Hello Winter

After what has felt like the mildest and driest autumn ever, winter has finally hit with most of May's rain falling in the last few days of the month, and with it a big drop in temperature!  It feels cold here, but I think its just its been so warm and we just haven't had a chance to acclimatize yet.  Livestock farmers notice it more than others perhaps, as we still have to tend to our stock no matter what the weather (vegetables can be abandoned for a day or two and not suffer much!).

The goats are always hoping for a treat

Letting the girls out at sun rise on these chilly mornings

Our garden is going great, and we have now reached self sufficiency in vegetables.  We have onions, pumpkins, potatoes, garlic, dried basil and paprika stored away, along with many pickles and jams.  Plus the garden just keep pumping out loads of food.  Now we are enjoying beetroot, sweedes, carrots, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and bok choi (and still the odd capsicums - do these plants ever stop!!!) fresh from the garden.  Our chooks aren't laying much at the moment, but the goats are still making enough milk for our fresh use and the odd cheese (but not enough to make cheese every day).  In the polytunnel I'm planting peas and lettuce and I'm getting ready to plant onions.  Our garlic is all up and we have also planted shallots.

Not rushing to the supermarket any time soon

 

A perfect broccoli (not sure why blogger wanted to flip this image)

We are also preparing new blocks of growing beds for spring planting as we are expanding out garden a little more. Either with the view of moving into growing for market or to supply our animal feed (an area that we still depend entirely on bough supplementary feed).

tilling up a new block for planting potatoes

collecting composted goat manure with the new (very little) tractor (yes, it is THAT small)