September 2013

A much less emotional month compared to August, at least so far.  Animals are thriving, buds are bursting, pastures are fresh-green, sand-flies are biting, and weeds have well and truly unleashed themselves.  Spring is in the air, a few frosty nights but some stunning sunny days.  The seasonal wind has also set in, and a recent storm damaged more trees and branches, and threw the trampoline into the bushes again. 

The calves are simply delightful.  Athena is like a sturdy toddler now, mischievous and prone to episodes of lively darting around.  Zeus still has a marked limp, and we wonder if his left front leg was broken or if it was extensive soft tissue damage during his traumatic birth.  Investigations to confirm this would be tricky and costly (how to X-ray a calf?).  Despite his limp he has no difficulty getting around and playing with Athena, so we’ve decided to let the healing process take place without intervention.  All the cattle are peacefully together now, but Butch is getting to be a bit of a handful.  Peter has occasionally had to bop him on the nose to sort him out.  He’s next in line for the freezer, so his behaviour is probably a bit unwise!

We’re enjoying the sheep too.  We now have a total of 11 (Rambo, 5 ewes and 5 lambs) so they make up quite a flock.  The 4 boy-lambs and the one ewe which didn’t birth are also destined for the freezer in a few months.  Harry, the rejected lamb, is now the fattest, even though he’s down to one milk feed a day.  He’d feed way more often than that if he had the choice.  Many of the hours we spend pottering around outside are serenaded by his constant baa-ing.  We give him a 2^nd feed of warm water in the evenings, which he knocks back in exactly the same way as he guzzles his milk.  He’s still pretty cute, though now quite capable of bowling me over at feed times.

4 of the chooks have moved residence, so we’re now left with 7 hens and Bob-junior the rooster.  Not the original Bob-junior, but his brother who had lived chez Derryn pretending to be one of the girls.  He eventually gave himself away with some cock-a-doodle-doos and was swiftly dispatched back to us.  In the short time he’s been here, he’s grown considerably and there is no doubt that he’s male.  Derryn is looking into getting some fertile Cochin eggs (a meat-breed) to put under her broody hens.  They’ll come to us when they’re a few weeks old - we’ll be a bit like a chook finishing school.

The rabbit numbers are down (though Belladonna has a new litter), and we’ve been on another learning curve here.  The two tiny (stunted) kits from Galadriel’s litter had been fostered by Karyn and fattened up.  They’d had a great time, spoiled with food and affection.  On their return they went back to the remainder of their siblings.  The biggest of these was a very dominant bully and for the first time I really understood where the pet name ‘Thumper’ comes from.  When he stamped his foot we could hear it from the back of the house.  One of the kits was found dead after the storm, and the other a few days later.  Our suspicions were confirmed when we found another rabbit with a wound on his back - a result of unwanted attention from Thumper.  Suffice to say that we have enjoyed rabbit pie for tea tonight….

The orchard is looking beautiful, and nearly looks like a real orchard now.  It’s still pretty well cropped by the sheep, and several of the trees are full of blossom.  Some of the herbal ley plants are also re-awakening, and the comfrey is well on its way.  Roll on fresh fruit in the summer.  The native planting in the wetland and the horse arena is also much more visible.  Hopefully the plants that have survived this far will continue to do so.  I’m still dreaming of that tunnel house once there’s enough wind protection.

The veg garden is the apple of my eye, even though in many places it is in serious need of weeding and tidying up.  About 2/3 of the paths are created, recently using some chippings from a neighbour further down the valley who has a tree business (and does our hay).  A giant load for the princely sum of a few beers.   One more load like that should be enough to finish it all off.  I have had some nightmares in which all the wood chippings are blown away, but this has yet to materialise.  The pathways are uneven in places after strong winds, but that’s easily remedied.  Though we have now scoffed all the carrots, the garden is still productive.  Mostly right now the mainstays are brassicas, swedes and leeks.  Hopefully it won’t be long before the recently sown seeds will crop.  In the absence of a greenhouse, they’re lining the shelves of the Gin Palace.  Seed growing continues to fill me with a childish sense of magic and wonder, and so far so good - there’s quite a good strike rate.  This year there’ll be more crops for the cows, sheep and rabbits - kale, sugar beet and mangels, and plenty of corn for the chooks.  The expectation of an abundant crop of everything is totally mesmerising, probably more exciting than the eventual reality.  The joys of a vivid imagination!

