What am I doing?

How hard can it be?  A few cows, a few sheep, some little piggies  and lots of untamed forest…….. 

Well, it seemed like it would be easy- move to the country and live a simple,  self reliant life.

Well, I haven’t stopped running yet!

Hang on, it’s ok!

There is a plan!

The joy of pigs

I try not to worry about money- but farm life with animals or farm implements/gadgets is guaranteed to drain any money one has in the bank or on a card anywhere!

The issues that need attention on the farm expand to consume any available fiscal capacity.  I think I will patent that as a kind of Newtons law for farmers……..

Of course it’s natural-there is  always something that needs attention, and we are still developing a practical infrastructure so life  is all spend, spend, spend. But  I don’t kid myself. I am not in charge-I just react to each changing priority.

And then, often, I think that the animals actually run  the timetable around here…….last week, just three pigs (the large black and a pair of randy berkshire boars) absconded into the house yard and ploughed up my kitchen garden and finished up any tomatoes and herbs I was reluctant to pull up just yet…….and anything else they could. Including paving!  Really amazing strength in their noses!

Anyway, no point crying about it-I see an opportunity to change the  design of the  courtyard around, and there was  no real damage to the camellia’s  or adolescent citrus trees, which are very hard  to establish in this cold, elevated climate and after all, we did learn a bit more about secure fencing in the process….

So….

The time has come to do some serious separating of the pig families, now that every one is  interested in finding  a mate! Berkshire boars  separated out  first, and lets hope they respect the netting and electric  wires- I think maybe I will     trial electrifying the netting, but at least three  high 4ml strands set low and  a broad hand span apart and another  set just above head height for them as they have demonstrated that they can get through whatever they choose in order  to reach a  lady fair…

Probably worth siting the girls up hill too so absconding under the netting is a less visible option to them.  I know all pigs are intelligent and I doubt that Berkshires are more intelligent than other breeds- it’s just they do have upright ears so compared to other heritage piggies they have good vision and they  can see the easiest way out. I think it’s as simple as that – and they don’t have to think long to work out a plan either. Like the musketeers, they work as a team to achieve their goals.

Now that the apple orchard site is plowed up and fertilised courtesy of the herd, let’s put the Saddleback  sows in  the stringybark gully for the rest of the winter and Berkshire sows above them on the wattle ridge.

I will have to introduce some ‘panel’ fencing and training electric  around a section of the rough shed and  Ethyl the large Cornish Black can come back to the house veggie garden along with the weaned  saddleback piglets- even at 300 kilos she is  easy to manage and will keep the piglets warm and teach them the ropes till her own litter arrives in September.

A plan- now lets get some order happening here!!

A weak moment- and now…..lot’s of responsibility.

Livestock Guardian Dogs are an amazing asset to have. And I know it sounds very clinical- but the plain fact is that they are a farm asset just like any other item or piece of equipment, so like a fence line that is broken- I have to get on and fix it- fill the gap so we don’t lose more stock unnecessarily.

With Dona missing for over 7 weeks now, I am not very optimistic we will ever find her, so have ordered several new dogs from a very reputable breeder in Victoria. They will be coming home around July I think.

But……. meet Simba- the latest addition to my crazy life.  A six week old Maremma pup.

I didn’t mean to bring him home, but a friend alerted me to a litter close by, and I went to just take a look, and also maybe see if they had heard anything on the ‘maremma network’ about Dona, perhaps a sighting or something.

What I found really shocked me.  The parent dog and bitch were really nice looking well tempered and socialised dogs, but so so deathly thin and unkempt. Clearly they are not treated as valuable working assets. The people couldn’t tell me when the pups were born, so I imagine the bitch has whelped out in the paddock and no one has really noticed till the pups were at least a few weeks old and moving around. Great mother- but don’t know how she fed nine pups in her depleted condition(this was the last pup- all the others had gone to a pet shop- but they couldn’t catch this one). “No, no” they said-“hadn’t vaccinated any of them-why?  We’d just have to pass on the expense to you?”……

So when this dirty wormy ball of fluff was dragged out from under the house- of course I paid for him on the spot and went directly to the vet.

