From the Farm
Sep 26, 2013
26 September 2013
Started building the water tank on the hill above the studio. Its a concrete one, Mark has lent me the mould it builds a 6 foot high tank 10 foot around. Augie and Emile dug out the foundation on the side of the hill. Its sited on the side of the highest point of the farm we call one tree hill (as it has no trees on it like in Auckland). The three of us built the mound and fitted the mesh before it started raining. And rain it did the Makuri Stream over the banks, our goose flat totally underwater and the geese have just started laying so not sure how many we will be breeding this year and i do love a goose egg for breakfast, just have to see if i get one. So the tank mould sits done awaiting us to get mixing concrete and plaster but need 3 fine days and at the moment ...............well it is spring ........
After the storm, next door phoned... Hey John 7 pine trees have blown into my place over the boundary fence smashing it so Augie and Emile spent 2 days cutting them with the chainsaw and with next doors help with a 4wd tractor pulled them through to our place for firewood next year as some are 18 inch thick.
I temporarily fixed the fence but still needs heaps of work as lots of concrete posts are broken and others leaning badly. O well another job.
Emile has moved on to leave the accommodation free for others booked in .......And you know what they never turned up Umm I'm not happy about that as Emile was a good tradesman who fitted in well here.
I'm looking for a larger water pump a Davis 500 as the little 300 has done its time. Its like my fencing spade that i replaced the head 3 times and the handle 5 ..the head needs doing again as the leathers are lasting 10 days only. Last weekend when i was at the market the farm ran out of water all the tanks dry so i had the whole system to bleed, spent the day on that. Its a very frustrating job as it can be avoided. But with all the people on site we go through lots of water. So I'm going to build another tank on the hill (if i get time and find a bigger pump if i can find the dollars)
Its times like this I realise I just have to do it. Like a few weeks ago when the septic tank was full and blocked. Every person had to go to town for something and i was left to do it .........Well at least i am needed for some things HA.
Justin has been out again and now the studio is running on the Generator in readiness for the $9000 transformer needed for the power to be fed from the pole and once we have paid I'm not sure if we own it as it is on the pole on the other side of the meter. Keep ya posted on that. We have got all the windows in and finished outside, most of the gib up but still heaps to do and the stuff like the finishing work, hanging doors, etc takes time and its hard to get to with the farm work, but I will keep at it.
I am working on my next speech for toast masters it will be about food i think ...Um i have been asked why i attend this ........well really as you know I tutor and public speak so I'm trying to sharpen my talking skills. And they are a great bunch of people, it is always a very humorous meeting and we get a great laugh.
We have heard back from the Licence Authority about the Hemp licence and they are not happy with a proposed growing paddock that can be seen from the road. So we have cut down our area for growing. Its a new Person we are dealing with. Its really hard for me to understand. The worry is the crop may get tampered with ..........like stolen ..........well its like stealing water that looks like Gin. There is nothing in it, Its Hemp NOT dope .......Even if someone planted dope in the crop hemp grows so tall and fast it just kills it out along with all the other weeds ....O well more on that later.
I phoned Brian the Bee man again and asked when he was looking at the Bee hives out here He said next week or so. Then told me it was Worse than first thought some of his sites elsewhere are all gone, honey in the hives and no bees, his total count to date is over 30%. Now that is getting bad real bad. The theory about the Insecticide used for Maize seed is holding but it gets worse it seems that when the maize paddocks are resown with grasses and clovers that the bees like, when the bees collect on them they are poisoned again as the poison from the Maize seed is still in the soil and is drawn up with clovers and plants planted years after the Maize crop. WE NEED TO GET THESE CHEMICALS BANNED like the rest of the world.
After the storm, next door phoned... Hey John 7 pine trees have blown into my place over the boundary fence smashing it so Augie and Emile spent 2 days cutting them with the chainsaw and with next doors help with a 4wd tractor pulled them through to our place for firewood next year as some are 18 inch thick.
I temporarily fixed the fence but still needs heaps of work as lots of concrete posts are broken and others leaning badly. O well another job.
Emile has moved on to leave the accommodation free for others booked in .......And you know what they never turned up Umm I'm not happy about that as Emile was a good tradesman who fitted in well here.
I'm looking for a larger water pump a Davis 500 as the little 300 has done its time. Its like my fencing spade that i replaced the head 3 times and the handle 5 ..the head needs doing again as the leathers are lasting 10 days only. Last weekend when i was at the market the farm ran out of water all the tanks dry so i had the whole system to bleed, spent the day on that. Its a very frustrating job as it can be avoided. But with all the people on site we go through lots of water. So I'm going to build another tank on the hill (if i get time and find a bigger pump if i can find the dollars)
Its times like this I realise I just have to do it. Like a few weeks ago when the septic tank was full and blocked. Every person had to go to town for something and i was left to do it .........Well at least i am needed for some things HA.
Justin has been out again and now the studio is running on the Generator in readiness for the $9000 transformer needed for the power to be fed from the pole and once we have paid I'm not sure if we own it as it is on the pole on the other side of the meter. Keep ya posted on that. We have got all the windows in and finished outside, most of the gib up but still heaps to do and the stuff like the finishing work, hanging doors, etc takes time and its hard to get to with the farm work, but I will keep at it.
I am working on my next speech for toast masters it will be about food i think ...Um i have been asked why i attend this ........well really as you know I tutor and public speak so I'm trying to sharpen my talking skills. And they are a great bunch of people, it is always a very humorous meeting and we get a great laugh.
We have heard back from the Licence Authority about the Hemp licence and they are not happy with a proposed growing paddock that can be seen from the road. So we have cut down our area for growing. Its a new Person we are dealing with. Its really hard for me to understand. The worry is the crop may get tampered with ..........like stolen ..........well its like stealing water that looks like Gin. There is nothing in it, Its Hemp NOT dope .......Even if someone planted dope in the crop hemp grows so tall and fast it just kills it out along with all the other weeds ....O well more on that later.
I phoned Brian the Bee man again and asked when he was looking at the Bee hives out here He said next week or so. Then told me it was Worse than first thought some of his sites elsewhere are all gone, honey in the hives and no bees, his total count to date is over 30%. Now that is getting bad real bad. The theory about the Insecticide used for Maize seed is holding but it gets worse it seems that when the maize paddocks are resown with grasses and clovers that the bees like, when the bees collect on them they are poisoned again as the poison from the Maize seed is still in the soil and is drawn up with clovers and plants planted years after the Maize crop. WE NEED TO GET THESE CHEMICALS BANNED like the rest of the world.