Struan Farm

Pet Update: And Now There are Ten

It's been busy here at Struan Farm with lambing and pet lambs. John's "lamb feeding device" is now operational at the paddock fence in the backyard. Matilda, Clover, Romeo, Trixie, Dixie and Mixie are all onto the programme, check it out:

Over the past 24 hours "Scout" and "Daisy," ewe lambs, joined the family. Scout was rejected by her mum, while Daisy was a triplet with a mum who didn't have enough milk for three lambs.

Here's Scout:

And here's Daisy:

Daisy's still recovering from her arrival at Struan Farm, she's in the Pet Pen with Alfie and Calvin. The two ram lambs aren't drinking quite as vigorously as everyone else, not finishing bottles, so we'll see how they go over time. Scout managed to escape from the Pet Pen and wanted to join the bigger pets in the paddock, so she's been put out there to see how she goes. (I can't keep her in the Pet Pen if she keeps getting out.) I'm sure everyone will eventually be friends, but there's a rapprochement that needs to happen. As for me, I'm trying to battle this cold but right now the cold is winning. I managed to get out of bed briefly but it's time for a glass of orange juice and a nap. 

Lambs on the Move

John and I have been helping Farmer John by moving those ewes that have lambed, along with their lambs, into certain paddocks here at Struan Farm. This way the ewes that haven't lambed are in designated paddocks so we know where to go to check them, and those with lambs have been spread out around the farm to feed and settle down.

Let's just say that herding ewes with lambs, especially first time mums, can be compared to herding cats! While we do this as calmly and quietly as possible, at certain points in the process the lambs get muddled and don't remember who mum is, so we have to stop and let everyone calm down and reconnect. Sometimes it's two steps forward and three steps back.

 Between this and bottle feeding not much else is getting done around here...

Update from the Back Gate

John spent yesterday afternoon in his workshop here at Struan Farm, crafting a "lamb feeding device" for installation at the back gate. He has less patience than I do for the feeding scrums that go on, at least until things settle into a routine and pecking order. In fairness, he's been suffering from a bad cold (that he's now given to me). But his view was that there had to be a better way, and maybe there is.

Here are Matilda and Clover debating that one after the initial product launch at lunch:

John constructed a board with holes drilled that fit the bottles and attached that to the back fence. I've seen something similar used to feed baby goat kids on Facebook, although the holes were smaller and the bottles kept popping up and out. This design just may work, once we get a few of them used to it. Then perhaps the others will follow. 

Here are two nice shots of Matilda, Clover and Romeo cuddling together for a nap, from the bedroom window:

Trixie, Dixie and Mixie have occupied the lean-to but are still settling after their lunch and won't cooperate with my photo shoot. Alfie and Calvin are in the Pet Pen, still on six feeds a day for another day or two. The triplets are seriously pushy at bottle time so we've decided to keep the wee rams protected from that situation until they are able to hold their own. Truth be told, that also makes it easier for us too.

 

Scenes from the Paddock

Fortunately we've had a good few days of sunny weather for lambing here at Struan Farm. Everyone seems settled and happy. As you might suspect, I'm a bit busy on the pet feeding programme at the moment!

The Latest from the Pet Pen

At the moment we're juggling nine pet lambs here at Struan Farm. Matilda, Clover and Romeo are now in the paddock at the back gate, while the triplets Trixie, Dixie and Mixie are still in the Pet Pen with new ram lambs Alfie and Calvin. Calvin was rejected by his mum, it was a situation we watched for a day before intervening.

This morning I picked up a little ewe lamb that was born prematurely to a bearing ewe. She's still sitting in the sun on a blanket and doesn't have a name yet. I'm worried. She's eating but hasn't stood, so her prognosis isn't terribly encouraging. 

Fingers and toes crossed for her.........

Pets: The Next Generation

It turns out that Ruby was the first "pet" to deliver a lamb here at Struan Farm. She looks to be a good mum, think I can take some credit for that as her adoptive mum! Or perhaps it had something to do with all those healthy apple treats.

She was followed a day later by Rosie and Pepper, both of whom had twins! 

And last but not least, Pip also had twins:

We'll have to wait to see how socialised these "pets" remain to decide if their lambs will also get names. (I haven't gotten close enough to see genders.)  I still don't know if Cookie, Tootsie or Minnie, this past year's pets, will lamb this season. They're down at the river with the later lambing ewes. Stay tuned!

 

 

A Lamb Filled Weekend

It's been all on here at Struan Farm over the weekend, both out in the paddocks and in the Pet Pen in the backyard. I got a call from the neighbouring farm that they had triplet ewe lambs needing a home, and did we want them? You will know that my answer was: OF COURSE! I sped over with a big cardboard box, blanket and a bottle with colostrum in the back. Their mum had had a bearing and apparently died after the lambs had been extracted.

