Wow. Last entry was the 8th and its the 21st now. Lots to catch up with.
The pig is pregnant ! This has resulted in a frantic search for someone with a gun who can dispatch the male before he eats the piglets. My man is coming around at about 17.00 this afternoon and then we just need to butcher it and get it in the freezer.
We built a new chicken cage/thing to keep the free range eaters safe at night. Blood (lots!), sweat and tears resulted in this effort:
All my own work........
And then there was the matter of fencing (another 50 metres) off the lower field for the chickens and as an extra paddock for Banna. This proved useful a few days later when Banna decided that an acre of grazing wasn't enough and knocked down the fence from the main field to the feed crop to help himself to the contents.
Dave enjoys a pint and some pub grub after a hard day putting up fencing. Obviously we also have to be there to stop him getting into any fights or drinking too much.
Irrigation is a big headache in a climate like this and we finally got round to piping up the vegetable plot to the main system. It is already making a big difference and the veg is looking good.
So far we have planted potatoes, onions, spring onions, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, celery, tomatoes (cherry and plum), dill, red peppers, chili peppers, melons, beetroot, aubergine, basil, mint, marjoram, oregano, sage, chives, coriander and a blueberry bush.
The small herb pots
Today we had a visit from Andreas (Tractor man) who informed us that we needed to sort out the irrigation on the feed crop and pre-install more sprinklers before we put in the clover seeds. By turning off (thanks Andrea!) most of the irrigation feeds we can get enough pressure to operate the sprinklers. A bit labour intensive every week when we have to water the lemon, grapefruit, orange and avocado trees, but it seems to work.
Oh, and we need double the amount of seed that the suppliers told us and we will also plant maize for feed.
He will return on Thursday with the tractor.
Hopefully our friend Gavrili will be around tomorrow to look at the water pump which refuses to work so that we can draw water from the river again.
In the meantime, I have a lot of work to do, and a dose of tennis elbow has appeared from nowhere.
Ouch.
The pig is pregnant ! This has resulted in a frantic search for someone with a gun who can dispatch the male before he eats the piglets. My man is coming around at about 17.00 this afternoon and then we just need to butcher it and get it in the freezer.
We built a new chicken cage/thing to keep the free range eaters safe at night. Blood (lots!), sweat and tears resulted in this effort:
All my own work........
And then there was the matter of fencing (another 50 metres) off the lower field for the chickens and as an extra paddock for Banna. This proved useful a few days later when Banna decided that an acre of grazing wasn't enough and knocked down the fence from the main field to the feed crop to help himself to the contents.
Dave enjoys a pint and some pub grub after a hard day putting up fencing. Obviously we also have to be there to stop him getting into any fights or drinking too much.
Irrigation is a big headache in a climate like this and we finally got round to piping up the vegetable plot to the main system. It is already making a big difference and the veg is looking good.
So far we have planted potatoes, onions, spring onions, cucumber, lettuce, spinach, celery, tomatoes (cherry and plum), dill, red peppers, chili peppers, melons, beetroot, aubergine, basil, mint, marjoram, oregano, sage, chives, coriander and a blueberry bush.
Oh, and we need double the amount of seed that the suppliers told us and we will also plant maize for feed.
He will return on Thursday with the tractor.
Hopefully our friend Gavrili will be around tomorrow to look at the water pump which refuses to work so that we can draw water from the river again.
In the meantime, I have a lot of work to do, and a dose of tennis elbow has appeared from nowhere.
Ouch.
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