ADVENTURE'S DOWNUNDER OR FARMING IN PARADISE:An Old Rams view.

[~gd]

TOR as far as the handy tip goes I have no idea if it would apply. I know it saved a major hassle with our Mom. It took us kids a while to figure out what she didnt know about herself (that she lip read). On the phone or any time she couldnt see our face she would be at us to speak up and stop mumbling so we would speak up, face her and then it would be there is no need to shout After she paid for hearing aids that didnt really work for her, she was very resistant to trying another pair. The ear pieces with changeable electronics did work well for her.
I dont think we have anything exactly like your throw-downs. Nips 1/3 pint and pony pint (Canada pint I dont know how they match UK or AU pints) are treasured by our home brewers for some of their super strong brews and Meads. They come from Canada and are not common even there.
Would you be concerned about a wildfire in Western Australia? That dust storm was at least 3000 Km. from me. It was just larger than usual and managed to hit a city. It was just part of the monsoon system caused by heavy thunderstorms. What goes up in a thunderhead comes back down again and when it reaches ground goes rushing sideways moving dust with it. Most of our grain flat lands in the center of the country are rich because of soil blown in or carried as silt from the western mountains. That good topsoil was rich in minerals but very short in organic matter. That soil may be replaced by soil blown in from somewhere else.
Speaking of weather that frost/snow in your pictures looks like it had some moisture, do you get much that way? Have to run ~gd

 

[dragonlaurel]

Wow. It's was 101 F (38.3 C) here today, so looking at frost feels weird. Pretty pics though.

Thanks for the advice. I'd read on some sites that they sheared twice yearly, but it may depend on the breed or their location. Not needing to do that is just fine. Some of the sheep I was interested in would need the belly wool removed. Others don't even have it.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day gang,we hope all is well with yourself and yours.

Monday:It's still" blowing " and shows no sign of stopping,so I got over to the shed mid-morning and "pressed that wool "1 &1/2 bales later .Got the dogs and off we went to check the lambs ,they were running in two paddocks and Ruby soon picked them all up and "popped" them through the gate....Turn on the water and fill 3 troughs for them,filled there mix containers(the dry and the low protein of the feed means that they are taking a lot more than usual)as all were low,but that's how our mineral mix works,if the feed is rich enough they don't bother with it ....The other thing of note is the dogs have been getting a lot of "wild rabbits"in the last week or so,it looks like it could be R.C.V.(hope so)which means that most of the breeders will die and we will not have "big" numbers in the spring.

Tuesday:Gave our Pastures Protection Board a ring and they confirmed that it was R.C.V.( rabbit calicivirus ) The ranger thanked us for letting them know and suggested we spread it across the farm as far as we can,by throwing the dead or dying bodies into other Warrens.......In spite of the fact it is still blowing "pretty hard" I did about 3 acs of spraying before it got to cold......So got the chance to do some paperwork,update the grazing files and "fill in the journal".

Q & A:..No need for us to worry about the fire's in W.A.as its 2hours in a plane and the Great Sandy Dessert,between them and us..... Unfortunately any moisture we get from frost or snow is evaporated off in the winds we have blowing for the next 2months or so,we need to have about 2ins before we see any value.....

Well it might be time for a cup of coffee,and a sit in front of the fire/TV,so til next time you visit,stay safe and we hope to "hear" from you next time..........................................................T.O.R.................................................

 

[dragonlaurel]

Glad you're safe from the fires. Just don't blow away!
We are still having incredible heat here. Expecting 102 again tomorrow. They said the heat index will make it feel like 115 degrees. Not looking forward to that.

 

[~gd]

Ram, I was trying to make a point that W.A. was distant to you as Arizona is distant to me. I wouldnt even have known about the dust storms and the monsoon season in Arizona except I have a Sister that settled in an adjoining state. Her husbands family was cattlemen. She missed the rainfall that she was used to where we were raised and envied Arizonas wet season. They get very little rain because they live on the flat land by the east slopes of the Rocky Mountains. The winds are out of the west and all the moisture gets dumped in the mountains. The wind that falls down the east slopes is fast, hot and dry. Their water supplies are the rivers flowing out of the mountains and a drought year there is when the snow pack on the mountains is thin. That is where I got the idea that the frost/snow might be a moisture source but I keep forgetting about your strong wind. We have winds in storms but just a breeze (if we are lucky) when it is not storming.
I took another look at your photos and noticed the sharp frost line between the house area and the pasture. Do you mow all that area near the house, if not what makes the frost/snow line so sharp between the two areas?
I tried a batch of your ANZAC cookies last night, comments: Castor sugar? I used plain white granulated. Not a fan of desiccated coconut so I used coconuts, sliced almonds, fine chopped pecans since I knew they would blend with the oat goodness. I wonder if anyone else found golden syrup I only know of one brand available in the US. I wish you had warned that they would spread in the oven I placed mine too close together and had one solid sheet that I cut while still warm. Results were crispy and yummy, I suspect they will soften slightly is our moist climate. Time well spent!
Stay safe and keep chucking those sick/dead rabbits into new warrens. Gday