The herb garden has had a bit of a face-lift.  Well just a good old weed-out really.  It is looking pretty good though.  Particularly gorgeous is the arnica, which has been showing off its happy bright yellow flowers for weeks now.  A little while ago I planted a pack of 6 curly-leaved parsleys, and discovered at least 12 of them during weeding.  Hmmm, patience obviously would have served me well.  There are also some gladioli popping up, which keep doing so even though I’ve believed them to be all dug up several times.  No doubt they’ll get hammered by the wind as usual.

We’re delighted to be finally welcoming one of Peter’s relatives to New Zealand (visitors so far have been my family and friends, so quite a momentous occasion).  Dave, his cousin Janet’s son who we last met many years ago when he was a little boy, has been travelling around Australia and is now heading here.  We’re also eagerly anticipating the arrival of Mum and Nick next week.  They’ll be flying into Christchurch where I’ll meet them and bring them home.  We can’t wait to show them around the property.  Then I’ll be taking them on a short holiday to Te Anau, whilst Sam goes to Rotorua with the National Secondary Schools Brass Band and Billy plays his soccer tournament in Queenstown.   Daylight Saving starts on the day Mum and Nick arrive.  Long and happy days ahead. 

 

August 2013

 

Never a dull moment - all up it’s been a thoroughly exciting and emotional month.   Though it’s technically still winter and there’s been plenty of rain (especially at weekends), there have also been many spring-like days which are fooling some of the plants into new growth.  Let’s hope it won’t be harshly destroyed by winter deciding to make a come-back.  We’re definitely enjoying it while it lasts, and hopefully we’ll start to see the pasture growth kick-started as well as the fresh new buds. 

The main excitement has been on the animal front.  Persephone and Aphrodite are now proud mothers.  Persephone was first up with a prolonged labour.  Peter and Lucas happened to be on their first day of a new job, and were subjected to a barrage of my texts about what to do next.   After watching her on-and-off most of the day, and then 3 and a half hours of being able to see the calves hooves sticking out, the vet was eventually called.  Her big calf, Athena, was finally extracted using extensive pulling with chains around her front hooves.  Both mother and daughter were quite shocked immediately, but amazingly were mobile within the hour.  The gorgeous Athena has since put her traumatic entry into the world well and truly behind her.

Aphrodite had an even harder time.  Her boy calf, Zeus, was born using chains and a calf-puller.  It was over an hour before she could stand up after the birth, but poor Zeus wasn’t so lucky.  He’s now several days old and cannot properly stand as his front hooves were damaged during the birth.  It was definitely touch and go at the beginning.  We had to lure Aphrodite into the shelter and then move Zeus so he was in a position to feed from her.  He’s even bigger than Athena so this was no mean feat.  After a day and a half, the vet prescribed him a painkiller and antibiotic, and these definitely seemed to help.  At least he was able to prop himself into a feeding position.  Probably he was in considerable pain, with his left foot still severely swollen from the chains.  We give him daily ‘therapy’ in the form of bridging him over a hay bale and soaking his front hooves in a solution of Epsom salts.  He is making progress and can now get up onto his right foot, and he’s had a repeat dose of both medications.  We're really hoping that it's tissue damage and nothing's broken.  I’ll shed a tear when this cutie does eventually take his first steps! 

 

The hens are finally laying properly, meaning way more eggs than we need.  Alas that means way more baking than we need, but usually not too many complaints about that.  We’re going to try and sell a few of the hens.  Many rabbits have been sold, and we’re now down to just 9.  The twice daily feeding round had been becoming easier, until the calving and lambing.  Now the new mothers get a few extra tid-bits in the interests of postnatal nourishment.

