Summer 2020-2021

Summer was a whirlwind!

Coming off the back of hard lockdown, with some semblance of normal life returning, only to be hit down again by the second wave of COVID, we went back to square one with cancelled bookings and refunding guests again during December and January, while trying to keep the farm afloat on its own income for the first time, keeping salaries paid and animals fed. Managing the constant up and down of this time was a challenge many small businesses had to face, not to mention the stress and sleepless nights. In the midst of this, we were finding our feet as a new family. Adjusting to life with a newborn can’t be compared to much else - the sleep deprivation, the constant care, but the joy! We were trying to keep the farm going and able to sustain us while settling to life as three. We were so fortunate to have been blessed with an easy going baby, but also for our awesome team who just picked up all the slack, and then some! We were basically down one person as I became full time parent, and Andre picked up my slack on the admin front, placing a greater load on our guys on the farm. Yet they willingly took this on, not one word of complaint, only offers to help even more as they understood the new world we were in, together. As I look back on these photos, I can feel the pressure we put ourselves under to try and get back to business as quickly as possible, under a haze of newborn sleeplessness. It seems rather silly now but we are immensely grateful for the flexibility we could have during summer to enjoy this new stage of our lives too. That is what we have worked for for the last few years.

Pasture raised chicken

After the move to the flatlands at the beginning of Spring, this was our first Summer for the pasture raised broilers on Long Field. This area was previously sheep pasture many, many years ago. We suspect it was tilled and planted pasture as we had some interesting forage appearing, but there is a definite compaction layer. Water often pools and sits so it posed some challenges as we moved the broiler pens. A few times we needed to bring down shavings or straw to raise the broilers off the water logged ground. All part of learning about a new piece of land. Next summer we will be more prepared. The impact of these birds on the grass was remarkable - lush, green and nutritious. The cattle also figured this out so it was a new challenge to prevent them from overgrazing. Nothing a few strands of electric fencing couldn’t fix, as we attempted to provide rest for the grass.

Goats

Our free ranging, shrub clearing browsers kidded right into the middle of summer. By the end of summer we had doubled our herd! Great excitement. Unfortunately, kidding into the middle of summer meant at their weakest, the young kids and weak mothers were exposed to the worst of summer’s parasites resulting in some loss. Apparently, this year was particularly bad. Other, more experienced goat keepers in the area also suffered losses. Again, another lesson and we will be better equipped. Also, a reminder that farming with livestock means you cannot take your eye off the ball for a minute!

The goats have been a hardworking and entertaining addition to the farm. With everything else on the go, we have not begun milking but still hope to do so.

Pics 1 - 3: a little pile of sleeping babies - while the moms went out to forage, they would all stash their babies together in a little creche somewhere, usually the wood shed, sometimes behind long grass. They were often well hidden, it was a such a treat to come across a pile of cuteness in the grass!

Pic 4: As entertaining as they are, the goats are also very destructive! I’ve lost count of the number of shelters that they have climbed and damaged. Here they are unpacking the storage shed - face palm!

Pic 5: a brand new kid (the mom had lost weight after just birthing her babies - she had twins - which is tough on her body!)

Pic 6: Thomas meeting his goat and her newly born twins. He was just a few weeks old here - and for some reason, not really interested in his goat and the kids :))))

Pic 7: Thomas’s daily walk involved a trip past the goat camp

Pic 8: Van the Ram continuing to terrorise Andre… and everyone… every.single.day!

Pasture Raised Eggs

Our egg laying hens continued to work consistently. We really enjoy this enterprise, the layers are fun to work with and the results are tangible, daily. We are constantly short of eggs so we began modifications to bring in more point of lay hens. We buy from a local chicken rearer just before the pullets (immature hens) begin to lay. We have found it to be the most efficient and cost effective way for now. We don’t have the infrastructure to raise hens from hatching to about 20 weeks before they start to lay.

In Egg Mobile 1, we finally designed and built our own roll-away nest boxes. In Summer we would usually leave the nest boxes open at night so that the hens can begin laying as soon as the sun comes up, if they need to. If the nest boxes are not opened quickly enough in the morning, the hens will squash into any corners to try and lay, often trampling each other, or injuring each other as they are laying. Keeping the nest boxes open can result in some hens sleeping (and therefore pooping!) in the nest boxes. Roll away nest boxes mean that as the eggs are laid, they gently roll into a closed section ready for collection - nice and clean. This has made collecting and packing eggs far more efficient.

