Struan Farm

Escape from Alcatraz

You might start to get the impression that chooks are taking a bit of my time here at Struan Farm of late, and that would be right. While I like the birds more than I thought I would, and ours are seriously productive little layers, they do require attention. More attention than I really want to have to give them given my gardening backlog at the moment. Plus we're on the verge of reopening the farmstay Labour weekend.

In the morning the hens are let out of the coop.  In the evening the coop hatch is closed when they go back inside at sunset. This protects them from predators like stoats. We don't think we have many around, but just in case. Right now the hatch gets closed at around 7:45 p.m., but we need to wait for them to decide to go inside.  Eggs are picked up mid-late morning, when food and water are also checked and poop removed from nesting boxes and put into compost. Fresh wood shavings are topped up if need be.

This past weekend three of the hens came up with a new party trick that is a problem. They're getting out their paddock. One wing of each is clipped, but they are still able to manage getting over the fence. Several problems with this: magpies are about and will attack them, as will Clifford. And we don't want them wandering off.

With John away over the weekend I had to hop fences and chase and grab three chooks twice, tossing them back into their paddock. They might think it's funny, but I don't! I've given them stern lectures but they just stare at the ground looking for bugs. I can hear them clucking under their breath that I'm a bit of a killjoy. 

Nephew Mike and John are on the job sorting out a fix that will work but not look like Alcatraz so close to the house and garden. I keep reminding John they are HIS CHOOKS.

A Visit to Cluckingham Palace

Little Leroy and Little Tinker, our smallest gnomes here at Struan Farm, have been pestering me for awhile now to introduce them to the chooks. I've been holding off to give the chooks time to recover from a recent visit from the grandkids, which put them off laying six eggs a day in their nesting boxes just ever so briefly.

Except for our dog Clifford, who loves attention, pets, and food, our animals are friendly but somewhat reserved. Pet lamb Tiger definitely falls into this camp, and now I know the chooks do too. Sheep Diva Rosie can be bribed with apples, and sometimes will give me a kick if I've forgotten her treats, but otherwise she tends to baa hello and steer clear of much interaction with visitors. While John gets out and about as Mayor, I'm a person who is much more comfortable behind the scenes, out in the garden. 

We're not anti-social here at Struan Farm, but we can only take so much interaction before requiring our space. Let's just put it that way. 

Yesterday I took Little Leroy and Little Tinker out to Cluckingham Palace for their first audience with the chooks:

The best I can say here is that Little Leroy and Little Tinker are thrilled with the chooks, but the chooks aren't all that sure about gnomes. Perhaps the wee axes gave them pause?

Countdown to Veggies

I've been busy in the gardens here at Struan Farm the past few days with some decent weather. In addition to some seriously overdue extreme weeding, on which I made a respectable dent, I potted up a few hundred heirloom tomato seedlings ("Big Red Heirloom," "Super Steakhouse," and "Vintage Brandywine" from seeds saved from last season plus "Black Cherry," "Black Oxheart" and a mix called "Chef's Choice," all from King's Seeds). The glasshouse is operating currently at capacity. In fact, I had to move some seedling damson trees outside to make room for tomatoes.

I have four seed trays of Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes still to pot once they're big enough. For some reason the other varieties have taken off this year but not my favourite. It will come in its own time, I'm sure. I've shifted it onto a different rack closer to better, warmer sunlight.

Most of the "Black Coral" zucchini, several "Big Chieftain" butternut, "Wild Fire" chiles, and several of three different types of pumpkins have germinated (Musquee de Provence, Jarradale, Queensland Blue). I've had to repot several zucchini since it's too early to plant them out just yet. My seed tray of Italian parsley has germinated but the plants are holding off for more heat to grow further. Still too early to start any basil, you'll be wondering about that I'm sure.

I always try to grow more plants than we require since you never really know what will germinate and what won't. Plus it's good to have surplus plants to contribute to the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand and the new Maara Kai Roopu Maniapoto "MKR" Community Garden that grows fruit and veggies for the local food banks.

