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Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Catch-up 2 of 3: Animals
Late Autumn and Spring is a very busy period for the animals, I am feeling the accumulation intensely.
We have posts here, here and here for the sheep with our final count being each of the four ewes bearing full-grown twin lambs, 3 boy-girl sets and 1 boy-boy set across a 2 week period (August 21, Sept 1, Sept 2, Sept 4). Unfortunately we lost the last boy-girl set post natal.
The rest of the lambs are growing very well and very quickly, huzzah.
It has been a very weird year for the geese. First, Mary decided to nest in a new arrangement which was very conducive to having her nesting materials being eaten by Bernie on a whim. Then Mary went off the lay (possible related) so that we now have Vicki sitting first for the first time. Then when Mary did go to sit she did it in a very on-again, off-again manner, more like Vicki's standard behaviour. Final sitting dates: Vicki 17th Sept and Mary 10th Oct. The long and the short of it is that I have no idea how our clutch will go this year; fingers crossed. Coming due middle of this week to Cup Day.
Bernie was mated early this year and is now expected to be less than 2 weeks off (28 Oct). She is starting to fill up in anticipation. It is very exciting, she has a new small paddock separated from all the other animals and an enlarged byre to take two....aaawwww.
We have had our failures this year concentrated in the last few months with the loss of most of our ducks (7th Sept) and my favourite gander Bertie back in Jan but our most notable was the loss of our entire flock of chickens in early May, all due to fox predation. That disaster coincided happily with a planned chicken auction which was a fascinating experience.
Since then Louie, Billie and Ella have been fabulous. They are healthy, fun birds and quite easily managed. Joy of joys when they started laying in Late August, I decided to pop seven of Billie's eggs into the incubator on the 15th of Sept. On the 7th Oct 6 chicks hatched (over what seemed like an eternity it was actually first pip was early the 6th, last hatch was late on the 7th); the sixth chick did not do very well and died in the incubator and the seventh egg showed no signs of development.
So happily we have five healthy chicks:
On a side note Billie became clucky about the same time. We didn't really want her to hatch out another clutch of eggs so I sneaked the chicks under her on the 13th and they all seem very happy with the arrangement, which saves money time and energy for the broody box and me:
Our final animal instalment is another newcomer, please meet Del:
Delwyn is a short-haired border collie x kelpie of a farm in central Vic. She was bought from Pet's Haven on the 9th Sept unexpectedly. She is already made herself quite a member of the family with even the glorious Franklin utterly fascinated. I hope she can be trained to leave the animals alone and help manage the sheep and cows when she is a bit bigger. Currently she can manage "NO" and is working on "Here", "Sit" and her name LOL. She is cutey and she smells like a puppy x.
So although I have touched heavily on things that have been captured previously as far back as a year the culmination is all in the last month and explains some of my sense of crazy busyness.
We have posts here, here and here for the sheep with our final count being each of the four ewes bearing full-grown twin lambs, 3 boy-girl sets and 1 boy-boy set across a 2 week period (August 21, Sept 1, Sept 2, Sept 4). Unfortunately we lost the last boy-girl set post natal.
The rest of the lambs are growing very well and very quickly, huzzah.
It has been a very weird year for the geese. First, Mary decided to nest in a new arrangement which was very conducive to having her nesting materials being eaten by Bernie on a whim. Then Mary went off the lay (possible related) so that we now have Vicki sitting first for the first time. Then when Mary did go to sit she did it in a very on-again, off-again manner, more like Vicki's standard behaviour. Final sitting dates: Vicki 17th Sept and Mary 10th Oct. The long and the short of it is that I have no idea how our clutch will go this year; fingers crossed. Coming due middle of this week to Cup Day.
Bernie was mated early this year and is now expected to be less than 2 weeks off (28 Oct). She is starting to fill up in anticipation. It is very exciting, she has a new small paddock separated from all the other animals and an enlarged byre to take two....aaawwww.
We have had our failures this year concentrated in the last few months with the loss of most of our ducks (7th Sept) and my favourite gander Bertie back in Jan but our most notable was the loss of our entire flock of chickens in early May, all due to fox predation. That disaster coincided happily with a planned chicken auction which was a fascinating experience.
Since then Louie, Billie and Ella have been fabulous. They are healthy, fun birds and quite easily managed. Joy of joys when they started laying in Late August, I decided to pop seven of Billie's eggs into the incubator on the 15th of Sept. On the 7th Oct 6 chicks hatched (over what seemed like an eternity it was actually first pip was early the 6th, last hatch was late on the 7th); the sixth chick did not do very well and died in the incubator and the seventh egg showed no signs of development.
So happily we have five healthy chicks:
Our final animal instalment is another newcomer, please meet Del:
Delwyn is a short-haired border collie x kelpie of a farm in central Vic. She was bought from Pet's Haven on the 9th Sept unexpectedly. She is already made herself quite a member of the family with even the glorious Franklin utterly fascinated. I hope she can be trained to leave the animals alone and help manage the sheep and cows when she is a bit bigger. Currently she can manage "NO" and is working on "Here", "Sit" and her name LOL. She is cutey and she smells like a puppy x.
