Trying to get stuck into the lavender field again. Have let the grass get too long again. Got stuck in with some weeding and weedeating / line trimming.
Finally worked out how to use the weed-eater / line-trimmer / whatever-you-call-it. Actually I already knew how to use one (duh) but have now learnt how to mix the petrol/oil and fill it up. And even managed (after much trying, swearing, cuts and bruises) to pull the cord-thing to start it up on several occasions. I hate those pull-cord-things that you use to start machines. I'm just not strong enough (even though P reckons it's not about being fast or strong nowadays).
Once again we are without a (big) lawn mower. The ride on mower has previously broken down three times so we've given up on that. Now we've been using the tractor with lawn mowing attachment to mow the lawns. Only now that has broken down too. I mowed the lawn around part of the house a few weeks ago. Next time I went to use it, it wouldn't start. We suspected it had run out of diesel. So I had to buy some of that. It was another week before I could fill it up and try again. Still no luck. P says someone said you shouldn't let diesel engines run dry as it buggers them up. Well I didn't know it was running low, did I? I haven't noticed any fuel indicators on the tractor.
So the grass in the lavender field is growing even longer, although the grass and weeds creeping over the weedmat is now cut back at least. The grass in the yard is also growing ever longer. If this continues much longer P will have to get the push mower out again.
Still haven't had any rain. My well meaning friend came over last week with some herbs to plant in the garden, which she had been meaning to do for months. I'm wary of using too much of our tap water to water the plants, given that I don't know how much is in the water tank. Will have to try out water recycling next time the girls have a bath.
Received a very large electricity bill this week. Discovered that we have two electricity meters on the property - one for the house and one for the water pump & electric fences. Unfortunately we've only been receiving bills for the pump meter and not for the house, for the last 3.5 months. So now we've been stung with an unexpected $700 bill. Ouch.
-M
21 April 2009
15 April 2009
Week 18
Not much going on on the farming front over Easter. Mowed the lawn again with the tractor. Started weed-eating / line-trimming the lavender as the weeds are starting to take over again.
We had a little bit of rain last week. Not enough to fill the water tank but enough to make the weeds start growing again. It's been relatively quiet for the last month but the vege garden is now a sea of green weeds again.
On Saturday evening we attended the Lift Off Levin hot air balloon festival. It was awesome. 20 (well 19 actually) hot air balloons inflated in the showgrounds while we watched, but stayed tethered to the ground. Then as darkness fell they all turned their burners on and off to light up the balloons in time to music. A really awesome spectacle.
I managed to successfully make some apple jelly this week. It was a lot easier than making passionfruit jelly. I learnt from my past mistakes and when it seemed to bubble differently I took it off the heat and poured into preserving jars. It didn't jell like I thought it was going to, but once it cooled down it looks and tastes like I would expect apple jelly to. Didn't make this with our own apples though. We don't have apple trees. These apples came from an organic tree at AgResearch in Palmerston North.
-M
We had a little bit of rain last week. Not enough to fill the water tank but enough to make the weeds start growing again. It's been relatively quiet for the last month but the vege garden is now a sea of green weeds again.
On Saturday evening we attended the Lift Off Levin hot air balloon festival. It was awesome. 20 (well 19 actually) hot air balloons inflated in the showgrounds while we watched, but stayed tethered to the ground. Then as darkness fell they all turned their burners on and off to light up the balloons in time to music. A really awesome spectacle.
I managed to successfully make some apple jelly this week. It was a lot easier than making passionfruit jelly. I learnt from my past mistakes and when it seemed to bubble differently I took it off the heat and poured into preserving jars. It didn't jell like I thought it was going to, but once it cooled down it looks and tastes like I would expect apple jelly to. Didn't make this with our own apples though. We don't have apple trees. These apples came from an organic tree at AgResearch in Palmerston North.
-M
07 April 2009
Week 17
When we first moved in here, I was very worried about living off tank water and the possbility of running out of water. After a wet summer with rain every third or fourth day, I stopped worrying. I eased up on the self-imposed water restrictions - started leaving the tap running while washing hands, filled the bath slightly fuller than before, even let the girls turn the tap on for themselves when teeth brushing (with water gushing out FAST).
