Categories: From the Farm This Week
Date: Mar 22, 2012
Title: 22 March 2012
Another busy week. The week started with the hay cut. While it was starting to dry i went down to Waverley to look how the farm i had done some consultancy work for had fared with the latest storm. As soon as i got past Hawera I started to see the effects - trees down over the road, Patea was like a war zone, tree branches everywhere, large trees uprooted, complete cowsheds demolished, stacks of hay where hay sheds once stood, in the main town rooves gone, shop fronts gone, and Waverley the same. Paul's farm had got off light with very little damage and even more plans for the future.
Turned the hay and got stuck into clearing our fallen trees again. Samuel has been home for three days helping fix fences and clearing trees.
Beate has been painting the outside of the old cowshed now housing pigs - the shed is becoming very spick. She has also been making Kombucha. We were sent a starter scoby from Rachel Rose in the post and Beate is right into it. We now have Kombucha with most meals, THANKS RR and Beate.
Ruth has so many ducks. We are just waiting for the quills to come right and we will be taking a load to the abattoirs. Our grain came up from the South Island and Ruth unloaded it while i was clearing trees. That was very appreciated as i am doing long hours.
The hay was baled - Justin and Aleena, Samuel and Natalie, Ruth, Ross, Ila & Beate all helped get it off the paddock onto the truck and stacked in the shed. It was done fast as it was threatening rain and we did get a light shower on the last load but all fine. Everyone worked really hard and by the end i was beginning to flag and Ross just kept powering on - I have to get onto his fitness plan.
Now as i write this another storm is bombarding us and today we have a new Galloway calf and a litter of wessex pigs. Oh well suppose thats farming.
Most of the apples/peaches are on the ground and pig tucker.
So be seeing ya Sunday and remember we will be there if it rains.