The Positive Side of Harrowing

Harrowing. It was very harrowing.

Harrowing is something you do to break up the compacted soil. It's a way of tilling the earth so that you can plant new seed and it can thrive beneath the...

The Week That Was

What a difference a week makes. Last week, I was in the chicken coop with some adolescent chooks when a tiger snake dropped by for a visit. It poked its head above the hay, slithered around the edge...

Buttering Up

Clear skies mean cool nights. I stepped outside last night to water where the lemon tree used to be and as usual was amazed by the stars. The lemon tree has long since been picked to death by the...

Abundance

Oh, those tomatoes. I forgot to stake them before the roots took hold, then staked them too far from the stalk. I didn’t pluck out the laterals, so they became bushy and leafy. And I managed to...

Indian Summers and Pregnant Sows

Tassie often boasts an Indian summer. An autumn of warm days nearly as balmy in March as January. Today, as I write, it’s 25 degrees, the paddocks are hazy from the sun, and a moody fog was burnt...

Life On Telly

So this is life on telly.

Since the series started, a few people have been asking questions when I meet them. More than a few. So I thought I’d try to answer a couple for those who live...

The Circle of Life

Maggie is back. Back from her hot date, and hungry as ever. Hips swaying, belly wobbling. With any luck she’s in calf and due around September. She’s giving a good 5 litres of milk most days, so...

Last Week's Menu

It’s like this. I set myself the goal of trying to rear and grow as much of my own food as possible. And I failed, particularly during the early months in the garden, and over the hungry part at...

Homemade Bacon

I’ve been experimenting a lot with pork. With dry curing and ageing of my prosciutto in the picker’s hut. With light curing of fresh pork for an hour and making pasta. With roasts and braises and ...

Let Us Eat Cake

Cake. It’s a big part of country living. The making of it. The eating of it. The very idea of it. A bloke in the next road has several acres and runs nothing but a few chooks. But being a member of ...