Then a week or two ago we heard the announcer on the radio saying that Levin township was facing water restrictions due to not having had any rain for a long time. That's when I realised that it hadn't rained for ages. I can't remember the last time it rained. The big storm of three weeks ago was all wind and no rain.
Now Levin township is indeed on water restrictions - no watering of gardens, no washing of cars or buildings until further notice. This doesn't apply to us as we are on tank water not town water. However it does mean we have to start conserving water. K and V are happily doing their part - no baths for four nights in a row.
It was supposed to rain today. I was going to mow the lawn but instead stayed inside cleaning and sorting out stuff. The rain didn't arrive till 6pm. It won't be enough to fill the tank back up.
Last year when P and I attended the Lifestyle Farmers Fieldday we joined an organisation called Farmers Unlimited. Last weekend we attended our first event, a visit to a nearby member's property to see what they had done with it and what they were growing (over 100 different types of apple!). We all went along as a family, however K and V quickly got bored. I ended up taking them away while P stayed on. He said it was very useful.
I don't know if it is representative of the group, but most people there were of an older age group (50's & 60's?) and I get the impression they'd were all experienced lifestylers/farmers. Apparently the group is having trouble recruiting new members. This is a shame as the group is exactly what P and I need - a chance to mingle with experienced people who are happy to share their knowledge and to answer our stupid questions.
Some time in the near future the group may come and visit our property to give us some hints and tips, advice and ideas.
The organisation will be having another table at the Lifestyle Farmers Fieldday this year and P will be manning the desk for part of the time, hopefully drumming up some new business to keep it going.
-M
Then a week or two ago we heard the announcer on the radio saying that Levin township was facing water restrictions due to not having had any rain for a long time. That's when I realised that it hadn't rained for ages. I can't remember the last time it rained. The big storm of three weeks ago was all wind and no rain.
Now Levin township is indeed on water restrictions - no watering of gardens, no washing of cars or buildings until further notice. This doesn't apply to us as we are on tank water not town water. However it does mean we have to start conserving water. K and V are happily doing their part - no baths for four nights in a row.
It was supposed to rain today. I was going to mow the lawn but instead stayed inside cleaning and sorting out stuff. The rain didn't arrive till 6pm. It won't be enough to fill the tank back up.
Last year when P and I attended the Lifestyle Farmers Fieldday we joined an organisation called Farmers Unlimited. Last weekend we attended our first event, a visit to a nearby member's property to see what they had done with it and what they were growing (over 100 different types of apple!). We all went along as a family, however K and V quickly got bored. I ended up taking them away while P stayed on. He said it was very useful.
I don't know if it is representative of the group, but most people there were of an older age group (50's & 60's?) and I get the impression they'd were all experienced lifestylers/farmers. Apparently the group is having trouble recruiting new members. This is a shame as the group is exactly what P and I need - a chance to mingle with experienced people who are happy to share their knowledge and to answer our stupid questions.
Some time in the near future the group may come and visit our property to give us some hints and tips, advice and ideas.
The organisation will be having another table at the Lifestyle Farmers Fieldday this year and P will be manning the desk for part of the time, hopefully drumming up some new business to keep it going.
-M
01 April 2009
Week 16 - Making Jelly
We have a passionfruit vine that is taking over the staircase to the deck. It has been growing like crazy since we got here. The passionfruit are finally ready to be eaten. But I can't bring myself to eat them. Apologies to all passionfruit lovers but I find them so ugly (both on the outside and inside) that I just can't bear to eat them.
But I also can't bear the thought of them going to waste. So I came up with a solution. While I don't like the look of passionfruit, I do like the taste. So I decided to make up a batch of passionfruit jelly. That would use up a kg of fruit and I'd be able to eat it no problems.
Making jelly is very time consuming. Cutting up the passionfruit and scooping out the pulp was the most time consuming, followed by waiting for the juice to drip through the muslin.
The process is pretty simple - boil the fruit in water then strain the fruit out so you've just got fruit flavoured water. Then add sugar and boil again until it turns to jelly. Sounds pretty simple.