And so "Trixie," "Dixie" and "Mixie" have joined the family. John is responsible for the names (not sure those would have been my choice). At one point he made up a story for the grandkids about little girls who had caving adventures with similar names. We're still having a hard time distinguishing between Dixie and Mixie in particular. Trixie is the largest and was quite weak when she arrived. We weren't sure she was going to survive but she has. At this point I think Dixie has a floppy ear on one side, Trixie on the other, and Mixie's ears both flop down. We'll sort out who is who in due course. The main thing was getting everyone fed up and surviving!

Matilda and Clover have had their worlds rocked to say the least. Everyone now cuddles with them in their luxurious "Pet Palace."

That night we got a call from another one of our farming friends who asked if we'd take a ram lamb. The next morning John and I drove over and brought "Romeo" back to Struan Farm.

He's a lovely little lamb and has joined the scene in the Pet Pen. As you might imagine, bottle time is a bit chaotic at the moment but we'll settle into a routine shortly.

 

Flax on the Move

A few years ago after we built our new house here at Struan Farm we started landscaping. The house site had been farm paddock. While it was next to established native bush and a young fruit orchard, we've had to develop lawns, gardens and plant feature trees on a greenfield basis. This has taken time, and we still aren't finished, but most visitors notice the progress.

One of the first things I did along the top edge of the driveway was to plant a row of red/copper flax. This camouflaged the bank below, which we had yet to clean out and plant, plus the colour worked well with our garage and workshop. I planted them closely, knowing we'd eventually have to move some once they grew to size. This winter we've been noticing it was time for this to happen. 

The surplus flax is on its way to the river, for planting near pond #2 and along the stream in John's extended native reserve. What's interesting to us is that the edge of the drive looks fine without them, now that other quick growing native trees have been planted on the bank behind.

"Fine" that is once I've done a bit of weeding and refreshed the mulching bark!

Duck Down the Drain

You may recall that John pulled the plug at our main pond here at Struan Farm a few weeks ago. Every other year or so we do this to clean out muck, weeds, etc. We put the plug back in so the pond refills before it's time for ducks and frogs to do their seasonal thing.

A few days ago when John and I were walking around on the lambing beat he noticed that the pond hadn't drained quite as much as it should have. It seems something had clogged the pipe, so he knelt down and started pulling out whatever it was. Out popped Huey, one of our vintage duck decoys!

Huey confessed to us that he'd thought it might be fun to take a ride through the pipe with the rushing water down to the ponds at the river, but he got stuck. He promised us he won't try that again! Louie is still floating in the pond so may decide to try the same thing, while Dewey is safely resting on the opposite bank. I can't find Tui anywhere, she either has flown off or is hiding in the rushes somewhere.

Meet Matilda & Clover

Farmer John dropped off our first pet lambs of this season here at Struan Farm. He'd "lambed" their mother, had to help her give birth, but thought all was okay. It wasn't, she didn't have any milk for them. So "Matilda" and "Clover" have joined the family in the Pet Pen set up in the backyard. Six feedings per day right now, I'm onto it with back up from nephew Mike when required.

They have moved into their "Pet Palace," the one that John made out of recycled wood and Ella and Livvy painted:

 

Matilda informed me that first morning that 7:15 wasn't going to cut if for breakfast, so it seems I may have to get up earlier to accommodate her. Clover seems quieter and more flexible, but that will change I'm sure. And for those Roald Dahl fans out there, I haven't figured out as yet if Matilda has any special powers like her namesake, but we'll keep an eye out!

Here's another tasty dairy free recipe, for Tuna Casserole, that our family has enjoyed. I've used conventional fusilli or farfalle pasta, regular flour, and vegetable stock as substitutions. The dish freezes well. http://www.food.com/recipe/gluten-free-dairy-free-tuna-casserole-339474

On Caring, Respect, and Triplets

You will know that not all stories have happy endings, at Struan Farm and in life. And this is one of those, at least the first part.

The day before yesterday I went out before breakfast to walk the paddock behind the Cottage to check the ewes that are lambing for the first time this season. The night before we'd had heavy rain, and then a frost. Certainly not optimal conditions for little critters coming into the world. I saw a ewe upside down at the top of the hill. Often when ewes are heavy and fall they can't right themselves, get "cast," and need help getting themselves back up. It's one of the reasons to do a "lambing beat." Unfortunately this was not a "cast" ewe, but a dead one. Something had happened as she started to give birth and she died. (Sometimes I surprise even that girl from New Vernon, New Jersey: I also checked the ewe's back end to see if there was a chance of rescuing any lambs inside, not an option, sadly.) Farmer John arrived later in the day to bury her.

