March 2011 - farm update

Its that time of year where everything is growing so fast, I need to give regular updates or I'll get behind!

First the zucchinis are still going, but suffering from blossom end rot, so I've topped them up with lots of gypsum to keep their calcium levels high. I've also got some lovely little button squash growing, which are great if you just like a small amount of zucchini in your dinner!

little button squash are great if you can't finish an entire zucchini!

The zuchinni patch (+squashes)

My tomatoes have been growing strongly and producing lots of green tomatoes that are taking FOREVER to ripen! I noticed that one is finally turning red, so I can't wait to make tomato soup! I have to admit I'm a bit relaxed with the organic gardening when it comes to tomatoes. I let them go until I see a grub and then I shower them with tomato dust (very non-organic!) because I can't stand to see all my hardwork wasted. But then I just leave it and see if any more grubs appear, so they've only have one dose this season and I wash them VERY carefully before eating. The cherry tomato keeps producing fruit with no bug problems, so it is the one to go for if you're strict on organic gardening! Note that I now use neem oil instead.

Eight strong tomatoes planted in November (I think they're Ox Heart)

Plenty of green tomatoes......

Finally a red one!!

The cherry tomato keeps producing, with no bug worries.

The poor man's beans is still producing more beans that we can eat! I've filled a container of cut beans in the freezer and now I'm giving them away to neighbours in exchange for goat's cheese (great exchange aye!).

The poor man's beans produce more that we can eat!

I'm very excited that my mini capsicum is FINALLY fruiting after a year in the garden! This is the capsicum equivalent of cherry tomatoes. When we grew big capsicums they got stung by fruit flies, but not the mini capsicums. When these get going we should have plenty of capsicums and I store any extras in the freezer to throw into casseroles.

Mini capsicums are the capsicum equivalent of cherry tomatoes.

The last hatch of baby chicks have moved outside, they are fully feathered and the two cockerels look like mini foghorm leghorns! They are a bit shy, so it was hard to get a good photo of them.

The baby chickens have move outside

And just in time for the next hatch to move into the brooder, we doubled our hatch rate, with 7 out of 48 this time (with a few turkey eggs still to hatch as they take 7 days longer). They are the cutest before they start getting feathers. Five of them are leghorns, so we will have to do one more run with the incubator to try and hatch more Rhode Island Reds to replace some of our older hens.

The next clutch of 7 chicks has hatched.

And finally the crazy turkeys! We have two gobblers and two hens The gobblers have recently become very aggressive (probably because their hens are now laying eggs), so its time to catch one to eat, but we're a little scared, they are HUGE! The eggs taste like chicken eggs and are a little larger, they are fertile already, so we should have some more turkeys soon. They call out to every noise they hear, the steers, the roosters, the dog barking, the whipper snipper starting etc!! I tried them free range, but they took so long to figure out how to get out of the door of their cage, I was worried they would never get home. They are also capable of flying over fences, and do so when frightened, which happens easily, so I don't trust them free range. Also they are too aggressive now.

We were a little worried about Bruce last week as he was sick. It turns out he had Three Day sickness, which is like a severe man-flu. He was drooling and couldn't get up, we had to bring him food and water and tell him that he'd be ok. A few days later he was up and eating again. What a sook! Now we just have to wait a few months and he's ready to eat :)

How was your month? What are you planning for next month?

Farm update - August 2017

Its been cold this month, and very nice to have the fire going every night. Here's a photo of my boy in his cape, great for late night woofing at things. Most of July we were either preparing for the butcher to come or putting meat away. Its always a big job, but its only once a year, and its all done now. My lovely neighbour came over to help, so it was fun to have the company and work together. Taz was a champion once again as she helped us to move cattle in the yards ready to load for the market. Gus is not at that level yet and had to stay home (he cries when he gets left behind, but he just gets in the way and scatters the cattle). We have had a few sprinkles of rain here and there, but also plenty of cold nights, so the grass is mostly dead and dry, waiting for the warmer weather to revive our summer-active pasture. Gus in his cape Taz after she helped to move cattle Food and cooking It was all about beef in July and we are v...

Cooking and eating beans

When I was growing up, my family never ate many dried beans, they just weren't something that was used much in NZ cuisine. If I did eat beans, it was always from a can (and most likely baked beans). And until recently I was still using beans from a can, but it can be difficult to get organic beans, and to find cans not lined with BPA. Then I had an opportunity to buy some organic dry goods in bulk, so I bought 5kg of kidney beans, 5kg of adzuki beans and 5kg of chickpea (garbanzo beans). I know, that is a lot of beans. And then I didn't really know what to do with them! Not just what dishes to put them in, but how to prepare them, I just didn't know what method to use. So I decided it was time to learn how to use all these beans that I bought, here's what I found out. I started with an excellent ebook called The Everything Beans Book , from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship, which has lots of bean recipes, but more importantly, an explanation of h...

Guest post: Is there a place for power tools in the garden?

One of my regular readers and commenters offered to write a guest post about a horticulture course, its quite a funny read, with some serious insights into our technology obsession. If you'd like to submit a guest post, email me at eight.acres.liz {at} gmail.com. While I am always happy to share links back to your blog or website, this contributor preferred to remain anonymous. I hope you enjoy their story.... -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- Just a few days ago our daily horticulture classes were interrupted by an invitation to review some new gardening gadgets. The idea was to open half a dozen of electric hand trimmers , test them and fill in some review about their goods and bads. As nothing is more dear to a student – even a “hort “ one - to escape routine and mess around till lunchtime, we opened the boxes and got down to business. What did we...

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