here is one of our very pretty - very long tongued vealers licking up the feed!
The kidlins are off to school for a new year this week – Sass is going into Yr 2 and EJ is just starting out on her educational journey. Although the drought has marched on unrelentingly, it's actually been a delightful summer holiday with our 2 gorgeous ones. No, we haven't gone on an overseas trip (we rarely leave the place for even an overnight visit). Instead it's been simple things that have filled our days – Arty crafty things, garden things, farm things. We've spent the last 2 weeks attending the department of Sport and Recreation swimming scheme – further enhancing Sass and EJ's swimming abilities. (I personally think that anyone living on a property with dams and/or by the coast should learn to swim and learn about beach safety, from a sensible age. Each of our kidlins started swim class at 3yrs.... now both can swim like little fish!)
Every day throughout the holidays both Sass and EJ have 'helped' feed the cattle over at 'Nana N's' place. For the past few months FP has been supplementary feeding some of our cows and calves twice a day with a mix of ground grain and pellets - we simply don't have the grass in the paddocks to support them. Keeping our animals alive and well throughout the drought has sucked up all our farm savings and is about to max-out our overdraft – (grain/pellets currently costs about $3000 per month) so next month all of the larger vealers will be sold.
Every day throughout the holidays both Sass and EJ have 'helped' feed the cattle over at 'Nana N's' place. For the past few months FP has been supplementary feeding some of our cows and calves twice a day with a mix of ground grain and pellets - we simply don't have the grass in the paddocks to support them. Keeping our animals alive and well throughout the drought has sucked up all our farm savings and is about to max-out our overdraft – (grain/pellets currently costs about $3000 per month) so next month all of the larger vealers will be sold.
FP - spreading out the ground grain and pellets for the hungry beasts
Anyone who thought living on a farm is easy has rocks in their head!
to do
more preserves (it seems almost every second day this time of the year I'm cooking up something to put into jars or the freezer)
sow asian salad & more lettuce seeds
rotary hoe old potato patch ready for the next crop
plant late season watermelon, rockmelon, cucumber
completed
shade 'tent' moved to cover tender leaf seddlings
seeds planted: mitzuna, endive, english spinach, rocket (arugula)
nectarines and plum preserves - this week these have include peach/nectarine & zucchini chutney, black chutney (very dark – its based around dark plums, prunes, raisons and dark brown sugar), blood plum jam, and some poached peaches – but mostly the kidlins have been raiding the trees and eating mounds of fresh fruit
potatoes dug and stored (from an initial 3kg of seed potatoes planted we have harvested in excess of 50kg of lovely spuds)
the harvest of pontiacs - off to the shed - long may you keep!
picking/ eating
green oak leaf lettuce, butterhead lettuce, raspberries, yellow peaches, white peaches, yellow nectarines, blood plums, rondo de nice zucchini, yellow crook neck zucchini, spring onions, ivory eggplant, pontiac potatoes, 'zucumbers', early wonder cucumbers, passionfruit
