Latest trip to the farm

We took a trip up to the farm a couple of weeks ago. It's a long long drive only to drop off a fridge/freezer.. but that's exactly what we did.

The farm is otherwise the same as we left it. A bit greener there than it is in Stawell, but otherwise unchanged.

When we stay there, I'm woken at the early hours of the morning by scratching and stomping in the roof. Whatever it is, it sounds HUGE! I climbed into the roof to check it out. It's pretty clean up there, pretty bright and airy. There was a skull, so I brought it down. When back in Stawell I thought for sure it must be a possum, so I researched and built a new possum home. I also ordered a book I've been wanting forever called Tracks, Scats and Other Traces. I took the book and the possum box up to the farm this last trip.

Being woken again early in the morning by thumping and scratching reminded me to look through the book for the skull I found. Sadly the skull looked nothing like the possum skulls in the book. My heart sank as I realised that the rat skull was a much more likely candidate. The next morning as the thumping and scratching started again, Marty grabbed the torch and climbed the long ladder in the kitchen. He peered into the darkness through the manhole and saw them. Yes, rats. Oh So Gross!

Other than dropping off the fridge/freezer, and finding out we have rats in the roof, there wasn't a lot accomplished during this last trip. Sure, we confirmed that we really need some batteries for the solar system, and a header tank and water tanks for water.. and that we all really want to move up there as soon as we can. To do that, we really need to finish renovating our house in Stawell.. so that's what we're concentrating our efforts on lately.

Larry and the electric fence

There isn't a lot to report from the farm lately. Last time we visited it was Ross and I bringing Larry to the farm with us. Larry is a young Dorking rooster that was upsetting the neighbours at Stawell, and so the plan was to house him at the farm using a solar powered electric fence to keep him safe from foxes. We'd go up and visit him weekly, of course!

The fence I really wanted has been on order since December, with an expected delivery date of mid January. Sadly the supplier was having troubles making that date and, since we were under pressure from the neighbours and the council, we needed a fence sooner rather than later.

I found a different fence, ordered it online, and it arrived about a week later. Ross and I took the whole kit and caboodle up to the farm with high hopes that Larry would be safe. Sadly we just couldn't get the fence to work the way we expected it to. There was a couple of breaks in the fence where it was clear the manufacturing wasn't up to scratch, the step in posts all but folded over when trying to get them in the ground.. so despite our hard work in the hot sun for a day and a half, we gave in and called the neighbour.

Thankfully he offered to take Larry in and look after him there in a fox-safe area. We're very lucky to have neighbours like Ray and Di! The next morning we could still hear Larry crowing all the way from their farm! I sure hope he's not driving them crazy.

Other than that, we're not doing anything at the farm lately. It's a good thing that this summer has been pretty dry, because it means we're not under pressure to cut anything. There's no grass growing.. only fruit trees fruiting. The local wildlife is making the most of that, of course.

It's like the place is stuck in time, waiting patiently for us to finish renovating in Stawell. We're all looking forward to the day we can move to the farm for good!

East side

Last post for today! I just wanted to share my favourite photo of the last trip.

It looks so dry, and hot! It wasn't too bad, though. We took off the barbed wire from the fence in the front there, and removed the wire that was just lying all over the place. That will make mowing and scything a lot safer. The grass is about knee height in places, and we don't want to encourage snakes around the house.

The trees in the picture are almonds, and surprisingly tasty!

You might see behind the trees a water tank. It's not in use, but has some water in it. Marty is standing near it, looking up at the tank stand and blue barrel that was once being used as a header tank.

I can already imagine a low cob fence in place of the wire - keeping the wood posts, of course, because they're so full of character. I'm sure there'll be plenty of nesting opportunities for the Blue Banded bees in the fence, too. It's a longer-term project though - not too high on the priority list!

Blue Banded Bees

These lovely little bees are making their home in our new home!

The mudbrick walls have plenty of holes in them and the bees are all excited. Since we could tell they weren't eurpoean wasps, so after that, we're quite happy to have them here.

Turns out they're Blue Banded bees and are useful pollinators and aren't likely to sting anyone.

I think this means we need to get re-mudding the walls either now (so they have time to make a nest in a new wall - perhaps one we make just for them), or we might have to wait until next spring, after the baby bees are all grown up and left home.

Judging by the number of other things on our to-do list, I'm thinking we will be mudding next spring!

From a bed to a loo

Researching options for toilet facilities, we came across the very informative "Lovable loo" YouTube video. We liked the idea so much we decided to build our own version.

By chance we found a single bed for sale at the tip shop in Stawell for only $5, and immediately saw the potential for a toilet.

Single bed

There was a fair amount of materials available, and we got to work right away.

The finished product.. in place.

The sawdust is in a burlap bag that was once used for chook food, along with a handy scoop. The bucket sits neatly under the seat, very snug indeed. We've colour coded the bucket (it's black!) to avoid any confusion as to what the bucket is to be used for. So far, so good. It's working out very nicely. The whole room smells of pine.

This last visit we found that just hooking up the water tank to the plumbing let enough water push through to wash our hands in the sink. No pump required, at least while the tank is full.

We're working on the water situation - we need a header tank for the tank stand (which is about 4.7 metres high) and a pump to get water up there. It's all new to us, so we'll be researching and asking advice before jumping in. We then need to get the water into the kitchen somehow! :)

We've already made a few mistakes. The first one was to only have 2 buckets for the loo to start with. We're going to need at least a few more, until we get the composting part of the system set up. Last time we visited, we had to use the old outhouse - which isn't nearly as nice.

Otherwise, we've got solar power and batteries to research. It's probably the next priority so we can get some refrigeration happening.