So although I have touched heavily on things that have been captured previously as far back as a year the culmination is all in the last month and explains some of my sense of crazy busyness.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Catch-up 1of 3: The Fruit
It has been a very exciting Spring with 3 premiere bloomings and 3 surprise trees to plant.
We were invited to a terrific party at the end of September where we enjoyed great food and company and came away with 3 specially grafted trees to plant from Cam, The Night Gardener's extremely successful exploits with M26. We believe they are a Bramley (fabulous cooking apple which I had been planning as the centrepiece for Terrace 2) and 2 possible Golden Delicious hybrids courtesy of Andy from Corriyong.
Planted as soon as I could get the space ready....3 weeks on:
Below is the table of blossom times in Woodend this year:
All in all we are looking forward to a first year harvest and more than 1 pot of jam!
And again a table of the rest:
We were invited to a terrific party at the end of September where we enjoyed great food and company and came away with 3 specially grafted trees to plant from Cam, The Night Gardener's extremely successful exploits with M26. We believe they are a Bramley (fabulous cooking apple which I had been planning as the centrepiece for Terrace 2) and 2 possible Golden Delicious hybrids courtesy of Andy from Corriyong.
Planted as soon as I could get the space ready....3 weeks on:
 |
| Just for comparison: the above shows the stage of the gorgeous Crab Apple blossom at the same time. |
Below is the table of blossom times in Woodend this year:
| Tree | Variety | Flowering date | |
| Hazelnuts | all | August | Ok I know a little vague. |
| Apricot | Divinity | 30 Aug | some form of marquee? |
| Almond | All-in-one | 10 Sept | |
| Plum | unknown | 10 Sept | some sort of Asian self-sow |
| Nectarine | Goldmine | 12 Sept | |
| Apricot | Moorpark | 12 Sept | |
| Plum | Angeline | 16 Aug | |
| Plum | Coe's Golden Drop | 22 Sept | |
| Currants | Red and White | 22 Sept | roughly |
| Fig | 28 Sept | Figlet development good | |
| Currants | Black | 29 Sept | approximately |
| Gage | Greengage | 1 Oct | |
| Pear | William's Bon Chretien | 2 Oct | |
| Cherry | Stella | 4 Oct | |
| Cherry | Starburst | 5 Oct | Aren't Stella and Starburst the same? |
| Pear | Buerre du Bosc | 5 Oct | |
| lemon | Lemonade | 8 Oct | |
| Lemon | Lisbon | 10 Oct | |
| Gooseberry | Diggers | 10 Oct | approximately |
| Cherry | Morrello | 12 Oct |
All in all we are looking forward to a first year harvest and more than 1 pot of jam!
And again a table of the rest:
| Crab Apple | Gorgeous | good bud development, colour showing... | |
| Quince | Champion | good bud development, colour showing... | |
| Medlar | Nottingham | good bud development... | |
| Medlar | Royal | good bud development... | |
| Medlar | Dutch | good bud development... | |
| Quince | Smyrna | Year 1 | |
| Plum | Prune d'Agen | Year 1 | |
| Apple | Cox's Orange Pippin | Year 1 | |
| Apple | Bramley's Seedling | Year 0 | |
| Apple | Cam & Andy | Year 0 | |
| Elderberry | Red | Good bud development, starting to colour | |
| Elderberry | Variegated | Good bud development, starting to colour | |
| Raspberries | not tracking as bare root year 0 | ||
| Blackberries | not tracking as bare root year 0 | ||
| Sloe | not tracking as various ages and development | ||
| Hawthorn | not tracking as various ages and development | ||
| Lemon | Meyer | Good bud development |
Friday, October 12, 2012
'Been away a long time...'
Ok very short intro:
I have been mentally preparing the following blog entries for about a month, but it never seemed to be quite the right time. NOW? Too much information, too many events, too many photographs. So. A series of three blogs to catch-up (this won't be a complete catch-up I suspec, but it will be the important stuff).
Extraneous photograph of Franklin to show he is till the number one star of Blackmore House.
I have been mentally preparing the following blog entries for about a month, but it never seemed to be quite the right time. NOW? Too much information, too many events, too many photographs. So. A series of three blogs to catch-up (this won't be a complete catch-up I suspec, but it will be the important stuff).
