April

April has been an intense month for the 2 folk, the dog and the tractor. Thankfully none of it to do with the Covid-19 pandemic. So I guess it is all very relative. If it was not for this pic of a batch of Easter buns I’d have forgotten it happened.

2020-04-30 08.06.53 1.jpg — yep, that was Easter

It has been a struggle to find the peace of mind to sit and write about our adventures this month. Initial drafts sounded like a litany of unexpected events out of our control. The 2 folk, the dog and the tractor have been at full throttle. It got me thinking about how our lives operate at a certain frequency, like a steady heartbeat, and then out of no-where (or quite deliberately), we experience times of extreme oscillations that seem to tip us into the realms of a racing heart and breathlessness. The Stoics suggested our stress at such times is due to our refusal to imagine the worst and prepare ourselves mentally with strategies of acceptance (note they are not advocating risk mitigation strategies). I concede we prefer to spend our down time saying “cheers!” rather than “if the bank forecloses who needs a finished house”. So daily operations continue to be conducted at a steady jog, whilst juggling raw eggs blind. And then there was April. And suddenly we have run a marathon at a sprint. Yet the Stoics walked everywhere, calmly.

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Nothing happened on the house. The lack of development is a hard reality to accept, especially given how knackered we feel at the moment. But the house represents only one aspect of this new life we are creating. April is the start of the garlic planting season. This year the fledgling garlic enterprise dominates our energies and attention. We persist with building wicking beds, understanding and correcting the soil, planting and planning a perpetual growing programme across multiple beds that represents a whole new stream to the business. Not so long ago we only planned for a single harvest of garlic bulbs to cure, now we plan to grow multiple garlic products across year round harvesting. Seriously, when did we cross the marathon starting line…what happened to feeling calm? What was that about acceptance…?

2020-04-29 06.18.25 1.jpg — I prefer to walk than sprint, you see more

We continue to learn what our priorities are in these uncharted times. Our priorities have shifted seismically since we started building our house. This year has really brought home our order is humans, animals, plants then house and material possessions. And yet it was the dream of an owner build that started us on this rural adventure. It would seem when you start out on an adventure you have to accept you can only see a few steps in front of you, otherwise it would not be an adventure. Otherwise you swap panic for calm.

Our beloved Ginger dog is fast asleep in front of the TV on her pile of mats (a girl needs choice) as we start to prepare for bed. Suddenly she bolts upright, retches to no effect, and then starts snapping furiously, bringing uncontrollable waves of frothing foam from her mouth. Then the convulsions start, violent, whole of body rigors, tense and all-consuming. Utterly out of our depth and shaking with shock at the sight unfolding before us, we grab her and work her body, rubbing and yelling at her to come back to us. The seizure is over in a matter of moments and Ginger comes round to find her two humans in her face. She is disoriented so we just keep talking and stroking her sweet face, desperately trying to restore calm. She comes good, but there is no solace in sleep for us then or now. We work through our limited options with the vets and the specialists. We are now sprinting on snatches of sleep because we are choosing to enjoy any moments we have with her. It is an odd sort of calm.

The sheep are calmly browsing the rosemary border outside the vegetable patch. They wear a feigned nonchalance yet undeniably hopeful look. I’m pulling the corn and some of the tomato plants to make way for the broadbeans and peas. We have plenty of perfectly shaped green tomatoes so I am inspired (my chosen response) to try making a Green Tomato Chutney. It works a treat. A silver lining for what can only be described as a properly crap season for us this year. The kale is thriving, but I suspect it just does that. Carrots, coriander, parsley, spinach, rocket, brussel sprouts, red cabbage, cauliflower, beetroot and broccolini are strong and healthy. There was even a handful of late season strawberries. Jobs to do include planting of said peas and broadbeans and regular liquid foliar feeds and organic approved pest sprays on the brassicas.

Last word

We may be powerless to alter certain events, but we remain free to choose our attitude towards them.

excerpt from “Calm” https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/calm/

thanks for reading!

March

Much has happened out in the world beyond the confines of the farm of the 2 folk, the dog and the tractor. Plenty has been written about the current Covid-19 affected life we all find ourselves navigating. From us to you, may this little sojourn either break the boredom of your day or go some way to reveal a life that continues on, virus or no. And above all, may it find you and yours well and healthy.

tomato stash starts

social distancing

no TPP-thanks to friends

more preserving

In the last month, we have truly come to appreciate our life where rural distances easily accommodate social distancing measures to the power of 10; the owner-builder / rural life perpetual task list keeps us occupied to the point where boredom is a long lost state; the kitchen garden continues as a space to plant independence and the sheep keep grazing. Yes, we have felt the impact of the lack of certain key household staples. Co-Captain did have a moment of TPP, toilet paper panic. I on the other hand immediately launched into gleeful regaling of toilet paper stories and only stopped when I realised I was the only one giggling. Otherwise, we find our days continue pretty much as normal in this new world. We consider ourselves to be extremely lucky.

now, BREATHE, in for 3, hold for 3, and out for 3

So onwards, with persistence and fortitude, and a whole lot of inventiveness and humour. These times may be the catalyst for us to rediscover values more fundamental than consumerism, like kindness to shop staff who still show up to serve us. I for one hope folk re-discover the blessing that is locally grown or home grown fresh produce. Fresh produce is more nutrient-dense so it stands to reason we might all become that little bit healthier. That’s positive! Not sure I can say the same thing about home brewed liquor…how long before grape vines produce a crop?

