The weather is starting to get warmer, and with the warmer weather comes The Return of the Flies (sounds like a B-grade horror movie!), and the weeds and grass start growing like crazy again. I'd almost enjoyed not having to worry about it over winter.
I'd hoped to get out and mow the lawn today. First I finished off line-trimming the lavender field. That took all day, so no lawn mowing got done. I took extra care with the line trimmer to try and shift some of the dirt and debris underneath the lavender plants, so it took a lot longer than usual. Of course I also created quite a lot of new debris too.
The cyclical nature of farm life is starting to bug me a bit. Everything seems so futile at times. I spend so much time trying to prevent things from growing, either by mowing lawn, pulling weeds or spraying weeds. It almost seems pointless. I just wish there were an easier way. Mind you, I also get sick of having to eat, toilet and shower regularly too. It just seems like Groundhog Day all over again sometimes.
In keeping with the self sufficient spirit, I made my own breadcrumbs for the first time a couple of weeks ago. When I was a kid my parents used to put the ends of the loaf of bread into the hot water cupboard to dry out and then make breadcrumbs with it. I thought the bread had to be dried out to make breadcrumbs. I've never tried making it myself before, apart from one time, years ago, with my friend. I insisted we needed to use dried bread. She insisted we needed to use fresh bread. I toasted her fresh bread to try and dry it out, and it turned out to be a disaster. Lately I've realised that the only reason they dried it out first was so that it wouldn't go mouldy, not because it needed to be dry. Anyway, I've started following their lead and keeping the ends of the bread loaves in the hot water cupboard and bunging it in the food processor to make breadcrumbs when needed. An excellent use for those odd bread ends that usually don't get eaten anyway.
-M
25 August 2009
18 August 2009
Week 36
Spring is definitely here. Bulbs are popping up all over the place. Things are starting to grow again. And by that I mean weeds. The mulch I put on the vegetable garden to suppress weeds hasn't really worked and the weeds are all poking up through it. I guess I didn't layer enough on. But now I'm not sure what to do. Put more on? Or dig the mulch in? Probably the latter, although as well as weeds there are also potato plants growing too and I don't really want to disturb them.
With Spring I also need to start thinking about what to plant in the garden. There are a couple of things putting me off planting anything. First is not knowing quite what to do. Second and most important is the concern that the dog will dig up and destroy anything I plant. Third is that anything the dog doesn't get, the rabbits probably will (unless the dog chases them away).
P and I have had a couple of productive days on the property recently. On Sunday he got out and went round the fields tidying up overhanging trees and ripped out an old fence that had come down long ago and been grown over with grass.
Today I got down to the lavender field again. It had rained a lot overnight and everything was wet so I couldn't continue on with the line trimming I was doing last week. Instead I started removing the debris from underneath the plants - lavender trimmings, grass clippings, leaves and general debris had all accumulated on top of the weedmat to form a nice layer of dirt, on which the weeds were growing. Completely negating the point of the weedmat. It was long, slow, hard work to clean it up. It took about 45 minutes to go down one side of a row, and 45 minutes to come back up the other side. Which means that in the three hours I spent today, I only got two full rows cleared out. It was a lot tougher than I expected. My arm muscles are killing me now. But hopefully it is worth it and will mean less weeding over the summer.
With each full row taking an hour and a half, I'm not sure how I'm going to find time to do the rest of the field. Maybe this will have to be an ongoing project. What I'm not sure about is how much of the debris I cleared away today has built up in the last 9 months, and how much is older than that. If it's going to be this much work every year then I'm not sure what to do. With only one day a week available to me, I can't really get very much done very quickly.
-M
With Spring I also need to start thinking about what to plant in the garden. There are a couple of things putting me off planting anything. First is not knowing quite what to do. Second and most important is the concern that the dog will dig up and destroy anything I plant. Third is that anything the dog doesn't get, the rabbits probably will (unless the dog chases them away).
P and I have had a couple of productive days on the property recently. On Sunday he got out and went round the fields tidying up overhanging trees and ripped out an old fence that had come down long ago and been grown over with grass.
Today I got down to the lavender field again. It had rained a lot overnight and everything was wet so I couldn't continue on with the line trimming I was doing last week. Instead I started removing the debris from underneath the plants - lavender trimmings, grass clippings, leaves and general debris had all accumulated on top of the weedmat to form a nice layer of dirt, on which the weeds were growing. Completely negating the point of the weedmat. It was long, slow, hard work to clean it up. It took about 45 minutes to go down one side of a row, and 45 minutes to come back up the other side. Which means that in the three hours I spent today, I only got two full rows cleared out. It was a lot tougher than I expected. My arm muscles are killing me now. But hopefully it is worth it and will mean less weeding over the summer.
