Category Archives: Farm

Chicken Infused Pork

No this is unfortunately not a recipe, this is a horror story (not really, but as close as I get) and yes it has given me nightmares.

We have 2 pet pigs, one girl (Sow) named Alana, and a boy pig (Boar) named Leopard. Over the last few months I have become quite fond of my pigs, they’ve got their own little personalities and they are very cheeky. We have been letting them out in the house paddock during the day, and in the evening they see me coming with the scrap bucket and put themselves in their pen, have a feed, a late afternoon camp in the sun, before they tuck themselves into their tin drum together at night.

A few weeks ago one of my chooks went missing, I put it down to foxes as there’s been a few about. A couple of days later another chook went missing, it was at night and in the morning there were feathers in the pig yard. Now the two yards are next to each other and I had noticed the pigs digging around the fence line but hadn’t thought anything of it, the chooks however have decided to start escaping that way, and unfortunately the pigs decided that the wayward chook that came wandering into their yard was a tasty morsel.

I was initially skeptical that it was the pigs, I gave them the benefit of the doubt, then one day I let them both out in the house paddock together (the 2 remaining chooks and the 2 pigs). What took place next was my stuff of nightmares. The pigs cornered the chooks in the chook yard, working as a team the had them cornered and went in for the kill. I was screaming ‘Stop, Stop’ but the pigs were focused on their goal and as I’ve since been told ‘they’re not like dogs you know, they’re not going to listen’! One chook came squawking out of the yard at full pace, ran straight into the garage where I promptly shut the door to keep her safe. The second chook I thought was a goner, she had escaped to another corner but the pigs had followed and I hadn’t heard a squawk from her, then like Lazarus rising she came flapping out of the yard at full pace, I opened the garage door to let her in and quickly shut it down to keep her safe. Needless to say the chooks and I are both traumatised.

The pigs aren’t quite big enough to become Christmas Pork and Ham yet, so we have them for a little longer. I now only let either the chooks or the pigs out, never both and make sure the kids don’t smell or look too appetising when we feed them at night! I have been wondering though whether my pork will taste a little like chicken and if I’ll be sad eating my pork knowing the reason is tastes so good is because it was fattened on chooks?

Wordless Wednesday – Wool Lovers

We’ve spent most of the last week and a half in and out of the shearing shed, it’s a good thing my Muddy Kids love it!

Linking up with Trish at My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday, make sure you pop over and check it out!
And what do you think of my new header? Do you love it as much as I do? My wonderful, talented BFF Laura created it for me and I am eternally grateful for her help!

Shearing Up North

At the start of last week we went shearing up North on our lease block, I took quite a few photos, here’s a few to see how our two days went. Shearing starts early in the morning, the first run starts at 7:30, most shearers get to the shed about 7. The day is broken up into 4 runs 7:30 – 9:30, 30 mins morning tea, 10-12 then 1hr lunch, 1-3 then 30 mins afternoon tea, then the last run is 3:30-5. The shearers we had were each shearing between 130 – 210 sheep a day.

We got the sheep in Sunday afternoon and put some in the shed and under the shed

The Muddy Puzzler and Muddy Organiser oversaw the whole process
The sheep need to be sheded to keep them dry
We had 4 shearers, in a day and a half they shore just over 1100 sheep

Muddy Hubby Classes our wool, he likes to tell the girls what he’s doing
My Muddy Puzzler likes to check it all out
At the end of a run the sheep are counted out of each shearer’s pen, the shearers are paid per sheep
All the wool has to be baled up and bought home on the truck, Muddy Puzzler tries to help, the bales weigh about 190kg each

Muddy Hubby drives the truck home with all the wool bales and other shearing gear

We’ve started shearing back at home, we only have 3 shearers going here, but they’re powering through the sheep. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow which means we’ll knock off when we run out of dry sheep, as the shearers won’t shear them if they’re wet.

