June 2002
Flaming June?"Be careful what you ask for", they say. My closing words last month were, "now we need some rain to make the grass seeds grow". Perhaps I should have been more specific... a light sprinkling here and there would have sufficed but the downpours have meant the mud has returned, the ducks are having a great time swimming across the fields and our lovely long grass, that should be baled as silage for the cows to eat next year, is still on the land, too wet to do anything with right now.
We just about managed to get the silage cut and wrapped but the hay was a different story. This is supposed to be cut and left to dry in the sun for a few days before baling. Well, it was cut and left, but in the absence of sun and under the threat of an imminent soaking it has been baled a bit green. At least the cows will eat it if the horses don't like it!
Vowley Farm celebrated our first magazine article. We wrote about our plans for Permaculture Magazine and it, along with photos was printed in the Summer 2002 issue. We have had a couple of responses, one from a fellow traveller who runs forestry courses near here and another from a woman who created a cold store from recycled materials when she was in Australia. We are hoping to meet her and find out more soon.
One of our cows took us on a mini, midnight adventure just before he went off the to butcher. "199" was described by his previous owner as "a bit mad". Indeed he's the one who has stuck out in the herd arriving with a small wart on his back which he proceeded to knock so that it bled and you could spot him a mile away because of the red stripe across his shoulders! We separated him and his mate and put them in a field with lovely lush grass for the night, but he had other plans. At 8:30pm we found him in our garden - he'd got through the electric tape (this stuff is a real pain), up the ditch and into our potato patch. We herded him back into the field and at 11:15pm when Lorraine went out to walk the dog there was a loud scratching sound and a grey cow shape rubbing itself up against a chicken house in the yard. It was a particularly dark, moonless night and on seeing or sensing us, he took off through the yard, round the fields, back through the hay barn after which we managed to steer him into the cow yard, where he stayed (thankfully) for the rest of the night. He and his mate walked onto the lorry in very compliant mood the following day and if character has any effect on taste, the beef is delicious!
We had the most amazingly productive helping hands weekend. Several new faces appeared and with great gusto set to building a house for our baby turkeys from the large pile of "off-cuts" a friend's father sent down (thank you Paula and Peter). It wasn't quite finished the day the turkeys were due to arrive - floor and roof needed as well as a final assembly of the panels. Lorraine had a bit of a paddy feeling somewhat overloaded by life and in the middle of it got clear that the farm, animals and the life we are creating here was indeed her first priority. Life is so much easier when we are clear and able to flow with what's truly important to us.
The month finished with a fantastic workshop - Natural Horsecare and Foundation Horsemanship. 9 people during the weekend were led through principles of keeping horses barefoot, key factors in the natural care of horses with warnings about our humanising tendencies, and some hands on experiences of working with horses on the ground and in the saddle to create partnership and inspire co-operation. Although it left us tired, the feedback was fantastic and we are looking forward to our next venture, Spirit of Horse in August.
A number of you have asked about our children. Well, this month I'm including a couple of photo's taken at their aunts recent wedding so you can see for yourself what a delight they are to look at. They are equally as delightful to spend time with and if you're lucky, you might meet them on one of your visits to Vowley Farm! We're very proud of them both.
