Categories: From the Farm This Week
      Date: Mar 19, 2011
     Title: 19 March 2011
Well what a week .... mother earth is groaning even more.
The Jerusalem artichokes have just started to flower.  I use this as a season indicator - the usual time for them to be in full flower is March 25 - if they flower early we get an early winter as we did last year - they were in full flower March 10.  So we will see, maybe spot on this year.
Sorted the lambs into sizes, took the best ones to the works for this week and put the others onto feed so we get fat lambs for both for the market and the Bach restaurant  steady all winter.  Unfortunately I had to do the lamb drive on Monday so could not do the Tupare market.
I managed to get the Austin Gipsy stuck carting pig tucker and Ruth was in town with the other 4wd Ute.  It can be damn hard digging a loaded Gipsy out with a large mob of hungry pigs running around it wanting their dinner.  In the end i just had to feed them plenty and wait for Ruth.  Took about 4 minutes to pull me out.  I wont be driving there again or I may end up pig tucker.  Wally called to have a look at some of our pony foals, he is thinking of buying them and breaking them in for selling.
Tuesday was a funny morning I was woken by a sort of low humming sound coming through the ground, every time i put my head back on the pillow it was back.  In the end i just had to get up (i hate early mornings im a night person).   Ruth was well up as usual . Anyway down at the corner just idling away was the weirdest machine.  A world war 2 tank with a huge mast twice the height of the power poles, heaps of pulleys and large wire rope hanging everywhere, a control room a bit like one for an oil tanker.
Large winches and a motor that would drive the queen marry.  Looks like something from war of the worlds.  Stopped and talked to the operator guy and its a Yowder or high liner for moving large amounts of logs.  They are starting logging down the river road.  If that was not enough I drove on to the acre block we have for sale and a huge plastic tank had been delivered there about 16 foot in diameter and the same in height.  So i phoned the maker on the 0800 thanked them very much told them i was going to chainsaw a door out and fit some windows and live in it.  They were very interested asking how i got the permit and how i was going to keep it water tight etc.  They very soon lost interest when i just dropped in I never ordered it and thanks for the promo gift.  IT WAS GONE TODAY.
Ruth has been sorting ducks and chickens to go out into the paddock trailers so they get real fat for the end of the month when its the season for free range meat birds.
Our new volunteer worker started Wednesday, Beate, she is a psychoanalyst with a practice in London, an animal lover, but has never worked on a place like here.
She has helped catch chickens, pick apples and has the job of looking after a lot of pigs this week.  If the price of fuel food and feed keep going up i will need her to psychoanalyse me.
Ila was home for most of the day today as they had a goal setting day at school.   Ruth had to go to in with her no problems.  But it did give Ruth a cooking break as Ila cooked a good tea.  It was a sheep mince pie with wild mushrooms, home grown potatoes on top, and self seeded tomatoes that grow out of the compost due to the fact we feed the pigs our damaged tomatoes.  Its sort of a perpetual circle, we don't get heaps just enough for us and some for the pigs for the next lot.  Anyway it was a really top pie and a good meal.  For afters we had those big cooking apples with the cores out stuffed with raisins and cinnamon.
So here's hoping Ken Ring is wrong.
See ya Sunday
John