The Whole Five Acres

And so it's done

We sign the lease on Monday, and from then it's a long move before we have the ten acres under our belt. Whistfully I look forward to being in the 'country' even though it's not really country being only 5 minutes from the outer fringe of Sydney. But still...it will be my country. We're a bit excited. In fact we're a lot excited.

As is always with anything to do with the farm, we put something on the wishlist and it then pops up. Dear Happy has been wanting a drip irrigation system for ages, but the expense and time to put it in has been eluding us. This property comes complete with this all set up, so long as we agree on a price to buy the whole dang lot. Knowing his canniness, I'm sure it will be a good price and just perfect for our needs.

In a year, I predict our world will be very different. The life road to the farm has been paved with gold in many ways. It appears that the universe wants us out there amongst the greenery and once we get all things sorted life will take on a new glow. Within a couple of weeks we should be well and truly stocked with animals of all varieties. Imagine walking 20 paces from your back door to throw a line in the pond to catch the nights dinner. Or heading left out the backdoor to grab the eggs for brekkie. I've already worked out that a bull when fully grown provides approx 1000kg of meat (including bones). Perhaps a larger freezer needs to go on the wishlist.

Maybe, just maybe, this farming life will start to turn over a profit (initial investment has been quite huge!) and then maybe, just maybe, i can lie back on a floral couch, watch the sun go down and tippy-tap-type into my laptop without a care in the world.

Ohhhhhhhh...can those days start soon?

From five acres to ten in a blink of an eye!

Today we inspected a little rundown old 70's brickhouse about three minutes drive from the market garden to see if it would be suitable to live in. Strangely, everything that led up to the inspection, and everything after makes my tummy feel that this is going to be our next house.

I'd love to say it is a rambling gorgeous country mansion...but lying is not something I like to do on a regular basis, unless I really really need to. The whole house is swaddled in kitch decorating touches from the early 70's. The front verandah is enclosed with 'spanish villa-esque' arches. Once inside the front door the decorator fun doesn't stop. The hall and lounge have DARK DARK DARK shiplap timber wall decoratiion. The kitchen has a lime green benchtop overshadowed by the punched metal rangehood. The subtle touches though are even more fabulous. The bath taps have faceted fake crystal knobs. The main bedroom's mirror robes are a bronze colour. If there is a non fancy cupboard, you're sure to find it has louvre doors. Colin and Justin would have a field day.

But...and here's the big but...the chicken coop is pure reproduction federation. Fully fenced and ready for our next 20 chooks due to arrive on Friday. The dam is NOT covered with green algy, and is almost twice the size of the dam we already have. The rest of the five acres are an empty page ready to be filled in.

As crazy as it may seem, I'm in love with the place. It has that feel. That certain something that lets you know you'll feel at home no matter what decorating disasters surround you. For the most part, I reckon we may have a chance to jazz the place a little without the owners being precious. For the life of me though, I can't think at this stage what we can do to make the bronze mirrored robes look any less of an eyesore!

Bits are crossed now. If we do get the house, the pigs, cows and goats will follow soon after. Some people may think we're strange. We just think it's a heck of a lot of fun. The animals bring a smile to our face, and there's really something about dung scented air that makes you know you are alive!

Mondays are the hardest day of the week now

For the third weekend in a row, I've packed up stumps on Friday afternoon, and not managed to spend more than a few minutes in our city house at all until late on a Sunday afternoon. The rest of the time is on the farm, or doing things for the farm. It's fun, but boy is it tiring. Mondays are now the hardest day of our week. We're so tired from filling our weekend, that once Monday rolls around we really need a day of rest.

This weekend though, we had major success with sourcing bibs and bobs for the old tin shed. Ebay is my friend. If only ebay also came with its own group of installers. We now own a LPG instantaneous water heater (yet to be installed), a massive enamel bath (yet to be installed), a tonne of good firewood (yet to be moved) and 4 chickens with 20 more on the way (chicken coop yet to be built!).

The bath was the best buy. We have a little spot in the shed where it can be positioned, and there are little wooden shelves all ready, waiting for the candles on the nights we indulge. It's quite a simple matter getting the bath into position. It's a bigger matter getting the water and the heater working so we don't end up sitting in the cold. A plumber will turn up I'm sure, and hopefully SOON! The current house we rent has a placebo bath. The sort of bath you have when you don't need to have a bath. Even though it sports many spa jet holes, it's size means it's only good to give the dogs a decent wash, and perhaps our feet. It lulled us into thinking we would have many a pleasurable soak, and now is the brunt of many jokes. When you are wet, cold dirty and dusty from farmlife, a bath becomes that one true pleasure you know will make the world right once again. Stay tuned for photos once we get it up and running.

