We are very excited to have had 34mm of rain so far, with more falling right now. And, a cool change has come through, not only making Christmas celebrations much more comfortable, but kinder on all animals (including humans) & plants. Even our very expensive hole (a dam that leaks & has not yet held water) which we have been putting bentonite in & making a slurry each time we have had rain - there is water in it. Ruby dam has noticeably more water in it too, which the geese enjoy. The rain has softened all of the soil, so we did a lot of weeding, vegetable & tagasaste planting & mulching in the kitchen garden today - a transformation indeed! More bagasse mulch is needed, but I'll be able to plant out more veges later in the week. The piglets & chickens were very glad to have the greenstuff too. I even planted some strawberries today in the chicken yard - hopefully the sharp eyed chickens will not find them with all of the other delights so easy to find.
The piglets are really growing. They aren't silly, & have stayed snug & warm in their house, whilst their slave brings them warm morning mash & evening feeds. A lot of the little chicks join them during the day, which they don't seem to mind, but I have had to go out at dusk & catch all bedraggled unhappy chicks who can't find their way back to their own pen.
The cows & calves are doing well, & were fed some dry hay today which they liked. Marli, our oldest alpaca, died today - at least 16 years since she arrived in Australia from Chile. She was the matriarch of our herd, & a really great mother, & we have lots of her daughters & grand daughters in our herd. We will miss her.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Interns, Chickens & Harvesting
We have just enjoyed our first permaculture trained farm helper, which was a delight on so many fronts. Not only did we have some help to do all of the many farm jobs each day (feeding the poddy calf, cattle, pigs, poultry, gardening), we made a new friend & enjoyed good conversation too. All of the vegetable seedlings have been planted out, & about 3/4 of the kitchen garden has been weeded & thickly mulched, also providing much interest & nutritional work in the chicken & pig pens. And, we look forward to a repeat visit early in the New Year as well as later in the year, so it seems to have been a beneficial practical learning experience for them too. Having learned some more about the various permaculture internships on offer, it is making us think very deeply about what we can offer in terms of really ethical practical structured internships at our farm, so I'm sure there will be more on that front in the new year.
Last week's searing heat & scorching winds were a challenge for all of our farm animals, especially our chickens. Although we lost 4 of the 1 week old Buff Orpingtons (despite eyedropper feeding with cold electrolytes & bringing them into the house in a cat box), all of the other poultry (even the old girls) came through unscathed. All of the pens have deep shade, with multiple water dishes in the shade too, but even so, I went around to all of the pens at about 3.30pm delivering electrolyte solution with ice blocks! We had put a plastic sand pit filled with water in the pig pen, & they really love lying in it to get cool! On the really hot days, I have been opening all of the gates & letting all the poultry & pigs who live in Chookingham Palace (our permanent poultry pen, with 4 separate areas inside 100m of electronet, currently inhabited by geese, ducks, chickens - an egg laying Black Sussex cross flock, a meat bird/eggs Buff Orpington flock, & all of the recently hatched chicks) find the coolest place to rest. This has also meant that the pigs have dug up lots of lovely compost, which is easy to wheelbarrow back to other places where it is needed. The last few cooler days with some rainfall have been a welcome relief to all humans & animals alike (to say nothing of the plants' relief!).
One evening late last week, with the help of our visiting intern/farm hand, we moved our 2 herds of alpacas into new paddocks, after setting up & filling the mobile water troughs. Not only do they get more grass & feed, there is more shade & shelter. The new calves are growing well, including our poddy calf (Shadow), & as he seems to be fostered by all 3 of the other mothers who are feeding calves, we have been less rigourous in appearing at dawn & dusk with a bottle for him - most of it seems to get poured on the ground, hopefully to feed some of the soil biota at least! We have started a new worm farm in the kitchen garden in an old bath, from our existing smaller farms, & set up in the corner of the walled garden protected from the winds, so we can happily leave a bucket underneath the plughole without it being somewhere down the paddock on a windy day. It's hard to tell if the worms are happier, but one of our cats likes the way water pools on the chipboard roof, as it's fun to splash about it! More chicks have been hatching, with some losses too, & I put out a dozen Orpington eggs under my 6 broody bantam pekin/silkie crosses in Fowlmoral (the mobile bantam pen) as they have been sitting for a week, not laying, & not letting any other hen lay either, & I was most worried about them on the hot days last week (all survived unscathed). One of the new red Isa Brown laying hens has gone broody too (in Chookingham Palace) & was pecking me when I got the eggs out from under her, so I might take up some of my Orpington eggs from the incubator for her if she is still sitting tomorrow.
