Busy down on the farm

The old diary, tyres and submersible pump

It might not look like much but this tiny part of our five acres has been the focus of our most expensive works since we moved here 18 months ago.  And there's nothing to show for it!

Because our little farmlet was the result of a subdivision, our water supply was still connected to the neighbouring farm's.  The same pump was filling their cow troughs and our toilet. $5000 later and the problem has been fixed .... at our expense as the pump is on our land.

Right next to this pesky pump is a pile of old tyres.   It turns out 155 car tyres and 14 truck tyres were left on the property, which we inadvertently purchased with the house and land.  The only legal way to dispose of them is to have them taken away to a special facility that shreds them and passes them on to be recycled.  Having them removed set us back another $1200.

Infant orchard

On the positive side, we just finished planting the orchard.  Last year we put in four apples and a lemon.  Actually there's a funny story here.  There was a fruit tree already growing slap bang in the middle of our planned path.  Dad told me he thought it was a mulberry.  I LOVE mulberries and really wanted to save the tree.  It was surrounded by heavy duty wire and it had grown so large it was being strangled.  I snipped all the wire away and the Gander transplanted it into our new orchard.  A couple of months later it sprouted some leaves ... and then nine cherries!  Yum.  I love cherries too and they grow very well in this climate.  Anyway, we just planted an apricot, a peacherine, a greengage, an orange and a crab apple.  There's one spot left for an avocado - we'll plant that in spring and see how it goes.

Sheep for beginners

The sheep and I have not got along since we met about a year ago at the saleyards.  It's been a troubled relationship to say the least.  And hopefully, it will end tomorrow morning without too much drama.  And honestly sheep, in this case it really wasn't you, it was me.

I had NO IDEA what we were getting into.  I have grown up surrounded by literally thousands and thousands of sheep and they all look so happy and fat and healthy.  I know they need crutching, drenching, shearing ... too easy.  NOT.  When do you do these things?   I've been driving about peering into paddocks noting what the farmers are doing to their gazillion sheep and inflicting it on our seven.  And what about their horny curly toenails?  I watched a tute on the web about how to pare them back with garden secateurs.  They were crutched with my sewing scissors after the hand shears proved impossible to handle.  Both procedures were effective but the poor sheep.  Each time they saw me approach they shrank into the furthest corner of the paddock.

Which brings me to our main sheep trouble - rounding the flaming things up.  First of all, in my defence, for the entire duration of their stay with us I have either been heavily pregnant or had a baby strapped on in a sling - so I haven't been the most agile jillaroo.  We have also been a bit hampered by lack of sheep dog / ATV and sheep yards.  The Gander very cleverly crafted some makeshift yards out of star pickets and old gates, which work a treat as a holding pen, but lack a race to funnel them in.  And the fiesty ones have been known to jump over the side.  Luckily the flocking instinct is strong and they jumped back in.

All this has resulted in a lot of us chasing them around the paddock, literally in circles.  The Gander seems to know what he's doing, but he tells me I have no affinity for sheep, that I can't think like one, because I'm always moving at the wrong speed in the wrong direction and actually help the sheep evade the yard. 

So, Plan B.  The past 10 days I've been feeding them lupins in the pen.  Apparently lupins, and other grains, are like sweets for sheep and ours certainly love them.  (Who knows how much to give them, or if lupins are good for them.  Two of my million unanswered sheep questions.)  My plan was to wait til they were all in there munching away, sneak up and close the gate behind them.  Two things I didn't anticipate - firstly, they eat the lupins at dawn.  I'm usually up, but in my pyjamas and home alone with the babies.  That hasn't stopped me nipping out in pyjamas and gumboots when it's 1C, but I find that secondly, there are always two keeping sentry while the other scoffs a snack.  The minute they see me they trot out of the pen.

Onto Plan C.  Yesterday we strapped kids into pram and left them outside the paddock.  Then the Gander, a skillful cyclist, lifted his deadly treadly over the fence, planted me by the gate, and with a few sneaky twists and turns herded the sheep into the pen.  I slammed the gate behind them.  Yay! We should have thought of the bike earlier!

Tomorrow they are going to be slaughtered, destined for our deep freeze.  And I'm very sorry to say they aren't in great nick.  While they are generally healthy and have had enough to eat and drink, they could have used a bit more TLC.  And I'm sorry these sheep were our guinea pigs, but I have learnt so much from this experience and expect the next sheep that come to stay with us will be much happier, fatter and relaxed.  I'll keep you posted!

Mother Goose's take home tips for looking after sheep.

• If you don't have a working dog or a motorbike, and suitable experience, buy the sheep young and treat them like pets.  They must be relaxed and happy in your company.  The problem with ours was we only rounded them up every couple of months to flip them upside down and do horrible things to their bottoms or toes.  No wonder they became hysterical when we tried to catch them.

• Get a local to help you develop a calendar of what needs doing when.  When's shearing? Crutching? Drenching?  And then just do it.  Don't wait til you think your sheep looks licey or might have worms.  Too late, the poor things are suffering.

Have you got any other tips?  I'd love to hear them.  As you will have gathered, I need all the help I can get!

Chooks

"Bl***dy pesky chooks!" is frequently heard at our place, usually from me at the kitchen window.  Every morning and afternoon they make their way to the verandah, scratching up the flower beds on the way and covering the paths with mulch and poo.  If the dogs are about, the chooks persecute them, nipping their ankles til they leave, then eat any biscuits left in the bowls, drink their water and do some more pooing.  I am constantly scrubbing it off.  Yuk.  It is certainly a chore I could do without.

Still, I love them.  Their antics are endlessly entertaining and their clucking and crowing and the very look of them fossicking about is charming.  The eggs are a world away from those you get from the supermarket - the whites actually keep their shape.  And they are very easy to keep.  Here's a photo of Miss Gosling helping clean their house out.

Moving the bees

The Gander has dreamed of keeping bees for years.  Since moving to the Mount he has met a few apiarists through work and recently one of them very generously gave him a couple of hives, complete with 100 000 odd bees.  They've been living by the chooks, but rejected our water sources in favour of the neighbour's trough.  We bumped into him by the fence a couple of nights ago and it turns out he's allergic bees and terrified of the hives.  So with perhaps a little bit less planning than required, we moved them that night.

Gander and bees

It's best to move them after dark, when they're all home and sleepy with the cold.  So after dinner we put Miss Gosling to bed, wrapped Master Gosling up snugly in the pram and headed outside.  While I got kitted up in the protective gear, the Gander bravely smoked the bees and stuffed their doorways with newspaper in nothing more than his jeans and long sleeved t shirt.  Together we lifted them into the back of the car and drove them 100m to their new home.  That's when the trouble started.  The lid of one hive slipped open exposing a lot of very grumpy bees.  Agh!  A lot of swatting and swearing later, we finished the job with just two stings.

The bees are now happy in their new location.  Happy bees.  Happy neighbour.  Happy Geese waiting for their honey.  Harvesting it is the next job!

Bees new home by the water tanks