18 Mar 2018
One year on the farm today. Dear god how time flies. Its hard to fathom how much has happened here, but so much has. And I am content and still in that happy space too.
Then the goats arrived.
I wanted to wait till this weekend to tell you all about them, as they have proved to become little escape artists. They arrived in the back of a SUV of all things, from their breeders, and we unloaded them into the old workers cottage (yes where I used to live for 10 months). After lining the floor with mounds of dry cut grass, and of course with the rain we have plenty of that, they settled down into their new little hotel. Then the fun of taking them out each day to be tethered began. These two (a neutered male and younger female) have never been put on a lead before, so it was like trying to train TRex to walk on a lead as a fully grown dog/dinosaur. Eventually they began to cooperate, and they were put up on the dam bank attached to a long chain to give them plenty of room to move about.
Now this is where Rex thinks he has new play mates. So it became a marathon to keep the dog away while they settled down. Rex does not like being tied up when we are out down on the farm. But we had to do it to give the goats some space to settle in. Eventually they settled down. Then the tether broke. Chasing a female goat is hard work, but we got her back and secured again without any drama. I was most worried about the main road, as she took of pretty sprightly (damn they are fast).
So why do we have goats? I hear many a voice across the ethernets asking??? Well for weed and brush control, meat and milk. Simples. They are not pets, and do not have names. One desexed male and a female for breeding next year and milking.
Anyway, one week in and the next stage of their accommodation has been achieved. You see the Taj Mahal cottage was only a temporary fixture, as my builder mate arrived on Wednesday to help begin the new chicken coop/goat pen enclosure, a permanent fixture to house them safely from foxes, wild dogs and snakes. The chooks had stopped laying about 2 months ago, mainly because their current coop was just too small. But there was nothing I could do until the means to build a new coop were available. Now we have the Alcatraz of all chicken coops, well it will be once I steel mesh the f@#$k out of it. No snake is ever getting into my chooks again!
Goats and chooks aside, (don't forget me me), and yes that dog too, we have started the harvesting. Nuts coming out my ears, is just such an apt understatement, but its a beautiful sight, seeing thousands of macadamia nuts dropping into the harvesting bins. With the continuous rains we had earlier in March, it was a constant battle to just keep the grass short enough to start the harvest, but after 3 days of beautiful dry warm weather, the 60 HP Lamborghini tractor has begun its job. And on that note, this busy farmer has to sign out and get back to work.
So nuts galore from the nut farm, until next week folks.
One year on the farm today. Dear god how time flies. Its hard to fathom how much has happened here, but so much has. And I am content and still in that happy space too.
Then the goats arrived.
I wanted to wait till this weekend to tell you all about them, as they have proved to become little escape artists. They arrived in the back of a SUV of all things, from their breeders, and we unloaded them into the old workers cottage (yes where I used to live for 10 months). After lining the floor with mounds of dry cut grass, and of course with the rain we have plenty of that, they settled down into their new little hotel. Then the fun of taking them out each day to be tethered began. These two (a neutered male and younger female) have never been put on a lead before, so it was like trying to train TRex to walk on a lead as a fully grown dog/dinosaur. Eventually they began to cooperate, and they were put up on the dam bank attached to a long chain to give them plenty of room to move about.
Now this is where Rex thinks he has new play mates. So it became a marathon to keep the dog away while they settled down. Rex does not like being tied up when we are out down on the farm. But we had to do it to give the goats some space to settle in. Eventually they settled down. Then the tether broke. Chasing a female goat is hard work, but we got her back and secured again without any drama. I was most worried about the main road, as she took of pretty sprightly (damn they are fast).
So why do we have goats? I hear many a voice across the ethernets asking??? Well for weed and brush control, meat and milk. Simples. They are not pets, and do not have names. One desexed male and a female for breeding next year and milking.
Anyway, one week in and the next stage of their accommodation has been achieved. You see the Taj Mahal cottage was only a temporary fixture, as my builder mate arrived on Wednesday to help begin the new chicken coop/goat pen enclosure, a permanent fixture to house them safely from foxes, wild dogs and snakes. The chooks had stopped laying about 2 months ago, mainly because their current coop was just too small. But there was nothing I could do until the means to build a new coop were available. Now we have the Alcatraz of all chicken coops, well it will be once I steel mesh the f@#$k out of it. No snake is ever getting into my chooks again!
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| Note the working dog supervisor on the job |
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| And the coop is on the right, goat pen on the left, complete with runway. A lot better than the old coop! |
Goats and chooks aside, (don't forget me me), and yes that dog too, we have started the harvesting. Nuts coming out my ears, is just such an apt understatement, but its a beautiful sight, seeing thousands of macadamia nuts dropping into the harvesting bins. With the continuous rains we had earlier in March, it was a constant battle to just keep the grass short enough to start the harvest, but after 3 days of beautiful dry warm weather, the 60 HP Lamborghini tractor has begun its job. And on that note, this busy farmer has to sign out and get back to work.
So nuts galore from the nut farm, until next week folks.
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