Farm life in Spring

Sept 26 2017

The weather is definitely warming up.  I feel so much more energized when the sun is shining.  This is a good thing because we have the goats kidding, kids needing training to bottle feed, serious cheese making and building programs all on the go!  Today Stevo is replacing the door on the donga with a larger door.  (The previous door and frame had to be taken out every time we moved something large in or out, fridges for example.)

Last week Stevo and Edd put up a ceiling in the tool shed. This stops swallows nesting on the beams and shitting on all the tools, which is a big improvement. There are swallows that sit above the donga windows too that we plan to relocate elsewhere.  I actually love the sparrows but they are so messy that I do not need them in places I have to keep clean.

The sheep have been in the little crofts above the goat shed eating up the capeweed before it flowers.  We wormed them going in and we have done the lambs tails this week when we got them out.  We have eight female lambs and only one male. (The goats have gone the other way with two female kids and six male).  We neglected this work last year, when Edd had his knee replacement, and ended up with three rams.  They are now baled up in the yards waiting to be sent off. It feels much better to be back in control again this year.

I am trying to decide what sort of vacuum sealer to buy for storing cheese. If I wax the cheeses they often grow mold but if I leave them un-waxed they go hard as rocks.  In effect this means that there is only a small time gap at about two months when I get a good cheese to eat. I consulted the cheese makers I buy supplies from and they suggested vacuum sealing but it is difficult to choose from the many types available when I know so little about the process.