So, after a check at the Vet’s we have a plan- he is very light (5.1 kg and needs to be around 8 at this age) has ear-mites, fleas (easily dealt with ) and incredibly rickets already as well.

Rickets are caused by the lack of calcium, phosphorus and mineral salts in the diet, but can also be exacerbated by bad hygienic conditions, lack of sun and exercise. I have an incredibly supportive and thourough vet- rickets is generally only noticeable when it is in its advanced stages, but it is still possible to fight it off, especially if the dog is still young. If you administer large doses of calcium and phosphorus, along with a diet rich with raw foods especially chicken- bones and all minced finely, eggs, milk, vegetables like raw grated carrots, and apple peel.  It is best to avoid overly cooked meals-canned dog food- as cooking reduces the wealth of vitamins and nutrients in the food the damage can be minimised.

So Simba is on five small meals a day- raw kangaroo and beef, minced chicken frames (for the extra calcium) eggs, brown rice vegetables and cheese as well as high quality puppy biscuits and fortified milk on demand.

With solid nutrition and lots of outdoor work, hopefully at 6 weeks we have caught him early enough and will get over all of these issues. The plan is to build a great future guardian.

Travelling in a car can be very stressful for Maremma, but Simba only needed one rest stop before we got home.  I couldn’t bear the smell inside so a bath was next (how humiliating for a farm dog!) that needed three rinses of clean water to see the pink colour of his skin and restore his white fluffy coat. (he had actually been ‘painted’ by children and the stuff made his fur matt and very challenging to brush clean)

Clean and dry, time to eat at last and Simba ate like he had never been fed – he gulped down minced roo and chopped beef, cheese, dry biscuits and 1 litre of fortified milk in about 5 minutes flat- and has been poo-ing it out the other end ever since like a tourist with Delhi belly…… It’s clear food was something he has had to compete and fight for, even with his digestive issues to adjust to and day five of all-he-can-eat, he is showing extreme food issues, growling and snapping at the Pomeranians if they even try to sniff his bowl……already protective of territory and he is just a baby- now this dog will make a great chook warrior!

I am keeping him very close for a few weeks to know my family and our little dogs first- the poms were unimpressed when he arrived-and they are still quick to point out to me that he ‘smells different’. And he does have a distinct odour- working dog. He looks so cute all clean and fluffy now-it was hard not indulge myself and bring him into the office and just have him under my desk- but the poo-ing was the killer really, not the risk to my public service career…

Simba will have just a few short weeks with us near the house, then he will go out to be with some hens and new lambs in a training yard till he is about 24 weeks old-nearly six months. The older Maremma will be brought back up to the house yard a few times a week while lambing happens over the next month or so, and then by increments Simba’s interaction with them will increase as they move into bigger and bigger paddocks with more animals introduced over time.

By September, our spring, I will have the rams and ewes back in the paddock next to the training yards where Simba will spend time with the other dogs and the bigger sheep before being turned out to work fulltime.

Especially because we will be at the vets regularly to monitor Simba’s bone density in particular, socialising him to walk on a lead and trust me introducing people to him is important. In days gone by, and still today in traditional settings in rural France and Italy, these livestock guardian dogs are a part of the village life, community dogs interacting with all – not isolated, ignored or neglected.  Human interaction is important to the dogs’ psychological wellbeing too.

I wonder why people who have no idea about Maremma do this? They imagine there is money to be made, I suppose. Maremma go from a tiny 400 grams born, to the fluffy-stuffed-toy-on-your-bed stage- to a 65 kilo hulk in about 12 months- so pity the fools who buy them from the pet shop and imagine they have a backyard dog! With their huge growth curve, it takes a clear understanding of what nutrition is needed to ensure good health in these dogs, and breeding bitches especially require careful nutrition.