A Mini Shearing Break

On Monday we start our ‘Main Shearing’ this is our big shearing time of the year where we shear the bulk of our sheep. We are shearing at 3 different sheds and we’re starting at our lease block up north. This means that this year the whole family is packing up and heading north to check it all out and lend a hand where we can. Last year I was running a course so I missed out and Muddy Hubby stayed back here to look after the Muddy Kids so he missed out too.
I am constantly amazed at how much stuff I have to pack as a Mum. I am an ‘overpacker’ from way pack always throwing in ‘just in case’ items half of which I never end up using. As a Mum though I’ve had to learn to economise on the packing due to the limited space in the car. I have 2 outfits for each Muddy Child, one for each day, PJ’s and one spare outfit ‘just in case’ (I can’t help myself!).
We’ll hit the road in the morning and have some time to explore the town with the Muddy Kids before heading out to the shed to make sure all is in order for Monday morning. I think I am most excited about not having to cook dinner for TWO nights in a row. We get to partake of one of the two restaurants in town to fill our belly (and they’re BIG meals they serve up). How we’ll go sharing a room with all the Muddy Kids I’m not sure, we may all be coming back more tired than when we left.
The shearing North will take just under 2 days depending on how fast the shearers go, we’ll then start at the second shed on Wednesday and this should be 2 days as well, my Muddy Father-in-law will be back here to help get the shed ready before we get back. Finally on Friday we’ll move to the big shed and finish off the bulk of the sheep in just over a week depending on how fast the shearers go.
It’s an exciting and busy time for us, most of the family is in the shed at some point, Muddy Hubby is already training the Muddy Kids to pick up the bellies and they’ve got little brooms to help sweep the floor. Lucky for my Muddy Organiser it’s in school holidays so she won’t miss out.
The Shearing Shed up North Last Year
What have you got planned for your school holidays?

A Planting We Will Go….

Our local Landcare Group were successful in gaining a tree planting grant, this included trees for members and some tree planting equipment. For us we have picked a few spots to plant the trees in big fenced off areas and then along roads through some of our blocks. This weekend we started on our big planting. Everyone had a job (except Muddy Bubby who crawled around the ute or slept), I dug the holes and planted the trees, Muddy Hubby banged in the posts and put the tree guards together, the Muddy Girls were in charge of pulling the trees out of the seedling tray, giving us the milk carton and the bamboo stakes. We had to rotate jobs between the Muddy Girls as there was a little bit of fighting over who got to hand out the trees and who got to make up the milk cartons.
We still have a lot to go, but we’ve made a start and it feels good, we now have to cross our fingers for a shower of rain to keep them growing, otherwise I think I’ll be carting buckets of water to them up the paddock!
It’s been fantastic to get out and about the farm as a family and get the girls involved in planting the trees. They can now check on them and watch them grow and probably in about 20-30 years the Muddy Kids will be cursing us for taking up their precious farming country with trees, but for now we’re making a mark on our blocks, planting together and loving it.

 

What a Difference the Right Weather Makes

This year I will have been living on the farm for 7 years, I’ve been visiting for longer, but actually living, breathing farm life for 7 years. 7 of the best years, with ups and downs and big events, four babies, lots of love and laughter. The thing that still amazes me and makes my heart sing is the first flush of green across the paddocks, those first few weeks when the seed shoots and the crops start to grow.
With just the right weather (not too much rain, but not too little, warm days but not too hot and not too cold) those seeds push their way up and out into the sunshine to test their fate with what the weather has to offer. I never thought when I was growing up that my life would revolve so much around the weather, it can mean the difference between a happy Muddy Hubby or a sad Muddy Family, money in the bank or a tight, tight budget. On days that it rains the businesses in town are busy, busy as farmers can’t do much around the farm and head into town for ‘town jobs’. It’s often these days that throw the week into disarray as Muddy Hubby says ‘let’s go and get this job done’ as opposed to the long to do list I had planned for the day.
Just before the weekend’s rain, Muddy Bubby and I did a little crop tour while delivering chemical down to one of the blocks for Muddy Hubby. We checked on the Canola and the Lupins and it had been a few weeks since we’d checked them and my how they’d grown! They were starting to power ahead which was a lovely sight to see and cheered me up lots on a down day.
Does your life revolve around the weather like mine?
What’s your favourite bit about where you live?
Canola, just shooting through
Canola starting to ‘cabbage’ out