Extraneous photograph of Franklin to show he is till the number one star of Blackmore House.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Peas planted today
Telephone & American peas planted
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Blackmore Rd,Woodend,Australia
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Setting rocker arms (tappets) in the Landy
Sara turning the crankshaft
While David adjusts the tappet clearance for each valve .010"
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
While David adjusts the tappet clearance for each valve .010"
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Blackmore Rd,Woodend,Australia
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Onions planted
Long red Florence and Borrettana onions planted
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, June 29, 2012
Beetroot and garlic and kohlrabiplanted
Two rows of Beetroot Chiogga
Garlic below - two rows
Kohlrabi below
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Garlic below - two rows
Kohlrabi below
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Blackmore Rd,Woodend,Australia
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Planted today in kitchen garden
Two lines of garlic
More mustard seeds
Transplant kale and plant broccoli left; broad beans; broad beans
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Chicken Update, or why I hate foxes.
Following our chicken related dramas of the last week we have had our new chooks spend 2 nights in one of the goose coops.....
It is very lucky that the goose coops are strong well-built and secured, as it seems that the scent and sound of chickens is far more attractive to the local fox population (which has been getting worse and worse over the last 12 months).
Thanksully the fact that this coop had not been previously tested was strong, here is our happy and probably oblivious young family.
Not quite settled yet, but to ensure that they do the newly secured chicken coop will be put into action this evening!
So, what's a chook auction?
Much has changed at Blackmore House in 4 years and we now find ourselves having to go back to the beginning with the chickens.
I have been quite depressed for the last week with no chooks in the garden, it has felt quiet.
To return to the theme of new beginnings, there have been fun times, very sad times, lots of learning and not a few arguments along the way; it is I hope an excellent basis for a new flock.
From small beginnings... let us hope our many lessons are well learned and that Louis, Billie and Ella enjoy a long and successful life. (Billie not pictured but take my word for it she is VERY beautiful)
We started in 2009 with 3 Salmon Faverolles and here we are 2012 with 3 Black Faverolles, thanks to Chris and Kashmir Poultry Stud.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I have been quite depressed for the last week with no chooks in the garden, it has felt quiet.
To return to the theme of new beginnings, there have been fun times, very sad times, lots of learning and not a few arguments along the way; it is I hope an excellent basis for a new flock.
From small beginnings... let us hope our many lessons are well learned and that Louis, Billie and Ella enjoy a long and successful life. (Billie not pictured but take my word for it she is VERY beautiful)
We started in 2009 with 3 Salmon Faverolles and here we are 2012 with 3 Black Faverolles, thanks to Chris and Kashmir Poultry Stud.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Sara sewing with her treadle-powered vintage Singer
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Update: It took 2 full weeks of daily use, more than daily oiling and a little kero based cleaning to get this machine running almost perfectly. My 201K-21 suffers only user deficiency now and it stitches beautifully with a smooth, quiet, even stitch that still makes me giggle like a girl.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Setting the fox trap
After losing three hens to a fox last Wednesday night we bought a sturdy, Australian-made fox trap for $320 from Kyneton.
The Strategy:
1. Place trap next to chicken coop, with door fully open and trigger mechanism set so that the door will not snap shut easily. Secure the trap with four tent pegs and place sand on the bottom so that the fox would not be walking on wire.
2. I sprinkled some seed in the trap so chickens can peck and poo in there during the day thereby overriding human scent.
3. I will keep the door ajar for a few days and not bait the trap. I want the fox to get used to the trap.
4. After 3 or 4 days I will place some meat in close proximity to the trap at night. If the fox doesn't eat the meat then the chickens certainly will the next day. I will keep doing this nightly until the fox starts taking the meat, then I will gradually place the meat further inside the trap, all the while ensuring that the door will not spring shut.
5. Finally, having gained the confidence of the fox I will place a piece of meat on the trigger mechanism which will be set to spring at the slightest tug.
6. Hopefully the end result will be a fox pelt for Sara, a $10 bounty for David, and surviving chickens.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
The Strategy:
1. Place trap next to chicken coop, with door fully open and trigger mechanism set so that the door will not snap shut easily. Secure the trap with four tent pegs and place sand on the bottom so that the fox would not be walking on wire.
2. I sprinkled some seed in the trap so chickens can peck and poo in there during the day thereby overriding human scent.
3. I will keep the door ajar for a few days and not bait the trap. I want the fox to get used to the trap.
4. After 3 or 4 days I will place some meat in close proximity to the trap at night. If the fox doesn't eat the meat then the chickens certainly will the next day. I will keep doing this nightly until the fox starts taking the meat, then I will gradually place the meat further inside the trap, all the while ensuring that the door will not spring shut.
5. Finally, having gained the confidence of the fox I will place a piece of meat on the trigger mechanism which will be set to spring at the slightest tug.
6. Hopefully the end result will be a fox pelt for Sara, a $10 bounty for David, and surviving chickens.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Blackmore Rd,Woodend,Australia
Friday, April 13, 2012
Easter and busy renovations
First there is the destruction.
Then the construction.
Then finally: Easter Eggs....
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Autumn vegetable planting in Kitchen garden
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Left to right: endive, endive, chicory
Left to right: broccoli, broccoli, mache, mache, radishes
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