More days of wind and cloud, not too hot but the wind has been enough to kill the grass growing in the manure sitting atop the concrete in the cow yards. Shallow rooted, the grasses couldn't access enough soil to replace what the wind was stripping out, despite being rewatered every morning by the milking cleanup. A salutary lesson on the drying power of the wind.
Star was on heat on Sunday, she was the centre of attention and took a while to come up for milk. She's nearly six months old now, which is pretty standard for a jersey x friesian. Generally dairy cows are bred at 13 months to have their first calf at 2 years old, so she won't be going near a bull any time soon.
Annie has nearly halved in production, or nearly halved in what she's giving me anyway. There's still plenty for Joey and Star and the house, but I now take 2L a day instead of 4L every second day to keep their intake more level.
The sheep are now in the barnyard/sheep shelter paddock and have their own mineral pan. They are hanging about under the plum tree when it warms up, and graze mostly in the morning and afternoon. They sleep so soundly in the middle of the day that I nearly stepped over them while they were snoring today.
Rumour has it the guy with the zero turn mower will be here this week to mow the driveway area. Just about time too, a snake and I gave each other mutual heart attacks while I was setting up the watering system for the ciders. He bolted one way and I bolted the other.
I rolled up the electric fence at the far end of the farm, after making the classic mistake of leaving power off it. I'll have to take out some sections that have been chewed by the calves. They're like toddlers, everything goes in their mouths.
There's a nice crop of jerusalem artichokes, some potatoes and lots of comfrey in the raised beds at the cottage. A sweet potato may or may not get going, the zucchini and pumpkin succumbed to the randomness of the weather and the snails, and two tomatoes are flowering but may not ever get enough heat to bear much, as usual.
The chooks are still on a go slow, getting three eggs every two days. That's quite enough for us, people who we supply eggs to are missing out though.
I have applied for a job as an admin officer at a farm company in East Minestone Road. The office is roughly 2km from home, 2 mins drive. I am not sure of the pay rate and hours until I get an interview, so fingers crossed the rates and hours are good.
I am sitting at around 95.6kg, gradually moving downwards. I was under 95, but had a couple of days blowout with almost nothing but carbs, so I'm not surprised at the uptick. I was very tired and eating more for the comfort than the nutrition, so a little more attention to my habits will get me back on track.
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