Walking back down along the bush I found a little lamb alone, curled up under tree roots and vines, with no mum to be found. I figured that the lamb had been born here and hadn't been able to get up and out, so scooped her up and headed up to the house to make a warm bottle of colostrum asap. Fortunately it was a sunny day, but I grabbed a blanket too. Warmth is important along with food.

 

Initial signs weren't encouraging. She couldn't stand and wasn't terribly interested in drinking from the bottle. But I did get some down. So I wrapped her up in the blanket and put her in the sun, going back every wee bit to try to get more milk down. She continued to weaken. I've learned over several years that lambs are surprisingly resilient and strong, and that you can't count one out until they're well and truly out. Often these things just take time. But her eyes were rolling around in her head and she wasn't recovering despite the food and warmth.  I began to suspect that something was wrong with this lamb, which was why the mum had abandoned her in the first place.

I sat beside her while she struggled to live. The thought of what was happening made me cry and I'm tearing up now thinking about it. I felt it was important that she wasn't left alone. I know she sensed me there beside her, sitting on the drive. I felt helpless, but I also kept thinking that every creature deserves caring and respect. My time wasn't important, hers was. 

After that sadness I was ready for a happy lambing story, how about you? And thankfully the universe delivered, under the trees next to the Cottage:

Triplets! Our first in quite awhile. Mum looks catatonic, hopefully she will cope with them. But it was a good way to end what would otherwise have been a rather sad day here at Struan Farm.
 

 

New Lambs

The first lambs started to drop here at Struan Farm over the weekend. Poor wee things, the weather has been terrible with heavy rain going sideways, but they sheltered under trees in protected areas of the paddock and everyone is okay. We are out checking on everyone in the morning and late afternoons. This is the first year these ewes have lambed, so we try not to do anything to disturb them. 

Granddaughter Ella christened the first born "Lemon" given its yellow tint, common to just born lambs. These lambs aren't pets, so who knows if we'll be able to figure out who "Lemon" is ever again! I'll let you know when/if we get our first pet, I've already got some names in mind....one might be Matilda in honour of Roald Dahl.

More to come!

Birthday Baking

You will think we have been celebrating a fair few birthdays around Struan Farm of late, and that would be right. Granddaughter Ella recently turned ten, and of course we needed to celebrate that big event with her here at Struan Farm over the weekend. I whipped up Chelsea Winter's dairy-free "Crazy Italian Chocolate Cake," topped with Ottolenghi's fabulous "Maple Syrup Icing." 

It was served with dairy free coconut ice cream for some and regular ice cream for others. Since The Birthday Girl had moaned about having to be dairy-free for her birthday, and restrictions on that score have been somewhat relaxed, the icing in this instance wasn't dairy-free. But we went naked so the amount of icing wasn't overwhelming.

Happy Birthday Ella!

Going to Seed

I'm starting to gather my forces along with the supplies needed to start vegetable, herb and flower seed trays in the glasshouse here at Struan Farm in the next week or so. I'll try to keep the planters I've grown arugula/rocket, lettuce, spinach and italian parsley in over winter going for just for a wee bit longer, but as each crop finishes I'll empty them out and stow them away until next year. I'll need the glasshouse space soon for other things.

This year I've bought seed from King's Seeds (of course), Egmont Seeds (of course) and Italian Seeds Pronto/Franchi (of course). Tomatoes, radishes, lettuces, mesclun, zucchini, basil, coriander, italian parsley, spring onion, parsley, corn, edible flowers, pumpkins. Plus I'll be using seeds I saved from last year's gardens: heirloom tomatoes (of course), pumpkin, kamo kamo, chiles, dill, marigolds, scabiosa, nigella, zinnia, echinacea, poppy, nasturtium, calendula. While I've planted a spring crop of broad beans, we're giving up on yellow and green beans and carrots this year. John just doesn't like them enough to warrant allocating the space required. While I love beets, our crop this past year was a complete dud. I haven't made an executive decision on those just yet, I might see how we go this season. (I rather like homemade pickled beetroot.)

I rotate crops around the various troughs and beds. The troughs have had a good winter's nap with pea straw, manure and blood & bone. This year we've got a new bed for tomatoes next to the glasshouse, which also has my shallots and garlic growing away.

My key gardening challenge this year (still) is staking the heirloom tomatoes properly. It seems I haven't been using stakes or supports high enough for them after seeing tomatoes staked at the Auckland Botanic Gardens last summer. I know I need to be more aggressive about pruning off shooters and supporting the fruit on the vines so it is off the ground. We may try recycled farm gates for the support required, watch this space. At a certain point in the summer when the farmstay is hectic I just have to let certain things slide. This year I will do my best to avoid having that be the tomatoes. Getting ready!

Collecting Kowhais

I've recently been interested to read in NZ Gardener Magazine about an 82 year old lady named Jan Chaffey down on NZ's South Island. She began planting kowhais in her 70's after deciding that she couldn't look after a garden any longer. And so she started buying and planting out different kowhai (pronounced "koh-fie") to make her own kowhai "forest."

