Two steps forward and one step back.

Yesterday I was startled to find Daisy back drinking off Crystal. So we rushed down to separate them yet again. So much for the euphoria of returning the herd to its former shape. I honestly thought after a week and a half she would be weaned - I must have been wrong. While this just proves my inexperience in this field - it’s been another lesson learnt. Although this is disappointing it’s not all bad news. Crystal is finally standing still outside of the milking unit for Zulu to drink in short bursts. Zulu the baby calf doesn’t seem to be too anxious about the separation from the rest of the herd as long as he is around Crystal. He follows her persistently all day and is becoming more determined with her.

A tale of a veggie patch

What is in a vegetable garden?
Well I don’t know what’s it your vegetable garden but this is what is in mine. This will be the third veggie patch I’ve set about building since moving into Pine Haven. From the first one to this one, I have learnt many lessons, mostly from experience of failed crops. I’ve learnt about plenty of bug like the cabbage moth, caterpillar, grasshoppers and little orange lady bugs and last but not least are the army of ants. Striving for an organic garden I’m reluctant to use pesticides so have decided to try a homemade solution of crushed garlic, oil and some dishwashing liquid. So getting back to the veggie patch this is what happens from scratch for me. In a boxed off area with a little soil and lots of weeds which were the first to go. I added two to three bags of organic soil purchased before hand from the local Bunning’s, added to that a bag of homemade chicken and cow manure and some left over shavings from the bottom of the ducks enclosure. I wiped my brow a number of times for this job, stood up with my hands on my hips to assess the progress and found I had an audience of animals on the other side of the fence. Finally the labour of soil preparation was done. Gardening is like painting. The prep work which doesn’t get much fame is the foundation to success. Next came the seasol nutrients boost, and then finally the seedlings of beans, peas, snow peas, onions and garlic. I added a nectarine tree to the orchard aswell. Once this part was done it was time to close up. I laid a row of newspaper down to stifle the weeds and then on top I put a thick layer of sugarcane mulch. Now while I don’t profess to be an expert vegetable grower this was my last attempt at it. After the final assessment I packed away my tools and wandered back indoors with thoughts of a much more successful garden with this one. As for the other plot to the side of the new garden, I’m still picking capsicums and cherry tomatoes. To the left of the new garden my passionfruit vine is being trained up some stakes and running along a wire. The passionfruit vine has been the hero of the garden out right and I haven’t even had fruit yet. A number of times it has been trampled, eaten, threatened and overgrown by surrounding weeds but each time it has come back and now that the framework is up there will be no stopping it. The curry leaf tree is thriving and so are the chillies in the bath tub at the bottom end of the garden. The eggplants are finished sadly but we harvested many. The chillies took a long time to start but are doing famously now. I think I’m going to have to make some chilli paste to preserve them. The strawberries started off amazingly but have been the target of ants latterly. The corn, the carrots, the cucumbers and lettuce were all failures and I’m yet to learn why. I guess you win some you lose some.

Progress

Mother and calf have moved back in with the herd. I watched from a distant to see what Daisy, the previously fed Jersey calf would do once Crystal walked past her. It had been a week and a half now since she was weaned and Crystal and Zulu have been together. Daisy didn't seem to be too fazed and apart from a few sniffs here and there to the calf, they all seemed to integrate nicely after the separation. I realise I'm holding my breath suddenly but let out a sigh once Daisy doesn't go near Crystals udder. I think that Crystal’s milk is safe for Zulu and it is important to get them all back together as soon as possible. Zulu is not drinking from Crystal out of the milking unit so although I have changed the feeds from three to twice a day now, I still need to round them up morning and night. The calf is nibbling grass now and I'm encouraged to see how that happened almost immediately after they all regrouped. I'm still hoping that Crystals will become more relaxed with him and that Zulu will try harder. He gives up so soon. Perhaps it’s because he is still very young or maybe not. As I stand on the verandah looking out across the paddocks, watching them walk in a herd, it’s a sense of achievement I feel. The cattle are doing great and the addition has been accepted.