We have been harvesting raspberries this week - delicious fresh, delicious as jam, delicious with buckwheat pancakes - heaven on a plate! We also picked our very first apples today - Beauty of Bath - from our espaliered tree in the kitchen garden. They taste sensational! Carrots, kale, coriander, & parsnips are all in good supply, with some peas & spinach too, & the new seedlings have taken well so we should be eating the lettuces soon.
Last week's searing heat & scorching winds were a challenge for all of our farm animals, especially our chickens. Although we lost 4 of the 1 week old Buff Orpingtons (despite eyedropper feeding with cold electrolytes & bringing them into the house in a cat box), all of the other poultry (even the old girls) came through unscathed. All of the pens have deep shade, with multiple water dishes in the shade too, but even so, I went around to all of the pens at about 3.30pm delivering electrolyte solution with ice blocks! We had put a plastic sand pit filled with water in the pig pen, & they really love lying in it to get cool! On the really hot days, I have been opening all of the gates & letting all the poultry & pigs who live in Chookingham Palace (our permanent poultry pen, with 4 separate areas inside 100m of electronet, currently inhabited by geese, ducks, chickens - an egg laying Black Sussex cross flock, a meat bird/eggs Buff Orpington flock, & all of the recently hatched chicks) find the coolest place to rest. This has also meant that the pigs have dug up lots of lovely compost, which is easy to wheelbarrow back to other places where it is needed. The last few cooler days with some rainfall have been a welcome relief to all humans & animals alike (to say nothing of the plants' relief!).
One evening late last week, with the help of our visiting intern/farm hand, we moved our 2 herds of alpacas into new paddocks, after setting up & filling the mobile water troughs. Not only do they get more grass & feed, there is more shade & shelter. The new calves are growing well, including our poddy calf (Shadow), & as he seems to be fostered by all 3 of the other mothers who are feeding calves, we have been less rigourous in appearing at dawn & dusk with a bottle for him - most of it seems to get poured on the ground, hopefully to feed some of the soil biota at least! We have started a new worm farm in the kitchen garden in an old bath, from our existing smaller farms, & set up in the corner of the walled garden protected from the winds, so we can happily leave a bucket underneath the plughole without it being somewhere down the paddock on a windy day. It's hard to tell if the worms are happier, but one of our cats likes the way water pools on the chipboard roof, as it's fun to splash about it! More chicks have been hatching, with some losses too, & I put out a dozen Orpington eggs under my 6 broody bantam pekin/silkie crosses in Fowlmoral (the mobile bantam pen) as they have been sitting for a week, not laying, & not letting any other hen lay either, & I was most worried about them on the hot days last week (all survived unscathed). One of the new red Isa Brown laying hens has gone broody too (in Chookingham Palace) & was pecking me when I got the eggs out from under her, so I might take up some of my Orpington eggs from the incubator for her if she is still sitting tomorrow.
We have been harvesting raspberries this week - delicious fresh, delicious as jam, delicious with buckwheat pancakes - heaven on a plate! We also picked our very first apples today - Beauty of Bath - from our espaliered tree in the kitchen garden. They taste sensational! Carrots, kale, coriander, & parsnips are all in good supply, with some peas & spinach too, & the new seedlings have taken well so we should be eating the lettuces soon.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Rain - At Last!
It's raining! Very exciting for those of us feeling dried out & dusty! It started around 5pm, & it's still continuing steadily - so far, enough to soak into the top layer of dust & hopefully encourage the trees we recently planted to not turn up their toes. Some that have been doing quite well have had dead leaves on them - not a good sign, but I have learnt with trees (especially natives) not to pull them out until they have been looking dead for at least a year, as sometimes, miraculous recoveries do occur. Even our pomegranates look discouraging during winter & early spring, but they do come back. I spent 3 hours mowing on Monday - a very dusty job, but with the fire risk, it feels safer to have the grass all around the house shorter, to say nothing of reducing the potential snake risk.
