Our farm.

farm/färm/

Noun:

An area of land and its buildings used for growing crops and rearing animals, typically under the control of one owner or manager

Spring has well and truly arrived in our part of the world, bringing with it warmer weather, a thriving garden, and a bundle of baby ducks. The winter crops are nearing their end. I am in the process of harvesting the final few beetroot as their leaves are beginning to wilt in the warming sun. The snow peas have finished, the vines being pulled from the garden and piled onto the compost heap. The abundance of cauliflower all coming on at once has meant I have had to resort to pegging leaves together to protect the florets from the damaging sun light.

My seedlings are being dug into the soil, with five varieties of tomato now having been planted, and an abundance of lettuce varieties being sown. A selection of climbing beans have established themselves and their rapid growth is promising.

I am also considering building a second compost bin using an old plastic bin inverted with the bottom cut out of it - as shown to me by my local friend. I just need to find the correct plastic cutting tool. I have a decent pile of winter crop plant bits ready and waiting to be broken down into lovely dark compost!

Having built a much sturdier fence now around the 'second' veggie patch (paved area of the garden), I decided to buy a metal arch to frame the gate and to act as a support for a climbing bean crop. Either end of the arch sits in a pot of soil, and planted around the bases are some bean seedlings. Once they begin to really take off I may have to attach some chicken wire to the arch to give the beans some added support.

My dear friend Michelle visited over the weekend and she gave me a hand with a number of jobs in the yard.  First on the list was relocating the chicken coop (I will post some photos about that another day). We also put a wire fence around the strawberries in the bathtub as one of my chickens has been making a meal of anything I plant in there. She also helped me with some fencing - even learning how to hammer in a star picket! I now have three "paddocks" in the yard keeping our flocks in order.

~ They broke into the garlic plot! ~

Sam xox

6 days old.

I cannot believe how quickly these little charmers are growing! At only 6 days of age they appear to have doubled in size. They have already eaten through an entire bag of starter feed, and are beginning to also forage around the yard for extra treats. Their activity levels are increasing by the day as they venture further and further from the safety of their nest. Cambridge doesn't let them out of her sight.

We have sold seven ducklings so far, leaving only two left to sell. We have decided to keep four for ourselves (Jamie is such a softy when it comes to animals)! I listed the ducklings on Gumtree and was surprised to have a lot of interest. While most of the calls were sincere, I did have a few inappropriate calls, one even describing to me how "if it turns out they are not suitable, I can always eat them. Duck is so nice to eat". Omg?!? Needless to say I told him "no".

The sold duckings have all gone to good homes. Four went with a family who have a 10 acre farm. The children were so excited to be getting some ducks, I could tell they would be well loved. The other three each went to new homes alone, but will also be well loved. Their new owners all had the correct set up to raise them sans mother.

We did have one sad experience this week with "nature taking its course", but I will go into that latter in the week.

Sam xox

Around the garden.

In between working a six day week and playing with my new ducklings, I have not had much time to post. Be assured more ridiculously cute duckling photos will be up over the long weekend. They have been having a blast exploring the coop, and have even ventured out into the yard with Mum (supervised by us of course) and had a little swim in the paddling pool. 

Cutest. Thing. Ever.

Sam xox

And here they are.

 

 ~ Five hours old ~

After what felt like months of talking and guessing, I was beginning to think these little lovelies would never hatch. 

But they did today.

All 8 of them... and counting!

Little fluffy bundles of mottled gold. They have been hatching one after the other all day. Luckily Jamie decided to work from home today, so he was on hand to set up their duckling food and water straight away. As soon as I heard from Jamie that they were hatching, I arranged to leave work an hour early so I could be home during the last moments of daylight just to squeeze in a little cuddle time.

Cambridge is already a model mum. We have watched her help a few of them out of their eggs, and she puffs herself out to ensure they are all kept warm. She also doesn't seem particularly concerned by our little bit of handling. We returned that little one quickly to her after taking a couple of photos, and she hid him under her wing within seconds. Oxford, on the other hand, looks a little bit lost now that Cambridge is giving all her attention to the little ones. He has been consoling himself with a few laps in the pond.

My sister-in-law Ally had helped me build a wire enclosure for Cambridge and the babies weeks ago, so it was easy just to lock them up tonight. I hope it is enough to protect them from any potential harm... but we will have to let nature take its course.

I do hope nature will be kind to this brood.

Sam xox

Visit to Feltfne part 2: Oh the wool.

After our adventures with the Alpaca's, we were soon to discover an Aladdin's Cave of woolly treasures. Given a washing basket each to utilise for collecting our goodies, my partner in knitting crime and I were left to browse what the shed had to offer us. We spent a leisurely hour handling the softest of fleeces, digging through tubs of yarn, and diving into bags of the most beautifully dyed fibres...

~ Only the beginning ~

~ Kristin shows us her range of coloured felt batts ~

~ Alpaca yarn made from the fleece of Gary's own Alpaca's. Complete with the animals name! Now who wouldn't want to knit up some cozy winter socks from "Mr B"s fleece! ~

~ Sample bags ~

~ An entire wall of dyed Merino fleece ~

~ Do we really have to leave? ~

As we drove away with our bags for goodies, it was agreed that the pilgrimage to Feltfine was definitely worth it! If you aren't able to visit in person, I would seriously recommend checking them out online - they post worldwide! It feels so good to be supporting a local 'home grown' business.

Sam xox

I am not associated with Feltfine, nor have I received any benefit from mentioning them.  I paid for all the products myself. I just want to spread the word when we find great local businesses amongst like minded souls!

Visit to Feltfine part 1: Alpacas.

Over the past few months a friendship has been blossoming between the author of Little Green Village and I. We live in the same region and share very similar interests. I first mentioned my meeting with her back in July. Since then we have met for lunches, swapped our home grown produce, and shared our best gardening tips.

After discovering she was a keen knitter, I just knew the next time I was to visit Gary from Feltfine at his Alpaca farm, I had to invite her to come along!

~ We loved how this ones hair waved in the breeze ~ 

 

~ Alpaca fleece is incredibly soft and comes in so many natural colours and shades ~ 

 ~ Baby Alpacas ~

We had such a brilliant day!

Gary and Kristen were both incredibly welcoming, allowing us to rummage through their huge supplies shed for nearly two hours! More about that tomorrow...

Sam xox

P.S I checked those duck eggs and yes, there are still babies inside (I can see them wiggling), but they are still not hatching. Maybe it is just too comfortable in there?

I am not associated with Feltfine, nor have I received any benefit from mentioning them.  I paid for all the products myself. I just want to spread the word when we find great local businesses amongst like minded souls!

Wanted.

Arriving home tonight, I discovered that Coco had escaped the chicken coop and totally destroyed half of my new veggie patch. She dinned on parsley, coriander, nasturtiums, an abundance of lettuce, zucchini, and plenty of flowers. In short, she destroyed about $80 worth of plants, and almost two months of seed raising work!!! 

So upset :-(

I'm learning the hard way why farmers spend so much time on their fencing.

Sam xox