Is your chicken bland and tender?

I’ve been reading about chickens. A bit. The birds in the photo are a commercial breed; the kind of chicken you get when you go to the supermarket or butcher and buy one. They’re very closely...

A word on wild mushrooms? Don't do it

Don’t do it. That’s the simple advice for those interested in picking wild mushrooms for the table. People die. Others end up on dialysis. Others are just very, very sick for the rest of their...

Farm in the making

Just like that. The days seem cut short by a simple act of the clock. Sure, it’s vaguely light at 6am now, but the afternoons have nearly gone by the time I really get going. From the equinox to...

Do I miss being a restaurant critic?

I now have geese. Well, ganders. Two of them. I’d been keen to get them for a while, as they’re supposed to be good watch dogs for the chooks, they eat grass, and I reckon they taste pretty good. ...

Change of season

There’s a big difference between a smallholding and a farm. The issues of fencing don’t get easier with kilometres of the stuff rather than metres. Livestock don’t move any easier just because...

The food van

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Moved 32 pigs, some by trailer, some by walking them to their permanent homes. Some to the abattoir. Had another seven slips (piglets) born. Hand raked a new seven ...

Chook season

Chickens. Hanging from the wall. Well, from the fence. Ten chooks, mostly sussex, destined for the pot. I was lucky this time, as Ross was over and took charge of the killing, Sadie the plucking,...

Water for novices

Water. Take a look around every paddock, every time you’re in the country, and you might not even see the water. But each paddock, each field, usually has a source of water, if not for livestock,...

Too wet to bale

They say that when you stack hay too wet, it can heat up. If it’s stacked tightly, it can heat up a lot and, with the introduction of oxygen, spontaneously combust. Not a great thought to have when ...

Feels like Christmas

Growth. Abundance. The full flush of the season. I stand in awe of the bounty in the garden. Purple-podded peas, fat in their shells. Sweet green peas, sugar snaps, broad beans, artichokes (well, a...