 
In between the calving we had lambing.  A set of twins first (Hermione and Neville) who just arrived and settled in.  So little trouble compared to calving (famous last words).  Two days later another set of twin lambs arrived (2 boys) but this was going to be far less straightforward.  The mother ewe rejected the first lamb (Harry), and set about caring for the second (Ron).  Despite Harry’s best efforts, she just wasn’t having him.  Advice to pen them up together and pin the mother ewe down so that the lamb could feed seemed promising at first.  The idea is that once the lamb starts to process her milk she recognises him as one of her own.  After the first 2 days of persistent resistance, young Harry was really no further forward, and being repeatedly and aggressively bowled away by his mum.  Suffice to say he’s now bottle-fed, though we’re doing our best to keep him close to his mum and brother.  She doesn’t look out for him, but if he hangs around she tolerates him.  Only if he wanders away and loses sight of them is he all alone and potentially in trouble.  So far so good with keeping them together as a family, and fingers crossed he can hang on in there.  For the record, they were named by Billy who also named the older lamb ‘Hagrid’.  Harry Potter had no parents, hence his name.  Ron as the younger lamb, stayed slightly more orange than Harry for a while. 

The orchard has been grazed and groomed by the sheep and is now looking considerably less untidy than it has for a while.  They have knocked down a few stakes, but nothing that can’t be easily replaced.  Optimistically it should be being well-fertilised.  Around the property there are signs that the native planting is coming away - those in the wetland and in the horse arena (destined to provide wind-protection for a tunnel-house) are thriving and big enough to be more visible.  That’s good news and a great feeling to be successfully returning native plants to the land. 

 

The veg garden is definitely getting there, with or without my imagination.  Wood chippings are now covering well over a 1/3 of the paths.  The gin palace is complete, even decorated with a beautiful bench cushion crafted by Derryn.  I couldn’t resist being prepared and filling up seed trays with potting compost.   I made the compost primarily for hedge cuttings but it should also be good for seedlings.  The ordered veg seeds have arrived and early potatoes are busy chitting under the bed. Three of the circular beds are now planted with a low hedge on their perimeter - box, dwarf lavender and lonicera.  They should grow to be no higher than about 50cms, so should provide a great living border and wind-protection.  Enough cuttings to do 3 more beds have been taken, plus another batch of cuttings from an existing teucrium in the garden.  Hopefully that means that next year they’ll be ready to plant out around some of the other circular beds.  A couple of apple trees trained as step-over espaliers will make low hedges around a bed which houses fruit.  Hopefully I won’t stuff that up with useless pruning.  Next year the same will be done with a fig tree - apparently they can grow several feet a year horizontally if they are well-managed.  I’ve also bagged a plain metal archway which is hammered into the ground at the entrance to the veg garden.  In a few years there will be pears drooping from its branches to be grabbed in passing.  A bit of height in the veg garden is definitely needed for shade and wind-protection - here’s hoping that will make a difference come spring.

 

The veg garden and its surrounds are also benefitting from music.  A local vineyard owner (Peter Yealand) famously plays classical music to his vines, and his staff have also noticed a considerable increase in egg size from hens who are within hearing distance of the music.  Maybe totally mad, but a brief Google search suggests that there are many other mad people around, as well as research evidence of music’s effectiveness.  Classical music is the most commonly played, but Indian music (such as Ravi Shankar) is believed to work too.  I’ve loaded an old ipod with classical music from the library and bought a small solar-powered speaker.  It makes for pleasant gardening.

The woodlot is!  It’s all fenced and gated, and planted up with over 60 young trees.  The holes were dug and back-filled with a soil/compost mix.  Each tree is marked with a bamboo stick, and should probably be staked but I’m hoping to get away without the hassle.  They’re all young trees and optimistically they shouldn’t put up much wind-resistance.   Yep, a pretty crap excuse I know.  The land is also particularly prone to thistles, so managing that will be another job once spring really gets its foot in the door.

 

 

Along with plant-life, we’ve also enjoyed the many opportunities to bird-watch.   Spotted so far are: kingfisher, tui, silvereye, kereru (wood pigeon), pukeko, shelduck, mallard, bellbird, weka, Australasian harrier, spur-winged plover, white-faced heron, Californian quail, swallow, yellowhead, fantail, yellowhammer, goldfinch, redpoll and Australian magpie.  Despite the local population of mice, that’s quite a few reasons not to keep a cat, though Maggie would absolutely love to have one of her own to torture. 

Surely by now we must be getting towards the end of the development phase and nearly at the maintenance point?  I’d really like to think so, but alas that’s not  obviously the reality.  Maybe it is a life-sentence block after all.  There’re still an awful lot of jobs to be done, many of them needing to be completed before spring.  I’m really holding out for a garden angel, or maybe a miracle.   Whatever the property looks like, it’ll be great to spend time with visitors in October (Mum and Nick) and December (Marcus, Nikki, Arthur, Jago and Freya).  Must go, I can hear Harry bleating outside - it’s time for another feed.

