If you thought the Rock Farm was all about our cattle and trees, you’d be perhaps surprised to see some of the other things that we try to grow here. The return of a relatively wet summer has allowed our vegetable garden to thrive, and we have been enjoying regular harvests of cucumber, tomatoes, zucchini eggplant, capsicum, lettuces, and raspberries. There is nothing quite like picking fresh vegetables just before you cook them – the flavours are just so delightful. As my Italian colleague says, you can taste the sunshine 🙂

I can’t take any credit for the hard work that established our garden this year – except for hauling up some cow manure from the yards last year. We are even more fortunate to have lovely neighbours who let me pick some apples and pears from their orchid. If you think vegetables taste great just out of the garden, the fruit takes it to another level!

Perhaps the biggest surprise was what we found in our dam. After the crazy mountain-biker managed to crack a finger, he was laid up at home causing as much frustration to himself as the rest of us. In an effort to save all our sanity, I suggested he might try to see if the Silver Perch we had released in the dam as fingerlings in November 2021 had grown (https://rockfarming.com/2021/11/25/making-the-most-of-the-season/). The short answer is they certainly had. After about ten minutes with a rod using nothing but some bread as bait, he returned with three handy sized fish, which we enjoyed for dinner.

It is great to feel the evenings start to cool down, with the last throw of summer upon us. It is time now to start weaning the calves and get the farm ready for winter. There is lots going on, but that is half the adventure!