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

[~gd]

RAM g'day! try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jicama for Jicama It is not Asian it is from Mexico! It may have never been inported into Australia.
To tell the truth I thought you were pulling our leg (can't remember the Australian term) with that snake picture. I thought it looked a lot like a length of black Poly pipe Today I finally found a Library computer that allowed me to blow up the picture. You can keep that thing in OZ! (you do still use Oz as a nickname for your country? Why do you suppose it is that you have more than your fair share of things that use venom to kill prey and defend themselves?
Welll I have learned to have respect for your dogs. I thought Tess was too small to be messing with sheep, but what did I Know?
my sister had some kind of herd dog from down under I don't remember if it was a Blue Heeler or a Blue Walker. That dog took it in her head that she would herd anything. She once kept a herd of skunks in her backyard. and never got sprayed with the odor which means she didn't upset the adults at all. My sister finally got concerned and had the dog spend the night in her house so the Skunks had a chanch to move on. Once my sister had grand kids the dog would herd them also which was a real help since my sister was often cinfined to a wheelchair and couldn't really chase the grandkids if they didn't mind.
I'll drop by now and again.~gd

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'dang gang,As I write this post I am consumed by "guilt" due to my absence from the forum,but the last 4 days have been heavy going between the weather and the workload I am just to "exhausted" by days end to set about writing and have been falling asleep in my chair soon after dinner.

Friday and Saturday were both terrible days weather wise,but the sheep still have to be checked and doing a round of the fox baits still has to go ahead regardless of how I feel.On both days the temp only managed to get to abut 10C with a heavy cloud cover ,but no rain as it was just too cold..............................Monday we awoke to a "frost" but with no wind,so it was a chance to get back to the spraying,when I was checking the sheep on the previous day I noted that a previously sprayed paddock was showing a lot of "new " weeds(these had germinated in the Autumn) which were showing great growth and were going to give us problems later in the Spring...Late in the afternoon it came over cloudy and dark and just before dark it started to rain only light at first ,but quite heavy after sundown.....Thankfully all the lambing ewe's are in paddocks with adequate "tussocky" shelter and because they have only 8/10 weeks wool on them they head for "cover" quick smart taking there lambs with them..................This morning (Tuesday)was another "frosty" morning.First job was to move the rams to the Home paddock so I can give them a "drench" and put them on fresh feed out of the way.But as luck would have it 2 of them were hiding somewhere so I had to go back in the arvo,bit the strong wind was such that they would not settle and go through the gate ,so I left the gate open and they may go into the lane tomorrow by themselves.In the morning after the rams were moved I got the gear to continue the spray job,but by them it was blowing and the wind sure had an edge,still I got the job done along with another paddock of Scotch Thistles,this second paddock is the one I will "wean" the new lambs onto around Xmas .This paddock by the way has taken us years to get the production up on,when we brought it ,it was just weed infested and good for nothing its the same one the pigs "tore up" a little while a go.


In an earlier post I remarked on the fact that the lambs were somewhat lighter this year ,in spite of the lower birth-weight the ewe's good milk supply is getting them away with-out any problems apart from a couple which have died from "navel ill" infection(this occurs when they hit the ground and its "dusty" and the ewe does not do a good enough "clean-up").......The lambs we carried over the winter are coming away on the fresh feed and we hope to start selling some in a couple of weeks,I am really "happy" with the ewe line as they have developed into what will be terrific breeders.

Here a couple of pic's

this pair are only a day or so old

This is how they will look in a few weeks time.

This is the type of cover we lamb into,so you can see why the ewe's have to get it done by themselves.Last year we lambed in more open paddocks and we lost a lot to the "crows".

Q & A:..DL.thanks for that link,I came across a forum in QLD and they were looking for them also.I think there could be a market for them to ex-pat Americans if I can get "hold of a few seeds".

~gd:This jacama is readily available in Asian country's to our north now,I have to work out how to get some seed.....I'm quite hurt to think that you would imagine that I would "have a lend of you" like that(BIG smile) on the snake thing.I have another pic that I will post of another species we have ,We are lucky that we are a bit to far south for the REALLY bad guys....Your sisters dog was a Blue Healer they come on 3 types ,the Blue ,the Red and the Stumpy Tail...In the last 20 years or so the move to breeding "quiet" cattle has meant that there is not the call for them in cattle work as there once was.Most breeders want to work cattle through the yards as quietly as they can now ,and "good temperament" is a breeding priority in modern cattle .Handling stress results in "Dark Cutters"....The other need for quiet cattle is that the cost of labor is such that you don't want cattle galloping all over the place in the paddock,you just want maybe one or two guys/girls on horses to get them to where you want them...As an aside many cattle stations have banned motorbikes and to get a "job" you have to be a competent horse person

Well I think that "wraps up" another post ,so thank you for being "patient" and I will try to be more diligent in the future,best wishes to you all...........T.O.R......................................

