Jembella Farm: July 2019

Monday, 29 July 2019

Screen Time Avoidance and Viola..! a Garden Takes Shape

You may well ask. Where the heck have I been?
Here.
Here is where I've been.
I'm alive and very well, but afflicted with a dread of screen time and social media for the past few weeks.
It's not such a bad thing though. I've achieved mountains of work in the garden... the Magnesium oil bottle is almost empty. (Rubbed on back to relieve sore muscles from overwork)

My helper can't understand why it's OK for me to dig holes but not OK for him to do the same.

Today I've exceeded my daily goal of laying three paving stones, laying six pavers instead, so there's a spare hour for paying some bills and a quick blog post while the computer is on the table.

After the completion of the new deck, we were left with a corner that needed some love. I snapped this photo after I had already begun the work, so strictly speaking, it's not a true before shot.

A few water wise plants, some tree branches (from the firewood heap) a load of aged wood chips, and a dummy hot wire to prevent little helpers from ~~digging~~ gardening.
I still have the external window frames to paint, and am waiting for a free couple of hours and a warm sunny day to coincide before I get the very tall ladder out of the shed.

Our hill, visible through the windows, is magnificently green with a healthy hay crop and paddocks of pasture for the cows.

Speaking of cows.. The bad news is that Honeysuckle is not in calf.
Her AI in January appeared to be successful but after two months she came into estrus again. We had another AI done but it wasn't successful either.
If she can't have a calf, she can't be milked. Keeping a dry barren cow is not an option, especially in our small-holding situation and with another dry year on the way. Every animal has to pull its weight.
I have invested a huge amount of emotional energy into this cow and it will just about finish me if I have to send her off to market, but there is one option remaining.
A visit to a bull.
I'm planning the process of a trailer ride across the valley next weekend for a sleep-over with a very handsome boyfriend.
Your positive thoughts and energy towards assisting the planets to align will be so very much appreciated.
I'll keep you posted.

And now back to paying those bills.

Cheers,
Sally XX

About Us

Whether you're living in an apartment, in a house in the suburbs or on acres, you can live frugally and sustainably. There are many things you can do to save money, eat ethically and healthily, reduce waste and live an enriched life.
We are Sally and Brian and we live in the Barossa Valley (South Australia) in a 100 year old house on sixteen acres with 2 dogs, 7 cows, 2 alpacas, 5 geese, 35 chickens, 78 sheep and a few bee hives.
Our way of life takes team work and dedication, but over the years we've learned to be more productive without seeming to put in quite so much effort. We've learned through making mistakes and taking a different approach to what the conventional ways would be. Still learning every day and constantly researching old and new methods, we believe that our lives are greatly enriched, we are healthier and we couldn't imagine any other way of life.
Considered to be living The Good Life, people love to visit us on our small farm to learn about our simple living philosophy.

Why do we do it?
Our love of good food, concern for our health and respect for all animals. The further we got into living on the land the more aware we became that most of the standard practices of growing food were not satisfactory. We couldn't eat with a clear conscience.
Milk from sad cows, pasteurized and homogenized into white liquid. Meat from distressed, hormone and antibiotic pumped livestock. Vegetables and fruits grown and sprayed with chemicals. What to do? Grow our own!
Slowly we grew our knowledge and took one step at a time, becoming proficient in one skill before moving on to the next. The learning curves were steep. We fell over and got back up again. There has been some derision and criticism of our approach from a few, but that's life when you swim against the tide.
If we are not the "norm" then so be it. There is nothing "normal" about growth hormones fed to beef, anti-biotics and chemicals fed routinely to chickens, cruelty and disrespect for farmed animals, meals in a box, GM foods, strawberries and tomatoes in winter.
Thankfully the World is waking up to cleaner and more ethical food. We didn't know back then that Organics and Bio-dynamics would become the "new black". The tide is turning and our swimming is becoming easier.