Making Hay The Hard Way

So far, it's been a very dry summer this year, we're very low on water already and what rain we have received barely dampens the soil around our plants... but on the upside of things, it's perfect weather to make hay.

Myself being a DIY kinda guy, someone who will give anything a go once, I decided it will be easy enough to make my own hay.  Putting a side the fact that I suffer from really bad hay fever allergies... but if the early settlers to NZ could do it with hand tools, so can I! So here I go:

Ingredients To Make Hay:

> 1 Paddock Full Grown Grass,

> 1 Kind Neighbour With Tractor To Cut Grass,

> 1 Worker With Rake & Barrow & Homemade Contraption To Bale Grass

> Sunshine & Dry Weather

After the grass was cut, I left it to dry by hand turning it with the rake, and then raking into rows. After two days out in the sun I raked it into piles and collected it and made it into bales. 

Initially I was just going to leave the hay in a big pile in the corner of the garage, but I really needed to compact it down due to the quantity of hay and space it takes up when it is all loose.

In the above picture, I made a wooden box, but the top and bottom are open ended, and by using some planks of wood and trailer tie downs, I was able to sandwich the hay into compressed manageable bales which I then tied with twine. 

The bales ended up being about the same size as a standard hay bale, but just not as nicely trimmed and cut as a professional bale... but it worked as in the below picture. 

It took a little bit of figuring out what I was doing, but once I got into the swing of things and had a system, I had 11 hay bales. 

I could have made plenty more, as there was so much more cut grass, but my allergies to the grass was making it unbearable, with running eyes and nose, I couldn't stop sneezing, and I had the rash on my legs, arms and chest... so I had to call it quits. 

Note to self, next  year, I must cover up, wear a mask and take more/better antihistamines.

The Hard Yard.... Docking and Castration Time

The time has come to dock the lambs tails and castrate the boys bits.

The most difficult part was getting the sheep into the pen. There were 3 of us... and 15 sheep/lambs.  It took us at least an hour or so to round them up, running around the paddock... we need a bigger pen, a smaller paddock and a trained farm dog would be nice too. I'm not sure if it is the same with all sheep breeds, but these Arapawa Sheep, are very skittish. One jumped out of the pen below, right over the top.

 Finally In The Pen.

I'm all for docking the lambs tails as the sheep we've purchased, some have their tails, and some don't, but the one's with no tails are much cleaner at their rare end, compared to the sheep with their tails still attached. Surely a cleaner butt is a good thing for the sheep.

 So Cuddly...Both Of Us!

However I was unsure whether we should castrate the boy lambs or not, especially when within a year they will end up on the dinner plate.  After chatting to a few people everyone said castrate them, so I did... poor little boys, the girls just got on with it after putting the ring on their tails, but you could see the boys were not comfortable. I could feel their pain... so that will be the last time I do that. The boys in the future can keep their bits. I'd read the boys with their bits still attached, will grow quicker too.  So I don't see there is any point in putting them through any unnecessary stress and pain... well that is until the time comes a calling for Lamb Shanks or Roast Lamb!

Lambing Around...

Our new arrivals are starting to settle into their new home.  

During the first couple of days they've been very skittish, running away whenever they see me, I don't think they trust me after being manhandled onto the trailer and the stresses of being relocated.

The Ram (The Daddy to the Lambs) he is the sheep with the entire black face, and he just continually stares at me, whenever he see's me. I have a feeling there is some trust issues that we need to work on going forward.

But if the lambs are anything to go by... life is good in the eyes of our new Arapawa baby lambs... 

Is That A Flock?

Today our flock of 3 Arapawa Sheep has grown to 15 sheep. We've purchased another 6 adults sheep, along with their 6 baby lambs. Was a fantastic day for life down Wattle Lane.

We missed out on some great photo opportunities while collecting the sheep, we had the adults on the trailer and the babies in the back of the car. Very cute and adorable... but we will try to add some better photos soon.

2016 Spring Babies

My neighbour's One Eye'd chicken often comes over to visit when I am feeding my 3 girls, but today she brought over her 3 babies to say hello. Very cute, but I'm feeling when my girl's get broody next I will purchase some fertile eggs, as it is about time to expand my flock of chickens.

Hoofing Around!

We've just had another beautiful weekend in paradise, a little windy on Saturday, but a perfect 10 out of 10 on Sunday. To score a perfect 10, for me the perfect day is when the is sky is blue with puffy white clouds with little to no wind, and warm enough to be outside in shorts and t shirt. I really couldn't have asked for a better day, very satisfying.

But there was no time to be sitting around, as always there is lots to do on the block.

First thing Saturday morning, well after a cooked breakfast, thank you Gary, I hitched up the trailer to the car and headed off to Carter's in Mangawhai for some timber followed by a trip to the quarry for some gravel.

My main goal for the weekend was to build a pen so we can round up the sheep, so I am able to check up on them from time to time, keeping a close on their health and wellbeing.  

We had some help on Saturday with Geoff popping up to help out.  So with Gary preparing lunch and afternoon tea... including a beautiful sponge cake, and Geoff's extra pair of hands, we had the pen built in one day.