Labour Weekend. Patience Grasshopper, patience..... But those broad beans and peas had better get a move on. The peas have read the memo, pods are ripening away, the broad beans are just flowering.

A Rescue Mission

Word seems to have gotten out about me. I got a phone call over the weekend here at Struan Farm from a local lady I didn't know, alerting me that a section in town behind her house was being redeveloped, and quite a few lovely red currant bushes were being pulled out and tossed. Would I like to come and take them to get them to new homes?

Of course you will know what I said. I hate to see fruit go to waste, and that would include fruit trees, heirloom/heritage or not. And so I went over to meet this lovely lady on Sunday after after she returned from church to dig up some up. John's parents grew them and had quite a few bushes with the raspberries, his mum Rosemary made red currant jam. These were planted by her family at the turn of the century, so I've called them "Gaynor's Piopio Heritage Red Currants." 

They are very healthy if tart, with heaps of Vitamin C, and are coming back into vogue currently. Upon returning home I potted up rooted cuttings into pots with good soil that I'll offer out to the community via the Piopio Community stand and the Piopio Heritage Fruit Tree project.

Fruitful Blooms

The plum, nectarine and peach trees have pretty much finished flowering in our orchard areas here at Struan Farm. Now it's time for the quince, pears and nashi to take their turns. The pear trees especially are covered in blossoms. We harvested our first few fruits from those last year and really enjoyed them.

These will be followed shortly thereafter by the apples. I've had a talk with Monty (Monty's Surprise, that is) to encourage him, since we gave him an especially hard prune this year. 

The good news is that the bees are very busy doing their pollination work, hooray! Hopefully this means lots of good fruit down the track.

On Becoming "Beefeaters"

It seems John, nephew Mike and I have been conscripted into the ranks of "Beefeaters" this week here at Struan Farm. We've been called up to defend the occupants of "Cluckingham Palace" against marauding magpies, who apparently can attack and kill hens!

John learned this yesterday afternoon from our friend Michelle. And coincidentally, last night a group of eight magpies landed on our lawn on a reconnaissance mission. Fortunately the chooks were safely locked up in their Palace and out of harm's way. I'd been keeping an eye out for hawks, but hadn't thought about magpies, nasty (non-native) birds who are known to attack native birds along with other magpies, little blonde children and lambs.

So today we've dusted off and set the magpie trap. We're taking no chances!

This morning I heard magpies in the QEII bush reserve near the pond and Cottage, they're lurking.

If you don't know about "Beefeaters," you can read more info here. Basically they protect the Queen and her palace, the Tower of London, and the Crown jewels. They wear distinctive red uniforms and high black hats. As much as we like fashion statements we won't go quite that far here at Struan Farm.

A Fragile Flower

The past few days we've had more wild weather here at Struan Farm, high winds and heavy rains. Last night I could have sworn I was feeling the changing weather in my bones. My hands and one knee got sore. And I hadn't been working outside doing extreme gardening, so there wasn't a logical reason for this to be happening.

Today I did a bit of research, and it seems some people can indeed sense changes in barometric pressure. Particularly falling barometric pressure related to an incoming storm or major weather change. It can prompt headaches/migraines, changes to blood pressure and blood sugar, and joint pain. I'd put my symptoms in the last category. Read a bit more about it here.

I've always laughed and accused myself of being a fragile flower, but now that I find myself sensing changing weather it seems this might actually be the case!

Dandelions are a symbol of resilience, so let's make a wish and stick with those.

 

Late Arrivals & Sad Departures

Farmer John rang us on Saturday morning this past weekend to ask if I'd be willing to take two lambs into the Pet Pen here at Struan Farm. Their mum had delivered triplets at his property in Mahoenui, but she was too weak to look after all three. Of course you will know my response!

And so one very weak little ewe lamb and her somewhat stronger brother arrived here at Struan Farm. Fortunately we hadn't taken the Pet Pen down as part of our spring clean up just yet. 

The ram lamb drank all his bottles straight away, and although he was a wee bit wobbly walking, it looked like he was going to pull through. Given the forecast for rain, we put them both near the Pet Palace under the tarp in the back of the pen, sheltered from the rain. The ram found his way inside the Palace almost immediately and settled comfortably.