Lupins just out of the ground

Lupins looking good

The Baby Kookaburra

We have a friend at home at the moment, a Baby Kookaburra, the Muddy Kids get very excited when they see him. He is however being bullied by the other birds. He finds a nice sunny spot and they flock to him and swoop him and it’s not long before he flies away, having had enough of being bullied by the other birds.

Joining in with Trish at My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday

Show Time

There’s something about the local show that makes you feel a little like you’ve walked back in time. It reminds me of when I was a kid and went to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, back when it was at Moore Park, it was a bit dingy, a bit old fashioned, smelly, loud and so much fun. Our showground in town is old, I don’t think it’s moved in the 96 years we’ve had the show, the pavilions are the same, some with a coat of paint and some repair work, but still original buildings. The animal yards are probably not as old, but still are not modern by any standard, and the competition categories are still largely unchanged, including pieces of hand embroidery and hand sewn pieces of children’s clothing, fruit and veggie growing and my personal favourite for the kids ‘decorated fruit or vegetable’.

Muddy Girls with Muddy Pa’s Prize Winning Sheep

Checking out the Wool Pavilion

The Muddy Girls had been talking about going to the show for days, we’d put our entries in and they were so very excited to see what had transpired. I am so very pleased to say we had some winners! I had limited the girls to 3 entries, they each got to put in 6 brown hen eggs, 6 iced and decorated arrowroot biscuits and one drawing. Lucky for me the prize winning was spread around.

My Muddy Organiser won a Second Place for her 6 Iced and Decorated Arrowroot Biscuits.

My Muddy Pixie won a Highly Commended for her 6 Iced and Decorated Arrowroot Biscuits.

My Muddy Puzzler kept up the Prize Winning Eggs, gaining a Second Place for her 6 Brown Hen Eggs, not bad given there were 18 other entries.

I limited them to two rides and one game and no showbags, my theory is if I let them start too much this young I’ve got nowhere to go as they get older. We shared one bag of fairy floss and their Muddy Grandma treated them to an ice cream. I did my bit by manning the Preschool Animal Farm for a stint and we finished off our outing with some hot chips, which Muddy Bubby was most excited about, even trying to steal as many as he could from his sisters. It was such a lovely afternoon, and the Muddy Girls were so excited to call Muddy Hubby to tell him all about their afternoon and their big wins!

Grateful For A Wednesday

Since the start of Term One I’ve been doing Bootcamp on a Wednesday afternoon. I love this time, it’s not something I ever thought I’d fit into my schedule, but somehow it works, around dancing lessons, day care pick ups and Muddy Bubby it all fits in.

It’s all thanks to Muddy Hubby, each Wednesday afternoon he takes Muddy Bubby with him to work, on the tractor, in the ute, up the paddock, whatever he’s doing he takes his little man with him. It’s turned into a lovely part of our family routine. Some quality time for both of them. Muddy Bubby gets his little legs kicking when he sees Muddy Hubby coming and his face lights up with excitement. For us it’s been a win win situation. I get some precious time to focus on me, and the men in my life get their time together, to get to know each other and for Muddy Hubby to start passing on all his farming love and knowledge.

Even last week when Muddy Hubby was flat out trying to get sowing and spraying done, he strapped the car seat into the tractor and away they went. I am so grateful for this time and for the great bond my husband is building with his son and am linking up with Maxabella at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful.

We’re all exhausted by the end of Wednesday, asleep in his highchair.