GETTING READY...........

Things have been a little crazy in the last 2 years getting my business up and going and the last 12months moving it closer to the house.

Because I love what I do it doesn't seem like work at all.

I have noticed though I am not as prepared as I used to be. Prepared for what you ask?

Life and all it throws at you.

In 2011 we had the most devastating floods where people were killed, here stranded at our house was 16 people and we had plenty of food and produce to feed them.

If that same thing happened now and only 3 of us living here we would run out of food in 24 hours.

Yes I got off track for a while but am back on the path of being more sustainable and self sufficient.

Around 3 months ago we invested in 9 geese and 10 ducks...

The reason being was I couldn't keep up with the mowing and the grass in the food forest was knee high. Well they had that grass down within 2 weeks and I have not had to mow since...

We have a acre yard and no mowing...

 They are the quietest geese and will feed from my hand I am totally in love with these beautiful animals. They have the run of the farm but if I'm not on the veranda by 8am they are waiting at the bottom of the steps for their breakfast all 19 of them hahaha.

We now have 7 sheep both Bridget and Brenda had twins this year. We still have a little meat left in the freezer from last year. We will put 3 in the freezer and 1 is going to Cassie.

The piggies are growing and are doing a great job of cleaning the land for us.

They are both bound for the freezer as well. They are electric fence savvy and this way we move them to land we want cleaned up.

The glass house has been great for keeping plants in over winter and I love this room...

Sometimes on cold days I will go out there just to get warm and potter about.

We have bananas all year round now with the 6 different varieties we have.

The fruit trees are also doing well and keeping as in fruit we really only have to buy apples.

I have been a bit slack in the vege garden. Not much going on but herbs, plenty of herbs.

This is mainly because our daughter and hubby have a farm and they keep us in all the veges we need. I am getting ready to plant summer crops. Over winter we had kale, tomatoes and lettuce self seeding every where so were never with the basics.

With all the cabbages we get I have been making sauerkraut lots of it as we love it.

 Also making lots of pickles and relishes with all the gifted produce.

Back into bread making as well, I have started a sour dough and am 

making the first sourdough loaf today. 

We have our wood stove in and Bruce just needs to hook it all up and I will be able to bake my bread in it.....

As you can see we are getting there. I also did a big grocery shop this week and the shelves are full.

My main hindrance is I hate going to the supermarket, so getting self sufficient again will cut down on the times I need to go.

Do you stockpile? What measures do you take for natural disasters or just the fact that you are house bound and can't get out...

Enjoy your week

Mandy

Food Forest...

I woke up to the sound of rain last night.

Not a lot but still better than none. It is so dry here that there isn't even any green pick for my chickens. Each morning I go out and weed and take them down so that they are getting there greens. We get 10 eggs a day from our 14 girls so I need to keep them happy.

We sell 3 cartons a week which pays for the grain so our eggs are free.

I am thinking we have to fence of the food forest and let them go in there where it is still green.

Well greener..

This area is slowly coming along and the trees getting some height on them.

We have at last count I think 36 different fruit trees/vines...The passion fruit has fruit on it and the citrus trees are loaded.

This is our 1 lonely pumpkin from a self set vine....we have already had 2 frosts so the vine isn't in good shape.

This mandarin tree has never done well, this year the fruit is dying on the tree..

Any suggestions at all? I think we may have to cut it down..

I can't wait till the day when we won't have to buy any fruit at all....The fruit I do buy I get from our farmers market each Thursday when I'm there....At the moment we can't get enough of the Stanthorpe apples. Plus our bananas, which are the best of coarse....

Well I better be going and packing for the markets.....

Blessings

Mandy

A little rain......

Hi All how did you spend your week end?

We had rain not big rain but enough to fill the tanks which is what we needed.

All the new plants I transplanted around the pond now look good after the rain, and some 

have new shoots on them.

I thought the pond could do with a fountain so I found this old light shade in the shed and gave it

to the master plumber to see what he could do.

Not to bad..

I still need to get more rocks and cover up the black plastic, that's the next job on the list.

The grass is looking green and the house clean after the rain

I love how every thing looks so fresh after.

 The citrus are doing well still and these mandies are sweet.

These fruit trees have been in 5 years now.

Today's job is getting rid of this hedge along the fence line, it is night jasmine and looks

out of place now we have enlarged the yard yet again. 

We planted more fruit trees in this area as well on Sunday, I have planted

a Cherry tree and a native berry called Jaboticaba it has berries on the trunk of the tree, something interesting I thought. We also planted another olive tree. Out the front of the dairy we also planted 3 kiwi fruits, 2 coffee bushes 1 apple tree and a new plum. 

Photos of those later.

The mangos and avocado are still covered to keep the frost out,so far nothing has been frosted except the poor banana trees, as you can see below. Hopefully come spring they will come back and we will get some fruit.

Enjoy your week 

 and all that it brings.

Mandy

Grape fruits......what to do with them..