With each full row taking an hour and a half, I'm not sure how I'm going to find time to do the rest of the field. Maybe this will have to be an ongoing project. What I'm not sure about is how much of the debris I cleared away today has built up in the last 9 months, and how much is older than that. If it's going to be this much work every year then I'm not sure what to do. With only one day a week available to me, I can't really get very much done very quickly.
-M
11 August 2009
Week 35
Dare I say it ... I don't want to jinx it ... but I think Spring may be on the way. There, I said it. Of course I'm still expecting one more big storm before the winter is really over. But lately I've noticed the temperature has been a bit warmer during the day (when the sun is shining it's almost practically HOT in our living room), bulbs are poking out of the ground, the grass is getting long and I only mowed it two weeks ago, the rose bushes are spouting new growth since I pruned them, and lambs are starting to be born. It must be spring.
Today my plan was to start tidying up the lavender, clearing away debris from under the plants and pulling out as many weeds as possible. Then I decided to use the line trimmer first to tidy up the grass, rather than clear away debris then create more again. Only the line trimmer was almost out of line. I did what I could before running out of petrol. Filled it up, tried again, and ran out of line completely. Had to go into town to buy some more, and get more petrol too. By the time I got back I only had an hour left before I had to pick up the girls from daycare. In the end I got almost half the field done.
Have had a go at making both lemonade and grapefruit juice using our own produce. It took a lot of effort just to make one batch and I'm not sure it's worth it. I used about 10 small-medium lemons, which took a LOT of squeezing.
-M
Today my plan was to start tidying up the lavender, clearing away debris from under the plants and pulling out as many weeds as possible. Then I decided to use the line trimmer first to tidy up the grass, rather than clear away debris then create more again. Only the line trimmer was almost out of line. I did what I could before running out of petrol. Filled it up, tried again, and ran out of line completely. Had to go into town to buy some more, and get more petrol too. By the time I got back I only had an hour left before I had to pick up the girls from daycare. In the end I got almost half the field done.
Have had a go at making both lemonade and grapefruit juice using our own produce. It took a lot of effort just to make one batch and I'm not sure it's worth it. I used about 10 small-medium lemons, which took a LOT of squeezing.
-M
04 August 2009
Week 34
This weekend we had a visit from the members of Farmers Unlimited, the lifestyle farmers group that we belong to, as well as members of Tree Croppers. The purpose of the visit was two-fold - for us to get some suggestions and advice from experienced farmers, and to provide a fruit tree pruning demonstration for everybody, using our trees as a live example.
The day was pretty successful. We had up to 30 people here, but everyone fit in well. The day started off rainy but cleared up by the time everyone arrived. Had hoped to do everything outdoors but the ground was too muddy so everyone came inside for morning tea and lunch. But the house had plenty of room for all.
First we did a tour of the property, through all the fields. P did most of the talking, while I answered some questions from people. Other than some comments about how the fences needed mending and that you just have to make time to do the things around the place, I'm not sure that we got much in the way of advice.
I missed the majority of the tree pruning demonstration as I was inside looking after the children. However the main thing I learned was that pruning can take place in either winter or summer (I thought it was only winter) and that major pruning shouldn't be done at this time of year as it is too wet and the tree could get fungus/infection.
The next Farmers Unlimited gathering will include a cheese making demonstration, so I am looking forward to going to that one. I may not have time to try my hand at it, but it will still be interesting to learn.
-M
The day was pretty successful. We had up to 30 people here, but everyone fit in well. The day started off rainy but cleared up by the time everyone arrived. Had hoped to do everything outdoors but the ground was too muddy so everyone came inside for morning tea and lunch. But the house had plenty of room for all.
First we did a tour of the property, through all the fields. P did most of the talking, while I answered some questions from people. Other than some comments about how the fences needed mending and that you just have to make time to do the things around the place, I'm not sure that we got much in the way of advice.
I missed the majority of the tree pruning demonstration as I was inside looking after the children. However the main thing I learned was that pruning can take place in either winter or summer (I thought it was only winter) and that major pruning shouldn't be done at this time of year as it is too wet and the tree could get fungus/infection.
The next Farmers Unlimited gathering will include a cheese making demonstration, so I am looking forward to going to that one. I may not have time to try my hand at it, but it will still be interesting to learn.
-M
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