Around the farm

Myrtle – The Mercedes-Benz LA911

/ hamalochonline / 2 Comments

Every man is allowed a mid-life crisis car, aren’t they?  Usually these are red, have two doors and are made by one of the great marques.

Of course, the picture in your mind might not exactly match what we ended up getting, but when I took the family to Ournie to meet the red, two door, all wheel drive Mercedez-Benz, it was simply love at first sight.

img_1722

When we turned up to look at the big red truck, we met a real character in its owner, Michael.  Michael’s first question was almost impossible to answer.  “Whaddaya want to use it for?” he asked…

I didn’t really know what to say.  I mumbled something about using it for a horse truck.

“Nah.  Too slow for that.”

“Um…  I don’t really know.” I confessed.  Michael look at me curiously.  I think he thought I was just a little mad.  But nonetheless he let me take the take the family for a spin.  And we were hooked.  Slow it might be, but it was so much fun.

With the move coming up, I could see a real benefit in being able to load up all our farm equipment onto the truck – and so it didn’t take much for me to say yes.

And Myrtle?  The name came from a story dating back to its RFS days.  The truck was going flat out to a fire near Ournie, with a full load of water and a crew onboard.  One of the crew looked out the window and said over the roar of the engine “Oh look, we’ve been overtaken by a turtle”.

img_1820-1

This is one of the last LA911 trucks made in Stuttgart Germany.  It rolled off the production line in 1983, and was initially delivered to Telecom, before being transferred to the Ournie Rural Fire Service sometime there after.  It has traveled a mere 38,000km making it barely run in.  That said, the hills around Ournie are pretty steep, and given this truck gets along at around 70km on the flat, it would have plenty of hours on the clock.  These trucks have been known to put up with years of abuse and hard work, opening up large parts of Africa and South America where the term ‘roads’ is an euphemism.

img_1881

The engine is the venerable OM352, a 5.7 litre direct injection 6 cylinder diesel renowned for its longevity and simplicity.  The OM352 commenced production in 1964, and is found in trucks, tractors and boats the world over.  Later models were turbo-charged, however this one is naturally aspirated.

OM352

I feared parts were going to be an issue, however Donaldson Motors in Melbourne has a full parts catalogue online – and most parts in stock.  The truck does need a new hand throttle fitted (as this also shuts the engine down), and a new one was delivered from Singapore within a week.  Impressive service indeed.

Nearly everyone who has seen the truck reckons it is fantastic, and loves it.  Except for one, who reckons I’m crazy.  But he’s a diesel mechanic.  What would he know?

So what are we going to use it for?  Well I do have a couple of ideas, but I reckon it would make a great camper.  With a coffee machine so I can sell coffee in remote areas and fund our travels.  In the mean time, it might haul firewood on the new not-so-rocky farm.  And i reckon it makes me look pretty cool too.  After all, isn’t that what a mid-life crisis car is supposed to do?

The new ‘not-so-rocky farm’

/ hamalochonline / Leave a comment

After the whirlwind of the last three months, we are excited to be finally settling into our new home.  We have started unpacking boxes, the shed is slowly coming to order and we are starting to realise that Christmas is only a couple of days away.  It has taken a lot of ducks to line up in order to pull off the move, and more people than I could ever imagine to thank, but here we are.

The house was built in the mid 1980s – and is in original condition.  Whilst we have ideas about how to renovate it, we are making sure we live in it for 12 months first to get a full appreciation of how the house functions during the seasons.  I have joked that I am looking forward to 12 months off… but in reality it means I have a year to get the farm in order before my time will be taken up renovating!

In a former life, the property was used as a horse stud.  It has a collection of old stables, shelters, hay sheds and small paddocks.  In fact we have gone from three large paddocks at the Rock Farm to over 20 smaller paddocks.  This will work well for our plans of soil improvement through cell grazing, and I am really excited with this prospect, however there is lots of work to be done to tidy up the day paddocks and sheds.

The infrastructure is best described as ‘tired’.  Some of the solid fences will not take much work to bring into order, however there are kilometres of plain wire fences that need a lot of work.  The sheep are not contained by these fences, and I will have my work cut out ensuring our fences are stock proof.

But the property has grass.  Lots of grass.  And we will be looking for some cattle to help us manage the pasture.  I am really looking forward to experimenting with holistic pasture management through the use of livestock, and this property has real potential.  In the past, 20 acres or so has been sown to lucerne.  We may use this paddock to cut meadow hay, which we will use for our own stock / soil improvement projects.