2020-03-31 11.05.44 1.jpg — brassica bed before exclusion netting

The kitchen garden is currently producing corn, tomatoes, kale, spinach, rosemary, thyme, sage, bay, chives, tarragon, spring onions, cucumbers, chilies and capsicums (albeit dinky). The seedlings of carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, beetroot and brussel sprouts are planted. All but the broccoli and parsley were home grown from seed.

Sedum spectabile ‘Autumn Joy’

Salvia ‘azurea’

confused pear

Jobs to do include planting out seeds of parsnip and broadbeans, harvesting & pulling the tomatoes, corn and cucumber plants to make room for the new plantings, and finding organic ways to keep pests at bay. The focus is to get as much in the ground growing, so dense planting, and established for the next 2 months of autumn. I suspect my next post may well be titled Bug Tales from the Kitchen Garden. I have to thank Phil Dudman from https://www.growyourfood.com.au/ for reminding me leaves of plants such as broccoli, are edible too. Start picking from the bottom of the plant to create light and space for the quick growing crops like beetroot/bok choy.

2020-03-30 01.34.40 1.jpg — wicking views

It is the end of a long couple of days, filled with hard graft, lots of shoveling and nagging concerns of a looming deadline. I am watching with bated breath as Co-captain gingerly navigates the heavily loaded tractor around the piles of building supplies, fenced off tree lots and tranches of protruding rock. All at the same time. He is maneuvering the first of many wicking beds into position on the freshly leveled gravel pad. The new site for the longview adventure that is growing garlic. The new garlic paddock is going to look a whole lot different to the last one.

We have talked about this scenario for many months now, especially as the drought took hold. From an initial conversation starting with ‘I wonder if…’ we have spent many nights researching wicking beds, the various designs, costing up the materials, time and alternatives. Finally, we agreed this could be a solution to our situation that supports our approach to farming and our values. It has taken a long time to find myself standing here watching this key moment. Wryly I realise it will be a long time before I’ve finished watching this process unfold too. It’s a start and that in itself is a joyous and inspiring feeling. 2 down, another 20 odd to go.

2020-03-31 11.52.45 1.jpg — lonely but it took a month to read

Booklist March

Oh it does look lonely. Yes, you would think if I was to self isolate a pile of books would be on my survival list. Sadly most reading has been online guides on how to disinfect ‘hot zones’ in your house, keeping up with online news reports as our worlds are quickly impacted by a highly contagious virus and more telephone conversations than I would normally accommodate.

I managed one novel, and I’m conflicted. Entertaining, well written, and evocative. Clearly written of a time when women were regarded quite differently to now. I still suspect the writer’s views of women were not entirely favourable, either that or the weather drove them all to murder.

Last word

Inside the word “emergency” is “emerge”; from an emergency new things come forth. The old certainties are crumbling fast, but danger and possibility are sisters.

Rebecca Solnit, Hope in the Dark

thanks for reading!

February

Its now mid to late summer and February is the month for tomatoes.

By end of month we are harvesting 3-4kg of fruit every other day and my focus shifts to washing, roasting, pureeing and bottling whilst the fruit is at its finest. There are so many ways to bottle tomatoes, its another entry for another time. Perhaps you are blessed to have been raised in the craft.

Fundamentally and most paramount it all comes down to the tomatoes.

We eat so many of them with the type of ‘one pot wonder’ cooking I do. The plants are hardy and generous. I think no shop bought tomato can compare on flavour to those homegrown. I also suspect our keenness in growing them is an impatient response to waiting for our trees to grow something that resembles fruit.

Short term gratification indeed.

I find the whole process an absorbing mix of learning and honing horticultural, cooking and preserving skills, daring experimentation and diligently (aspirationally!) recording outcomes. I like assessing and working on a plant, to maximise its potential, and the reward, as you harvest and bottle potentially wonderful meals for the year.

Effort and reward – I do wonder who is controlling whom here.

Garlic patch.jpg — The first Longview Garlic patch

Watch this space – it’s the new bed for the Longview Garlic crop this year. This 1,000sqm space has to be mowed (with my trusty skateboard and blade aka the ride on mower), sprayed, fertilised, limed and ripped (yes I will be on the tractor) to make space for the bulbs to be planted in April/May weather permitting. Whilst I don’t aim for organic/biodynamic certification I am very conscious of limiting my use of sprays and additives to those identified as suitable by these farming practices. I now have to work this out so feel free to tell me what you know – what fun!

February Book List

WIN_20180223_10_42_32_Pro — Read Ruby Wax!

“We too often fail to state our needs as clearly as we should, say yes to everyone else’s demands, and then from this grow increasingly ragged, angry and bitter. A lack of selfishness can turn us slowly into highly disagreeable, as well as ineffective, people.” http://www.theschooloflife.com

100goodthings

2 folk, a dog and a tractor and our adventures in building a minimalist house and life in the country

preserving

April

March

February