Beefy little milkers

The Dexters have arrived !!

New arrivals - China and Tina

We are now the proud owners of 6 Dexter cows, of varying ages.  Here they are in pecking order:

Yellow - about 5yo, currently pregnant and should calve in the next few weeks
China - about 5yo, currently pregnant and should also calve in the next few weeks
Who - about 3yo, we suspect pregnant but not sure
Young - about 3yo, calved at our property just two days after she arrived (see below for little Rosie)
Wonder - about 1yo, heifer
Tina - about 1yo, heifer
Rosie - newest addition, exactly 4weeks old at the time of writing, born at Seven Springs.

Dexter delivery - the farm we purchased them from is only 15 mins drive.

We have put some effort into getting to know them, and having them get to know us.  They will come up the hill to the yards at the house when Michelle calls them, generally China and Yellow first, Young is always last.  All will eat Lucerne from our hands - Yellow and China particularly like to be hand fed.

Little Rosie arrived without us even realising Young was in labour.  We went to Lismore that morning, and when we returned home at approx. 2.30pm there was little Rosie, not more than a few hours old and very wobbly on her feet.  She had been cleaned up by Young, but the placenta was still evident on the ground.  At this stage they were being kept in the yards only, prior to being let out to range the property, as they had only been with us for 2 days.


Wobbly legs.  Young and Rosie, getting to know each other.

Time for a rest.

Young was initially very protective of her calf, meaning we couldn't get within 5 metres of Young for fear of being butted / gored.  She headed Ian off a couple of times (some swift fence climbing was in order).  Understandable really since she had barely been introduced to us before she calved.  Young's behaviour improved only marginally over the first 3 weeks, until we nearly lost Rosie last week.

Rosie was acting 'slow' and not her usual active and curious self on the Wednesday afternoon.  Michelle noted this change in behaviour, but did not dare approach Rosie with Young nearby.  On Thursday morning the need to check on Rosie was quite strong so Michelle set out in the Polaris Ranger.  Although not visible from the house the cows were quite close by, but Rosie was nowhere to be seen.  Michelle waited, hoping to spot Rosie hiding in the grass (it is common for cows to hide their calves while they graze nearby).  Eventually Young bellowed several times then set off on a determined march, the cows followed, Michelle too.  Young went straight to Rosie and it was immediately obvious something was very wrong.  Rosie was lying in the sun and would not / could not get up despite prodding from Young and the other cows.  Young moved from Rosie to Michelle (still wary of Young and in the Polaris) twice, mooing each time.  Then for no apparent reason Young walked off, and the other cows followed.  Michelle took her chance, picked up Rosie, and headed straight for the house.

We found the paralysis tick almost immediately and then rushed Rosie to the vet in Kyogle (about 45mins drive) in the back seat of the Hilux.  We returned home after the ministration of anti-serum, apparently designed for canines, not bovines.  Poor little Rosie got worse before she got better - upsetting for both Young and Michelle.  We really didn't think she would make it through the night.


Off to the vet.



Young and Rosie after returning from the vet.  Tina in background.

Ian went out the next morning at 4am to see if Rosie had survived the night. Young (her mum) was standing where we left Rosie but she was nowhere to be seen in the torch light. Our worst fear was that a wild dog had taken her during the night! Young called out into the darkness and a faint reply came from about 30 metres away...and lo and behold it was little Rosie standing up.  A few minutes later and she was having breakfast from Young.

We are relieved to report that Rosie has made a full recovery - it took a couple of days - and she is now back to being a normal active and curious calf.  Michelle is convinced that Young led her to Rosie and wanted her to help.  And since the 'near miss' Young is much more relaxed about Rosie.  Maybe it was just that Rosie smelled so much of Michelle by the time the ordeal was over, but Michelle likes to think that Young and she have come to an understanding - they will each look after Rosie as best they can.


Rosie - back to normal.

You might be wondering about the subject line - it is the slogan used by Dexter Cattle Australia.  The Dexter breed originates from Ireland and is a naturally small breed, about 1/3 the size of 'regular' cattle.  And, they are good producers of both milk and beef.  We obtained them with milk production in mind, but we should say now that any boy calves are eventually destined for the freezer.  For more info about Dexters follow this link:  http://dexter.une.edu.au/

We haven't started milking yet - that is for a future blog post.  But in the meantime they are an absolute joy, and daily we anticipate another new calf or two.

Grazing on the hill

Remember all those tomatoes............?

Well we gave up weighing them, there were just so many !!  We have satisfied ourselves that they are definitely worth growing again.  Especially the giant tree tomato variety.  Conservatively, we estimate the yield as 10kg per plant, and we only planted seven of them.

