Categories: From the Farm This Week
Date: Feb 22, 2013
Title: 22 February 2013
Yep its dry, real dry, the ponds are dropping fast and along with them the water table, the well is down two thirds, if we had not made it much larger 2 seasons ago we would be very short. We are busy grassing all the front flats down hard so we can shut them up for winter and miss the chance of facial eczema when it starts to rain. And thank goodness we have nearly 75 acres shut up in sabbatical fallow that we can move on to.
The hot has sure slowed the chooks down laying, the summer moult just seems to keep going, not only are we getting very few eggs, any for hatching have very low fertility, down to 40% in some breeds.
Jamie at the hatchery is having the same problem with the contract eggs. But the good Muscovy ducks seem to have it right, still coming out with good clutches.
We have 3 new Lakenvelder belted Dutch calves, can't work out if they are early or late but the cows are in top order with good size udders so should make a good job of them.
Dropped into Ross's a few days ago and here he was with all the goat bones from his last hunt in a big pot with jars and jars of goat stock cooling he had rendered down. You know this is the real way to live.
Hunt your food and use every bit you can - nose to tail - a use for everything. But you know this way of living is getting harder and harder to the point of ridiculous, it won't be long before the government will want all the wild goats to have ear tags and who shoots them to registered with NAIT. You just know how I hate this sort of Bureaucratic Rubbish. Anyway the voting papers for beef and lamb came in the mail, great, that should help light the incinerator today (and its a fire ban, what do we do, store all the rubbish that comes in the mail box Ha). Well I was about to light the corner and I read a bit.... what is this me talking NO here is another farmer from Ohakune who is real and not a human sheep, about the best farmer candidate profile I have seen,his name is John McCarthy. He is standing up for the family farm that we are losing daily to corporate controllers.
Beate has been working on our wine for the season, we are all awaiting a taste of the plum wine I will keep ya posted.
The weather held for the Taranaki Farmers Market lots of visitors and we were busy all day but the take was down.......... that's markets.
Samuel has been out cutting more firewood. This has been helped with a wood splitter Wally has lent us. Wally flew out of New Plymouth today for the South Island to see family and friends, he will be back in a few weeks.
Nerida has moved off the farm with her house truck to travel a bit (you know to be a rom on the drom). We will miss the help. Ruth is back feeding the chooks. For more details........... buy my next Novel.