I followed all that pretty easily. Until I got to the last step (admittedly this was at 10pm so I was a bit tired).
Here's the instructions from the book: "Jelly should foam up high in the pan ... when the mixture jells, allow bubbles to subside".
It also said to boil for a minimum of 10 minutes. Well after 20 minutes it was still bubbling and I couldn't tell if it was jelling or not. I got the impression that I was supposed to wait for it to stop bubbling. That was wrong. It did not stop bubbling.
I finally took it off the heat when it started to darken as though it was burning. And I discovered I'd made a really nice batch of ... passionfruit toffee!!!
We have enough fruit out there that I may try again now that I know what I did wrong. Or I might make passionfruit ice cream topping instead. Or juice.
In other news P bought a chainsaw and put it to work this weekend cutting up the tree which fell down in the big storm. Great work!
Picked another couple of pumpkins and gave them away. Both weighing around 3.7kg. Definitely Crown pumpkins and worth $3 each in the local supermarket. Not saving a heck of a lot of money on those.
-M
But I also can't bear the thought of them going to waste. So I came up with a solution. While I don't like the look of passionfruit, I do like the taste. So I decided to make up a batch of passionfruit jelly. That would use up a kg of fruit and I'd be able to eat it no problems.
Making jelly is very time consuming. Cutting up the passionfruit and scooping out the pulp was the most time consuming, followed by waiting for the juice to drip through the muslin.
The process is pretty simple - boil the fruit in water then strain the fruit out so you've just got fruit flavoured water. Then add sugar and boil again until it turns to jelly. Sounds pretty simple.
I followed all that pretty easily. Until I got to the last step (admittedly this was at 10pm so I was a bit tired).
Here's the instructions from the book: "Jelly should foam up high in the pan ... when the mixture jells, allow bubbles to subside".
It also said to boil for a minimum of 10 minutes. Well after 20 minutes it was still bubbling and I couldn't tell if it was jelling or not. I got the impression that I was supposed to wait for it to stop bubbling. That was wrong. It did not stop bubbling.
I finally took it off the heat when it started to darken as though it was burning. And I discovered I'd made a really nice batch of ... passionfruit toffee!!!
We have enough fruit out there that I may try again now that I know what I did wrong. Or I might make passionfruit ice cream topping instead. Or juice.
In other news P bought a chainsaw and put it to work this weekend cutting up the tree which fell down in the big storm. Great work!
Picked another couple of pumpkins and gave them away. Both weighing around 3.7kg. Definitely Crown pumpkins and worth $3 each in the local supermarket. Not saving a heck of a lot of money on those.
-M
24 March 2009
Week 15 - Tractors
On Friday night some friends came over for dinner. I was saying how the ride-on mower has broken down three times now and isn't worth repairing, but we didn't know how to work the mower attachment for the tractor (didn't mention that we didn't know how to work the tractor either). Quick as a flash my friend's friend (he's a farming sort of guy) jumped on the tractor, changed the deck over and showed us all how to mow the lawn. So me and my two girl-friends took turns riding round the yard on the tractor mowing the lawn. Including one wearing heels!
So today I took the tractor for a proper spin. Mowed part of the lawn. Mowed all of the lavender field. It was a bit faster than the ride-on mower but I took it slow because the grass was long, and I still had branches to clear away following the storm a few weeks ago. I should have mowed it a couple of weeks ago, but of course we have had no mower. Now that the lavender has been harvested the field looks quite sad.
We have acquired two more pieces of essential farm equipment...
No 1 is a chainsaw. P had hopes of using it this weekend to lop off tree branches growing over fence lines and to cut up dead and fallen trees. But we were busy getting ...
No 2, a dog. A border collie. Supposedly a working dog but has a good chance of ending up being the family pet. He's only a little puppy at the moment and needs house breaking and training. A very cute little pup though.
-M
So today I took the tractor for a proper spin. Mowed part of the lawn. Mowed all of the lavender field. It was a bit faster than the ride-on mower but I took it slow because the grass was long, and I still had branches to clear away following the storm a few weeks ago. I should have mowed it a couple of weeks ago, but of course we have had no mower. Now that the lavender has been harvested the field looks quite sad.
