Harvesting again

                                                      I am repotting my bromeliads

                                            Josh's vertical vegetable garden

Kim, our huge bell wether

22.1.2023

 

Today I am in the process of pickling some shallots from the garden and making feta cheese.  I am getting better at energy management and I found by waiting a bit I could heat the urn that pasteurises the milk without having to buy power from the grid.  It is not too hot today and a suitable temperature for cheese making.  As well as the shallots I was able to pick round and runner beans but still no cucumbers.

 

Some pumpkins are forming, already I have a large, round, yellow pumpkin but I am not sure why. The seedlings I grew and brought where not meant to look like that at all.  Oh well, we all know pumpkins are notoriously promiscuous.  I have a thicket of tomatoes but very few fruit as yet. It looks as if we will have very few plums this year but the apples and pears are doing well. I will need to put nets on them soon, or the parrots will get them.

 

Yesterday we went to Whittlesea show.  The weather was perfect and parking was easy but once inside it was disappointing.  Most country shows have exhibitions of farm machinery, country clothing and tools for sale as well as life stock penned where one can talk to their breeders.  This show had heaps of stall selling showbags and other plastic rubbish for kids. They had plenty of kids rides and activities but nothing was happening in the main arena, there was hardly an animal to see and no farm equipment, clothes or other country needs.    I took cash with me hoping to get stuff we needed but the only thing I found worth buying was a pack of garlic salt. I don’t think we will bother with this show again.

 

Josh has finished repairing the Ute and has done an amazing job. The contractor has started to mow the rest of the hay too.  We had arranged with Bo to have a day out last Wednesday. She did the morning milking and found that the goat Hellen had developed mastitis. We ended up having to bundle Hellen in the car and sit outside the vets till she could be seen. Vets can not give out antibiotics without seeing the animal any more.  Even after all this the vet did not have the right medicine to hand and we had to go back next day for the rest. So far, she has not responded well, but I still have two more injections to give her.  We have not had mastitis very often and always isolated cases, so it is hard to work out what caused this sudden onset.

 

Life was much simpler when we could keep the medicine, we needed in the farm fridge and treat animals properly as soon as something went wrong.

 

Hay making

13.1.2023

 

I have picked two beautiful red tomatoes from the garden.  Very exciting. Snow peas and zucchinis are the main crops right now but the beans are growing fast and are almost large enough to eat. I still have some sweet corn in the freezer from last season so we are eating it now before the new cobs form. It has been hot so getting new lettuce seedlings going has been challenging.

 

We have about half the hay we need in the shed. Wayne, Stevo, Graeme, Bo, Morg and his friends helped load trailers and stack it for us.  With such a large group of helpers everything got done without too much stress, in fact it was a jolly occasion.  Not so good is that Edd had arranged for the hay near us to be made into large round bales that he could fetch with the tractor but the hay contractor’s baler has broken down and so the grass has not been mowed yet.

 

Another problem is that Sev failed to put the break on hard enough, and Edd’s Ute rolled down hill and hit a tree.  One corner of the aluminium try deck was badly crumpled but it was possible to fix up the lights and use it to get hay. Now Josh has started on repairs and already it all looks much better. Josh is a bit of a genius at fixing things when the get broken.  He should know how things work because he spent most of his childhood taking everything to bits so he could see what was inside!

 

My problem is that we are under stocked and the grass is still growing. I mowed the house roof yesterday. If I had waited any longer the mower would not have coped and we would have had to whipper snip the lot!  As it was, I needed Edd to use the tractor and slasher for one corner.   We do not like to take heavy machinery onto the house roof or let the goats up there in case they damage the solar panels or sat dish.  Sheep are OK, except that we need lots more on years like this.

 

At least we are spared the floods. All over Australia people are still flooded. Fitzroy crossing up near Darwin is in terrible trouble and south Australia and up near Mildura are still in difficulties.  Fires have started in Queensland. Soon the whole of Australia will be a disaster zone if things keep going this way.  I felt very sorry for one dairy farming family who have lost all their land and have 700 cows to try and milk in. a neighbour’s rotary parlour. They think they will have to sell out and all find other work.

  

The new year starts

                                                        GOATS KIDS

                                                    the Persian sheep
 12.2023

 

I have retreated into the house because it is too hot for gardening. This year the grass is still green and the weeds are still growing so the garden round the ruins is rather out of control.  The vegetables are OK and every morning I notice the beans and pumpkins have grown overnight. The sweet corn is shooting up too. The lettuces are all bolting and starting to taste bitter if I pick them too late.  At least we have zucchinis and snow peas.

 

The elephant garlic flowered and I pulled them all up and put them in our entrance hall to dry. This means there is a strong smell of garlic as you walk into the house.  I usually dry them outside in the old ruins but Josh has taken over the space to store all his salvaged solar and electrical bits!  I forgive him because he has fixed all the leaking taps in the house that were driving me round the bend.

 

The new solar system is working well. We used power from the grid one day when it was cooler and very overcast. I decided to make cheese and put the urn on to pasteurise the milk without checking if the battery had charged up. I realise that to use the least grid power I have to be aware of the amount of light as well as the temperature and other considerations. I like the idea that we have acquired another way to consciously work with nature.

 

Today it is hot and cloudy with hot winds and the threat of storms. We think that our hay in Healesville has been cut so we are just hoping that the rain will stay away for a few more days.  Edd is trying to get a team of hay carters lined up.  We usually have Ollie and his mates but he is on holiday in Thailand. He was posting pictures on Facebook but has now had his mobile phone stolen.

 

When one way or another we have sorted hay, we will need to get the sheep shorn and moved to fresh ground. They are in two groups at present with the lambs and their mothers separate from the ram and the older sheep. The idea is to stop the ram breeding with his daughter and the old black ewe. I think another pregnancy would kill her. We have so much grass that we need every sheep possible alive and eating.  The wether hoggets ( young neutered blokes), are valued as grass eaters this year rather than as food!