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G,day Gang,well I made it again for tonight.So today was another day I would rather forget,this wind every day has worn out its welcome with me.......

Today started above 0C(wow, what a bonus) and it reached about 19C,spent the morning mixing a trailer load of compost for Jenny's newly renovated vege garden(pic later),as we were checking the sheep we came upon a "dead lamb",it was about 4 weeks old ,in forward condition with no sign of any injury(its a mystery to me?).....When I was checking the "mad 100 " earlier I spooked a big fox so late this afternoon I set a few "new fox baits",near to water points,in the hope we can get it..................Tomorrow is "market day "so I will not be back until Friday night with any news.

Further to the snake story,here is another one .

This fellow is a Highlands Copperhead its a sub species to the Western Copperhead,but has evolved to hunt in lower temps,he is only about 2 &1/2 to 3 ft long ,but if you" arouse or irritate" him he has a "lethal" bite.

Well, its a short one tonight ,but at least its on time(LOL),best wishes til next time,...................T.O.R.............................

 

[dragonlaurel]

Nothing to feel guilty about. Life happens.
You tell the stories about what happened when you get the chance. Sleep is good stuff when you can manage it.
I haven't been online much this week cause it's time to plant the fall garden here, and hubby's medical stuff going on. Things will be settling back down soon enough.
What is the "arvo"?

Here's what we call a copperhead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agkistrodon_contortrix The "Southern" ones are found locally. It is a different family than yours.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day Gang,(its the "slacker" back again(LOL),for a change we have had "nice "weather for the last 4 days(since my last post).

Thursday,market day.

Friday: I got an early start on the spraying and managed to finish all the "bad stuff",all I have left now is to go around and "pick-up" the odd plants I've missed before.

Saturday:Today I wanted to get some of the stock moved.First was a group of ewe's and lambs(no dogs for this job),so I gather them up and all went pretty smoothly,everybody went though the gate OK ,but of course the ewe's bolted,but they all came back after an hour or so and picked up their lambs OK.....The next lot were the mad 100,these had to move about 1km,through thee first gate and they were off,down the slope at a full gallop,so they arrive at the second gate and all but 7 "rush " through so the others head along a fence line "away" from the gate(wish I had Jack here),so off I go running and yelling until they stop and look at me like"What the "hell" is he doing?..Anyway they turn back towards the gate and they turned into it OK.,,Now the next trick is to get them through a gate in the cnr that they have "never" seem before(yeah, right),two attempts ,that's it ,come back tomorrow with the dogs .

Sunday:Early start ,get the dogs and down we go to where the mad100 are grazing(of course they are spread over a 20 odd ac paddock.anyway Jack gathers them up after they tested his managing ability.Now they are all "strung out along the fence that leads to the "gate" ,that is all but half a dozen or so (better to get what we have got first and worry about the others later).Now we are about 20ft from the gate and the lead lamb makes a break,Jack had them in a "flash" and turned them back into the fence,back to the "tail" and bunched them up again,back to the head to turn them again ,now by this time they can see an open gate, through they go at 100mph(no doubt glad to escape Jack).Now for the "rebels",it was a pretty fair repeat of the first lot except that these one's could see there mates and ran through the gate without much "drama".

To morrow I've got two more mobs to move with their lambs.We have had one of those new lot of fox baits taken.

Q & A:..DL. Arvo,that's "short " for afternoon(sorry about that)Had a look at your snakes,they are a lot different to ours,a fried e-mailed us to say his partner had had a snake strike one of her horses on Thursday(not sure what sort ,they have big Tigers over their way).Sorry to hear about your "Hubby",hope he is OK?..We are getting the gardens ready now for our Summer crops.

I wanted to add some pic's but it wont happen,so I will do it in the morning,regards for now ,T.O.R.........................

 

[dragonlaurel]

Sounds like those dogs are a huge help.

I hope your planting goes well. What will you be growing?

I got some of my cool weather crop planting done last week. One of the beds was weedy so I couldn't seed it then. Maybe I should just tell people I did it that way for succession planting.

Thanks. Hubby had a bad disk and they did the surgery Friday morning. He's back home healing but he's not allowed to do almost anything for a while. He'll get tired of that rule fairly soon.

 

[~gd]

Good luck with the new lambs. I hope they catch up fast for you.