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day gang,well today was a bit of a non-event,it was+2C when I went outside and "still" blowing,so picked up the dogs and went to make sure the breeder ewe's had moved to their new paddock by themselves(which they had),checked their mineral mix containers and they were well down,fed the dogs and made up a new bucket of mix and picked up 2 more containers and re-filled the lot..................Headed home to the fire for the day,thank god we are self-employed!!!

A comment from ~GD reminder-ed me that we do do things somewhat different from the norm.Down here it is not un-common for farmers to "slash" their pastures in the late Autumn,they say it encourages the "clovers" and a green pick and "tidy's" the place up a bit.As ~GD observed where we "graze" the Red Iron Ram,called TORO(usually twice a year,3 times this year)the frost was really heavy and has "burnt" the grass to nothing.Whereas in the paddock the "standing" dry feed holds the frost off of the ground and any growth that has occurred is protected.(on Friday I will take a few pic's to illustrate the point)The key from a livestock point of view is that the young stock be "taught" or be naturally good foragers.The same applies in the Summer when the very hot winds both "burn" the green feed and evaporate the surface moisture.Standing green or dry feed also "traps" moisture in the shape of "dew" and this keeps the soil "cool" well into the morning.Bracken Fern is classed as a un-sightly weed around here and is sprayed out,whereas I find that it"lovingly"protects all the plants underneath it from both frost and heat.I have observed that we can have as much feed in the Bracken as in the open in some paddocks.There appears to be "no competition" between the two groups as the Bracken is "very" deep rooted and the pasture plants are "shallow rooted".....A lot of you must laugh at our "cold" ,when you get "snow drifts" 6ft deep,but remember the title"Farming in Paradise".

Q & A:..~GD.So glad you had a go at those Anzac Cookies and enjoyed the results.One thing about anything I post you are more that welcome to change/adjust to your hearts content,Jenny smiled when you said about getting them all in one sheet,she uses a teaspoon when she puts them on the tray,but I think you will find they stay "very" crispy regardless of the humidity....I'm sorry I missed the point on the storm thing ,I'm not very good at"subtlety",you need to "hit me with an axe" .

DL: Can't say I envy you all that heat,we find it is much easier to get "warm" than it is to "cool"down.

Well I guess that concludes another visit with us,hope you enjoyed it,but don't forget we rely on "you" to contribute so we can keep it interesting,retail therapy tomorrow so I guess we will catch up again Friday night,so stay safe and "cool".......................................................T.O.R............................................................

 

[~gd]

Gday Ram, It seems that for every question you answer 2 more pop up in my little mind. Wow you only mow the lawn twice a year? Here my yardman comes every 2 weeks and even that has brought a few comments from my neighbors who mow every week. You can have 3 different types of lawn here, hot season, cold season or mixed. Cold season only really grows under fairly cool conditions and goes brown with the heat. Hot season loves heat and goes mostly dormant with the first frost. Mixed are both types of seeds, stays green under most conditions but never as thick and lush as the other two. When I had the farm I would graze the geese (think 2 legged sheep) and the ducks (2 legged pigs) and my mix was heavy on hot season grass (and clovers of course). Wild waterfowl would fly off to cooler climates and are not adapted to the heat. So hot season grass close to their coop and pools because when it was 37C+ they would not walk far. When it was cool they would graze the old horse pastures and I would cut high with my Toro to encourage fresh growth (no teeth so they like tender young growth).
I will need to put in a new lawn at this place. The grass did ok when protected by high pine trees but the sun has turned it toasty brown and yesterday was the first day above 37C. With many more to come. I am leaning toward straight cool season because I agree with the geese. I take it that sheep wont or shouldnt eat bracken? BTW the Paradise I was taught did not include 40C and High winds LOL
Cookies sorry I was unclear but this was not my first rodeo (I hope you understand that quote it would be hard to explain) I was baking cookies for 120 men in 1961 almost 50 years now. With a new recipe or ingredient, I always do a trial bake. It was only on this trial sheet that they came out as one big run together cookie. I cut my drop size from heaped teaspoon to level teaspoon and the cookies still spread more than I expected with a few just kissing. Next time I am going to leave out the almonds and use more coconut. The pecans stay since they go so well with the oats. So is there anything different about caster sugar? It is just the white granulated stuff, Right? Did you know that ANZAC is a protected term? You are supposed to get permission from a veterans group to legally use it
Hit you with an axe? OK it is just that we have so many Sensitive Souls (I know there is an Aussie slang term that fits better) that go running to mommy if you poke them with a feather that I tend to self edit on this board. Face to face or in email I am much more salty. ~gd

 

[dragonlaurel]

I'd like to be able to grow some hay and have it baled for winter but let them harvest most of their own feed. Does the standing feed lose feed quality after a while in the cold? Our winters are pretty wet, if that makes a difference.

