Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, it’s Spring! And the living is busy, busy, busy. We now have 5 lambs; twin brownies, a tan one, a white one, and a very new black lamb (to replace the deceased Livingston).  So 6 of our 9 ewes gave birth. I can’t help but feel that RAMbo’s indifferent performance could be due to his fly strike earlier this year. He was very sick for a long time.

So watching the lambs, which I do frequently and for long periods of time, has reminded me that it is spring. It is now time to start my garden. But not just our run-of-the-mill raised bed garden. Oh no! Dan and I have decided to convert the front paddock (the one you see in front of the house) into an orchard and veggie garden. Yael, concerned about the character of the property, urges restraint. We have compromised. We will put the garden on the right and the orchard on the left. This will not compromise the fabulous views from the kitchen or dining room. From these rooms we see all the way down to our neighbor’s lake which is complete with ducks, rimmed with stately pine trees, and crystal clear.

We have the parameters, Dan has staked off the garden and we are ready to go?  Not yet. Dan is rethinking the garden placement. I am arguing that 9 hours of sun a day is enough and think that shade in the late afternoon is a good thing. After all, the Kiwi sun is hectically hot. Dan is thinking of the shorter days of spring and fall. Who’s vision will prevail? Stay tuned.

In the meantime, Dan has ordered the lumber for the base of the garden and we have picked up the chicken wire for the sides. That was fun; the tiny Alto was filled with my stuff from a 4 day visit to Auckland but we jammed in the chicken wire and I ended up holding miscellaneous items including some seedlings which “I just had to have” right then. The bird netting is in the garage and now we wait for the land to dry out enough to be able to build the sides, cover the ground with cardboard (to kill the grass), layer in the hay, and order the 2+ truckloads of top soil.

I am filling my time with setting out flats of seeds. Dan has bought several heritage packets of tomatoes, beans, and squash. I have some flowers. And the girls and I planted our green beans several weeks ago. They have shot up unbelievably and yesterday I transplanted them into the raised bed and tied them to the chicken wire sides.

While all this is going on, the water is still not back to its pre-poison state. I tried it about a week ago and got sick again. So Dan spends a major part of his time here draining the tanks, cleaning the tanks, refilling the tanks, etc. Now we are going to actually climb down into the tank (well, Dan is anyway) and clean it from the inside. In the meantime, he lugs bottled water up to me each week.

And of course, the house painting goes on. In between rains that it is. Poor Colin and his guys will probably make this their retirement project. They figure it will take a month! So I am busy at the farm but far from lonely. I have the sheep, the steers, and the painting crew. What more could anyone ask for?