This Sustainable House

Posts Tagged ‘Cattle’

In an earlier post I mentioned that I had created a pair of ‘sacrificial paddocks’ for the cattle. Well recently the cattle have been moved out of these paddocks, and one has been sown to a spring pasture mix (comprised of forage brassica, plantain and clover). This video highlights how the paddocks were sown, without the use of any mechanical apparatus apart from a rake, and how they are growing.

And they said it couldn’t be done…

The 'Gang' in their new Paddock

In an earlier video post I talked about the paddock clearing operation in order to create a new 0.5 acre paddock at TSH. Well the job has been done, due in no small part to a wonderful WWOOFer Laetitia and the help of a particularly tenacious neighbour.

As you can see from the photo on the right, the cattle have taken to their new homes like ducks to water, though it is obvious that I need to have a few more ‘lessons’ with the tape measure… those posts were supposed to fit a 14′ gate between them!

Anyhow, the paddock really is quite wonderful and will, I’m sure, be a grand new home for our small herd. Must be like a holiday for them…

The next step is to prepare the adjoining 0.5 acre paddock, followed by the lane way to the diary shed (also to be built). We then have two additional areas to clear to set this ‘complex’ up. Anyone have any excess energy?

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I know that the above phrase normally goes the other way around, but in this case I noticed the curse first…

A couple of months ago I decided to revegetate a sacrificial paddock. A sacrificial paddock is one in which the animals are maintained for longer than would normally be prudent.  This would normally be a landcare nightmare but in this case a small area was chosen, which was already significantly degraded, which could be intensively revegetated following the animals.

I chose to build 2 sacrificial paddocks near the front gate for this purpose as the soil in that location was already bare hardpan, and their location would be ideal for quarantine/holding/calving paddocks moving forward. They are approx. 0.2 acres in size each.

A pair of the mischevious maruaders...

The plan to revegetate was to cover the soil with straw to a depth of about 1-2cm, and then Read the rest of this entry »

Last night nature did it’s best to remind me just how incredible it is… a calf was born.

Fryderyk was born a little after 9.30pm on the 23rd August to Dalila (Dam) and Eminance T Baxter (Sire). Baxter is a bull owned by Eminance Dexter’s, and Dalila was ‘covered’ prior to joining me at TSH. Little Freddy, he is still in ‘short trousers’, is a beautiful black calf who seems to be quite happy to be out and about, exploring a new world.

In fact, he might be a little too adventurous, managing to squeeze out of the original paddock in the dead of the night leaving a very frantic Mum behind. I was awoken, about 12.30ish, to a bellowing that could only foretell doom. When I arrived at the paddock Dalila was beside herself, and there was no sign of Freddy at all. I later found him in another paddock quite scared and confused. As a result he spent the evening inside where I could keep an eye on him.

However this morning I lined a paddock with some 40mm chicken wire, about 100m worth, and popped both Fryderyk and Dalila in there. When I left for work Fryderyk was ‘dead to the world’ after filling his belly with milk, and Dalila was contentedly chewing the cud.

I think he’ll be a fantastic addition to the household.

Fryderyk - at approx 2 weeks old.

Well it has been two weeks since I put the Camembert experiment aside to age, and today all three cheeses where covered in a thick white mould.

The first thing one notices about the cheeses is the fact that they have slumped a bit, indicating that there was a little too much moisture in the curds. I think it was a case of not cutting the curds small enough. The next batch, which will probably be made tomorrow, will have the curds cut a little finer.

But apart from the aesthetics, what’s it like???????

Well upon cutting the cheese one is definitely met with the correct consistency, colour and odour. The interior of the cheese has that lovely gooey, off-white that is so familiar with Camembert. The flavour is mild, though I expect that’ll change with a little more aging, but delicious!

In short, I think the very first attempt at cheese making has produced an edible product… Who’d have thunk it!

My recent foray into the world of cheese making has opened my eyes to a number of ‘issues’ that I wasn’t previously aware of. One of those is the issues of raw milk cheeses. In Australia the law insists that all cheeses, with limited exceptions, made for sale are made with pasteurised milk. The reason for the pasteurisation is to prevent pathogenic organisms getting into the cheese and, therefore, our food supply.

However those against pasteurisation claim that the pasteurisation process kills the natural flavours of cheese and the health benefits of eating/drinking a ‘living food’. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the major personal drivers of the TSH experience is to bring the produce from the farm back into the kitchen and turn it into glorious food. And this passion was recently reignited by an episode of the Gourmet Farmer in which Matthew Evans made cheese from his Jersey Cow.

This got me to thinking about Dalila, who is due to calve in August, and the possibility of doing the same at TSH. Read the rest of this entry »