Lavender feeding this morning...Russell and I have been talking for a while now about the damage that the cows are doing to our futile attempts at growing trees. We have been wanting to plant lots of shade trees for a while now and attempt it with tube stock but they always end up eaten somehow...
We have realised that we got the cows too early... When we first got here we should have gotten that part of the planting over and done with straight away and gotten shade growing so that in a few years we could have the cows and they could enjoy the shade rather than the tree. :)
We have about 35 bales of hay left in the shed for them at this point in time. Once that is gone we have made the decision that we will sell them. I will give first option to the breeder that we got them from off course but we can no longer keep them.
This will make way for a new era at our little piece of heaven. We will be joining Land for Wildlife. It is something that I really wanted to do to begin with but couldn't do off course as I didn't want to take away the area from the cattle. They need all the space that they can get and I realise that.
It will be hard to go without the raw milk but will try and find someone to barter with. There are many local diaries around here so I am hoping that I will be successful. As for meat, there is a really good butcher in Allora that I will get organic grass fed carcases from. Can't wait to try that out. Will still want Sausage though July next year so am really hoping that the breeder will be able to take them back. Time will tell...
To new beginnings... I will be very sad to see them go as they are part of the family but I finally have a chance to do what is right for our little family and for the soil here that we have bought. I need to do the right thing... Maybe we will have cattle here again one day. I don't know at this point I doubt it. At least I can say that we did it, we milked, we saw two births, we nurtured...
Cheers Damaris
2 comments:
I think this is a very sensible decision Damaris. It must be heartbreaking to keep losing all the trees you plant and of course it is costly to keep replanting. I gather you will not keep a house cow for milk so I do hope you can find a source for raw milk. I do not know if I could go back to supermarket milk and the non homogenized is so expensive. I know I am just so blessed to live next to a dairy farm where my kids actually work. Milk is part of their wage and I sometimes receive meat - the owner raises some beef cattle and every so often he offers us part of a beast at cost price. We are starting to see some produce for all our efforts but it has been trial and error finding out what grows well here. I am loving the paw paws. Citrus are growing well too and the Davidson plums are flourishing - cannot wait for fruit to come. Same goes for veggies - I tried autumn planting of tomatoes to beat the pests but there was simply not enough sunlight through winter, so it is back to just cherry tomatoes which the pests leave alone and my kids love - I'll just grow more and hey I don't even have to slice them! Hope all goes well for you as you take a different direction and I look forward to reading about you new ventures!
I was wondering how things were going with milking and your sore hand, so it's a relief to hear you are selling your cows (preserving your hand/s), although I will miss your cows, too. It was an inspiration to see you milking them.
Look forward to those lovely big trees a few years from now, and then you'll be inspiring me with those, too, lol. :-) xo
Fiona
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