Thanks for your concern. The hurricane never came close to Arkansas. I hope it turns out okay for them up North.
I grew up in Florida and went through enough hurricanes. That's one reason I live waaaay inland, and in the mountains now. I feel much safer here. Downtown gets some flooding, but we are far above it. The mountains on our other side have a nice forest on them which helps avoid erosion, rock-slides, and they protect us from tornadoes. If they ever had a forest fire there- I would leave for a while.

Veggie growing competitions sound like fun. I used a thumb-tack to pop tiny holes in soda bottles for slow watering before. It took too long to fill a bunch of small ones. I should have used the 2 liter bottles. Making up some new ones will be easy enough.Been there, if you want a really slow leak just one small hole usually only waters with the temperature change(when the sun heats the water/air in the bottle with the cap tight.) when it cools at night it will suck in air to keep the pressure equal. If you want to time the leak put one hole higher than the bottom hole the greater the difference in height of the two holes the faster it will leak. You don't have to take my word, try it yourself there is a good science reason for this but I have forgotten the reason~gd

Glad to hear that transporting goes fine for you.

" Sheep and 4H is a great topic which we must chat about sometime,I have some views on the topic which may bring some "ghosts" to life(LOL).Let us know how you get on with the Ag guy. "
- I can't say much about 4H here, since I was never in it. I grew up in the city. I didn't live "in the sticks" till my 20's- and found out I loved it.

I don't know what breeds the closer sheep people have and the Ag office wont be open till Monday to ask. I got info sheets on many types of veggie & fruit growing and on lots of topics about raising farm animals a couple years ago. Some good advice there, but other parts of it are useless to me.
I want to grow plants that are open pollinated, so I can save seeds year to year. Most of the plants they recommend are trademarked varieties of hybrids.
Most of their advice/instructions are angled towards the huge producers, not a small farm. I can scale some of that down to fit.

I still appreciate the general info- like the preferred ph, moisture preferences, etc. different crops want.
It's also good to know what else will be trying to eat crops up before I can, to protect them.
They also had free plans for building sheds, barns, small greenhouses, coops, root cellars, stanchions, etc. on the website. I saved those.
They tend to know lots about the potential health problems of livestock, but some of those problems are rare for small producers. (Some are from confining many animals- close together.)
Found out this area has good selenium levels, so white muscle disease should not be an issue. (big relief)

That kind of slope sounds doable. 20 degrees would be more comfortable for walking, but 30 would be good for solar gain here, or trees.
The soil is usually a bit acidic here, so the gypsum/lime is probably needed. After the first year my animals will take care of the the needed nitrogen additions. Soil testing will tell more.

Thanks for taking the time to help me.

 

[~gd]

Checking about the 4H is a good idea. Gotta run to the library so, so I'll see if they have The Graziers Guide.

Sunshine, fresh air, normal exercise and eating what nature designed them to have, seems to handle lots of potential disease problems. I have a feeling that the further people push them from living that way- the more likely they are to get sick.

I looked up info on the typical ph for this region. Local ph runs from 5.0 to 7. This area has lots of novaculite (quartz based stone) and various types of clear quartz in spots. Those would not affect the ph but the novaculite could definitely affect digging/tilling tools. Comsidering that the black novaculite from your state is considered one of the best knife honeing stones in the world, it might effect tools. Even the white novaculite have made The Smith's of AK a small fortune and very well known to the Knife world for their oil stones.~gd
Looks like I'll be eating lots of blueberries- and growing stuff that likes higher ph in beds. Doing soil tests on places that I might buy would be smart too.

That's a nice setup for your compost.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day Gang,I gave myself an "early mark" today,Jenny was doing some work in her up-graded vege garden, so I thought it was a good "chance" to do the journal for today.

Monday: So I got the two groups of ewe's and lambs moved without much trouble,unlike yesterday's efforts.This "arvo" while I had the dogs out ,they" spooked " another fox in the same area as before.(might have to take a walk after dark with the rifle) .
This is a better pic of Jenny's NO1 baby(Tess)

Well its been a quiet day today and I can hear the "drinkie" bell sounding,so that's all for now......T.O.R.....................

 

[dragonlaurel]

Gd - Thanks for the tip about the watering bottles. I'll try that out.

We live next door to (literally) a mountain of novaculite here. It's part of the National Park- so they just made nature trails winding around on the mountain and let the forest grow. Most of the novaculite that's showing is pretty cracked up, from the rising and shifting of the earth plates.

It's illegal to take stuff out from that mountain, but if my "picnic" knife gets magically sharper while it's up there . . . that's alright. Those rocks are all over the place around here too- so I keep my eyes open for nice pieces that are not on national park property.