The boy’s love the new fantasy land they have discovered.  The new place has a creek running along one boundary.  This will create lots of challenges with flood gates to repair and causeways to cross – but it also provides a beautiful cool haven to escape the hot days. The deciduous elm trees also do their part in creating a nutrient rich, moist soil, but I will have to manage their tendency to spread by suckers..

We had many ducks to line up with the purchase of this property.  Friends of ours bought the adjoining 200 acre block, and are looking forward to building a house on their block.  In the meantime their beautiful horses will spend time between both our properties… and I have no problem with that.

I think we will like living here 🙂

Rock Farm Sold

/ hamalochonline / Leave a comment

To say it has been a turbulent few months would be an understatement, but it is with mixed feelings that I can finally confirm that the Rock Farm is sold.

We have been honoured to be custodians of the Rock Farm for the past five years.  This beautiful property has taken us on a wonderful journey.  Whilst this blog has largely been about our trials and tribulations as we learn how to raise stock and rehabilitate our soil, there has been so much more to our time on the Rock Farm.

Less than three months ago, selling the Rock Farm was the last thing on our minds.  Our new lambs were growing into sheep, our soil was healing, our trees were growing and our boys were turning into young men.  We had built on the amazing legacy the previous owners had created and felt we were on the cusp of realising our own dreams for the property.

But you have to keep your mind open to new opportunities.  And when one knocked oh so softly, we knew it was worth investigating.  Once we decided it was worth going for, we gave it everything we had.

Getting the Rock Farm on the market was a huge challenge.  We decluttered the house and tidied up the sheds.  Then I disappeared to sea for a couple of weeks for work before coming home just in time for the first open home.  Jo had worked tirelessly in my absence and transformed our home into a magazine shoot.  Our agent, Chris Dixon did an excellent job and found a buyer for our home almost straight away.

I think we were all a little surprised how quickly we had found a new owner for the Rock Farm, but the realisation that we had a huge amount of work ahead of us soon set in.  Moving is an arduous task at the best of times, but in the lead up to Christmas, it has been particularly trying.

Looking back, we have been extremely fortunate to be custodians of our little patch of paradise for a brief moment in time.  Our gorgeous boys have thrived in the environment, learning all sorts of invaluable skills from raising livestock to repairing motorbikes and cars.

Not all the lessons have been easy.  Some have been physically demanding – learning to shear a sheep or mark lambs has challenged the lads.  Some have been emotionally draining, such as when a poddy lamb dies.  But these lessons have given the boys a good grounding in the cycle of life, and our part in it.

But they have loved it.  As have we.

So, where are we off to?

All will be revealed soon, but I can confirm that we have moved down the road, to another 40 hectare (100 acre) property…   The good news is that there will be so many more lessons to be shared on this blog as we start our new adventure on the new not-so-rocky Rock Farm!

But we will miss the original Rock Farm 🙂

Cockatoos – Yellow Tailed and Glossy Black

/ hamalochonline / Leave a comment

A couple of days ago I head the unmistakable call of the Yellow-tailed black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus).  These magnificent birds are one of the largest of the cockatoo family, and are relatively widespread in eastern Australia.  They are also occasional visitors to the Rock Farm.

Their diet is varied, and available from a range of habitats.  Whilst they mostly eat native seeds, especially She-Oaks (Casuarina), the also are partial to pine cones, hence why they made a temporary stay in our pine trees.

Flying Bolt Cutters

They also enjoy larvae of wood-boring beetles, using their strong beak to peel bark and gouge into the tree to extract the tunneling grubs.  This strong beak, and tendency to rip and shred trees is the despair of many homeowners, as they frequently attack pool solar heating piping, electrical conduit and a whole manner of household fittings.

Whilst these birds are relatively common and not under threat, we have taken steps to assist in the survival of one of their cousins, the Glossy Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami).

Glossy Black Cockatoo

The Glossy Black Cockatoo is the smallest member of the black cockatoo family.  Unlike it’s larger cousin, the Glossy Black prefers to feed on the seeds of mature She-Oak trees, and very little else.  Most people associate She-Oaks with rivers, where these majestic trees line creeks and rivers in eastern Australia, but there are many species that favour more hardy areas such as the Desert She-Oak (allocasuarina decaisneana) from central Australia.

There is even one species which grows on the Rock Farm – The Drooping She-Oak (allocasuarina verticillata).  This nitrogen fixing tree likes growing on the rocky slopes of our home.  We have about half a dozen young trees that we are coaxing and encouraging as best we can.

We have also planted several of these trees in our bottom paddock through the Greening Australia Whole of Paddock Rehabilitation program.  Whilst we haven’t seen any Glossy Black Cockatoos on the Rock Farm yet, I hope that in the future our stand of Drooping She-Oaks help to extend their habitat.