Sunday morning I played Shepherd and rounded up the three girls into the pen. Then with my new sheep hoof trimmers I started giving my three girls a pedicure, their hoofs were well overgrown and curled inwards... I must say bloody hard work, and glad we only have three sheep to start with, but I hope they appreciate the trim, and most were patient with me. The white faced sheep in the second photo below, was very good, she tends to be the braver sheep of the three.

  

In a couple weeks I will try to tidy up their crutch area... I'll give the girls a break after their big pedicure this weekend. I don't want to freak them out too much.

Thank you Geoff & Gary for your help... we really achieved a lot this weekend, it's very satisfying come Sunday evening to see how much was completed in two days.

Arapawa Sheep... Just Awesome!

A beautiful day in paradise... and I think our sheep are now enjoying themselves too.

Over the last couple evenings, I've been racing home after work, trying to get home before the sun sets, as I've been building a little shelter to protect the sheep from the elements. 

Below the sheep have taken an interest in my little project too, chasing each other around the walls of the shelter that I've been building, such fun! If only they would let me join in too. I have a little video clip, but I couldn't upload from here, so I will try via facebook.

 
They're now eating the sheep pellets, but not from my hand, they're still very skittish and wont come near me... but I'll keep trying, I just want them to be a little friendlier so it becomes a little easier to move and handle them.

POP OPEN THE GOOD STUFF....

We're finally the proud owners of 3 beautiful young ladies... 3 Arapawa Sheep!

It's taken some time to get to this point... but we've got there. I'm really over the moon! It's been the best day!

My handy man skills below... a crate that I made for our trailer.... ended up being a little higher than it needed to be... but it did the job.

You May Call It Progress In August 2016

This post will be a picture post... photos of our progress this month, I will add to it as the month progresses, I've set many goals... so we will see how we go:

One of my first projects was to tidy up the end of the fence with new posts and a new gate:

Progress is a tad on the slow side... I've taken a week off from work, so I can spend more time on the land, but the weather has been, well just like winter actually, very wet and cold.

It's been raining pretty much consistently for the last 24 hours, so I popped on my rain coat & gumboots and headed down the hill to see how high the creek water level has become...

Above is normal water level & below same creek in flood....

So there hasn't been too much that I can do given it is so wet, but I did manage to sow some of the seeds, but I still have some more to do, as I ran out of the seed raising mix, but a good start.

I've also done a little concreting... added a step to the garage side door, this was to be included with the concrete pad, but the contractor didn't complete the job or forgot.

Update... seedlings!

31 More Day's To Spring!

Not that I'm counting, but we have 1 more month of winter, then it's official we are in spring!  

I wonder why NZ doesn't celebrate spring, as other parts of the world have great big celebrations, but not so much here, I wonder why? An excellent reason for a public holiday if you ask me, and a great way to see out winter. 

Knowing that spring is just around the corner I am busy getting myself organised, I want to double my efforts this year with the goal of creating the most bountiful garden to date. Last year was a bit disappointing as I was so busy with other projects and the vegetable garden was neglected, however 2016/17 will be the year of great growth!  

So I've scheduled in a week off work this month, so I can get my preparations underway.  Living in Kaipara we have a very mild winter, so spring really is already upon us I feel.

Last weekend I spent a day building my little seed raising glass house.  Small but it should do the job. I purchased some old windows off trademe for $10, and then with left over timber from other various projects I built the below, although I just need to do some painting to seal the windows better, but overall, not too bad if I do say so myself...

Now that I have my little seed raising house, I just need to decide on what to grow.  Every year I purchase a few more packets of seeds, and well after a couple of years, you end up with a mass of seed packets, although there are a couple new plants I want to try growing this year, so I see a few more packets being added to the collection before the month is out. Long term, I really need to get into the art of collecting my own seeds... maybe at the end of this growing season I'll give it a go.

Tip: Get yourself an Egmont Seeds or King Seeds catalogue, or if a little greedy like myself, both! Awesome selection of seeds to choose from, a great deal more than what you will find in store. You can order online, or they tend to send out a new seed catalogue each season after a few purchases. Very handy, with some useful information, new ideas and inspiration each year. 

Over the next couple of weeks, I need to:

1. Start sowing seeds,
2. Create another new garden bed, which involves boxing and moving soil.
3. Prepare the existing garden beds, which mainly involves weeding and turning the soil a few times.  
4. Make the garden fence a little more pest proof, mainly from the chickens and turkeys.
5. Also I have another new 20m fence and gate to instal next to the garden.

Part of the new fence is to allow for an extension of the garden, but also part of the fence is a new sheep pen/yard, which is on the other side of the same fence, so when we do get a few of our own sheep, we will have a little yard for shearing etc.  

But do you hear that sound... whenever I mention fence, you can hear the sound of sobbing in the background... do you hear that?  Well that's my credit card sobbing, whenever it hears the word fence or timber, my poor old credit card knows its about to get a hammering, poor old credit card, I do hope to put you into retirement soon.  Timber isn't the cheapest of materials, but the only way for us to keep the costs down is if we do all the labour ourselves.

If I can get all the jobs done before end of August, I will be a happy little camper.  Doesn't look too difficult, but working the above in between your normal daily chores, weeding, & mowing lawns your time slips away pretty quickly. So chop chop!