Yesterday morning, there were 8 chicks looking at me from the incubator when I went to fill up the water containers - 1 day early, & very bright eyed too. Since then, 2 more have hatched - Buff Orpingtons or crosses this time, & there are still a few more rocking eggs just waiting. A friend lost 13 of her small & very much loved bantam flock the other day in a daylight fox raid at the back of her house - very sad. She brought some eggs she had been planning to put under a broody hen, so I'll put them in the next available incubator. It is so sad when that happens. A couple of years ago, a daylight fox raid took a lot of my hens & 2 valuable roosters - my fault, for letting them out to free range, a mistake not made again. The electronet from the Gundaroo Tiller (allsun.com.au) works well in keeping the chickens & piglets & geese safe from foxes, but the feral cats still get through or under it.
Our poddy calf does not seem to be drinking from the bottle much, but does seem to be able to get a few surrepticious feeds from the other calves mums when they aren't paying attention, so although he's thin, he doesn't seem to be starving. The 4 calves have started eating grass too, so hopefully we'll be able to feed up our orphan. The piglets are sunburnt, but growing fast, & on Monday morning before the heat really set in, I moved one of the sandpits into their pen & filled it up with water, which seems to be appreciated given the amount of mud in the bottom of the pool this evening.
We have taken the first steps in getting our Zone 3 & 4 Water System set up - & a quote is on the way. It seems very optimistic to be thinking about flooding rains when our dams are looking lower than ever, but when it does rain heavily, the dams start overflowing within 24 hours, & flood over the property & the road too, so this plan looks to be beneficial all round.
So nice to hear the rain on the corrugated iron roof!
Yesterday morning, there were 8 chicks looking at me from the incubator when I went to fill up the water containers - 1 day early, & very bright eyed too. Since then, 2 more have hatched - Buff Orpingtons or crosses this time, & there are still a few more rocking eggs just waiting. A friend lost 13 of her small & very much loved bantam flock the other day in a daylight fox raid at the back of her house - very sad. She brought some eggs she had been planning to put under a broody hen, so I'll put them in the next available incubator. It is so sad when that happens. A couple of years ago, a daylight fox raid took a lot of my hens & 2 valuable roosters - my fault, for letting them out to free range, a mistake not made again. The electronet from the Gundaroo Tiller (allsun.com.au) works well in keeping the chickens & piglets & geese safe from foxes, but the feral cats still get through or under it.
Our poddy calf does not seem to be drinking from the bottle much, but does seem to be able to get a few surrepticious feeds from the other calves mums when they aren't paying attention, so although he's thin, he doesn't seem to be starving. The 4 calves have started eating grass too, so hopefully we'll be able to feed up our orphan. The piglets are sunburnt, but growing fast, & on Monday morning before the heat really set in, I moved one of the sandpits into their pen & filled it up with water, which seems to be appreciated given the amount of mud in the bottom of the pool this evening.
We have taken the first steps in getting our Zone 3 & 4 Water System set up - & a quote is on the way. It seems very optimistic to be thinking about flooding rains when our dams are looking lower than ever, but when it does rain heavily, the dams start overflowing within 24 hours, & flood over the property & the road too, so this plan looks to be beneficial all round.
So nice to hear the rain on the corrugated iron roof!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Drought & Veges
This morning I watered the shadehouse & the vege garden - the first time this week, although we had 3mm of rain on Monday. Despite mulching, the soil is so dry that I can't weed or harvest all of the carrots. I pulled out the last of the rocket that had gone to seed, & spread them at the back of the gardens, in the chicken pens, along the edge of the grain field - anywhere that they might germinate. I do love the volunteer plants - those that grow by themselves - they make gardening for food so much easier. We now have rocket, French sorrel, dill, fennel, calendulas, nigella, poppies, hollyhocks, carrots, parsley (Italian flat leaf & curly leaf varieties), coriander, cherry tomatoes, kale, chinese cabbage, & quite a few potatoes all growing by themselves each season, from seed already in the soil. Our strawberries have finished for the moment, but mulberries, raspberries & black & red currants all need harvesting today - I'll wait for the evening jobs for that.
We fed the calf - now named Shadow - this morning; he didn't drink the full 2 litres, but after the tackle & grab & firm hold, he seems to be getting the idea of suckling. Unfortunately, Thistle, our Murray Grey bull who is now 18months old & who was a poddy calf too, has remembered how much he enjoyed his bottle, but he is a lot bigger, & we have resorted to entering & exiting the pen from different gates so he can't come & try to suckle. The rest of the herd are enjoying the luxury of being fed good hay (to round them up with the calves), & seem to be lying around waiting for the next free meal brought by their slaves.