It would be so much easier than having to cut/harvest/dry/ store everything indoors.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day Gang,how'ya'doin?....Welcome back and we hope you are enjoying our journey.(this is turning out to be so much fun for me).

Thursday:I managed to pick-up 2 pair of vintage binoculars ,should be a profit in them for me(one pair are Kassel 12X50 5deg field and the other one is Nicon 7X50 7.3 deg field ).Both appear to be ex-military,in leather cases,the Nicon is in a satchel type of black leather.

Friday:We awoke to only a "light frost",but it was -9C,(no need to leap out of bed,LOL).There was no breeze to speak of so I thought some spraying was in order,covered about 8acs,but only used about 60mls of concentrate in 30 odd lts of mix.I had taken the dogs in the trailer so they could chase a few rabbits.Ruby "spooked" a fox and was off in a flash,I lost sight of her when she was nearly a km from the start,they re-appeared about 10 mins later "puffing and blowing"and they laid down under the trailer to catch their breath.
Once my shoulders started to "ache",gave the spraying a miss and went over to get those pic's i promised in the last post

At first glance you would not know there was anything of value to the stock in there.The bracken(Pteridium esculentum)has been "burnt" by the frost and as it is naturally deciduous,the standing fronds create a micro -climate underneath allowing the resulting growth to persist.I observed about 3/4 different species.This patch of bracken covers about 5 acs in this 50 ac paddock.

Q & A:...DL.What you have to consider is that your winters are much more severe than ours and so if you can "bale" your summer excess so much the better.In the standing dead portion the feed value is very low,but provides "bulk",the green underneath has value ,but its the mineral mix that supplies all the necessary elements so the stocks reserves are not depleted......I suggest you inquire what species tolerate the "wet" and still produce a "green top" in winter in your area.

~GD:..I think the term ANZAC BISCUITS are consider to be common usage and that only a "new" product would encounter objections...On the subject of "mowing" we only do one cut just before Xmas so our kids will not think we have gone completely "feral" and the other is to remove the seed-heads for our "compost heap"....On the subject of Paradise,anything that does not include 6ft of "snow" will suffice for "me"....It sounds like your "stint" in the Navy.was with the Catering Corp,cookies for 120 men sounds like a Ships Company to me(the term "first rodeo" I heard on Dr Phil).....I think those Sensitive Souls you refer to will have to "toughen up" if they are going to make it in this world today.But I do get the feeling there are " guys and gals",who are quite capable of "giving as good as they get".................I think Castor Sugar is a type,help somebody(I'm sure Neco-Chan will oblige us).

Well that's about your lot for tonight ,I think I have covered all the outstanding matters,so til we chat again,our best wishes to you all...............................T.O.R...................................................

 

[~gd]

Unlike the ground pounders Tank Jockeys and the flyboys the Navy afloat does not have anything like a Catering Corp, there are at least 2 trained cooks on even the smallest ships. The cook is for the enlisted mess, the one for the officers mess has the title steward. Enlisted eat what the Navy provides, the officers must buy their own food (usually they cherry pick the ships supplies but pay for them) most traditions go back to Royal Navy traditions. Each department assigned a few people (usually the most junior or useless) to be mess cooks to serve under the ships cook and the mess deck master at arms for 3 months. The cook ruled the galley, the MAA the eating area and clean up. So..my first day aboard I was assigned to the cook when he learned I was a farm boy with a mother that worked off the farm. Can you do breakfast? Cook some bacon and eggs for me. So I cooked his breakfast on the flat top grill. The eggs were good but the bacon was only half cooked. He said bacon is done in the oven here, you asked me how I wanted my eggs, do you know the other ways of frying them? He ran me through them and told that starting the next morning I would be cooking eggs to order for anyone that wanted them. Great way to meet new shipmates, I was a big hit and was called eggs until I left the ship. Once word got to the wardroom (officers mess) I was requested for my eggs in the officers mess as well. I served 15/36 months in the galley of 2 ships, one tiny and one huge. I can tell sea stories all day.~gd