So, what to do with all the tomatoes once the jars run out?  Well, we tentatively made enquiries about selling the excess at the local market.  We refused to see them go to waste, and we had noticed an absence of tomatoes at the markets, and they are unusual varieties.  We were thoroughly surprised and encouraged by the response from the market organisers "oh yes, a couple of boxes of tomatoes would sell really well, and you must have other things you could sell, if you are good at growing tomatoes..."

In the end we rolled up to the Blue Knob Market with four boxes of tomatoes, jars of homemade tomato chutney, tomato seedlings (which Michelle had readied for a summer crop) and bunches of rainbow chard.  Ian's words, just prior to trading, were sensitively spoken "now you won't be upset if we don't sell anything.."  "No, I guess not, but I really would like to move the tomatoes, even if we don't sell anything else." was the reply.

We needn't have been concerned, we sold all four boxes plus about 1/3 of the chutney and several seedlings and bunches of chard.  And even better, we had a fun time doing it, chatting to the locals, exchanging tomato lore, by the end of the morning Michelle had become known as the 'tomato lady'.  At the start of the morning our first sale was a jar of chutney to a lady selling samosas, who needed an accompaniment.  Later in the morning we had people coming to buy the chutney they had just eaten with the samosas !!

We thought the chutney was pretty good ourselves, but since there are now third party endorsements, we've included the recipe below.  Enjoy !!

Tomato Chutney

2kg tomatoes - finely chopped
500g onions, finely chopped
2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tblsp salt
2 tsp mustard powder
3 tsp curry powder
500g sugar
3 cups white vinegar
2 tblsp cornflour
1/4 cup vinegar, extra

Place all ingredients except cornflour and extra vinegar into a large saucepan.  Bring to the boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved and continue to boil until reduced by approximately half (at least 2 hours).  Stir occasionally to ensure it does not catch.

Mix cornflour to a paste with extra vinegar, add to tomato mixture and stir until thickened.

Pour into sterilised* jars and seal immediately.  Eat at once or store in a cool, dry and dark place for up to 1 year.

* to sterilise jars, ensure they are clean and dry; place cold jars into a cold oven, heat to 100 degrees Celsius for approx. 10 minutes.  Bottle hot chutney into hot jars and seal immediately.

Storms & new additions

A stormy night last week, Ian was BBQing and providing entertainment
The hills in the background are lit up by lightning.

You will no doubt have seen on the news that SEQ and NSW are copping some big storms at the moment.  We have been fortunate to have some decent rainfall, after about 3 or 4 months with no rain at all, and recently we have also had some cracking storms here at Seven Springs.  Ian has been looking forward to the storm season, and so far it hasn't disappointed.

Ian providing further entertainment (note the gum boots).

 The biggest so far at Seven Springs was yesterday (Sunday) - about 15mm of rain, golf ball sized hail, and the temperature plummeted by 10 degrees in under 1 minute down to 16 degrees Celsius.  Here are some pics.
 

In truth the photos do not do justice to the intensity of the storms.  It is impossible to hear a spoken word even at close quarters the rain and hail is so heavy.  Fortunately no damage was sustained at all to any one or any thing, just a little anxiety  :)

New Additions 1 & 2
We've mentioned to a few people that we now have roosters, so here's a pic of them dutifully guarding the hens.  They really are quite sweet - they will sound an alarm if there is danger (eg: eagle) and usher the hens to a safe spot; they also call the hens to wherever they have located a particularly tasty morsel and let the hens eat first.

However, the red rooster is suspicious that Michelle might not be as friendly as she pretends to be (with her garden scraps and her warm morning mashes) and has attempted to chase her out of the chook enclosure a couple of times.  Michelle, of course, will not put up with this behaviour and stands her ground, making sure he knows that he is not the boss.  The ultimate demonstration of seniority by Michelle may well occur in the coming weeks.  We'll let you know how he tastes.

New Addition 3 - Foxy
We finally have a lovely puppy dog to add to the menagerie.  Her name is Foxy, and she is 20 weeks old.  Foxy is a ridgeback / shepherd / kelpie cross, and we obtained her from a local animal shelter.

She has a lovely temperament, wants to say hello to and play with everyone and everything, including the hens if she were allowed. 

The cats aren't convinced Foxy is a worthy addition to the family.  Didi is quite tolerant, but Gigi is a little toad and will hiss, spit, growl and swipe at poor Foxy when all she wants to do is make friends.

Didi and Gigi pre-Foxy - relaxed Queens of the Castle.

Gigi post-Foxy - en garde !