The ewe lamb on the other hand wasn't looking good, she remained very weak. She wasn't drinking her bottles, although she did drink a bit. She's pop her head up and stand briefly, but then keel over. Several times both John and I thought she had died but then realised she hadn't. She was pooping, which is often a positive sign.

The first day lambs are fed colostrum six times per day. This replaces what they'd normally get from their mum, and gives them some immunity. Then for another four days a mixture of colostrum and regular milk powder is fed, after which it's milk powder until weaning in about three months The frequency of bottles reduces and the amount gradually increases to 350 mls. 3x per day until weaning. Yes, it's a commitment.

At the moment pet lamb Tiger seems like a walk in the park compared with these two! He comes barreling up to the back gate for his bottles, sucks them down, has a good scratch/rub and then wanders off.

You will recall that we try to avoid giving anyone a name until his or her survival looks assured. And even then things happen when we're not expecting them. If it looks like someone isn't going to survive we try to make him or her as comfortable and protected as possible. That may mean coming inside in front of the fire on a cold, wet night, or in the garage in a box with a blanket. Often I stand vigil giving them bottles if they'll take them, sometimes that can make a difference. Often it just makes me feel better, that I've done everything possible to help a vulnerable wee creature survive.

Saturday night the ewe lamb was very weak, so we put here inside in a box with a blanket. The ram lamb was cuddled in the Pet Palace and seemed fine. Sunday morning we had rain going sideways and gale force winds, but John went out with bottles to feed and check on everyone. Sadly, both lambs had died. While I'd expected the ewe to die I was quite surprised that the little ram hadn't made it.

Pet lambs at Struan Farm, the joys and the sorrows. Fortunately there are more joys than sorrows, but this was a double whammy of the latter.

 

Life on the Edge

Such are the things that occupy my time here at Struan Farm: edging all the gardens. This season getting the gardens up to snuff has been more than a mission given the weather, but after two summers of low rainfall/drought you will not find me complaining about the rain. The weeds perhaps, but not the rain!

Historically I have gone around on my hands and knees with grass trimmers. Hard work, and I'm getting too old for that. If John or nephew Mike take to the weed whacker all sorts of questionable stuff flies into the gardens, causing me more work that it's worth. Kiwis tend to use an edging device that's a sharp wheel, but I don't have the physical strength required to use that to cut through heavy weeds or lawn. I can't operate those, as helpless as that sounds. And believe me, I don't like sounding helpless.

This year I've found a new solution:

A proper garden edger. And it really works. We used to have one of these growing up, and now all is right with the world. Things can be edged. I've just finished the Homestead gardens and all of the gardens in the main lawn area at the house. One step forward.

Maybe one day I will convince the groundskeeper (John) that lawn edges are really his job and not that of the garden staff (Karen).  Wish me luck. In the meantime I've got my edger.

He's Not a Morning Person

This year was been the exception on so many fronts, hasn't it? I suspect we'll all remember 2020 for quite a few reasons. For us here at Struan Farm we only have one pet lamb, Tiger. 

And he hasn't been our typical pet lamb, abandoned at birth. His mum died 2-3 weeks after he was born. So he was captured in the paddock and brought up to the pet pen in the backyard under protest, where I taught him how to drink from a bottle.

Tiger's stint in the Pet Pen was pretty short as a result. He wanted to go back out to the grass. He's now out roaming the paddock with the mob. Early on when he didn't show up for bottles I'd send John out on the quad bike to find him to get him to come up for a bottle. At this stage he knows where the bottles can be found, at his back gate, but he loses track of time. Tiger does not work to my schedule.

What's especially odd is that for five years now our pet lambs have camped outside our bedroom window and baa-ed at first light for their breakfast. Not Tiger! In fact, while I call out for him early, he doesn't wander up to the house paddock until 11-12 for bottle #1. Clearly he's not a morning person lamb. He prefers brunch.

I try to catch him for bottle #2 around 3-3:30 so there's time for a third bottle before dark. If he's around and interested, that is.

