that one has provided 4 meals worth of meat, plus some sliced cold for sandwiches.  Lamb curry and hotpot were no less tasty for being made using pre-cooked meat.  There’s plenty of chops and mince, and a big batch of home-made sausages. 

The pigs are next on the list, though we’ll have to do some juggling around in the freezer to fit them. Like last time, Karyn and Carol will have one each, we’ll send another pig to the butcher, and process the last one ourselves at home.  I’ve got recipes lined up to make pancetta bacon, sausages, chorizo, salami, ham, prosciutto and black pudding.  Plans to construct a cold smoker out of a wine barrel won’t eventuate in time for these pigs, but we’ve had an offer to use a neighbour’s.  We’ve been trying to find a way to cold smoke without using either gas or electric power – that rules out the available commercial smokers.  We seem to be getting there though, just a couple more things to source.

In the meantime the pigs have been getting more and more difficult to fill (food-wise) over the last few weeks, and the otherwise welcome rain has turned their run into more of a quagmire than a paddock.  They’ve trashed every food container, so sometimes we just have to put their food onto a dry patch of mud.  They don’t seem to mind, but we do.  There is an old concrete horse feeder which we hoped would solve the problem.  It has drainage, but this blocks with all sorts of debris and then fills with rainwater.  We’ll have to find a solution to this before we get more pigs.

The ewes are looking decidedly pregnant and we’re wondering when we might have the pleasure of beautiful baby lambs.  Last year’s lambs were born in the July, so maybe it won’t be long.  Hopefully they’ll pick a good weather day or night to give birth.  Then we’ll have to start keeping an eye out for a replacement ram – ideally one that actually sheds all its wool.  Either that or think about growing on one of our own ram lambs (assuming we get one). 

 

 

The cows are mostly managing to behave themselves, though Zeus is getting more mischievous.  He has been known to take a gate off its gudgeon pins, resulting in the need for a few fix-it jobs.  Hera’s looking more rounded in the belly.  Hopefully there’s a gorgeous calf growing in there.  We still haven’t managed to coordinate either ourselves or an AI technician to inseminate Athena, which is quite frustrating.  We’ve been using heat detection pads on her butt so at least we have a better idea of when she’s on heat.

 

This month has been relatively quiet on the farm.  Few jobs are urgent so we can slowly work our way through what we’ve got.  We’ve even had the luxury of an occasional weekend day off farm-work (mostly weather-driven), and the tantalising promise of a lie-in when the pigs are gone.  I’ve taken on lots of (too much) extra clinical work – a bit beyond making hay while the sun shines, which was the idea.  I’ve ended up with a total of only 2 days off this month, and my working days include extra travel in the form of 2 trips to Westport and 2 to Christchurch.  Hopefully that’ll mean enough earnings to actually take some leave in July.  Lucas will be home for a week and says he’ll help me with glamming up Lazy Mazy, the caravan.  Here’s hoping we can lavish on her the attention she deserves.

Back at home, Billy’s had his 15^th birthday.  He chose a normal vanilla sponge cake this time – quite a change from the usual fantastical cakes that the boys have requested over the years.  I iced it with butter icing which Billy said looked ‘professional’ – quite a coup there.  There’s also been some fantastic news on the job front for Peter – a promotion to ‘Bottling and Warehouse Manager’ in the winery.  It’ll probably mean longer working hours for him, and therefore optimistically fewer for me.  I’m guessing not quite enough to turn me into a lady of leisure.  Still, anything’s welcome.  Who knows what projects I’ll come up with when I’ve got more thinking time? The photo of Peter looking like a plonker wearing my glasses was taken by Billy.  I'm beginning to worry that Peter will die before me - how will I ever find my glasses if he does??

 

 

It’s the shortest day today – mental note to think about getting some garlic planted.  So far so good in terms of getting through winter.  It’s a real luxury to not have to scrimp on the firewood.  Dark and cosy evenings in by the fire are a kind of forced relaxation zone, which we all need.  Here’s hoping there’s enough daylight hours to get our winter jobs completed before spring arrives. 

No words of farming wisdom come to mind, so I’ll finish with this poem by Dorothy Parker which has really tickled me:

“I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table,
after four I'm under my host.”