Happy New Year to all the avid readers out there, I hope 2009 is as good for you as it is going to be for us!!
I have been slaving away in the kitchen garden and I am very proud of my efforts so far, we have pea’s, zucchini’s, herbs, a variety of unusual salad greens.
It is SO exciting, to contemplate what to have for lunch and just go into the kitchen garden and come back with your arms full of goodies!!
(more…)
For three years I have lovingly tended our piece of paradise, all by hand, I have dug out hundreds of thistles, mounds of invasive ink-weed, unwanted poisonous shrubs and tried to make a beautiful natural kitchen garden.
I have done this because machines are too big and cumbersome for our property and it’s kinder to the environment not to dig up huge tracts of land in the name of human development.
But, a week ago all my efforts were put at risk by a neighbour’s moment of madness…
(more…)
I was ORDERED to rest, and seeing as I couldn’t seem to achieve this at home, I was sent off to a place were this WOULD be achieved…
A RETREAT…
Our beautiful Lizzy is back home, after suffering an appalling unfair dismissal at the hands of her former employers.
It appears, our girl made the wife of her employer jealous! Lizzy took her orders from her master and NOT the mistress of the house, smart girl, if you ask me!!
You could see the headlines in the local gossip column…Two year old bitch in love triangle, only having adoring eyes for her master, wife gets revenge while husband’s away…
You can hear the gossip, ohhh! yes she was definitely after the husband, smooching up and doing all the things a doggy girl will do to win the approval of her master.
But, when the wife gets jealous, beware, Lizzy had to go…
(more…)
Mia, my beautiful house cow has finally become of age!! Three weeks ago, the brave girl went a short distance into a neighbour’s paddock with 10 other heifers and 1 beautiful bull.
Mia, once released from the horse box, ran to the top of the hill and gave an almighty MOOOOOOOO!!! The other occupants of the field heard her greeting and ran towards her, she in turn shrieked and ran away for the mottle crew, back towards her mum…that would be ME!!
I recently read an interesting article on John ‘Farmer John’ Peterson, who runs a very successful Community Supported Agriculture (CSA for short) farm, called Angelic Organics in Caledonia, just outside Chicago.
‘Farmer John’ has created THE largest CSA in the USA and feeds a whopping 6000 locals every week. This is an amazing concept and really conceptualizes community spirit and how powerful it can be.
(more…)
I am nervous, a little scared and full of hope at the same time, is this spring and summer going to be a time when one of my dreams will come true??
When I first saw our piece of paradise, Mother nature gave me a ‘picture’, so vivid, of what this piece of land wanted to be.
I have toiled, sweated and done some really hard work over the time we have been on our piece of paradise.
But, now it time to get busy and finally sow and grow some precious Heirloom seeds…THIS is why I am a nervous wreck!!
(more…)
Spring is here and it’s time to get busy, I have been asked for tips on getting a Herbal Ley established in existing pasture, a good question at this time of year.
I am just starting to organize my herbal leys for both of my pastures, just waiting for the rain to ease off!! So how do you get the pasture ready for sowing and how do you protect the seeds from free range chickens and birds?
Well, let me tell you how I am going to do my herbal leys…
The storms have not left us alone for long, a few hours at the most, and things are really bad for the little lambs being born and indeed for all animals in general, except for ours, who have meals delivered twice a day and dry warm shelter. Lucky things!!
Others are not so lucky, rivers have burst their banks and whole paddocks and farms are under water, there has been SO much rain the houses are slipping into big holes in the earth and roads are disappearing the same way.
(more…)
Apart from the weather, things have been going pretty good here on the block. I have had to move inside so the kitchen renovations are progressing.
It is hard work sanding the huge floor, but, little by little I’m getting there, just a few more hideous plastic tiles to remove and then sand off all the glue and a beautiful wooden floor is revealed, then the dogs come running in from bounding wildly in the paddocks and bingo, that beautiful wooden floor I mentioned is no longer!! 
