Morning Routines

Good morning to my lovely flower girls, Lavender and Honeysuckle.

I wanted to roughly document my morning routine here during the height of summer when the days are long, dry and hot. There are no lazy Sunday mornings and every day is basically the same.
When we decided to begin farming we knew there would be a solid commitment to the animals and plants which rely on us to be there regularly to care for all of their needs.

On week days Brian leaves for work before the sun is up and I usually get up then too.  Still too dark to let the poultry out of their fox proof sheds I wake up with a cup of Earl Grey at the kitchen table with a view out to see the sun appearing over the horizon.
I use this time to check on messages or inquiries about workshops or orders through the Farmgate stall.  These ten minutes can be quite a productive time and often create a change in my day's schedule.

But first my farm work must be completed because our animals are relying on me to keep to the routine they are used to.  During these hot days I need to get all of my outside jobs done early, so fortified with tea, and dressed in my old farming clothes, I head outside.

Beginning with Matron's rounds of releasing the six pens of chooks and bantams from their night sheds. I'll come back later to clean out water containers and feed them. They all free range into different yards, paddocks, orchard, vegetable garden and house gardens.

Back to the house to collect a bucket of hot water before heading across to the cows and milking shed.

Honeysuckle is always happy to see me and when I open her gate she is eager to run into the dairy for her morning feed mix of chaff, crushed grain, molasses and minerals. Jerseys are renowned for their pretty faces and Honey is no exception. It's those eyes, in a constant look of surprise.

Only one cow to milk at present, and only in the mornings.

Our other house cow Lavender, was dried off at the beginning of last month (February) to allow her body to rest and prepare for the birth of her calf in early April.

Honeysuckle has been lactating for fourteen months (from her previous owners) so her production has decreased enough (8 litres) and I can milk her just once a day. I plan to dry her off (stop milking) at the end of March. 

Her AI in January appears to have been successful and we are confident she has conceived. Due to calve in mid October, I want to allow her a few months to rest her body and gain some weight. 

I'm not used to skinny dairy cows, bag of bones, and would prefer her to carry a bit more weight.

Always accompanied by my helpers Alan and young Kelpie pup Jack, waiting in the feed shed until they are permitted to come out.

Morning 'hay up' time for the dry cows.

The two older milking cows are in a paddock separate from the other three youngsters, heifers Poppy and Bertie, and Stretch the steer. 

At this time of year when the paddocks are almost bare each group of cows eat a full rack of hay during the morning and again at night. 

I'm so thankful we have enough hay to feed them well.

Milking and cleaning up is finished, the hay has been forked out, so I head back to the house and put the bucket of milk into the fridge until the other animals have been fed and outside work is done. I can decide what I want to do with the milk later.

The pigs that we raise are for our own consumption, so we feed them solely on garden and kitchen scraps, bread, milk and wind-fall fruit from our own and other local orchards. They do very well on this food and we prefer to eat meat that has not been pumped with grain and manufactured foods. 

This is the way our grandparents raised pigs, and when I began raising our pigs I was told by the commercial piggery man that it couldn't be done. Apparently the pigs wouldn't survive. 

Ha! I believe they are so indoctrinated by science, and have never tried free range meat. 

Thankfully it's more common now to find free range breeders like our friends Peggy and John who's piglets we always buy.

I feed our pigs twice daily, but always check on them during the day and throw in a biscuit of hay to eat if their feed trough is empty.  Yes I always like my animals to have some food available to eat if they desire it.

Drinking water containers are securely cemented into the ground so they cannot tip them over and be left without water. I clean them out every morning and refill with fresh water.

Pigs don't have sweat glands so they have no way of cooling themselves in the heat. During hot days above 28C degrees we hose them a couple of times during the day and on days above 35C degrees we hose them every couple of hours. We ensure their mud puddles are always topped up so they can cool off at any time.. Caring for the pigs is my work, but Brian will step in to help if I need him to fix the electric fence, which they regularly break.

I return to the poultry yards to feed out scraps, fruit, grain and yogurt. Water containers are all cleaned out and refilled.

Into the feed shed and prepare the pig food for their evening meal, bread and yogurt mash with chopped up wind-fall apples or carrots. 

The poultry grain is soaked in readiness for the following day and fresh milk is added to the yoghurt bucket in the sun to make another batch of yogurt for tomorrow.  

There were peaches to be picked this morning, but yesterday it was apples. Young Jack thinks apples are for grabbing from the box and make a wonderful ball. 

It's getting quite hot by now and I estimate it would be approx 8am. The forecast is 40C degrees and it's getting up there rapidly. 

I know I should carry my phone with me when alone at home, but I usually don't. I prefer the freedom of being out of contact, however,  I carried it yesterday and tried to snap photos of my morning.

The Farmgate stall needs to be opened and fresh eggs placed into the esky for the regular egg customers who usually turn up early. A few vegetables and rhubarb to be picked, washed and bundled up or bagged ready for those early buyers.  The shelves need restocking with tubs of honey and jars of jams, pickles and sauces.

Meanwhile the fruit trees need to be watered on my slow hose drip rotation. Hmm.. which ones got watered yesterday? Whose turn is it today?

All the pots need watering with a hose. I'm a slave to my pots and threaten to do away with most of them before next summer, but they look so nice, make me feel happy, so they stay.

A rotation of house gardens and first summer plantings need watering by hose on alternate days, and although I prefer to do it in the evenings, often my energy is depleted by then so I hose a bit of water on some plants to keep them going. The vegetable gardens are on timer drippers and sprinklers and are always watered in the evenings.

 There's time for a  walk in the paddocks with the dogs, checking the cage fox traps, electric fences and generally burning off a bit of puppy energy. Meg usually goes to work with Brian so she is not pictured here.

Boots and socks are off and back inside again just as the heat of the day is rolling in. 

Today there's a pot of nectarine jam (cut up and prepared last night)  that I started simmering on the gas ring while drinking my morning cuppa.  I turned off the gas before going outside though. 

Boiled over jam is not a pleasant start to any day, but it has happened to me more than once.

There's washing to be put into the machine for soaking, dogs breakfast to feed out, verandahs to sweep, a bit of tidying up outside and thankfully, I can stay inside for most of the day, until outside evening work needs to be done.

Today, before the water from the cold tap gets warm, I whip up a batch of butter from cream that is three days old and past its freshness.  Butter at this time of year is pale in colour due to the lack of green fodder. In winter and spring the butter is much more yellow.
It's 10am, time for a coffee and think about what to take out of the freezer for tonight's dinner.

There will be plenty of work to do inside; produce from the garden to pickle or preserve, honey to be poured into tubs and labeled, the never ending house work routines and meal preparation that keeps us healthy and our home running smoothly.

It may be the one day of the week that I need to go out to the shops, run errands, and visit an elderly lady friend. Or there may be a planned visit from friends calling in for morning coffee and chat.
At this time of year my weekly volunteer sessions at the public library are put on hold. There's much to be done at home but I enjoy doing this meaningful work and am thankful for the fruits of our labor in the months to follow.

In another month this morning routine will be different and there will be more time to spend outside in the garden and a short holiday.

How does your morning flow? And does it change according to seasons?