Foxy already has a play date with the dog of some friends of ours that live down the road, so hopefully that will go well and Foxy can run off some of her youthful vigour.

There's lots more happening at Seven Springs, so look out for our next blog entry.

Winter crop yields

Some, but not all, of our winter tomato harvest

This post is an update on the winter veges.  We particularly and enthusiastically mention the impressive yield of tomatoes thus far.  Regular blog readers will remember that we planted particular varieties of tomatoes supposedly suited to growing over winter.  They got in a little late, and we weren't sure how well they would go.  Well!!  Thus far we have 19kg of Giant Tree Tomatoes, 13kg of Stupice and 8kg of Ox Heart with probably as many more to harvest. 

Giant tomatoes, with Stupice in foreground.  Can of coconut milk included to attempt to show scale.

The Giant Tree Tomato variety certainly has lived up to its name:  growing about 2m tall and cropping heavily with giant sized tomatoes, so heavily that Ian has had to cross brace the trellises.  These tomatoes are very tasty (as home grown tomatoes generally are), and you can see from the photo have quite a lot of flesh, whereas some varieties have quite a lot of seeds and pulp.  Michelle has been cooking these into passata.  Only another 20kg or so to go.

The other hugely successful variety has been Stupice.  These are plum size fruit on a bushy mid size plant, and very sweet.  Perfect for salads, or eating like an apple; Michelle has used these for tomato sauce (the kind you put on hot chips) and tomato relish.  The remainder may well end up as passata though, as we are running low on jars.

More tomatoes to harvest; garlic in bottom right corner.

We haven't sprayed the tomatoes at all.  We did dust with tomato dust, probably twice, when they were fairly young and then when the first fruits were beginning to form, as we noticed green caterpillars were present and we feared an infestation.  Both varieties have proven generally disease resistant, with some yellowing of lower leaves only now starting to be evident, no doubt attributable at least in part to growing them in the cooler months.  We always put a handful of potash around each tomato seedling when planting, and have fertilised with home made comfrey tea.  We estimate losses of only about 1 or 2%, due to either grubs or falling / touching the ground and rotting.

Cross braced tomato trellises.

Not expecting quite such a successful crop, there are 35 San Marzano and 40 heirloom mixed variety seedlings ready to plant out for summer.  San Marzano are reputedly the best variety for bottling and sauce making (according to Diggers Club) so will be interested to see how they crop and taste.

Tomato seedlings awaiting planting.

Broad beans and peas are long finished, and we had good harvests, although did not weigh these.  Celery, chard, kale and carrots are still being picked as needed.  Onions are starting to mature.  Garlic still has a couple of months to go - there seems to be mixed results with the different varieties planted, will give a more comprehensive update when it is harvested.

Potatoes are all dug up and in total we harvested about 28kg.  Varieties we planted were Nicola, King Edward, Pink Eye, Kipfler and Dutch Cream.  Unfortunately some of them have hollow heart (a hole in the middle of the potato) which we believe may be caused by inconsistent watering.  A little disappointing, but they are still very tasty.

Spuds

We had to dig them a little earlier than we would have liked to due to a resident bandicoot (at least that's what we think it is) digging up the potatoes.  When we set up the vege gardens we were conscious of keeping out birds and wallabies, but bandicoots were not on our radar at all.  So some remedial works are required or all the spring / summer seedlings will be uprooted.

All in all we are calling our first season in the vege garden a success.  It is certainly very satisfying to put together a quiche or frittata using all your own home grown ingredients.

Almost forgot to mention - I am saving seeds from the Giant Tree Tomato and Stupice varieties, if you would like some for your own garden just let me know and I'll be happy to post you some.

Dry as a bone, but...

Once upon a time, on an early Spring day of brilliant sunshine and a light breeze, Michelle & Ian decided to mow the lawn.  Being slightly larger than the average lawn, there are both a ride on mower and a tractor with slasher available to the task.  Although Ian would usually use the tractor and slasher, he decides on the ride on mower.  And Ian decides to use the mower in an area where he would normally have used the tractor and slasher.  But it's a lovely day, and it hasn't rained at Seven Springs for several months so really, there's no reason not to use the mower.  And it does have greater manoeuvrability.

Michelle busies herself with the usual Sunday morning chores - stacking dishwasher, hanging clothes out to dry, etc with the promise of joining the mowing activities later in the morning.

After about 30 minutes, Ian comes to the door:
"I need you.  The mower's bogged."
Michelle thinks for a second.  Surely she cannot have heard correctly, "what do you mean?" she asks.
"Oh I went across the rill from the spring and got bogged."
Michelle abandons the washing and follows Ian to the bog site, still not quite believing what she has heard.