The beginning

What a word that is! Beginning shouts new and fresh, another adventure. The beginnings of my days start very early in true farming style latterly. I don't mind one bit. Crystal, our momma cow sings out to me for her small bucket of grain. It has only been a little over a week that I have been feeding her grain while she feeds the calf but yet she knows its coming. She waits at the gate willing me closer with the grain in my hand. As I make my way to the barn she smells the grain at the same time she sees it. I must be fast or her tongue grabs the grain. She follows obediently and the baby calf makes his way next. We sit in the barn the three of us, Crystal eating her grain, Zulu drinking his milk and me observing the wonderful process happening before my eyes. He knows instinctively what to do. It may not be his birth mother but the milk is the same. Cautiously at first but then boldly he moves in. He is comforted by the sucking motion and his tail swings from side to side as he drinks. What a privilege to see this every morning. I am full of gratitude today.

Zulu arrives

I set off on the twenty minute journey to see the available two calves. One was a waygu steer and another was a Limousin cross. The thought of them both coming from a dairy worried me a bit as we had learnt allot from the last two steers we raised. Dairy cows have a bony structure and take that much longer to get to the desired weight. A beef calf could be raised to the correct weight in two and half years but a dairy calf could take three and half years for the same weight. Armed with my history I thought I was confident enough to recognise the difference. A winding dirt road took me to the dairy farm which was run by Marlin and Barb. Two very strong ladies I gather. They handled the dairy and sale side of the farm. I looked at the two calves and was undecided. I was surrounded by pigs, ducks, chickens, goats and calves of all sizes and colours. It was very overwhelming. The following day I returned with Johnny and we decided on the little one of the two. His umbilical cord was very wet so he was still very new, possibly a day or two old only. He was treated with all the necessary medicines and tagged. We attended to the paperwork soon after he was put in the back of the trailer. There was no turning back now. Money was exchanged and papers signed. We were now the proud new owners of a wagyu calf.

Once upon a misty morning

A few mornings ago I woke up to the lovely surprise of fog which had rolled in overnight. My internal thermometer warned me of a very hot day to come. As I waved goodbye to the boys I couldn't help my excitement that was rising inside of me. As I closed the front door, I thought about another opportunity door that had opened for us overnight. I've been looking for a steer on the internet for the longest time but with not much success. Finally I had found what I was looking for. A contact, just about twenty minutes from the farm. Johnny and I had decided that I would go and look at the calf and if we were happy he would go with the next day to collect it. Was I ready for this again? I thought so. Of late my passion had returned. I had my old energy back and could tackle all the work that is entailed with raising a bottle fed calf. As I sat on the porch listening to nature’s sounds and drinking my coffee the house was quiet inside. This old farmyard was about to embrace new life again.

A long time has passed!

I'm back! Whow went I check the dates of my previous posts I'm shocked to see how much time has passed. I chalk it up to lots of different things. Primarily the reasons for my lack of interest in writing is the death of my dearest Father. He passed just one year now but it still is hard to swallow let alone talk about. However hard that one was, life does go on and somehow we pick up the pieces of life and carry on. My journey I started on this land has not ended, my learning continues day by day. I am stretched many times and I have adjusted and grown from my animals and living life on the land. Would I change it? Would I go back to city life? Not on your nelly! This country life is in my blood now. My animals are in my DNA. Hard work is part of most of my days. New discoveries and fresh understanding visit my life all the time. It's addictive!

I look forward to recording my adventures with a renewed passion and hope you will enjoy reading them too. Topics include new arrivals on the farm, vegetable gardens, milking, illness, poisonous plants and many other things. The best is yet to come friends. I once saw a blog I was following call the love of living on the land a case of Barn heart. I somehow think that's what I've got too. It may leave for awhile but you can't stamp it out and sure enough it will return once again.