It turns out there are eight different species native to New Zealand (Sophora microphylla, Sophora prostrata, Sophora macrocarpa, Sophora tetraptera, Sophora godleyii, Sohpora longicarinata, Sophora molloyi, and Sophora fulvida), two Chilean varieties (Sophora cassioides and Sophora 'Sun King') and one originating from Lord Howe Island (Sophora howinsula). While we knew there were native and Chilean varieties, we had no idea there were quite this many.

As you might suspect, John and I were intrigued by the idea of a kowhai "forest." Okay, maybe a "cluster." I've decided to see how many of these variants we can find and plant. Right now we're thinking we'll plant them out near the second tawa grove here at Struan Farm, an area that is fenced. We'll need to protect them with from the rabbits with chicken wire initially. The last young kowhais we planted there were nibbled down to stubbles by rabbits. But it's adjacent to one of our QEII bush reserves, one which has older established kowhais that the native birds, especially tuis and wood pigeons, love.

So far I have acquired Sophora tetraptera, Sophora prostrata "Little Baby," Sophora microphylla "Dragon's Gold," and Sophora chathamica. Apparently this last one was included as a variant of Sophora mycrophylla prior to 2001, so the number of native varieties now might be in fact nine. It is a North Island "coastal kowhai," growing as far south as Taranaki and as far north as Cape Reinga. I also found another variant of "prostrata" from our local native plant nursery, which they indicated is from the Manawatu. I'll need to check to see which varieties we've already got around the property to see if they're the same, or different, to these. We think we've got one of the Chilean varieties growing down at the pond.

Another project that gives me license to cruise the garden centres and nurseries, which is fine with me!

 

Camellias Coming On

The camellias in the Homestead gardens here at Struan Farm are starting to bloom. It's a time of year that the tuis love, they are feeding and croaking away, we even hear the odd bellbird too, which is quite unusual.

More to come "in due course." The red one is called "Bob Hope."



 

Ramming It Home

John returned home to Struan Farm from our weekend trip to brother Carrick's having scored a new/old "rammer." Our old one recently got broken. "Rammers" are used to pound dirt in a fence post hole. In these days of modern machinery they are rather antique implements, but they come in handy on hills or when the odd hole needs to be dug.

Both of these were made by John's dad Maurie many years ago. The new one is pink and on the left. As you can see they are made of hard wood and have metal wraps at the bottom. There was some discussion that the metal on the pink one might have been forged at the Piopio blacksmith, in the days when there still was one. The pink paint was used as an undercoat or primer for wood "in the day." You see it on weathered sheds and old barns around the rural countryside, it took me awhile to figure that out.

Yep, we continue to reuse/recycle here at Struan Farm, for as long as we can!

Rolling Along

This past weekend John's brother Carrick made "bread rolls" for our family birthday luncheon, serving them warm from the oven with homemade soups. It's safe to say that homemade rolls evoke many fond memories of mum Rosemary for the Robertson siblings. John still says his mum made the "best bread rolls in the district," and in the same breath that I need to keep trying. (In my spare time.) 

I think we can safely say that Carrick has nailed them.

Here's his recipe:

    1 tablespoon salt

    4 tablespoons sugar

    2 oz. butter

    1 cup boiling water

    2 cups milk

    3 teaspoons dry yeast granules (the original recipe calls for two packets of compressed yeast)

    6 cups flour

Place in bowl in order above. Mix sugar, salt and butter in the bowl. Add boiling water and then milk. Mix yeast in and then add flour. Add more flour if needed. Place mixture in a bowl in a warm place, covered, and allow to rise until doubled in size. (You can use a bread machine to knead for this step if you'd like.) Turn onto a floured counter or board. Knead and shape into 36 rolls. Leave them to double in size. Bake in 200 C oven for 10 minutes until golden. 

These are absolutely delicious warm, out of the oven. Apparently Rosemary also used to braid or "plait" this same dough to make a loaf.

A Bit of Birthday Baking

The family had a birthday celebration for John's brother Carrick over the weekend. It was one of those milestones that needs to be acknowledged and feted, although I won't say which one. We met at his house in Lake Rotoiti for lunch. Everyone was given an assignment. I was granted my request to make the cake by the official event organiser, and directed to make a carrot cake. You know me, I almost detoured off the designated highway and made Ottolenghi's Olive Oil and Apple Cake. But in the end I didn't. I just made Ottolenghi's maple syrup cream cheese icing for the carrot cake instead since it's less sweet. I also went "naked" to try to stay a bit lower fat, and decorated the top with dried apricots, cranberries and finely chopped walnut.

Next in the cake queue comes granddaughter Ella's tenth birthday celebration.