Bredbo Valley View Farm

Sunday was very busy – it was up early and off to the Markets. We had never been to the Farmers Market at Woden before and thought we’d take a look and see what the process was like, the types of produce and the atmosphere. The Market is smallish, but has a good atmosphere and there was a constant flow of people through for a good part of the morning. We ran into a couple of people we know, Michael Croft from Mountain Creek Farms who runs Saddle Back pigs and Belted Galloways. He’s a wealth of information and has been very helpful to us over the pas few months. We also ran into one of the Cooks work mates John, he’s a Biodynamic tragic like us, and it was good to finally put a face to the name. John also mentioned he reads the Blog – so hi John!

Produce at the Markets was a good mix of in season fruits and vegetables, lots of wood oven baked breads, meat, fish, eggs, honey and cheese. I would have liked to stay a little longer but we had other jobs to do.

From the Markets we went off to pick up some sheep from out the back of Gundaroo. The sheep were Merinos, a mixture of rams, lambs and ewes. When we arrived at the front gate of the property we could see that they had had a little rain, the track up to the yards was a little rough in places but the Jeep managed to drag the trailer up without too much problem. Once we arrived at the sheep yards the fun started – firstly the front drivers side door of the Jeep came off (I’ll come back to this). The sheep yards had no loading ramp so it was a manual job to get the sheep onto the trailer. The Boys thought this was pretty good, and both of them leapt into grabbing the sheep. My problem was, being the only man on hand; I was responsible for getting the sheep on the trailer.

Normally this would have been a challenge I would enjoy, but after having all that rain, and the sheep not being shawn for a year, they were heavy and awkward to lift. It took us about an hour to get the 24 sheep and lambs onto the trailer, leaving a dozen or so for another trip. We turned our attention to the Jeeps door and after a little swearing and a lot of jiggling we finally got it fixed enough so we could get home. We were all a little exhausted by now and a lot of snoring was heard coming from the back and passenger seat all the way home.

Sunday was very busy – it was up early and off to the Markets. We had never been to the Farmers Market at Woden before and thought we’d take a look and see what the process was like, the types of produce and the atmosphere. The Market is smallish, but has a good atmosphere and there was a constant flow of people through for a good part of the morning. We ran into a couple of people we know, Michael Croft from Mountain Creek Farms who runs Saddle Back pigs and Belted Galloways. He’s a wealth of information and has been very helpful to us over the pas few months. We also ran into one of the Cooks work mates John, he’s a Biodynamic tragic like us, and it was good to finally put a face to the name. John also mentioned he reads the Blog – so hi John!

Produce at the Markets was a good mix of in season fruits and vegetables, lots of wood oven baked breads, meat, fish, eggs, honey and cheese. I would have liked to stay a little longer but we had other jobs to do.

From the Markets we went off to pick up some sheep from out the back of Gundaroo. The sheep were Merinos, a mixture of rams, lambs and ewes. When we arrived at the front gate of the property we could see that they had had a little rain, the track up to the yards was a little rough in places but the Jeep managed to drag the trailer up without too much problem. Once we arrived at the sheep yards the fun started – firstly the front drivers side door of the Jeep came off (I’ll come back to this). The sheep yards had no loading ramp so it was a manual job to get the sheep onto the trailer. The Boys thought this was pretty good, and both of them leapt into grabbing the sheep. My problem was, being the only man on hand; I was responsible for getting the sheep on the trailer.

Normally this would have been a challenge I would enjoy, but after having all that rain, and the sheep not being shawn for a year, they were heavy and awkward to lift. It took us about an hour to get the 24 sheep and lambs onto the trailer, leaving a dozen or so for another trip. We turned our attention to the Jeeps door and after a little swearing and a lot of jiggling we finally got it fixed enough so we could get home. We were all a little exhausted by now and a lot of snoring was heard coming from the back and passenger seat all the way home.

Sunday - Well, Snappy decided it was finally time to deliver the goods - ten piglets - almost. We didn’t see her having them and by the time we got out to feed them it was all over, unfortunately one of the litter wasn’t very well. We took it inside and our on site medical staff tried to revive it, but it wasn’t strong enough. (WARNING - THIS ISN’T NICE!!) Later a second one must have been laid on and died. By the time we got back to see what had happened Snappy had half eaten it, so we needed to get it out - that’s the reality of farming life. Snappy is a really bad tempered pig, she had a go at the Midwife when we first went out to inspect the litter. Then, when we moved her into the mothering pen I had to use a garden hoe to keep her from biting me. She had a go at the kids a couple of times as well.

We got a bit of fencing done thanks to Jimmy, and fixed the pig paddock so the Little ones can’t escape anymore. The electric fence is a shocker however; No matter what you do it goes on the blink at 5:00pm Sunday rain, hail or shine - this week it was rain. I spent two hours walking around, in the fading light and rain, trying to figure out what had happened - finally I found the problem and the fence was back on.

I also took a quick tip to the dump, always a highlite of any weekend!!! The Cook had pulled an all nighter on the Saturday as well so she slept through most of Sunday. Lucky her!!! Since we’ve been feeding the goats a little bit of bread every night every time I go out side they come running to see if I have any, which makes achange from the running for hills that used to greet me. - Speaking of the goats, the Gardener asked me to fix her vegie garden fence on the weekend so she could plant her spuds, so like the good endentured man I am I fixed the fence, strained it up and put in some new droppers. Not ten minutes later, after we’d packed up and gone inside, Bendy the goat, jumps the fence and starts munching on the Cooks’ garlic. Thsy never give in!!!!

Todays photo is of Snappy as I left her this morning - the piglets are onthe other side - but I wasn’t going in there!!!

Sunday - Well, Snappy decided it was finally time to deliver the goods - ten piglets - almost. We didn’t see her having them and by the time we got out to feed them it was all over, unfortunately one of the litter wasn’t very well. We took it inside and our on site medical staff tried to revive it, but it wasn’t strong enough. (WARNING - THIS ISN’T NICE!!) Later a second one must have been laid on and died. By the time we got back to see what had happened Snappy had half eaten it, so we needed to get it out - that’s the reality of farming life. Snappy is a really bad tempered pig, she had a go at the Midwife when we first went out to inspect the litter. Then, when we moved her into the mothering pen I had to use a garden hoe to keep her from biting me. She had a go at the kids a couple of times as well.

We got a bit of fencing done thanks to Jimmy, and fixed the pig paddock so the Little ones can’t escape anymore. The electric fence is a shocker however; No matter what you do it goes on the blink at 5:00pm Sunday rain, hail or shine - this week it was rain. I spent two hours walking around, in the fading light and rain, trying to figure out what had happened - finally I found the problem and the fence was back on.

I also took a quick tip to the dump, always a highlite of any weekend!!! The Cook had pulled an all nighter on the Saturday as well so she slept through most of Sunday. Lucky her!!! Since we’ve been feeding the goats a little bit of bread every night every time I go out side they come running to see if I have any, which makes achange from the running for hills that used to greet me. - Speaking of the goats, the Gardener asked me to fix her vegie garden fence on the weekend so she could plant her spuds, so like the good endentured man I am I fixed the fence, strained it up and put in some new droppers. Not ten minutes later, after we’d packed up and gone inside, Bendy the goat, jumps the fence and starts munching on the Cooks’ garlic. Thsy never give in!!!!

Todays photo is of Snappy as I left her this morning - the piglets are onthe other side - but I wasn’t going in there!!!