Categories: From the Farm This Week
      Date: Nov 17, 2011
     Title: 17 November 2011
The chestnut trees have come out in leaf at last, this marks the start of the good weather and flies.  The baby thrushes are leaving the nests with their short tails and wings not quite there.  Running under the trees calling for mum.
Carl from over the road called in, it looked as if he was run over by a tractor, two black eyes, a broken nose, heaps of stitches in his forehead and black and blue. He was not run over but went over a cliff driving a large tractor rotary hoeing in the wet.  The hoe caught on something and slid the tractor over the drop.  It was a big John Deere.  He drives for a contractor.  I think he is very lucky to be alive.
I was very pleased with the teenagers this week.  At prizegiving at school Ila got the cup for agriculture and Samuel got the one for technology.
Ila has been setting the eel net and i have been smoking eels for tea.  Samuel has been cutting blocks for the chopping events at the A&P shows in-between exams.
Our French woofers are great - very interested on how we farm and fit in very well.  Andréa the German girl that some of you met at the Farmers Market is fitting in well as well.  We all get on and we have a good team.  On their day off Alzzee and Jordan went up the mountain and Andréa spent the day in New Plymouth climbing Paritutu and going on Chaddys Charters.
I spent the same day doing the STMS course in New Plymouth so im available for the road closure for the farmers market.  Overkill really now i can close Auckland harbor bridge. Bruce is a great tutor and makes the whole job easy.
Had lots of visitors, buyers, breeders, door knockers.  Some good some better.  Howard called in to talk pigs and lamb prices.  Sheep farming has at last got real.
Pigs on the other hand.  O well i like em and that's that.
Lots of chickens coming out with chicks at the moment and the muscovys are hatching.
The grass is growing and pushing them Christmas lambs along, and the plum trees have lots on at the moment so should have them for the market this season.
So Andrea and i will see ya at the market (i think Janine is on to something).
i think ive had too many of cottage wines mead, man is it good stuff but no good for this job.
See ya Sunday