July 2013

As each month rolls by, I’m always concerned that there’ll be nothing left to blog about.  Then I end up writing so much it needs editing out.  The weather has been unremarkable, with plenty of frosty mornings, sunny days and enough rain.  Earthquakes have been a theme though.  A weekend of them, plus some more, with aftershocks still persisting.  The epicentre is nearby in the Cook Strait, closer to the small town of Seddon, but also causing damage in Blenheim and Wellington.  As I write, some of Wellington’s city centre has yet to re-open.   Apart from wonky pictures and a sense of being unsettled, we’ve been fine here.  Fingers crossed the quakes pass, without feeling the need to sock us with the ‘big one’.

To our surprise, we woke up one morning to a newborn lamb.  It shouldn’t really have been a surprise as Rambo has been alongside his ‘girls’ all the time, except when he went on his shagging vacation.  We’re wondering if this mother-ewe became pregnant before he went on holiday, and hoping that maybe this is the one who didn’t lamb last year.  Time will tell, and in the meantime we can at least enjoy the happy gambolling of this beautiful boy lamb (whilst trying not to remember that eventually we’ll eat him!).  We’re still eagerly anticipating Persephone’s calf.  She’s due in early August (and Aphrodite later in August) so it could be any time now.  In the meantime, Hera’s settling beautifully into the herd.  All of them are becoming increasingly tame.  Butch bowls across the pasture with the others in hot pursuit when he sees Peter in his fluorescent work jacket, knowing that hay is on the menu. 

The pigs had an appointment with the home-kill man.  Three were processed at the local butchers, with the meat from two going to friends.  The remaining one was butchered at home, with the much-appreciated help of Glenn (and Mandy who came round for coffee but ended up getting roped into the action).  The outcome - our very own home-made wet and dry cure bacon, burgers, ham, sausages, chorizo, prosciutto and the salamis in the picture.   I’d planned to make black pudding, but it wasn’t possible for the blood to be collected.  It’ll be a while before we know if the salamis and prosciutto have been successful, as they’ll have to hang for week/months, but so far so good for the others. 

Four of the roosters met the same fate.  Two of these were Derryn's, and she was well-impressed with the taste.  That leaves us with 14 chooks, mostly hens but some could go either way.  That's still more than we need in terms of eggs, which at least we are getting now.  Probably we're getting lots of eggs, but the chooks keep escaping out of their run and darned if we know how they’re getting out - they wait until we’re not looking.  Every now and then we find a clutch of eggs somewhere on the property.  Wing-clipping is the next plan, as there’s a chance they’re finding a way out over the top.

The rabbits are still gorgeous and growing and getting through a mountain of food.  Shortly after the last blog, we realised that something was very wrong with Galadriel.  Her back legs were nearly totally lame.  An internet search indicated that either it was a temporary paralysis, an infection, or a broken back.  Time eventually confirmed the latter, but we’ve no idea how that could have happened.  She remained unable to move, and after nearly 2 weeks of care in the form of daily bathing (to wash away the excrement), her condition deteriorated significantly and we put her down.  Such a sad moment.  At that time, her kits were just 5 weeks old, but at least she’d been able to successfully raise her young to weaning.   She’d seemed to enjoy those warm baths, massage and gentle stretching - at least we were able to do that for her.  Her body now nourishes a newly planted persimmon tree in the orchard, and her kits continue to thrive.

The veg garden has visibly changed.  All the beds are now created and the shelter (aka the Gin Palace) is progressing quickly.  A couple of changes of plan include a ‘window’ and a couple of shelves for propagating seeds, which will add to its functional capacity.  Can’t wait to see and use the final version!  The process of covering the grassy/weedy pathways within and between the circular beds has begun, using cut-open stock feed bags, cardboard and the wood chippings we created from the wetland willows.  It’s great to be recycling all those materials, though it’ll take considerably more than we’ve got to complete the whole area.  Cardboard’s not a problem, but a weed-mat equivalent may be more challenging.  Hopefully we’ll be able to source some chippings from a neighbour who has a tree business.  Everything looks a bit brown at the moment, but that should change once the crops are planted. 