He does seem to be developing some personality, which I wasn't sure was going to happen either. I've started to scratch and pet him while he's feeding. It seems he loves to have his back scratched! He wiggles and wags his tail, which makes me smile.

But then I can't get too attached, can I? He's a ram lamb, and they go off farm after Christmas. The only problem is that my favourite lambs of all time have indeed been ram lambs (Spud, Buster, and Alfie). Except of course for Rosie. But Tiger is such an independent little spirit that I'm hoping he'll help me out by not getting too attached to me.

 

 

 

A Big Week at Chook World

It's been a big week at "Chook World" here at Struan Farm, the paddock where "Cluckingham Palace" and our six new Hy Line hens are located. They spent the first week after arrival cooped up in their house to acclimate to home not-so-sweet home. On Monday afternoon I opened their little door hatch with ramp, encouraging them to venture out for a short time.

There was quite a bit of oohing and aahing over all that, they weren't so sure. I saw four-five of them peek out. One brave soul did come out and walk around, a second walked onto the ramp.

The intrepid hen, whom I've taken to calling "Braveheart," has decided she rather likes sitting underneath the coop. However I've decided that we don't want her nesting down there, so I go out and move her along after awhile.

Initially there was some discussion about naming the six hens after our grandchildren. But we've decided not to do that after learning of this breed's the relatively short (two year) peak laying cycle, since that would make replacing them a bit awkward in the family context. And unlike pet lambs, they pretty much all look the same; I didn't want us calling Violet Freya by mistake, that just wouldn't be right.

This week I also started to drop the top of the self-feeder in their coop as instructed. For the first week the top is propped open with a board so it doesn't move and scare them, after which the top is progressively lowered using clothes pins/pegs as the hens become familiar get with stepping on the ramp to pop the top open.

Clearly we're taking all things chook one step at a time.

I must say that at the moment my life is consumed by looking after chooks, pet lamb Tiger, and Clifford. Sometimes even John. The gardens (and myself) are way down the list. Hopefully things will settle down into more of a routine shortly so I can get my real work done around here.

Heritage Damsons Plus a Plum

I've managed to have good luck this season here at Struan Farm growing seedling heritage damson trees from stones. So far. I won't tempt fate by being too cocky! Both the "Mapiu" and "Grandpa Anselmi" damsons, hooray. The Mapiu damsons have been grown from fruit from an original settler tree/homestead site, while Grandpa Anselmi, an immigrant from Italy, used to make grappa with the fruit from his!

As I use ripe fruit in autumn I pop the stones into ziplock bags with handfuls of compost, and pop those into the garage fridge. (Note: You can't do this with fruit that has been cooked or frozen, it must be fresh.) Once the stones open and start to sprout in the fridge (this takes anywhere from 6-10 weeks) I put them in soil in small pots in the glasshouse to nurture along. 

This past week I repotted everyone to give them more room to grow. I also managed to get one heritage seedling plum tree growing with fruit I picked at Mrs. White's house along the main road, from a huge old tree. It's been christened "May's Plum," and I hope it hangs in. It's a dark skinned plum with golden fruit that John especially enjoyed, so it would be good to have it in our ever expanding orchard.

These will come out of the glasshouse once it's a bit warmer, and looked after carefully over summer especially. Next winter when these are larger I'll plant a few of each in an orchard area (somewhere!) here at Struan Farm. The others will be given away via the Piopio Heritage Fruit Tree Project. We need to make sure older varieties of fruit trees in our area continue to be propagated, grow and thrive. And if some of the history is known and can be passed along that's special too. 

Houston We Have Germination

This time of the year the glasshouse at Struan Farm kicks things up a notch, although I will say it's had a busier winter than normal in 2020. I was concerned about the prospect of food shortages due to COVID, along with most everyone else, and went a bit crazy growing winter veggies.

I'm glad I did. We enjoyed eating all those fresh veggies, and so I will do it all over again next year after having learnt how to deal with the dreaded white butterfly. 