Now although rain has not fallen for months, the spring that flows out of the back of the mountain has not failed, and continues to run into the house dam, cutting its way through the properties clay soils.

Michelle & Ian arrive at the bog site.  Hmmm.  The back wheels are bogged to the axle, and all the way to the cutting blades.

"Why did you go across here?" Michelle asks.

"I always go across here with the tractor, I thought it would be OK." comes the reply.
The mower cant go forward, and can't go backwards.  They contemplate getting boards to give traction to the back wheels, but the rill is too steep.  There is a cursory attempt to place rocks behind the back wheels, for traction.  Finally Michelle says
"I think you better get the tractor."

So, using the metal frame welded to the roll bar of the mower, the Daedong tractor and bucket lifts and pushes the mower forwards and out of the rill.

Good work.  But.  The mower is on the wrong side of the rill.  How to get the mower to the 'right' side?  They look around for inspiration.  It is late morning and the heat is building.  Not far is the pile of rocks tentatively used to attempt to give traction to the bogged mower.

Michelle and Ian then set about creating a ford with the rocks that are on the other side of the rill.  It is a small miracle neither of them falls into the rill while jumping over it, rocks in hand.  Ford completed, Ian then drives the mower across to the 'right' side of the rill without further mishap.

"I think I'll continue the mowing," says Michelle, "with my mower." and with that Michelle mows her way around to the other side of the house.  Ian decides that since the tractor is out anyway, he may as well continue with the slasher.

About 20 minutes pass.

Michelle is almost finished mowing the 'septic paddock' where the soakage trenches for the septic system are and sees Ian walking towards the fence.  She thinks, oh he must be finished.  Michelle drives to the fence and upon meeting Ian says, jokingly, "have you bogged the tractor now, ha, ha, ha."

"Yep" is the reply.
"Nooo!" [in a disbelieving tone]  "Are you joking?"
"No."
"Oh my god.  Let me get the camera."

Michelle was too polite to get the camera when the mower was bogged, thinking, 'that would be unkind, I guess it could happen to anyone.'  But when the tractor was also bogged in the same morning, and not 5 metres from the first bog site, it was too good an opportunity not to document.

"How did this happen?" Michelle asks in disbelief.
"Well, it's like this, I was slashing as close as I could parallel to the rill and it kind of just slid in."
"Can the ute pull it out?" Michelle asks hopefully, walking around to inspect and fully appreciate the enormity of this latest event.
"No, the ute won't have enough grunt."
"Oh.  Well, better call the neighbour then and see if they can come up with their tractor."

Ian, with tones of resignation in his voice, calls the neighbour.  No problem he says, were just drenching the cattle at the moment, but I'll send my son up later after we're done.

A few hours later the neighbour's tractor can be heard making its way up the paddock via the right of way from Stony Chute Road.  "Coady is here." Michelle shouts.

Ian directs Coady to the bog site and Michelle and Ian meet him there.  Coady is a lovely young man, raised in the country and with aspirations of owning a farm himself one day.  He is far too considerate and well mannered to make light of the situation.

Coady jumps of his Dad's CASE tractor, and has a look around the Daedong, angled precariously in the rill.
"Yeah.  Haven't seen one like this for a while." he muses, while Michelle continues to compile photographic evidence in the background.  Ian confesses the mowing incident earlier that morning.  He wants to get in first with an 'accurate' portrayal of events before Michelle completes the photography.

Sure enough Coady has the necessary skills and knowledge to get the Daedong out safely.
"Lucky it's not the size of this tractor, or we would have needed the excavator to pull it out." 

Coady then kindly tells Ian about a time when he bogged the CASE and his Dad needed to get the excavator to extricate it, and his Dad has never let him forget the incident.  "It can happen to anyone, anytime." he generously offers, as he rides back down the paddock and away.

"Well, I think that's enough of everything for one day, no more machinery usage at all for a while."  Michelle & Ian agree.  And with that, the tractor and mower are returned to their shed, and they all live happily after.

The End.


 

Summer already...?!?

The largest of our mango trees in full flower.

We had planned that the next blog post would be a Spring edition, but it's so warm already here at Seven Springs.  A warm winter all around the country, and bushfires west of Sydney, we fear this Summer's going to be a cracker - a fire cracker !! The good news for us is that the most likely fire zone for NSW is west of us, and, there is plenty of water on the property - 7 dams and two huge water tanks - thank goodness.

The lush mulberry tree is starting to crop - we are thinking of turning the ones we don't eat into a sauce that could be swirled into ice cream, or used as a topping for cheesecake or other desserts.  This photo is of the mulberry haul over only a few days.

