May 2012 farm update

April was a strange month, we had hardly any rain, it was cool, but not cold yet (it has rained at the last minute though, 20mL this last weekend, just in time to grow some grass before winter!). We lit the fire once and after that we decided it wasn't really cold enough, even though we usually have a fire in April. We have spent nearly every weekend and spare moment at the new property getting a few things established, but soon we will be able to spent some time at Eight Acres finishing off some projects (eg aquaponics!) and generally tidying the house, its always housework that suffers when we are busy!

At the new property we have harvested the sorghum hay that was on the cultivation when we arrived and planted oats (and hoped for rain!). We have also bought 17 steers to get us started. More about all this later.....

new steers at the new property

The little chicks are doing well outside and eating lots of grass. One died in the first few days we put them outside, of unknown causes, so we are down to 15, and they don't stay still long enough to try to work out how many roosters, so we will have to sort them out at some stage. The first two roosters that hatched are nearly ready to eat, but the Rhode Is Red is so beautiful, we might try to sell him instead (any one looking for a Rhode Is Red rooster?). We have moved all the chickens out of the house yard so the big hens can free range during the day, safe from killer kelpies, but we always find one or two get through the fence somewhere and end up back in the house yard, they are creatures of habit! Even when their food and water is elsewhere, they want to come back into the yard they know. Eggs are down to two or three a day, which is pretty slack from nine hens, I think I'm going to eat a lot of oatmeal this winter!

the chicks are getting bigger

roosters

some of the big chickens

With the dry weather our grass is drying off already unfortunately, but we have plenty of hay at the new property, so will be happily feeding out round bales this year (instead of being so stingy). Bella is due to calve in September, so we need to wean poor "little" Molly soon (nearly as big as mum now) and we have nearly finished all the meat in the freezer, and can't decide which steer is next as both Rocket and Brat are the same size, its a tough one!

Bella

The rest of the herd just chilling out

In the garden, I've had a bit of a clean out, removing all the tomatoes and replacing them with broad beans. I cut back the poor mans bean, to let in more sun, and feed it to the cattle (who loved it, after ignoring it in previous years). I thinned the carrots (so fiddly!) and planted out the cabbage, broccoli, pak choi, mizuna and kale that I started previously in pots. The bok choi continues to pop up everywhere from last year's seeds, I LOVE it! And I'm still getting lots of cherry tomatoes from one last plant that is living in harmony with the bean plant. I need to plant peas and another round of everything, but at least I have more started than previous years. I have set up the sprinkler in preparation for frost so I can start watering in the morning instead of at night (wet leaves at night will suffer more from frosty mornings).

lots of lettuce and root veges

brassicas etc! and yes I finally got a worm farm!

capsicum is massive! also leeks and pak choy

broadbeans

I cut back the beans, honestly!

cherry tomatoes

I grated some of our homemade cheese to keep in the freezer,
it is VERY tasty, great for a little flavour, too strong for crackers!

I finally did a sourdough course and I'm now trying to perfect a method and routine that works for us. We haven't have supermarket bread for four weeks now, so I'm on a roll! Now I just have to find a good cracker recipe.

Frank eating the bean plant - its so tangled, its like endless spaghetti!

Rocket stealing some from Frank

I dug up some sweet potatoes (I managed to grow four this year!)

Time for the sprinkler

worm out from a big walk

and this one too

And to finish off, one of my favourite photos of my late Nana Nora, I wish she was still around to tell me her gardening secrets!

Nana Nora relaxing with her chooks and her brassicas!
In suburban Ashburton, New Zealand in the early 80s.

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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