Not taking on these poorly bred pups doesn’t help them either- at least good nutrition and spaying early will save the individual. Don’t know what to do about backyard breeders in general though. Anyway, I haven’t stopped searching for Dona, but thought you might like to meet this guy.

When it all doesn’t go according to plan……

Anyway.  Sometimes I question why it is so hard, why am I doing all this ,but then I look out the window and I look at my grandkids and I know why.  It’s all good.

Well,  not today- I can’t look out the window and feel good today- there are marauding pigs tearing up my kitchen garden……..At least I won’t have to dig.

But I will talk about the piggies another time- just have had the hardest day……

You know, when everything-and I mean everything- is harder than it logically should be.  That was my day.

Ah! a day at home- was going to garden and paint- but escapee pigs took over and hyjacked my plans. Still got lots done, and felt really buggered when I finally got to the last task of the day- hook up the bike trailer and collect feed from the hay dude, 20 minutes away.

It’s expensive, but a choice I have made for the sustainability of this piece of country and the welfare of my cattle. Quatré Saisons has magnificent native pasture-precious little left in New South Wales- so we have a limited pasture grazing program in place to protect the native grasses, which entails alternate or hand feeding the stud cattle over the late summer, autumn and winter period to allow the grass seeds to mature and resow.

There are a few things we do, and bringing in lush silage from further up the valley is one thing the cattle appreciate during the winter.

And what a cold snap we have had- down to minus 5 and a heavy snowfall over the weekend, but after a slow and very foggy start the days have been spectacular, with a stunning moon each night.

I have had a birds eye view from my bed each morning for about a week and a half now of Mercury, Mars and Venus slowly rising in the cold still sky and welcoming the dawn. What a sight!

Anyway, about today….

With late calves due for a few stragglers and lambing about to begin, the feed requirements are building up fast. So need to haul in that hay!

Called my ever obliging hay dude- always has a happy greeting and makes me welcome on his farm, even when he is flat out- which is always.  Must be a pest having to bring out the tractor and muck about for half an hour for someone who drops in every few days for just a few rolls at a time …

I  asked for 2 rolls of silage- only had the bike trailer with me- and no ute back- (that’s a tale in itself-later) so we talked a bit and compared the weather to this time last year, and concluded that at least it wasn’t as cold as another village further towards the coast, and laughed. As always.

I could see he was itching to ask me where the Hilux was, so I let him ask and watched his face contort as I explained the fate of the mighty Toyota ute.

Hay dude does that you see- enquire about the family each time I see him-only it’s the cars and the cows he wants to know about, not the kids……

Anyway, the silage bales are loaded, we chat a little more, he tells me to take care on the road and off I go- slowly, carefully across the sheep paddocks, over the little bridge and out onto the dusty road. Each turn in the road I check the mirror to be sure the heavily loaded low trailer is following along behind- and it is.

Over the very bad old bridge and on the tar now, I relax a bit and start to fiddle with the radio- why can’t I work this silly radio out?

Then the noise starts- a strange squwooshing noise- like the trailer sounds when it is being dragged sideways because I am jack-knifed again in the driveway trying to do a 44 point turn.  But I am not turning, and I am not jack-knifed and the trailer is there, in the mirror, following along…..

Then I see the smoke.

This bloody road- that bloody council- there is no shoulder to pull over, nowhere to stop but right in the lane of the roadway.  I limp on a little further- just want to get over the crest so I see the truck that swoops over the hill to kill me ….

Over as far as I dare pull up- I hop out and go around the front of the car and drop straight into a drain, full of something slimy, very stinky and overgrown with metre high grasses- so it looks like all the ground around it.

Great. Well. At least I didn’t drop the car and trailer into that bog- so let’s count our blessings here.