I am so enjoying the weather I love Autumn

cool nights, crisp mornings and sunny days.

With all this great weather my citrus is ripening every day. All the grape fruit is 

starting to bend the branches so I am having to pick them before they break.

Cassie loves grape fruit and is happy to eat them, the boys not so much.

I made a grape fruit cake today, it is normally orange cake so instead I used grape fruits. 

I will ice it with Philli cheese and honey,,,yummoooo

  I then put the skins to work in a bottle of vinegar to make my 

cleaning spray. I leave this jar on the kitchen bench and every one knows to 

put there citrus peels in there. I leave this to steep about 2 weeks and then pop it into a spray 

bottle. I use this spray for all my cleaning.

As you can see below the fruit trees have grown, next week I will have Lemonades ready...

The oranges and mandarins don't even make it into the house the boys just pick them and eat....

Now that's fast food.

Grape fruit and coconut cake.

1 cup coconut flour

5 eggs                   

1 cup yoghurt   

pinch salt

2/3 cup grapefruit juice

zest from grapefruit

1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil

1 teaspoon bi carb

1 teaspoon creme tarter

1 cup sugar(your choice of sugar)

*Beat together eggs, yoghurt, salt, fruit juice and zest.

*Add melted butter or oil in a slow steady stream mixing all the time.

*Fold in flour, bicarb, creme tarter and sugar mix till well combined.

* Bake for 35-40 mins in 180C oven.

* Let cake cool 10min before turning to cake rack.

* when cool mix 1/2 cup cream cheese and 1 tablespoon honey

pour over the top and enjoy....

Have a great week

Mandy

Living a simple life......

Every day I give thanks that I can now stay at home and look

after my family...

To have the time to cook good wholesome meals that my family enjoy.

To be able to potter in my green house raising seeds,

taking cuttings for friends and family.

 To plant those seedlings in the vege garden and then harvest them for meals.

Yes I am enjoying living my simple yet fulfilling life. Life is defiantly being lived at a slower pace here, one 

that I know this family is enjoying.

We are all kept busy working on and around our farm though.

Bruce and the boys have been very busy building fences to keep the new cattle in.

We now have 4 different paddocks to keep the cattle and sheep in.

I love walking out the back to see happy cattle grazing and all that fire danger being eaten down.

New fruit trees have also been fenced off, I have planted more mangoes, citrus and a Pomegranate, this will be my new food forest and eventually the chooks will be moved out here.

I still do the  bookwork for our business, and sometimes blogging..haah

But when I'm finished doing bookwork I can walk outside and pick some fruit, or do some gardening.

Yes my life is Simple happy and yet very busy.

There are now so many blogs out there that share there lives as they live a more simple fulfilling life.

I think more and more people are trying to reclaim there lives by getting back to the basics..

What do you think???

Mandy

Sheep, Chickens and Bananas......

Meet 

Helga, Brenda, Origin, and Starlight.

Helga and Brenda are the Mums and Origin (as in State Of Origin as he was born the night of the second game) and Starlight are heading for the freezer very soon.

The poor darlings have been a bit hot though as it has taken the shearer a while to get here.

They were spending a lot of time in the shade and insisted on having hay as it was to hot for them to go out side.

But now they are most happy and are spending all day outside. They don't even come to me now when I go down to feed them.

We also HAD a very handsome ram called Rambo.

But one night while we were on holidays there was some strange going ons in these parts.

Sharing the sheep pen were my beautiful rare bread chickens and 2 roosters 22 in all.

They were very happy, until in one morning Cassie went down to feed the chooks and sheep and there were only 4...Yes 18 gone in one night AND Rambo was dead as well.

What happened???????

I hear you ask, we don't know, there was no injury at all to Rambo and no signs of feathers or disturbance at all. We think foxes took the chickens and may be poor Rambo died of fright.

Once we were home we kept a good eye on the remaining four. But not good enough. 

William feed them one morning and by that afternoon 2 more were gone and poor Rocky the rooster was hanging upside down in the bird netting, this is probably what saved him though.

Rocky was taken back to the old chook pen to be with our last Mumma hen and her two babies.

As you can see he is very happy to be back.

Mumma has trouble keeping these 2 in toe as they like to go under the netting 

to visit Dad.

They have free range around the banana trees and are very happy.

Soooo

any one got any chooks for sale?????

I hve to get some more as it is strange having to buy eggs.

My Bananas are loving it here as well as the chooks.

The ones above were planted in September.

The rest were planted last week.

I have from the back to the front 2 of each.

Pisang Ceylan

Dwarf Ducasse

Goldfinger

Blue Java

Bluggoe

They have all been sent from up North and here in QLD we had to get

a licence from the DPI to be able to plant them.

As you can see they have a bit of catching up to do.

I am looking forward to when we have bananas all year round.

That is why I have planted 5 different types at different times.

I hope I haven't bored you 

to much with my ramblings, may be I should update my blog more

then I wouldn't ramble so much...

Blessings

Mandy