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 !

  

First Contact !

In early July William, Patrick and William's friend Akane drove up from Melbourne to Brisbane/Sunshine Coast and dropped by for a few days on the farm. They are awarded the gong for our first outside contact.

Ian kindly put them to work splitting some firewood, building a dry stone wall sump and planting some olive trees....lest boredom should strike!



Akane showing her wood splitting skill



Dry stone sump workers

Planting olive trees

They were given the safari tour of the property in the Polaris which proves its value by being able to get all around the property with a few passengers on board.

There was an echidna sighting as well as the resident wallabies, steers, ducks etc.

Didi and Gigi received copious amounts of attention (as if they don't already get enough!).

Ian (aka Lassiter) thrilled them all with his tales of gold hidden in the creek and gullies resulting in a expedition by Paddy, Will and Akane which proved fruitless ( at least that was the feed back to Ian).

We've been having many misty mornings and sunny days of late.   The first hint of the cold Westerly winds of August was felt just last week, with Spring still a distant memory.



Pizza making

The general comment throughout the visit was "excellent" and all had a good time.



Roughing up the supervisor

Akane and Will about to head off down to Melbourne

Rain, rain go away

Unfortunately the sunny weather hasn't lasted, and it is raining again.  Bleak. Ian reckons the rain is good as it keeps the house rainwater tanks topped up!  (by topped up, he really means overflowing)  So, what to do when the weather is wet?  Cooking (and eating) of course.

The preserving tradition started with good friends on the West coast is being continued.  Apples so far, and hopefully pears sometime soon.  We also have quite a lot of Davidson plum trees, with fruit dripping from them, and they'll also get the fowlers vacola treatment.  I must say though, it's not as much fun without good friends to share the peeling and conversation.

New culinary ventures include sausages, these are a spicy chorizo pork sausage;

...and Ian was very helpful with these sausage rolls.  The filling is lamb and honey - made into sausage rolls as I didn't have sausage casings at the time;
 

..and cheese.  The waxed cheese is a Farmhouse Cheddar, ready to eat in a few weeks, the one on the left a parmesan style called Asiago, ready to eat in two months. 

I've been pleasantly surprised at how easy (Claridge - that's for you :)) it is to make cheese, and doesn't really take much time either.  Although there is a bit of waiting between steps in the process, that time is easily filled tending the chooks or getting dinner ready.  We've also enjoyed home made mozzarella, haloumi and fetta.  I thought the mozzarella was average, probably more to do with my lack of technique than anything, but the fetta !!  Fantastic !!  Lovely and creamy and salty, and it's easy to control the saltiness by leaving it in the brine for longer or shorter time.  Will definitely be making this one again.  The haloumi was very good and I will make that again, but not significantly better than store bought (unlike the fetta).

Finally a pic or two of the 'brewery', Ian's second (or is that third?) man cave.  The brewing continues with stout, lager, and a low carb beer in stock.  Last week was more bourbon,rum and limoncello (Muscas take note !!)  Cider is next.

Baby it's cold outside

House dam looking back towards house

Winter is upon us.  After quite a lot of rain we finally have clear sunny days, and cold nights down in the single figures.  The days are quite cool too, unless you are out in the sunshine strolling around the vegies or cutting wood.

We've had the fire lit every night for about 5 weeks, gradually being lit earlier and earlier each day.  The days are short and the shadows are long. Although the cool weather is an effective deterrent to rising early, it is lovely to sit by the fire in slippers with a furry cat on your lap. By 5pm it is dark and the hens are on their perch for the night.  The cold weather hasn't slowed their laying too much at this stage, but we are aware that reduced egg output is common in winter.

The vegies are sown and it is now a matter of waiting for things to grow.  A minor setback to the broccoli due to cabbage white butterfly has been rectified with organic methods.  It is now recovered but no doubt the harvest will be later than it would otherwise have been.  Vigilance is required to ensure it doesn't happen again.  The first pickings will no doubt be the rainbow chard - so good in soups, stews and quiches this time of year.  The winter tomatoes are going very well so far, and we are hopeful of bountiful harvests.

Foreground: broadbeans; background: winter tomato plants

There is also an acquisition to report - a Polaris Ranger.  This thing is fantastic.  Safer and more practical than a quad bike but able to go into just as many places.  There are parts of the property that would be very difficult to get to without it (just ask Michelle about her ordeal through sucking mud threatening to swallow gum boots - while Ian drove through high and dry in the Ranger !!).

Steers supervising wood collection.  Note Ian's lumberjack shirt.

The Ranger even has a tilt tray

We look forward to taking visitors on a tour of the property in the Ranger - rug up though !!

Mardi Grass



The weekend of 4 and 5 May saw Nimbin packed to the rafters for the annual Nimbin Mardigrass, which is a cannabis law reform rally with a festivial atmosphere.

In the weeks preceding the Mardi Grass we couldn't help but notice a police helicopter doing a grid aerial search of the valleys and ridges including a low pass over our property !  Outrageous!!.

Being newbies in the area we are striving to absorb the local culture, learn the local history and find our place in the wider community.  So of course, we felt obliged, nay, compelled, to attend Mardi Grass 2013. 

Our trip in to Nimbin on both Saturday and Sunday involved passing through a police roadblock set up just south of town. Most likely this was one of several road blocks on all the roads into Nimbin over the weekend.

Hari Krishnas, Nimbin main street

The weather was beautiful while we checked out all the food and clothing stalls etc and then gravitated to the "arena" where we watched the Hemp Olympics. The MCs for the event were comedians who entertained the crowd with often disparaging comments on the competing (and spectating) athletes.  And to keep the peace, volunteers wearing t-shirts labelled "polite" were in attendance. Spectators and participants came from all points of the compass: Holland, Taiwan, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, USA etc etc.

Major events included:

• Police v Polite Tug o' Peace  (the locals won best out of three);
• Bong throwing;
• Joint rolling; and, our favourite:
• Grower's Iron Person

Athletes competing in the Grower's Iron Person event were required to jump hay bale hurdles and run about 150 metres carrying a  bag of manure, then repeat with a bucket of water, crawl though the Lantana Tunnel of Death, supposedly infested with leaches and ticks, and finally complete the circuit picking up their 'stash' on the way back to the finish line.  All of this on the side of a hill with approx 30% gradient.  We don't use the term 'athlete' loosely.  That would be a hard slog.  We are happy to replicate the course on our property for anyone who thinks it doesn't sound so bad.  Here's some pics of the day.



 



Tug o' Peace

Grower's Iron person (this guy won the men's race)

 



Lantana tunnel of death

There were so few entrants in the women's iron person event that there weren't enough participants for all three placings, so this brave woman decided to enter, knowing that even if she walked the entire course she would be sure to win at least third place.  So that's what she did.  One of the commentators is walking with her.

 

The closing of the festival is marked by a parade through the main street of Nimbin, down to the cop shop, then back to the festival grounds for the law reform rally.  Anyone can march in the parade, with the Gunja Faeries and the Plant'em leading the way.  The permit for the street parade must only be until 3pm, because at 3.01pm the police were actively moving everyone off the street.





Gunja Faeries leading the parade



Banners in the parade

Giant joint, the high point of the parade

A good time was had by all.  We consider ourselves somewhat more local now.  We avidly watched the local news for reports of Mardi Grass.  Disappointingly, the only mention was on channel nine to report the number of cautions issued and seizures made by police over the weekend.

Time to move on