All the fruit bushes have been transplanted from the orchard and located in what will hopefully be their final positions.  Many of them are already starting to bud up.  The seed catalogues are out, so time to start planning!  I’ve saved many seeds from last year’s crops and flowers, probably way too many.  Actually it’s not only probably, it’s definitely too many.  Optimistically they’ll be good currency with which to trade, assuming that my labelling hasn’t been too haphazard.

Sam went away with the band for a national contest, so me, Billy and Lucas decided to have a quick break in Hanmer Springs.  Billy took his friend Joshua again, and Lucas took girlfriend Sophie.  Lots of pool and lolly shop time for them, and some reading and walking time for me.   We met with snow, ice and slush on the mountainous parts of the drive over, but the return journey weather was sunny and simply glorious.  Kaikoura was particularly stunning, and we stopped off at Ohau Point to check out the seals.  A short walk through native bush leads to a beautiful fountain and freshwater pool which they use as their playground.  A truly special place. 

Then back home to another special place.  The Onamalutu Valley continues to be a source of beauty, whatever the season.  Mount Riley, the highest peak in our area, has been snow-capped at times, adding to its serenity.  The frosty mornings are delightful, announcing sunny days ahead.  We’re getting some hints of spring, mostly in the form of insect bites and bumblebees, but at least a sign.  The days are stretching out, slowly and gently promising that balmy days are on their way. 

 

 

June 2013

Life’s been a bit quieter on the farm lately, or maybe the shorter days are creating an illusion, tricking us into believing that we’re doing less because we’ve got fewer daylight hours.  We’ve had plenty of very frosty mornings, and also plenty of rain.  That’s made it harder to get outside jobs done, but has given us the opportunity to do some thinking and planning.  At least the shortest day has passed (and celebrated traditionally with the planting of garlic), so I guess we can start looking forward to spring.

We’ve been greeting some new animal additions.  Another litter of rabbits (beautifully tucked up in their fur nest) - congratulations Galadriel!  My bad dreams and lost sleep over the young kits either floating away in imagined floods, or frozen to death during a minus 6° night have happily not eventuated.  It seems that they’re tougher than they look.

Plus a new heifer.  She’s a gorgeous Speckled Park cross, who now goes by the name of Hera* (Greek Goddess of marriage).  She’s just 6 months old and is very petite next to the others.  She travelled down from the north island and was picked up by Peter and Lucas from the holding yards in Blenheim.  She’s a feisty girl (maybe already living up to her namesake), and it took them ages to load her onto the horse float.  They’d chased her round the paddock many times, and were about to give up when Lucas’ Iphone came to the rescue (see - they do have their uses after all).  By using it as a torch, the horse float was illuminated and Hera trotted in.  On arrival at our place, she ran over to greet the other cows, only to find that they ran away in fear - the not-so-butch Butch leading the way.  It was quite a sight, the 3 large cows running away from the tiny little one.  Anyway, all was quickly resolved and very soon Hera became one of the herd.

 

The fruit trees in the orchard have now lost most of their leaves, and most of the low hedge has been transplanted into the veg garden.  A couple of new fruit trees have gone in too – a very pretty loquat, and a mulberry to replace one which didn’t survive.  We plan to get the sheep into the orchard so they can enjoy the range of herby weeds and hopefully tidy the place up a bit.  Optimistically they won’t be interested in the leafless fruit trees.  One of the ewes was limping, and we’d made plans to round them all into the race and check her out.  Of course she then decided to stop limping; hopefully it was just something like a small rock stuck in her hoof.  So far our animals have remained healthy and reproductive despite our lack of farming knowledge.  Maybe more good luck than good measure, but fingers crossed it lasts at least until we have a bit more know-how.

Some visible progress in the veg garden, with another mandala and 3 new fruit trees in a newly-created oval bed.  The idea is that these trees are hedge-like, contributing towards the ultimate wind protection of the as-yet-virtual tunnel-house.  They are all modern hybrids - a plumcot, a peachcot and a tomcot, which shouldn’t grow too big and which will be under-planted with strawberries (including delicious alpine strawberries which will be able to run wild).  I also couldn’t resist buying 3 blueberry bushes, and am in the process of developing a bed for them.  I’m digging in a sack of peat which ages ago was bought cheaply from a garden centre’s closing down sale.  Hopefully it will nourish and provide a good pH for them.