And if I do see one, it will be a little bit exciting! 🙂

More new arrivals on the Rock Farm

/ hamalochonline / Leave a comment

The last few months have been a little busy on the Rock Farm – mostly the hectic wholesome crazy of raising kids who stick their hands up for every opportunity that passes their way.  This is no bad thing at all, and the Little Helpers continue to amaze and inspire me.  I am extremely proud of them.

With so many things going on, the last thing on my mind was a new pet, but somehow we were introduced to a gorgeous blue border collie cross pup that stole our hearts.

And so Sapphire joined our family.

This little bundle of happiness has come into our lives – and reminded us of all the things you forget about puppies.  The house training, constant chewing, and ceaseless curiosity has at times tested all our patience.  But not unexpected, and we have all fallen for this sweet little girl.

The whole family has been involved in Sapphire’s training program, trying to ensure our approach is both consistent and positive.  And she is a quick learner.  We have one smart dog on our hands.

But a new puppy also needs a new house!

I had started collecting the odd pallet or two on the way home from work.  A local courier company offered free pallets to anyone willing to pick them up from the footpath.  The stack(s) at home were starting to grow, and we needed a new project.  Sapphire was the perfect excuse to get the Little Helpers involved in a new project.

Over the course of a day we carefully removed boards from some old pallets and re-purposed a small pallet to be the base of the new kennel.  After sealing the cracks, we had a sturdy floor.

A frame was made using some of the pallet bearers.  Dimensions were largely based on the existing timber lengths.  We had minimal cutting to build this frame.

Pallet boards were carefully de-nailed, cut to length and then nailed to the frame.  The Little Helper cut an entrance carefully into the front with the jigsaw.

A sheet of old iron was carefully trimmed and formed the roof.  I used the angle-grinder to cut this – not quite ready to let the Little Helper’s play with this tool.

And before long, our 99 percent recycled dog house was complete.  Poor Sapphire didn’t really seem too keen on the kennel at the start.

But it didn’t take too long for her to fully appreciate the comforts of her new home.

And there are times it is darn hard to get her out of it!

The best part about this project is that every scrap of timber and the roofing iron in this project was recycled.  The sarking was left over from our barn renovation.  The only thing that was new was the nails!

The boys are really excited about finding a project they can make – with minimal supervision.  After a quick check of Gumtree, they figure there is a market for recycled pallet dog kennels.  They hope to make another kennel or two in the school holidays – but if you’re really nice to them, they might even make one to order!

That is unless they turn all the pallets into cubby houses or forts…

Serrated Tussock 

/ hamalochonline / Leave a comment

One of the responsibilities that comes with ownership of ‘lifestyle blocks’ is weed control.  The Rock Farm is no exception – and whilst growing lush pasture is difficult here, it seems that weeds take particular pleasure in growing on our farm.

One of the weeds we have to control is serrated tussock (nassella trichotoma).  This is a weed of national significance.  It is not palatable to stock and large amounts can significantly reduce carrying capacity.

Serrated tussock came to Australia from South America in the 1850’s.  With no other commercial use, it was used as a stuffing in horse saddles.  During the gold rush, Australia received a huge influx of new immigrants, and one of the unintended by products of this mass immigration was the introduction of many pests.

A couple of years ago, we learnt how quickly it spreads.  What I thought was a small patch rapidly grew, and it took a local contractor, with a specialised spot spay set up four days to spray.  It is now a much simpler job, and a quick run through the paddock gets most of the tussock.  My spraying rig is a combination of several contraptions, but it is effective for these smaller jobs.

Whilst I would love to control the tussock without the use of chemicals, it simply isn’t cost effective.  The cost of spraying per hour is roughly equivalent to the return made from selling one lamb.  Chipping out the weeds is cheaper per hour, but takes around 4 times as long.  With consumers willing to pay generally only a small price premium for organic lamb over the regular product, it is not effective for our business.

For someone with limited time, spraying is definitely the way to go.  Even with my cobbled together arrangement, I can cover a far greater area than if I was chipping out the tussock.  The chemical burden is also very small considering the land area it is dispersed over.

The supervisor also enjoyed the ride, however was far more interested in the passing kangaroos than pointing out the tussocks I’d missed!

One of the greatest defences against serrated tussock is good ground cover.  The seed is dispersed mostly by wind, the seed itself is not very competitive.  Part of the large reduction in tussock numbers in this paddock has been, I think, our efforts in establishing a good pasture in the paddock and removing the stock.  The planting of trees will further reduce the wind borne seed entering from the neighbour’s place (I hope).