The van too was moved during the week, so now I don't have to stress about whether I can stand up in the pond if for some reason we toppled in. The photo above is a rough shot of what you see when standing at the van's door. Rows upon rows of veg, a turkey shed in the distance, and a pile of turkey manure in the foreground. The outdoor kitchen is set up around this area, which means if I'm working, I don't need to go too far to eat. This next photo is of the top of Happy's makeshift tongan oven. Lord does it produce a great meal!

He lights a fire in amongst the rocks inside and lets it cook away until the rocks are fiery hot. Then packages and roasts are dumped on top. The lid goes back on, a few layers of insulating blankets are positioned over the top, followed by some bricks to keep it all tight. After that it's just an hour or so until we eat. I've never tasted such a delicious smokiness ever, even when cooking over charcoal. Yesterday we entertained my aunt and uncle, and my dear aunt, who finds it hard to eat these days, wolfed in and even managed seconds. The power of the hangi!

Apart from the usual Tongan fare, we devised a little bean dish that turned up trumps in the umu.

A good cupful of shredded coconut was rubbed together with a tablespoon of curry powder, a couple of chopped chillis and tossed in the bottom of some foil Beans were then topped and tailed, a capsicum sliced and a slick of coconut milk added for moisture. Wrap up well and steam. It truly was delicious.

To finish off, here is a shocking shot of the other three quarters of our little lunchtime party. There's always so much to do, that the camera comes a poor second these days. BE thankful for any pics at all.

So many things to say, and no time to get them out

My diary here is sadly lacking in entries. A bit (lot) like my diaries when I was young. A few days of feverish writing, and then nothing. Like years of my life disappeared with no high points or low points to distinguish one moment from the next. With the farm we have lots of highs and lows, yet little time in between to talk about them.

Last week was my birthday. Pic to come soon of the remnants of the cake. Many people made it out to our farm where happy had busied himself preparing a hungi. From the moment I told him my plans for the farm birthday party, to the moment when I had arrived and was able to try and get some of them happening, happy had been a busy man putting most if not all into action. The tin shed had been transformed into a candle lit coffee house, and the back had been transformed into my outdoor kitchen. Not that I needed to do any cooking at all. God bless his little sox. He took over for the day and wowed everyone with his culinary skills.

We had a whole roast pig. And then the umu was filled with unctious delicious lu, and a swag of strange fruits and veg to round out the day. His ota ika has to be the best, and with a whole kingfish to play with he did not disappoint.

The early arrivals went for a farm tour, and some went picking. Others organized chairs and enjoyed the rural atmosphere and sinking sun. Fine friends, a few bubbles, classic reds and good food. What more could I ask for? it was a relaxing and gorgeous rustic feast to end a very hectic month of work.

We're now back into full swing picking and packing. I say we, but that doesn't include me. I'm still sporting the rash on my arms from my last picking day and can't wait for the scabs to disappear altogether.

We've had ups and downs with the produce too of late and some major disappointments. After much discussion we gave the central markets another go as a way to sell off bulk. One 20 hour day, followed by a massive trailer load taken to the agent at the market and we thought we would be set for another pay cheque without too much hassle.

Two hours after drop off, happy was back at the markets repacking the trailer and taking the produce home. Used boxes and a few marks on our fruit and we were rejected. Forget the fact the fruit and veg tastes amazing, a small mark here and there and whoops that's it, you're out. Add in the used polystyrene boxes and we double blundered.

There's something I can't quite grasp about the fruit and veg markets at Flemington. They must handle millions of boxes of produce every day. And if each providore demands new boxes then where do the old ones go? I know we reuse boxes for stackin purposes, but surely there must be masses of them going to landfill every day.

Isn't this a crime? Wasteful and blatant disregard for our environment and resources?

Doesn't this sort of clash with the whole concept of 'fresh from the farm' or is that 'fresh from the farm packed in a box made out of something we can't renew so it will bugger up the earth anyway?'

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...words fail me...I want to buy the front page of every newspaper just to wake the community up and tell them they may as well do what they want environmentally because THE BIG BOYS DON'T GIVE A SHIT!