The front bale has dislodged itself a little and is sitting just a fraction on the wheel arch.  Just enough to push the metal down sufficiently that on this rough road the tyre is now rubbing on it and dragging rather than turning freely on the axle.

OK. Other side is close but manageable- heavy bales of silage this time Hay Dude!

So I let the tyre pressure down just a bit to see if that compensates for the lack of room under there, and yes, it gives a little more clearance,so I potter off very cautiously.

Off  the tar again just 50 metres on and again the wheel is complaining and I realise that I just am not going to manage 25 kilometers like this and the dusk is falling fast too.

So I have to call.

I hate to bother him, but I have to call Hay Dude because there is no way I can roll off two 350kg silage bales on my own, on the road  with no shoulder and night falling fast. It’s a wipeout waiting to happen.

But Hay Dude is on his way out to a fire brigade meeting, and he is the Captain, so he has to go- “pull into a driveway and leave the trailer there and I will sort it in the morning for you”, he says.

I am silent and nervous. OK. Will do….

I spy the closest house to the road- at least it is visible. My house is more than 2kms from the front gate-so this is actually convenient really.

I knock on the door after making my way through myriad gates that are getting higher and higher the closer I get to the house, and as the sound of my knocking resonates through the house I see why. Six or eight huge dogs come bounding from all parts of the house converging on the door. The noise of their barking echoing through the house is deafening!

A man comes to the door, pushing his way through the dogs and squeezes out the narrow opening onto the verandah.  I apologise and explain my predicament, and ask could I please leave my trailer on his driveway overnight. And would he have a jack we can use to help lever the heavy trailer loose from the car so I can get home please?

This lovely man, who I have never met, doesn’t hesitate- he gets his coat and torch and goes via the garage to get his trolley jack and we wander down the driveway in what is now a dark moonless evening.

Back at the car, I warn him about the drain, just in time, as he walks around assessing the extent of the problem (no man ever says straight out that they are going to check it out for themselves, because after all women don’t know about cars and things do they? Usually they are very polite, and then say- often with a tone of surprise-”You’re right-this trailer/car isn’t going anywhere in a hurry”….).

We exchange thoughts on how little the council appears to do to keep this road passable and how the best thing would be to get the trailer off the roadway before a double tandem cattle truck comes hurtling over the hill.

I hand over the keys so he can negotiate the car back 20 metres and right into his driveway-it’s very dark now and he knows his gates best. And I am not up to reversing the stricken trailer in the dark, up a hill anyway.

But alas!!  the car won’t start- the hazard lights have flattened the battery.

Patiently my knight in shining armour heads back up his driveway and fetches his car and jumper leads. Phew!

A 64 point turn on the narrow roadway lines up the two engines and we start the car after just a little time holding our collective breath.

No Double B yet- so a quick dash back and around and we have both cars and the trailer back at 662.

A little more maneuvering, after first testing if we can dislodge the front bale- no way-and the trailer is off and stowed for the night.  His cattle start milling around the fence as the sweet heady smell of the silage reaches their nostrils on the cold night air.  I ask about his dogs- wonderful beasts-Salukis, Wolfhounds and Afghans. And I discover, he knows about my dogs- heard about Donatella on the local network and so we chat about Maremma, and break-ins and how challenging it can be settling into a country community- we have both been here about the same length of time.  We have never met but he knows just what to say about my recent loss.

What can I say to thank this kind stranger?

I am grateful that he would open his door and help someone he had never seen before, and extend the safety of his property to me.

I am grateful that Hay Dude just matter of factly slotted in the time to have a rescue tractor organised for the next day.

What can you say about wonderful people like that who will lend a hand?

As I walk back down his drive toward my idling car, I watch the moon suddenly rise over the river and bounce over the old church roof, now a house, across the road from 662.  It is glorious and round.

Yes. Thank you universe. I am grateful, and tomorrow is another day……

And then you lose some….