In the mean time, we continue to celebrate the arrival of spring on the Rock Farm.

More excellent information on serrated tussock can be found on the NSW Weedwise website here: http://weeds.dpi.nsw.gov.au/Weeds/Details/123

Pasture improvement and weed control. 

/ hamalochonline / 2 Comments

One of the driving forces behind getting a tractor was to allow us to start rehabilitating the precious soil on the Rock Farm.  Our aim is to create a balanced and healthy soil that supports low impact grazing.

One paddock on the Rock Farm is predominantly native pasture with remanent red box, red stringy bark and brittle gum trees.  I have been encouraging the regrowth of thousands of young trees around the older trees, and have been pleased to find the odd drooping she-oak – a vital food source for the Glossy Black Cockatoo.

One problem in this paddock is patches of Sifton Bush (Cassini Arcuata).  This native plant is an invasive weed, producing vast quantities of seed and rapidly colonising bare soil.

img_0996

A section of sifton weed with some Broom Bitter Pea in the foreground

The mature sifton bush plant can produce up to 4 billion seeds a year.  It is unpalatable to most grazing animals and has been suspected of causing poisoning in lambs.  It is a declared weed in our area and we have a responsibility to control it.

The NSW dpi has an excellent page describing the Sifton Bush and its control.  http://weeds.dpi.nsw.gov.au/Weeds/Details/253

Whilst we have worked hard to clear some areas through pulling plants, it is hard work and time consuming.  I had used my mower for a few trials – but it was really hard work for the mower and was causing too much damage (to the mower). Burning is not effective due to the large amount of seedling reinfestation following a fire event.

And so our preferred method for larger areas of infestation is mulching.

img_0998

Lucie hard at work turning sifton bush into mulch

Lucie the tractor has a 2.4 metre wide drum muncher that is effective at shattering the larger stems and mulching the leaves.  As this breaks down, it returns organic matter to the soil, hopefully improving the soil structure and microbial activity.

img_0999-1

The tractor pushes over the mature plants easily – but beware of old stumps

The disadvantage of this method is that some of the sharp stumps remain, making it treacherous to drive a car over the mulched section.  Also some of the younger plants aren’t effectively broken down and may shoot again from damaged stems.

img_1002-1

A much cleaner paddock

The end result is a paddock that not only looks a lot better, but has improved organic matter in the soil.  We have observed grasses recolonising the areas I have mulched as they receive better light and less competition from the sifton bush.

I expect to re-mulch these areas in another couple of years and perhaps take the opportunity then to re-mineralise the soil.  It wont be a quick process as soil takes tens of thousands of years to form, and a heartbeat to destroy.  It is all good fun and I am really enjoying the challenge of improving the Rock Farm.

 

Desperate race for survival – Lambing

/ hamalochonline / 2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I was jumping for joy with our first precious lamb of the season.  There is something uplifting about seeing a new lamb frolic, with a proud mother standing by.  It is also a sign that perhaps the worst of winter is over and we are approaching spring.

But lambing is also often associated with a bitter break in the weather, and this week has been no exception.  With barely 10mm recorded in the gauge since Christmas, we are just coming out of two days of solid cold wet miserable rain.  And right in the thick of it was born our fourth lamb.

The ewes have plenty of shelter in their middle paddock, but as I am also supplementing their feeding with oaten hay, they tend to hang around the top paddock a bit.  Whilst we have planted trees in this paddock, they barely provide a twig to shelter behind.  There are solid windbreaks on two sides, but it is still exposed.  On chilly mornings, it is the first paddock to catch the sun, and being the highest part of the property, it is popular with the ewes escaping the chilly air that sinks to the lower parts.

But when the sun doesn’t come out – and the rain is steady, it can be a miserable place to be.

And sadly this is where I thought I found our fourth lamb…  but as I approached her, she kicked, and I thought we might have a chance.

Her only chance of survival was to bring her inside and warm her up.  Unfortunately I had to go to work, so my highly talented multi-tasking wife Jo was called upon to work her magic.


In no time at all the lamb was dry and warming inside the house, where chaos was reigning supreme.  Extra kids, extra puppies and now and extra lamb were staying in our little house.  Jo dug out the poddy lamb bottles and prepared to face a two hour feeding regime overnight.  But at the first feeding it was apparent we had a battle on our hands.

Sadly the lamb passed away not long after we brought her inside.

It was a sad moment for all of us.  The poor little lamb barely had a chance, but this is the struggle many of them face when born during atrocious weather.

