Of Snakes and Strawberries

Jeanne wrote a post the other day about how “Fresh is Best“, and this started me thinking about how we actually live on the farm. With three asthmatics, we have to be very conscious of what we eat, and pre-packaged foods contain some real nasties, such as MSG, sulphur as a preservative and loads of other additives that we really don’t need. Consequently we don’t eat  much that is prepackaged, the exceptions being yoghurt, cheese, fritz, pitta bread, tinned pineapple and mettwurst.

Kalleskes of Tanunda make a really delicious mettwurst, and we use this for home-made pizzas, using pitta bread, tomato sauce, grated cheese, pineapple, fritz and mettwurst which is our Sunday night meal. The majority of the foods that we eat are fresh, as we live on salads, fresh fruit and vegetables and our own farm-fresh produce.

In our home, we :

• Make our own bread.
• Make our own ice-cream.
• Milk our goats.
• Grow our own sheep, chicken and turkeys for meat.
• Keep chickens for eggs.

Last night we picked up our meat from the butcher’s, maybe in a slightly different form to when we dropped her off, but this sheep was VERY fat, and dressed almost thirty kilograms, which means that as live weight, she would have been about 60 kilograms. Our butcher kills and cuts up our meat, rolling the front legs into roasts, and all for $30.00. We don’t have a meat saw, nor do we have a cold room in which to hang the meat, so this seems very good value to us.

This afternoon I went out to water the strawberries, as they don’t like bore water, and one step from the strawberry trough, I nearly stepped on a baby brown snake. Now, I don’t know how much you know about snakes, but a baby brown snake is as deadly as an adult!

I let out a HUGE scream for my husband, and in one bound I was on top of the outdoor table, with my feet on top of the bench seat. Did I want to be anywhere near that snake? No way! No siree! Nope! I hate snakes with a passion, and my vocal chords certainly had their workout for this week. My husband came out and re-located the horrid thing, and I dissolved into a flood of tears. Now, why, oh why, do they have to pick our back yard to have their babies?

The strawberries are growing wonderfully well, and we actually get to harvest our fruit, now that a good friend gave us a helpful hint:~

When you plant strawberries,

make sure that you have tinsel

scattered around the strawberries,

so that the birds don’t beat you to the fruit.

AND this helpful hint actually works. We only planted our strawberries this year, and they are fruiting so well. We planted blackberries (the thornless type) last year, and this year they were badly frosted, so we didn’t expect to harvest any, but they are actually fruiting again, now. This morning my daughter and I actually had our first taste of thornless blackberries, and they are every bit as good as the variety with thorns – YUM!

This morning my daughter picked the ripe tomatoes, and they are absolutely divine – I love home-grown cherry tomatoes, as the taste of a home-grown cherry tomato is so full of flavour! There are also a few Apollo tomatoes that are good for sandwiches, as it is so fiddly trying to place cherry tomatoes onto a sandwich.

I praise God for His constant provision over us, and I am truly thankful that He constantly provides us with all that we need. Notice that I said, “All that we Need”, for He provides for all of our needs, but never our greeds. I also praise Him for keeping me safe from the fangs of the brown snake that intruded into our back yard today!

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossians 1:16, 17

Wordless Wednesday

Bantam Chickens and Turkey Poults Re-Housed

Yesterday we decided that it was time for the turkey poults and the bantam chickens to be re-housed, as they have become VERY noisy at night, so we have put them in with the other bantam hens, so that they can socialise through the mesh. The trouble with isolating chickens and turkey poults is that when it is time for them to be re-introduced into the pen, the others pick on them and usually the result is fatal, so we have placed them into a wire cage that we usually use for the broody hens. All of the bantam hens were very quick in coming up to say hello, and when the three turkey poults and four bantam chickens grow a little more, they will be allowed to have free roam of the chicken coop.

They all slept well last night and are looking fit and healthy today. Praise God for His everlasting provision over us!

Hospital Ward

Squeaky, the turkey poult pictured above, has had a really rough couple of days, after the bantams and other turkey poults pecked a big hole in his her its neck. I must apologise for the poor quality of the photo, but it just wouldn’t stand still – you can see the peck hole in its neck, though.

The solution:~

We made a hospital ward, and have isolated Squeaky from the other bantam chickens and turkey poults, but they really don’t like being alone, so we have taken turns in being “Mum” to this little one. If you don’t pay it any attention, it squeaks at the top of its voice until you pick it up.  I was holding it yesterday when it decided that my armpit looked like being under its Mum’s wing, so it snuggled in and went to sleep.

Today we have also added an aluminium foil plate above the light to reflect the heat from the lightbulb downwards into the box. It works really well, and the babies are growing ever so quickly. They love multi-grain bread, too, as well as watermelon and sweetcorn.

My son said that he always knew that his mum was a turkey – hmmm, I’m not sure whether to feel flattered or down♥ed – I’m not really worried, as my son has a delightful sense of humour. Seriously though, turkey babies are ever so cute, aren’t they?

Rescued Turkey Poults and Bantams

When my son went down to see the turkey poults and bantams this morning, he found that the turkey hen had stepped on and squashed two turkey poults, and the other turkey poult had skin missing from its neck and was dead also. The turkey Mums are so clumsy – the bantams are usually quick enough to keep out of her way, but the turkey poults are slower moving.

Out of seven turkey poults, we have lost three, so we have moved them into our laundry with a light set up above the box to keep them warm. We have also given them crushed grain and a small water dish, so that they won’t drown in it. Aren’t they just so cute – I know where to find my daughter if she goes missing.

AND

Guess where the turkey hen was?  She was looking for her chickens, and flew up on top of the car shed roof. My husband has removed her from the roof, and now will trim her wing so that it doesn’t happen again.

The bantams and turkey poults are lovely and warm now, and they have been eating and drinking well, so they should thrive and grow quickly. Just as the turkey poults and bantams will grow into adulthood using the warmth of the light, we, too, will grow into the sort of people that God wants us to be if we walk in the light, as He is in the light. Praise God that we still have some turkey poults to be able to grow into adulthood!