http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com city grrls do farming Mon, 05 May 2008 23:02:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en So my computer died, which is something of a disaster, since it is my other window to the world, a way to make money when times are hard, and, ok, my primary addiction! I’ve always been blase about backing up my data, and now i’m paying the price… seems to ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/05/06/the-kindness-of-strangers/ So we’ve been googling all things dairy today, particularly following developments in the raw milk movement and legislation around the distribution and consumption of milk. I’m going to write a post about it shortly, but in the meantime, I’m on the hunt for things like cream separators and butter churns. They’re ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/04/19/i-want-no-i-need-these/ …or have been, incessantly… [aside and preamble - there is alot of dairy talk in this here post, so vegans and those of a lactose-intolerant persuasion might wish to skip those bits. I’ve been thinking how much happier i am to ingest a raw, unpasteurised wholefood than to drink soy or ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/04/15/marge-the-rains-are-ere/ Introducing the newest member of our farm family. Her name is Luka and she is a Murray Grey x Galloway. She is about 2 months old and is absolutely beautiful. She only arrived this afternoon after a harrowing ride in the car between Virginia’s legs. She had her ear pierced ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/03/17/introducing-luka/ Once again, it’s been sometime since i have wandered out into mybigbackyard and taken stock of where we’re at, how the creatures big and small, four footed and two legged, beaked and billed, are faring. I spoke of changes at Matiatia last time I wrote and it seems we are in ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/03/03/dairyhands-and-plumbing/ One of our dogs, well, a family member really, who we loved dearly, is no longer with us. Nick (aka Nicholas Joseph Judy, Noodle Boy, Handsome Dan), 7 years old and so pretty, died a week ago and is buried here on the farm, in the orchard. We planted frangipani at ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/03/01/vale-nicholas/ In my previous post I mentioned that there were some changes happening at Matiatia, so I’ll try to bring you up to speed… For those who came late in the day to this blog, brief backgrounder. Matiatia (formerly Mateatea) is this here farm where we live and do farm things and ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/02/09/changes-at-matiatia/ We’ve been having a helluva a time with our internet services lately… hence offline-ness… the reasons why require a bit of backgrounding regarding changes here at Matiatia, which I will save for another post but for now suffice to say no interruption of services is a lie… and I now ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/02/08/50/ Mamma chook died this morning, at about 3am. Mamma was a lovely black and white bantam, a stalwart broody who hatched just about every chook on this farm. After her last brood was hatched she was quite frail. I takes alot out of a hen to sit for so long with ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/02/06/vale-mamma/ The lack of backyard chronicles of late in no way reflects a lack of action, lovely chaos, yet more explosive growth and motion that is happening in the real world… this real world of the big backyard and the bigger backyard beyond this here farm… I was clearly premature in ... http://mybigbackyard.blogsome.com/2008/02/05/absences-and-silences/