But right now the tomato seeds have germinated (Cherokee Purple, Big Red Heirloom, Black Cherry, Black Oxheart, Super Steakhouse, Vintage Brandywine, and "Chef's Choice"), along with Italian Parsley Gigante, Black Coral Zucchini, and Pumpkin Musquee de Provence. The Queensland Blue and Jarrahdale pumpkins haven't broken ground just yet, nor have the Big Chieftain Butternut or Wild Fire Chiles. 

In terms of flowers the zinnias, snapdragons, marigolds, coreopsis and some of the straw flowers have broken ground.  It's still too early and cold to think about starting basil. 

Hurry up and wait, that's what we gardeners do. And hum or whistle Mozart and Beethoven to keep everyone happy.

I always grow spares in case seeds decide not to germinate, or plants decide not to grow. Those things happen. Surplus plants will go to the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand and Maara Kai Roopu- Maniapoto, "MKR" Garden in Te Kuiti, which has opened this year to grow food for local food banks.

 

Time for a Change

This past week "Veggie World" in the backyard here at Struan Farm experienced a major clean up. I needed to get the troughs and beds prepped for spring and summer planting, and pull out winter veggies that have done their dash. Quite a bit of weeding happened.

Right now the peas are flowering profusely, and the broad beans flowering and growing visibly each day. They know they're on notice to be replaced in late October by seedling tomato plants and corn seed. The peas seem to have read that memo a bit more thoroughly than the broad beans. Garlic and shallots are growing away, have settled in for harvest in December.

There are carrots and silverbeet back by the water tank that we'll be using over the next few weeks, along with wooden planters of kale, rocket and lettuce leftover from winter in the glasshouse on their last gasp. I've already planted coriander, dill, radish, spring onion and edible flower seeds, since they're able to cope with colder temps, along with large plastic planters with "chicken greens" to carry out to Chook World for the hens. We've got a corner of that paddock fenced off to plant them a proper field of "chicken greens;" we'll see if this works or if they'll crash the party and jump the fence in anticipation.

I'm also prepping part of a bed for kumara, after reading that Maori used ash and sand to help them grow. You will think I'm being a bit optimistic on the kumara front, since my mothers have yet to send any sprouts out from their warm, damp, sandy haven in the glasshouse. Yes, hope springs eternal with Karen, at least when it comes to vegetables!

 

Along Awanui Avenue

John's avenue of "Awanui" flowering cherry trees along the drive that runs from the Homestead, past the Cottage and up to our house here at Struan Farm is almost at its seasonal peak. We had a fantastic sunny spring day on Saturday; the tuis and bees are enjoying the trees too.

He's pruned them up so trucks and cars can get past without an issue. They seem to get better and better each year!

A Reason to Pause

Yesterday afternoon I ran out with broom and bucket in hand to clean out the chicken coop here at Struan Farm. The "ladies" are meant to stay in their house for this week to acclimate themselves to home sweet home, and things are "accumulating" so to speak.

As I was walking back to the house after that pleasant little job I looked under the pergola and grape arbor in the gardens and saw this:

Beautiful, vibrantly coloured tulips had popped up and out. Seemingly overnight. And I'd been so preoccupied bombing past them, head down, wearing out a path in the lawn to the chook house, that I'd missed them entirely!

New chooks, pet lamb, wobbly old dog, and germinating veggies in the glasshouse requiring water on a regular basis. Okay, yes, all that plus COVID-19. But it's time to pause, say thanks, and admire the spring flowers.

What a gift. I think journalist and writer Connie Schultz may put it best: time to breathe.

The Chooks have Landed

It's been an exciting week here at Struan Farm. On Tuesday I travelled south to Inglewood and picked up our six new laying "Hy Line" hens, transporting them back to Piopio and the new chicken coop.

The breeder had them packed in boxes, along with a sack of mash, which he popped into the back of my car:

Surprisingly, it was a very quiet trip home. I'd expected more clucks than happened. Perhaps they were happy with my driving? Upon returning home to Struan Farm John helped me carry the boxes into the chicken coop, where we let them out. Food and water were ready, nesting boxes have fresh wood shavings.

The next morning we found one egg on the floor, then another. One has been popped into a nesting box to encourage them to use the boxes, we'll see how that goes.