We have acquired two more pieces of essential farm equipment...
No 1 is a chainsaw. P had hopes of using it this weekend to lop off tree branches growing over fence lines and to cut up dead and fallen trees. But we were busy getting ...
No 2, a dog. A border collie. Supposedly a working dog but has a good chance of ending up being the family pet. He's only a little puppy at the moment and needs house breaking and training. A very cute little pup though.
-M
17 March 2009
Week 13 & 14 - Power Cuts
I didn't blog at all last week. We had no electricity.
Tuesday evening at 6pm the power went out (much to my daughter's dismay when the television suddenly turned off). It was quite a windy day, but nothing to the scale of the storm a week and a half ago. I looked outside and noticed smoke billowing from the other side of the hill behind ours.
A little while later our neighbour informed me that a power pylon had come down, setting fire to the paddock. I kept an anxious eye on it all evening (visions of Victorian bushfires in my head) but the wind kept blowing away from us and the fire service had it quickly under control.
The power was out all evening and I ended up going to bed and reading by candlelight. It eventually came back on about 1.30 the next morning.
Wednesday morning we went to the supermarket and had hardly begun when all the lights suddenly went out, the refrigerators went quiet, and for a second there was an eerie silence as everyone looked around, then everyone started talking at once again. The supermarket had enough back-up electricity to power the tills for about 30 minutes, so I grabbed the essentials and headed for the checkout.
Power came back about two hours later. I heard on the radio something about "rolling blackouts" but didn't hear the whole story due to children talking.
On Wednesday evening, again at 6 o'clock, the power suddenly went out again. Once again to my daugher's great dismay. This time I hadn't finished cooking dinner and we had to go out to McDonald's for dinner, to my daughter's delight.
Thursday evening all was fine and I reheated Wednesday's almost ruined dinner - roast lamb together with roast potatoes and roast pumpkin, both out of our garden.
Friday evening, for the third time that week, we lost power yet again, and yet again at 6 o'clock. This time it didn't bother my daughter as we weren't at home. This time the cause of the outage was young hoons driving their cars into power poles.
The unexpected downside of not having any electricity is that we don't have any water either, as the pump which pumps the water out of the water tank is run on electricity. (Unless there's a battery switch somewhere that I don't know about).
All that happened in Week 14 (last week). In Week 13, T and I harvested the rest of the lavender. Despite there being more rows of lavender than last time, we actually got a much lower yield of oil than previously. Because of a combination of the plants being younger, and poor growth due to the amount of weeds growing at that end of the paddock (and maybe the storm blew a lot of the buds off?). We only got 2.5 litres of oil.
The weather is starting to fluctuate as we enter Autumn. The mornings have been getting quite cool but still warming up into very hot days. Except for one day last week where it was raining and very, very cool. 14 degrees Celsius inside. Not that cold by winter standards, but considering today was 22 degrees, it was a huge shock to the system. So much so that I actually lit a fire in one of the fireplaces.
Another unexpected consequence of having water tanks is that during summer the cold water never really gets all that cold. But when the weather turns cold, the cold water feels like ice! I'm not looking forward to winter very much!
This weekend we went to the Central Districts Field Days in Feilding. It was very good and very relevant, with exhibits for fencing, tractors, and all sorts of things that farmers need and use. We came away with a PILE of farming magazines to read, a water filter for our kitchen, and lots of information on fencing and sheds, and other things to read. Not much in the way of stock, unless you're interested in highland cattle or alpacas, but they had just about everything else you can think of. It was much more worthwhile than the A&P shows have been. Although once again I don't think my daughter would agree.
Today, St Patrick's Day, has been very appropriately spent harvesting potatoes. The box weighs more than our kitchen scales can handle, but I'm guessing another 16kg [EDIT: Weighed in at 18kg]. Plus the 8-odd kg [EDIT: 7kg] I harvested last week. Brings us up to about 40kg in total. Our local supermarket has them at $2.50 for white and $3 for red potatoes, so I'm estimating we've got just over $100 in potatoes. Now we've just got to eat them all !!!