The woodlot is now much more than a twinkle in our eyes.  We’ve identified where it will be (at the back of the property near the river boundary), sourced the necessary fencing, collected about 60 young trees and marked where they will all go.  Just simply a case of actually fencing and planting.  Probably a few more trees will be added as we go along.  Kahikatea and black beech are not available this year from the local native nursery, so they will have to be added next year.  There are 3 ‘sugar maple’ trees, from which we’ll be able (allegedly) to tap maple syrup in 5 years, plus some other trees for colour, like liquidamber and witch hazel.  It’s very satisfying be planting so many trees, can’t wait until they’re established.

It’s come to the end of an era for the chooks.  Bob and Bob Jnr are no more, so the flock will have to hammer out its new leader – find the new Bob.  Their processing and eating was another time of mixed emotions for me, but not anyone else of course.  The pigs will be with us until early next month.  I’m still much less attached to them as I was to last year’s pigs.  This seems to be a process, because I haven’t deliberately tried to withdraw from them.  Their numerous adventures out of the run haven’t been endearing, and have led to many fortifications.  This means that we avoid going into the run because it’s not easy to get in and out.  We throw food in from the outside, and only really go in to add more hay to their bedding and sort out their water.  One of them once bit my hand when I was repairing a probable escape route.  It was more of an exploratory bite than anything, but has made me more cautious about going in.  Their current feeding troughs are wooden, which the pigs play with, moving them all round the run.  They also don’t have drainage, so when it rains the troughs fill up with muddy water.  They don’t seem to mind, but we’d definitely prefer an easier and cleaner way to feed them.  We do have plans for a new pig run, which should be better designed for access and feeding.  It’s on the to-do list after building my veg garden shelter.

On the family front, we are now parents of only teenagers.  Our ‘baby’ Billy had his 13^th birthday last week, celebrated with movie and sleepover and lots of junk food.  He’s gone from having a Northern hemisphere summer birthday to a winter one.  As I chuck another log on the fire, which has also heated the bath water and cooked the dinner, I feel deeply contented and a bit smug.  There’s a lot to enjoy about winter.

*Hera is the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian Pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function is as the goddess of women and marriage. The cow, lion and the peacock are sacred to her. Hera's mother is Rhea and her father Cronus.
She's portrayed as majestic and solemn, often enthroned, and crowned with the polos (a high cylindrical crown worn by several of the Great Goddesses).  Hera was known for her jealous and vengeful nature, most notably against Zeus's lovers and offspring, but also against mortals who crossed her, such as Pelias. Paris offended her by choosing Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess, earning Hera's hatred.

 

May 2013

 

Autumn seems to be giving way to winter far too quickly.  Or perhaps that’s just a perception, an indication that life is too busy.  Only a few frosty mornings really, always giving way to stunning sunny days with temperatures sometimes still in the 20s.  It’s such a beautiful place to watch and enjoy the seasons.  This gorgeous sunflower seeded itself just outside the house, and grew really quickly to flowering.  For the first time, we’re feeling pretty well prepared for the coming months.  The solar power works beautifully even when temperatures are low.  There’s plenty of wood for hot water, warmth and cooking, though we have yet to really get to grips with the oven.  We’ve managed roasts and casseroles (using our own produce), but it may be a while before we’re brave enough to try anything that requires finer heat tuning.  We’re also using the hob top sometimes too.

We’re even feeling quite well-prepared in terms of animal housing, though there are always still some adjustments to be made.  The chooks are in 2 zones.  The youngest ones are about 9 weeks old now and will be joining the grown-ups in a few weeks.  At least one of them is a boy - we hear him trying to cock-a-doodle-do.  It’s a cutely pathetic attempt so far, but he is declaring himself at a young age.  I’m not so fond of him when he pecks my cold hands in the mornings as I’m reaching in to collect or return their waterer.  All up, we have 20 chooks, and last week I had to buy eggs.  The laying hens (8 of them) are moulting, so are off-the-lay, and the rest are either boys or too young.  At least it was a good opportunity to be reminded that our own eggs are far superior to shop-bought ones, even free-range. 