Photos 1 - 5: The egg mobiles always look so attractive on the landscape, with happy hens

Photo 6: Andre admiring his new roll-away nest boxes

Photo 7: A protective hen staring us down as we try to collect eggs - there are often some more popular nest boxes that are filled with loot

Photo 8: Timothy helping feed hungry hens

Photo 9: a pair of crowned crane made a daily appearance on the farm during Summer

forest raised pigs

After having 2 sows farrow in Spring, we made sure we only had 1 sow farrow in Summer otherwise we’d be overrun with pigs during Winter when forage and milk is scarce! We set up Boss Pig and Peppa Pig on a blind date in a deliciously muddy, damp, forested camp and it was love at first sight. Eight little piglets appeared 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days later.

They started their love journey in new forest camps that we cleared and put up permanent but mobile fencing. We cleared 9 camps through the forest so that we could easily open the fence between camps and move the pigs along. By the time Peppa Pig farrowed, they were close to the workshop for protection.

Our Spring piglets were big enough to leave their mommies in early summer and were put to work on clearing bramble and wattle along the edge of our flat lands. They did the most incredible job! On every farm tour, everyone was amazed at how they rooted up the bramble completely, gnawed off the root and consequently killed the bramble bush, a problem that every farmer contends with, usually with multiple applications of some hazardous spray. Here our pigs did it. For free. And were fattened up at the same time!

Pic 1: Andre brushcutting paths to put up the fence

Pic 2 & 3: Peppa Pig and her babies

Pic 4: Peppa Pig having a fuelling snack to keep up with feeding so many babies

Pic 5: Proud Daddy

Pic 6: The happy family

Pic 7 & 8: Andre and Thulas moving and feeding the grower pigs

Pics 9 - 12: The happy grower pigs busy at work

Veggie Garden

With a little bit of loving neglect (read: we had a baby and had no time for veggies!) our food forest literally became a food forest! We planted primarily long growing crops, anticipating the lack of time, but also things that would last us through Winter with a baby starting solids. The pumpkins and butternut merged into a lush field that filled any empty beds, just as well! In the greenhouse, these pear tomatoes produced abundantly for us, and the turmeric flowered. By the end of Summer, the soil was rich and crawling with earthworms as last Winter’s wood chips continued to break down, aided by goat manure added through the growing season.

Summer snapshots -

Decimation by baboons - on a freshly painted wall, they left nice warning handprints after digging up potatoes and carrots in all of our beds! We didn’t get to eat a single potato from the garden this year :(

Bushveld Bees visited us to move a hive from a catch box into a brood box, as well as a bit of bee education. This year we saw so many more swarms moving around than in previous years.

Jack posing with summer blooms

Zoe cooling off in a puddle

Elliott and Jack on guard around Thomas as he played in the garden

And - being suckers for punishment - in another moment of taking our eye off the ball, Elliott and Zoe picked up the ball and provided 3 new puppies! Newborn and puppies - it was a lot of fun!

We experienced beautiful, consistent rainfall this Summer. Since we moved to Bramleigh, we were always under the effect of the drought. For the first time, it seemed like we could enjoy more usual rainfall and make predictions based on this. The dam continued to overflow throughout Summer. Unfortunately it meant we saw that some of our flat areas do not drain as they should. The old drainage ditches have silted up and the flat area shows signs of a compaction layer as the water just does not move. Now we know what to plan around next year!
The rainfall also brought beautiful flowers, skies and sunsets. And snakes! So many snakes! Fortunately Timothy had snake handling experience so he gave us a few demonstrations and educated us all about the snakes found.

Exquisite, healing and restorative walks through the forest

On the marketing side, Andre cured and smoked our first batch of Christmas Gammons - they were delicious! In January we began working with The Cure House for the processing of our pork products. This enabled us to expand our offering to include a few new sausages and various other recipes. We began delivering to Produce Direct in Amanzimtoti on the South Coast, and Spar Nottingham Road started stocking our eggs!

Youtube

Andre started a Youtube channel with some footage of the egg mobile move, answering questions, and general updates on the farm. Check it out https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq8FcHBtWa_nHWIR-T-Q3qA

Thank you to our loyal customers for supporting us this summer, for your patience and understanding when we slipped up, and for continuing to love and encourage us every week!