Orchard duties progress - Ian esquire has duly sorted out the irrigation blockage, and we have ordered trees - apples, pears, peaches, nectarines & plums.

Mullum community garden

On the first official day of Spring we went to the community gardens in Mullumbimby for an open day.  And what a glorious day it was.  Guest speakers were Costa Giorgiadis and Jerry Coleby-Williams from Gardening Australia.

Costa was actually a little disappointing to listen to, we got the impression he was 'playing to the crowd' rather than talking about things he had personal experience with or genuinely believed in.




Jerry however was enthralling.  He spoke primarily about bringing beneficial insects to the garden, how to encourage them with the right plantings, what benefits they will bring to the garden.  He also gave away some seed saved from his own garden.  For anyone interested in this subject, check out the latest Organic Gardener magazine.

Bottle tree in the community gardens.

Winter is waning

Yeah, OK, we have noticed that it is actually Spring.  Actually it is quite warm here at the moment.  This post was supposed to go out a couple of weeks ago, but someone (Ian) didn't get around to it, so it's a tad late.  Sorry about that.  Ed.

Vege update
You may remember several months ago I wrote about sowing seeds of winter tomato varieties.  Well I am pleased to report that the viability was excellent, and the variety called Giant Tree Tomato can be seen in the rear left of the photo.  Several of the plants have set fruit, and we can't wait to taste them.  I am hoping to be able to coordinate two tomato crops per year, growing different varieties depending on the weather.  The seeds for summer's tomatoes are already sown - an heirloom mix, and San Marzano - reputed to be the best for bottling and sauce making.

In other vege news the potatoes are ripping along, we've harvested lots of peas, chard, lettuce & carrots and broccoli.  The broad beans have all be flowering their heads off, and pods are starting to set.  And we've also planted rhubarb and asparagus, although we'll have to wait a while for a decent harvest.

The chooks love to be wherever someone is digging - there are big fat worms everywhere.

Orchard progress
Admittedly progress has been a little slow.  I had hoped to have it planted out over winter, but we haven't quite made that target.  The site we have chosen is shown in the photo.    Not much to look at - yet.  But, this is a paddock where the previous owners had attempted to grow paw paws and custard apples.  So we have about 1600m2 of land that has improved soil and irrigation already in place.  Ian is slashing between the rows to tidy things up.  The irrigation seems to work very well, being gravity fed from the dam near the house, but strangely, there don't appear to be any holes in the poly pipe for the water to seep out???  Very odd.  Well, that would explain why the paw paws and custard apples didn't survive.

Green eggs (but no ham)
The last hen came on the lay a couple of months ago, and to our surprise she lays green eggs.  Well, the shell is green.  We knew she was a sussex cross, but we didn't know she was crossed with Arucana a breed known for laying green eggs.  It's not the best photo, but hopefully the contrast will be clear.  We think they are rather attractive, and you certainly can't get those at Coles !


Burning off
A yearly chore of the local farmer (or annual joy for resident pyromaniacs) Ian burned off at several locations this year.  This photo was taken the next day, making sure there are no smouldering stumps that could reignite.




Monty & friend
And finally, in case we hadn't noticed the weather was warming up, our resident python, Monty, left his calling card by the wood heap recently.

And it seems that Monty has a friend - meet Mont-ette.  We know it is a different snake as this one is only about 1.5m long, and Monty is easily 2m.  We think they are scrub pythons, which can grow up to 6m in length.

Lazy Sunday afternoons....

The crisp sunny weather lately is just what one hopes for in Winter.  Invigorating and glorious. Perfect for lazy Sunday afternoons fishing in the bottom dam. 

When purchasing the property we were told that two of the dams had been stocked with fingerlings, so we set out to attempt to catch dinner.  On the day pictured above, we were not successful, but then my sister Chloe and her partner Dallis came to visit, and our luck changed...
 

Well, OK, Dallis was the one with the luck.  This is Dallis with a yellow finned something or other.  We don't know what kind of fish it is but we do know it was very tasty BBQd, wrapped in foil with orange slices and dill.

And this is Ian with an eel!!!!

I knew there were eels in the dams.  And Ian wonders why I refuse to swim in the dams.  No thanks !!
 
The eel was returned to the dam.















And while our visitors were here, the boys built a great BBQ near the house dam.  We picked up the BBQ plate for about $5 at a local auction.  It was the kind of auction where you just turn up, bid, then pay your cash right there and then.  No registering, or numbers, or paperwork.  It was no hassle, and quite a bit of fun.

 

Note the yellow watering can, I mean fire fighting equipment, behind Ian.

 

Sausage salute !