The rabbits continue to be a delight.  The first litter of kits are now about 10 weeks old, and 3 are already sold.  The second litter are about 3 weeks old and have reached the peak of cuteness.   We’ve moved them all out of the garden in the hope that the lawn will recover - there are several pock-marks from botched escape missions.  They’re now dispersed into 4 houses in the small fenced area between the garden and the veg area.  We can still keep an eye on them from the house, though this doesn't help when you're trying to convince yourself that they are not pets.

The home-kill man came and dispatched one steer (Woody) and the two ram lambs.  The passing of Woody was even felt by the usually emotionally-detached Peter - the next day he went out with 4 apples to give the cows, and allegedly felt a pang of guilt when it dawned on him there were only 3 left.  We decided to have a go at processing one of the lambs, which is how we came to have a whole lamb carcase on our dining table.  Glenn used to be a butcher back in the UK, and he came round to show us how to do it.  I watched, and Peter had a go and he feels OK to go it alone next time.  Glenn says he’ll come back and help us butcher a pig.  It’s moments like this when it almost feels like we’re living in a parallel universe, so far from townie life that it seems unreal. 

Rambo went away on holiday for a few weeks and is now back with the flock.  It was one of those ‘working’ holidays - a kind of ‘Club 18’ with lots of shagging, so hope he enjoyed himself.   And let’s hope he didn’t wear himself out to the extent of not being able to service our ewes.  We’re hoping they may already be pregnant, but have no real idea about conception dates.  More spring lambs would be delightful.

 

The veg garden is undergoing somewhat of a transformation, though is currently in bomb-site mode.  We’ve put in 2 ‘ponds’ - an old bath tub and water trough (with Ander’s help), and added nearly 3 more mandalas.  Even if it’s just my imagination (ok yep, definitely just my imagination), it’s starting to take shape.  Peter has clad the front of the tin shed over the water pump with old half-round posts, so it looks a bit like a log cabin.  We’ll be adding some trellising onto the sides for climbing fruit like cocktail kiwis and passion fruit to grow up.  There are tentative designs for a (deckchair and gin) shelter behind the ponds, which can also double as tool-storage.   We’ve used up all the rocks, seaweed and newspaper, and will need lots more cardboard to complete the groundwork.  There are another 2 full-size mandalas to go in, plus a few smaller beds, and all the pathways need to be created. 

 

The veg in the original mandala beds has benefitted from the extra nourishing attention.  Never before have I grown such huge cauliflowers, and the leeks, beetroot, spinach, cabbage, broccoli and yellow bush beans are fabulous too.  Carrots are feeding us several times a week and we’re still getting through the potatoes.  There’s plenty more to come, including onions, Jerusalem artichokes, kale, Brussels sprouts, purple-sprouting and broad beans.  I even got round to harvesting some tobacco leaves, and have hung them indoors to dry for now.  It’s such a beautiful plant which I couldn’t resist growing, even though I’m not a smoker.  I might just have to take up smoking so I can reap the benefit.  Alternatively I guess I could encourage my kids to smoke - after all it is organic tobacco!

 

The pastures are looking great - fresh, green and lush. 3 paddocks have now been re-sown with a mix of grazing herbs, so hopefully enough to keep the cattle and sheep going without much supplementary feed for a few more weeks. The original hay paddock (the biggest paddock) is in need of a good clear out before we can use it for hay again. Several piles of pine waste ended up in there, and though some clearance has been done, there are still lots of twigs, sticks and other debris which should be more visible in winter. More of the native plants in the wetland are apparent, fingers crossed that hundreds more put in an appearance as the weedy growth diminishes in the cold.

 

Hopefully winter will reduce the number of jobs on the hit list, but there’s no sign of that so far.  Young trees are still growing in bags, awaiting transfer to a woodlot zone which is yet to be created.  Transferring the soft fruit plants from the orchard into the veg garden is becoming another priority, as is sorting out fencing and adding a gate to get better access into the back paddocks.   Then we have to work out where we can house next-years pigs (assuming we get more next year - if they continue with their Houdini missions, we may think again).  We’ve read that you shouldn’t keep them on the same plot for more than 2 years.  Occasional housework wouldn’t go amiss either (but then, when wouldn’t it?).  Etc. etc. etc….Time to go and get on with something. 

 

 

 

April 2013

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.