I also picked a pumpkin (Butternut variety I think) out of the garden too. It weighed about 2kg which is worth around $7.75. But once again, now we have to eat it all !!!
[EDIT] I take that back - just looked at the Wikipedia article for Butternut Pumpkin and it looked entirely different to what we've got. But I'm sure that's what it was labelled in the supermarket. Oh well, here's a pic of it, maybe someone can tell me what it is.
[EDIT AGAIN} I think it is a Crown Pumpkin.
-M
Tuesday evening at 6pm the power went out (much to my daughter's dismay when the television suddenly turned off). It was quite a windy day, but nothing to the scale of the storm a week and a half ago. I looked outside and noticed smoke billowing from the other side of the hill behind ours.
A little while later our neighbour informed me that a power pylon had come down, setting fire to the paddock. I kept an anxious eye on it all evening (visions of Victorian bushfires in my head) but the wind kept blowing away from us and the fire service had it quickly under control.
The power was out all evening and I ended up going to bed and reading by candlelight. It eventually came back on about 1.30 the next morning.
Wednesday morning we went to the supermarket and had hardly begun when all the lights suddenly went out, the refrigerators went quiet, and for a second there was an eerie silence as everyone looked around, then everyone started talking at once again. The supermarket had enough back-up electricity to power the tills for about 30 minutes, so I grabbed the essentials and headed for the checkout.
Power came back about two hours later. I heard on the radio something about "rolling blackouts" but didn't hear the whole story due to children talking.
On Wednesday evening, again at 6 o'clock, the power suddenly went out again. Once again to my daugher's great dismay. This time I hadn't finished cooking dinner and we had to go out to McDonald's for dinner, to my daughter's delight.
Thursday evening all was fine and I reheated Wednesday's almost ruined dinner - roast lamb together with roast potatoes and roast pumpkin, both out of our garden.
Friday evening, for the third time that week, we lost power yet again, and yet again at 6 o'clock. This time it didn't bother my daughter as we weren't at home. This time the cause of the outage was young hoons driving their cars into power poles.
The unexpected downside of not having any electricity is that we don't have any water either, as the pump which pumps the water out of the water tank is run on electricity. (Unless there's a battery switch somewhere that I don't know about).
---oooOooo---
All that happened in Week 14 (last week). In Week 13, T and I harvested the rest of the lavender. Despite there being more rows of lavender than last time, we actually got a much lower yield of oil than previously. Because of a combination of the plants being younger, and poor growth due to the amount of weeds growing at that end of the paddock (and maybe the storm blew a lot of the buds off?). We only got 2.5 litres of oil.
The weather is starting to fluctuate as we enter Autumn. The mornings have been getting quite cool but still warming up into very hot days. Except for one day last week where it was raining and very, very cool. 14 degrees Celsius inside. Not that cold by winter standards, but considering today was 22 degrees, it was a huge shock to the system. So much so that I actually lit a fire in one of the fireplaces.
Another unexpected consequence of having water tanks is that during summer the cold water never really gets all that cold. But when the weather turns cold, the cold water feels like ice! I'm not looking forward to winter very much!
This weekend we went to the Central Districts Field Days in Feilding. It was very good and very relevant, with exhibits for fencing, tractors, and all sorts of things that farmers need and use. We came away with a PILE of farming magazines to read, a water filter for our kitchen, and lots of information on fencing and sheds, and other things to read. Not much in the way of stock, unless you're interested in highland cattle or alpacas, but they had just about everything else you can think of. It was much more worthwhile than the A&P shows have been. Although once again I don't think my daughter would agree.
Today, St Patrick's Day, has been very appropriately spent harvesting potatoes. The box weighs more than our kitchen scales can handle, but I'm guessing another 16kg [EDIT: Weighed in at 18kg]. Plus the 8-odd kg [EDIT: 7kg] I harvested last week. Brings us up to about 40kg in total. Our local supermarket has them at $2.50 for white and $3 for red potatoes, so I'm estimating we've got just over $100 in potatoes. Now we've just got to eat them all !!!
I also picked a pumpkin (Butternut variety I think) out of the garden too. It weighed about 2kg which is worth around $7.75. But once again, now we have to eat it all !!!