There are such a lot of things that can, and often do go wrong on the land.

Farming is not for the risk averse. I am risk averse- I don’t know why I imagined I wouldn’t feel completely inept in the face of setbacks, the amazingly difficult-to-break-into-culture; the fluctuating weather cycle and seasonal wildness in the rainfall, heat and cold- there is no in between. Or the pain I feel with the loss of individual animals through misadventure(usually mine).  I have really had to look at strategies to ensure losses are minimised and animals are safe without 24 hour human supervision. I can’t cope when my mistakes cost my animals in any way. 

Why did I think I could rehouse a mature working bitch? Although I have owned her for nearly two years, she remained in Sydney with her breeder, working cattle and poultry.

I brought Donatella home on Saturday April 2, 2011-she is a 3 year old Maremma bitch, pure white, a big solid dog at 44 kgs. Her microchip number id 900006000021563 (it’s a challenge to find with her heavy coat, but is on her right hand side ribcage). Dona responds to her name, but as a working dog, has been minimally socialised. 

There is no sign of her. Dona disappeared from the house yard Tuesday night. (I think I may have been so sleep deprived I have been saying Monday- but it was actually Tuesday night she went missing)

I got home about 9.30pm and the house yard gate and the last gate at the back of the property were swinging open.
I don’t know what has happened, but Donatella was not here. While she is in training and bonding to us, she is wearing a training choker collar and has been kept chained in various spots close to the house (and walked on a lead multiple times a day). My son was home working at the front of the property cutting timber. Donatella was last walked and handled by him at 2pm.
My fear is that she may have been taken, but even if this is not the case and she has somehow snapped the chain she doesn’t know where she lives as yet.
Maremma are not ‘hunting’ dogs and will not harm farm stock.

Dona as an individual is very gentle. She is very nervous/hesitant around men- so please approach quietly/gently. Usually (but not always) maremma will bond to just a single human, (and unfortunately for me my missing Dona is, I believe, fretting for Cy-her breeder).

Most Maremma do not take directions from anyone, so they are not ‘pet’ or ‘go fetch’ dogs. This can be very frustrating, but is a natural response that allows these dogs to independently care for their flock and protect them against many dangers.

In the limited time I have had her she has been walking calmly on the lead and has been hand fed (literally every mouthful from my fingers) as part of her bonding retraining. Maremma are instinctively aloof and do not follow vocal commands-this is what makes them excellent stock guardians, but very frustrating to manage (and especially as she hasn’t bonded with our family as yet).
We have done significant searching, but because she is new to our family she will be nervous of being approached; and scared of the sound of the motorbike; and probably confused so she is more likely to just be lying low in scrub watching the world around her………
I have listed her on local forums, contacted all neighbouring properties the council and put out posters.
I have been calling out to Dona all along the roads-  but if she disturbed an intruder or has been taken, I just don’t know where she could end up.

Anyway we are hopeful we will be reunited with Dona

Please please PLEASE if you have any information, or see her please contact me or Yass Valley council 02 62261477 so we can arrange to bring her home.

Duke the Lover……

How much acrimony can one beast stir up?

He’s just a mild mannered bull. Loves the ladies. It seems the ramifications of his escapades just go on and on……..

At the height of the drought, two of my cattle made their way down to the creek once -two years ago-but it seems some neighbors will NEVER get over it.  

 How can one curly coated guy-in-search-of-love create such discourse between neighbors?

So he went for a walk, curious about the world around him and visited a watercourse,met a few cows.

We responded-brought him home- offered compensation (why? not stud cows, and a great looking little calf!)-told Duke off- installed new fencing, ultra electric security……..Only happened once- years ago now- get over it move on. How many times can they bring it up?

Duke has a very placid temprement and is easy for me to handle, he comes when called and I have him in with all the calving cows- have never had an issue of aggression or jelousy over a calf.  He is a keeper. Or was. Time for Duke to find fresh pastures.