The male alpaca herd pushed open their gate this morning & got out onto the driveway. I was just about to start weeding when I noticed that there were a couple of alpacas outside the gate where the female herd were grazing, & on looking further, saw some down near Sapphire Dam, & some more in the laneway. Fortunately, even with the assistance of the dogs & 1 cat, I managed to get them all in the same paddock in about 5 minutes.
It is so grim & dry at the moment; the grasses have gone from being beautiful lush green to dry faded mustard brown, & our dams have never looked so low. Trees that have never shown any sign of drought have leaves turning yellow & falling. I do hope it rains soon, or at least cools down, as the bush fire danger is growing all of the time.
We fed the calf - now named Shadow - this morning; he didn't drink the full 2 litres, but after the tackle & grab & firm hold, he seems to be getting the idea of suckling. Unfortunately, Thistle, our Murray Grey bull who is now 18months old & who was a poddy calf too, has remembered how much he enjoyed his bottle, but he is a lot bigger, & we have resorted to entering & exiting the pen from different gates so he can't come & try to suckle. The rest of the herd are enjoying the luxury of being fed good hay (to round them up with the calves), & seem to be lying around waiting for the next free meal brought by their slaves.
The male alpaca herd pushed open their gate this morning & got out onto the driveway. I was just about to start weeding when I noticed that there were a couple of alpacas outside the gate where the female herd were grazing, & on looking further, saw some down near Sapphire Dam, & some more in the laneway. Fortunately, even with the assistance of the dogs & 1 cat, I managed to get them all in the same paddock in about 5 minutes.
It is so grim & dry at the moment; the grasses have gone from being beautiful lush green to dry faded mustard brown, & our dams have never looked so low. Trees that have never shown any sign of drought have leaves turning yellow & falling. I do hope it rains soon, or at least cools down, as the bush fire danger is growing all of the time.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Chickens & Calves
Well, this week has had its ups & downs! The 13 chicks that hatched in the incubator last week were all successfully transferred to Chookingham Palace, & have bonded with the other dozen or so already there. There is now lots of cheeping, but despite some of the colder evenings, it all has a fairly happy tone overall. The 2 new piglets, Rebus & Roux, are still very shy, but are eating well & growing, & their excavations in their pen are getting deeper. The corn & beans have germinated in the buckwheat paddock, & despite the very dry hot days this week, the mulching there & in the vege garden is keeping things moist underneath. However, the soil is getting dry enough to make it difficult to harvest the last of the carrots. The fruit is ripening well, & I will need to harvest the currants very soon.
The most difficult thing these last 10 days has been dealing with the cow with the youngest calf - born just 2 weeks ago. Because I was concerned about her last week, the vet came out, & said that for a number of reasons, she needed to be culled from the herd, the sooner the better, as if she became sick (which was extremely likely) she would be almost be impossible to treat. And, her calf was scouring badly & needed penicillin. Anyway, we arranged for the stock agent to come out, & arranged to sell 4 animals (the cow & 3 steers) at today's cattle sale. So after wading through all of the current paperwork to do with that process, the truck arrived early before the cattle were yarded, & to keep the story short & printable, only the cow & 1 steer were sold today, & not for great prices either, but that wasn't the point of course. After 2 unsuccessful bottle feedings of the calf, this evening's feed finally turned the corner, & the calf (now named Shadow), finally drank all of the bottle by himself. At last! So, a mixed week all in all.
The most difficult thing these last 10 days has been dealing with the cow with the youngest calf - born just 2 weeks ago. Because I was concerned about her last week, the vet came out, & said that for a number of reasons, she needed to be culled from the herd, the sooner the better, as if she became sick (which was extremely likely) she would be almost be impossible to treat. And, her calf was scouring badly & needed penicillin. Anyway, we arranged for the stock agent to come out, & arranged to sell 4 animals (the cow & 3 steers) at today's cattle sale. So after wading through all of the current paperwork to do with that process, the truck arrived early before the cattle were yarded, & to keep the story short & printable, only the cow & 1 steer were sold today, & not for great prices either, but that wasn't the point of course. After 2 unsuccessful bottle feedings of the calf, this evening's feed finally turned the corner, & the calf (now named Shadow), finally drank all of the bottle by himself. At last! So, a mixed week all in all.
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