[EDIT] I take that back - just looked at the Wikipedia article for Butternut Pumpkin and it looked entirely different to what we've got. But I'm sure that's what it was labelled in the supermarket. Oh well, here's a pic of it, maybe someone can tell me what it is.
[EDIT AGAIN} I think it is a Crown Pumpkin.
-M
03 March 2009
Week 12 - Potatoes and Storms
Normally I'd publish my blog on a Monday night. But I'm going to change that to Tuesdays. Tuesday is the day that K and V go to creche and I spend the day working on the farm.
Last Tuesday I finished weeding the vegetable garden and started harvesting the potatoes. I got about half of the plants harvested. Digging up potatoes is a lot like going to the Big Dig at the beach. Except that you're more likely to find something in the garden. But still, I'm never quite sure that I'm digging in the right place or the right depth. I really wonder how many potatoes I've left behind. Is there a technique I should be using? I just dig with my hands and see what I can find. Will the ones left behind become next years seeds? I notice some new plants growing again already. And a whole lot of new weeds.
So far I've harvested 16 kilos worth of potatoes. At current prices of $2.78 a kilo (on the Woolworths web site, I should really check our local fruit & veg store), that's a saving of $44. Not bad. But that's a LOT of potatoes to eat.
This weekend we had a bad storm come through. The rain was forecast but the wind took us by surprise. The first big storm since we moved in. The tall trees around the house were swaying like, um, I don't know, something that sways a lot. The cover blew off the tractor. The bouncy balls in the yard blew into the trees. Some of the marigolds blew out of the garden. Some of the weedmat blew out too. The garden bench blew over. The pot plants blew off the deck.
Then we went out and discovered the big willow tree at the bottom of the driveway had snapped towards the top and had fallen over the driveway. Our neighbour helped us tow it out of the way.
One of the eucalyptus trees along the driveway fell over into the field alongside, bringing down the fence with it. Another eucalyptus near the house leaned over into the one next to it.
We had electricity intermittently all afternoon. Then at 4.30 it went off for good. We had to go into town for dinner to the girls' delight. We got home and the power was still out. We had to put the girls to bed by candlelight, which was very exciting for them. The power came back on at 8.30, and the storm had died down by then.
There were branches and leaves everywhere, and I spent all day today picking up the pieces. We now have a very large pile of branches in the middle of one of our fields.
-M
Last Tuesday I finished weeding the vegetable garden and started harvesting the potatoes. I got about half of the plants harvested. Digging up potatoes is a lot like going to the Big Dig at the beach. Except that you're more likely to find something in the garden. But still, I'm never quite sure that I'm digging in the right place or the right depth. I really wonder how many potatoes I've left behind. Is there a technique I should be using? I just dig with my hands and see what I can find. Will the ones left behind become next years seeds? I notice some new plants growing again already. And a whole lot of new weeds.
So far I've harvested 16 kilos worth of potatoes. At current prices of $2.78 a kilo (on the Woolworths web site, I should really check our local fruit & veg store), that's a saving of $44. Not bad. But that's a LOT of potatoes to eat.
This weekend we had a bad storm come through. The rain was forecast but the wind took us by surprise. The first big storm since we moved in. The tall trees around the house were swaying like, um, I don't know, something that sways a lot. The cover blew off the tractor. The bouncy balls in the yard blew into the trees. Some of the marigolds blew out of the garden. Some of the weedmat blew out too. The garden bench blew over. The pot plants blew off the deck.
Then we went out and discovered the big willow tree at the bottom of the driveway had snapped towards the top and had fallen over the driveway. Our neighbour helped us tow it out of the way.
One of the eucalyptus trees along the driveway fell over into the field alongside, bringing down the fence with it. Another eucalyptus near the house leaned over into the one next to it.
We had electricity intermittently all afternoon. Then at 4.30 it went off for good. We had to go into town for dinner to the girls' delight. We got home and the power was still out. We had to put the girls to bed by candlelight, which was very exciting for them. The power came back on at 8.30, and the storm had died down by then.
There were branches and leaves everywhere, and I spent all day today picking up the pieces. We now have a very large pile of branches in the middle of one of our fields.
-M
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