We are a small stud, and are now at the point where is is related to all the calves, so time for a new blood line. And frankly, I want to show the ultimate goodwill towards the neighbors.

Cheerio Duke……

A champion Dexter stud sire with excellent beefy conformation, Duke is seeking new pastures with suitable female company and arrives in top condition, having fulfilled his standing brief at Quatre Saisons. This animal is placid, well handled and halter trained. A total gentleman, Duke will romance your herd and provide proven capacity to pass on his red gene. Duke is long legged and has been dehorned. It has been fantastic having a red bull- you can see from some of this years calves the colours are just gorgeous, and we will have that advantage on down the line through thier progeny.

So anyone out there ready for a great new bull?

Physically Duke is very agile and a willing worker and his progeny have great temprement too.

Registered with the Dexter Society of Australia.

SIRE: BRAMBLEDEL REDBERRY PRINCE (R) (IMP UK) (ACC AI) ; and

DAM: BLACK CADILAC FAERIE PRINCESS.

Reliable and easy to handle-definitely a lover not a fighter! Duke has a great beef profile and has produced consistently healthy calves, in all three colour ranges.

Using a Dexter sire over your herd ensures the following targeted breeding objectives:

• Calving ease suitable for yearling heifers
• Excellent reproductive efficiency
• Earlier growth without larger mature size
• High carcass merit
• Good temperament

Who wouldn’t value this guy?

What I am about

While the ‘Old Macdonalds farm’ approach to the pre industrial revolution era traditional mixed farming model may appear chaotic- it is actually very close to the central aspect of biodynamics, which sees the farm as a whole organism, a closed self-nourishing system.

I  have chosen a truly self sustaining mixed farming model- just as it used to happen in much of human history.

Every animal, every activity in rhythm with the next and in step with the seasons. I care a great deal about the welfare of my animals and understand the cycle of the seasons and life.

I am aiming for self-sufficiency through natural, ethical production and do not use chemicals in pasture management or animal husbandry.

Sometimes I have extra animals for sale and one day will sell produce like cheeses, dairy and meat too.  The farm shop will be part of a rebuild  out on the road, this block known as ‘The Briars’ was a gazetted school house from 1840-1964.

Lots of work ahead.  Gotta convince council yet, and calm the neighbors down……..

Hello world!

This is a blog about my life and daily attempts at learning about farming, running a home, creating a real food garden, dipping my toes into permaculture, raising kids and critters and always sharing food.  I want a life that is good for me, memorable for my family, good for the planet, and just plain good …

Want the best for your family? Of course you do!  Me too!  Well for me, food was naturally the best place to start. I want to care for my family and have as independant and sustainable a life as I can achieve. I want to imprint on them the importance of real wholesome natural food.

I  believe in serendipity. Somehow, that’s how I stumbled on to my property nearly four years ago-and it has all just grown organically from there.

Happy animals raised on clean pasture provide clean healthy nutritious meat, milk and eggs. It’s that simple.

I raise heritage breed cattle, sheep, piggies and poultry for fun, because I like them, the planet needs them and to provide my family with food that is healthy, tasty, local, seasonal, ethical, green, and sustainable.

No amount of economic figuring can measure the benefit to physical and emotional health that comes from living ‘with’ nature.

How far food travels to reach your table  is important to the sustainability of farming practices into the future. Food grown locally and harvested in season has the least impact on our environment.

And animals raised ethically, fed and slaughtered in a closed system close to their markets of consumption contributes to limiting carbon emissions and providing the highest quality fresh food possible.

How our livestock lives is significant to me. The quality of their daily existence, the best natural nutrition and ensuring a respectful stress free death is important and returns to us the very best quality meat and dairy products that can be achieved.

I juggle farming with keeping a household, a job, a family and everything else happening. Returning human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits will require a major collective effort. I like to think my family are doing our part.

Welcome- glad you dropped by!