Thankfully the other lambs are all looking healthy and we will keep our fingers crossed they all grow to be tough and hardy sheep – who can perhaps delay their lambing by a month or so.

Providing mineral supplements and improving soil health

/ hamalochonline / Leave a comment

One of the most enlightening books I have read about soil health and animal nutrition was Natural Farming by Pat Coleby.  Whilst we all know Australia has some of the most ancient soils on the planet, what wasn’t clearly understood was the relationship between soil minerals and animal (and also human) health.

Pat was one of the first people to recognise that many health ailments in animals are caused by mineral deficiences.  Natural Farming carries a simple message: healthy soil makes healthy plants which in turn make health animals and healthy people.

Our vision is for healthy and ecologically sustainable grazing on our land.  Basic soil tests have confirmed our soil is slightly acidic, but we haven’t conducted in depth mineral analysis of our property yet.

Many animals have an ability to seek out minerals they are deficient in.  One way to see what minerals your soil is deficient in is to offer minerals to your stock and see which minerals they seek.  And so we  purchased a sample kit, known as a Pat Coleby Starter Pack from VITEC in Victoria (http://www.vitec.com.au/shop-online/pat-coleby-minerals/stock-lick-20kg).

The next part of the process was to construct a shelter for the minerals so that I could leave them in the paddock.  This took a bit more planning, but I soon found a few bits of steel and an old piece of corrugated iron around the place and with a bit of dodgy welding had knocked up a frame.

I decided to use a blue ‘nelly bin’ to store the minerals, and made a rectangular frame to hold the bin.  I then made another frame to attach the roof to.

Now that I had done the hard part, it was time to open the bag and check out the contents.  The starter pack contained a mix of minerals.  Dolomite, Sulphur, Copper and Lime, with mineralised salt and seaweed meal making up the rest of the pack.

I split the various minerals into various ice cream containers – and they fitted perfectly into my nelly bin.  It was now time to see what the sheep thought of them.

Well I cheated the first time – I put some sheep pellets into the nelly bin – to help them become comfortable with the new paddock sculpture.

But once they had eaten all the food and I had replaced the pellets with the minerals, it was pleasing to see them have a nibble on the seaweed meal and try the other minerals.

And so time will tell.  It will be interesting to see what minerals they naturally seek – and this will give us a good indication where to focus our efforts on re-mineralising the Rock Farm.

And this is part of the fun, ensuring our lovely sheep produce healthy lambs, and our soil improves over our tenure.

Lucie the International 674 Tractor joins the Rock Farm

/ hamalochonline / 2 Comments

For a long time we have been discussing whether a tractor would be a useful addition to the Rock Farm.  To be truthful, I had been convinced for a while that I would find plenty of uses for one…  I just had to gain approval in principle to purchase one, and then find one that fitted the budget.  So for the past couple of years on-and-off I had been keeping my eye on Gumtree and other classifieds sites.

The main problem was deciding whether to buy a new Chinese tractor with all the features, or an older ‘name brand’ tractor.  Whilst the Chinese tractors represented excellent value for money, there were just as many horror stories out there which made me lean towards an older tractor from a known brand.

The other problem is that I had never driven a tractor.  So when the Local Land Services (LLS) advised me I had won a book voucher for answering a few questions on an online survey, it was an easy choice on choosing my book.

The book is, in a word, excellent.  Armed with a little bit of knowledge (dangerous situation), the perfect tractor came on the market just down the road.  A quick inspection confirmed it was going to be ideal for what we wanted to do on the Rock Farm – and the price was within our budget.

img_0478

The vital statistics:

  • Name: Lucie
  • Type: International 674 4wd Tractor
  • Year Built: 1974
  • Fitted with: Front bucket / loader, Mulcher (flail mower).
  • Other accessories: Hay forks, stick rake

And it has been put to work.  I have been able to clean up piles of old wire, slash weeds, move piles of dirt, repair the driveway and pull out stumps.  It has transformed the way we move firewood from the paddocks to the house – saving double handling and time.  In short, it is a great addition to the Rock Farm.

We had deferred tidying up piles of old wire due to the labour it would have required…  now we have relished cleaning up the paddocks – even if lashing the wire to the trailer is a little challenging.

If you ask the Little Fisherman though, the tractor’s main purpose is to make jumps for his motorbike…

And it was a nice place to learn how to drive the tractor and play with the settings.  I might just have to admit that this is my new favourite toy!

I am sure that Lucie will soon feature in many articles on the Rock Farm, as we work to improve the pastures and soil health.  In the mean time, we can all enjoy some of its benefits.

Have I ever said how much I love living on the Rock Farm??