They are meant to stay in the coop for the first week to learn that this is "home." On the seventh day (rather biblical, eh?) they are let out briefly in the late afternoon to have a wee stroll around their paddock before being put back inside for the evening. At the same time we are working to teach them how to use the "self-feeding" feeder, step by step.

We're all learning as we go.

The Bottle Wars

This past week at Struan Farm I've had some challenges since pet lamb Tiger was liberated from the Pet Pen out into the paddock. You may remember he was 2-3 weeks old when his mum died, so getting him to adjust to life on bottles fed by humans took some time. We got there.

Since he's been out in the paddock he is into wandering. If he's within calling range he will come up to the back gate for his bottles.  I suspect all of our neighbours now know we have a pet lamb named Tiger given my loud, lilting calls that echo the hills. But if he's not around John has had to get on the quad bike to find him for a feed. A few days ago John discovered him all the way down at the river. While he can survive at this stage just eating grass, he won't grow and be quite as big and healthy if he doesn't drink his milk. So we want Tiger drinking his 3x per day as he should be.

We were just settling back into a proper groove this past weekend when who comes charging up to the back gate but former pet lamb Spice! She kept bunting Tiger out of the way, trying to drink his bottle. Tiger freaked out. As did I. 

I finally had to swat her away so Tiger could drink his bottle. It took at least three reasonable swats before she finally got the message and left us to it. To give you some idea of their relative size, here's Spice:

And here's Tiger:

While Tiger is a big lamb, you can see why Spice would be intimidating. She went into a snit and wasn't talking to me for swatting her away that afternoon. But she must have been having a flashback about bottle feeds at the back gate a year ago. 

The next morning Tiger arrived at the back gate for his breakfast, which was a good sign. He now seems to have clicked that this is where to get fed. The only problem was that both Spice and her sister Sugar were now lurking under the Pet lean-to, and BOTH came barreling up when the bottle came out! John was with me, and he pushed them away while Tiger sucked down his bottle.

Yes, we laugh when incidents like this happen here at Struan Farm!

 

A Lesson Being Learnt

This year I am learning how to grow kumara, a NZ type of sweet potato, here at Struan Farm. With considerable thanks to Kath Irvine at Edible Backyard, who has a well written tutorial for those of us who need help. 

The "mother" kumara or kumaras are put on a damp bed of river sand, covered with sand, and then put in a warm place like a glasshouse for the "tipu" or shoots to sprout. And that's where I am in the process right now. I think this takes awhile but will report back. The "tipu" are then cut from the mother and put into water to grow roots before planting.

Obviously like watching grass grow, I know! The sand is meant to be kept damp, and I'm onto it. Don't hold your breath, okay? I will report back once something more exciting happens.

A New Garden

Yes, a new garden here at Struan Farm, but it's not what you think. I've been reading about and seeing pictures of some wonderful focaccia gardens during COVID lockdowns around the world. It's amazing how creative people can get when they are cooped up!

This weekend I finally had a chance to try my hand at it. It took me awhile to track down unbleached flour here in NZ, but I found a fantastic source online: The Source Bulk Foods. This company is a franchise that was started in Byron Bay, Australia, but has franchisees here in New Zealand. The company's focus is on zero waste, so everything is minimally packaged. I suspect you are meant to take your own containers to their brick and mortar locations. In any event, this is the only place I could find to buy unbleached flour. 

I used the focaccia recipe in "Bread Toast Crumbs." I'm also keen to try the basic peasant bread recipe in this same cookbook, which also calls for unbleached flour. At this rate I will turn into The Source Bulk Food's best unbleached flour customer.....

The dough is made with the flour, kosher salt, instant yeast and lukewarm water. After being mix it's left to rise for 1- 1 1/2 hours before being put onto an oiled tray.

While this was happening I played around with my decorations, cutting up yellow and red bell peppers, red onions, herbs, and spring onions and chopping some olives. I looked at photos of what other garden focaccia artists had created for inspiration, and to gauge what might work.

Here's the finished version:

Next time I'll add cherry tomatoes and purple potatoes, those are also meant to work well. It's a start on my focaccia garden journey.