Spring on the Farm and a Dam full of ducks - albeit briefly

Spring has arrived with the Friesas

Spring has finally arrived officially and right on cue, we cut our first asparagus spears and friesas. There are l a lot of very wet areas on the paddocks and some surface water refuses to dry up, but grass is growing albeit slowly and the cows can eat the hay thrown at them without crushing it into the mud before they get it all eaten. We have a guava bush that has lovely ripening fruit and of course the mandarin trees are laden with lovely juicy fruit. Even the George Washington navel orange tree is ripe and the bananas are still providing a lovely tasty treat.

Garlic patch

The very cold weather we had a couple of months ago ensured a good crop of large Brussels sprouts, however I have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, so lashings of butter are no longer allowed. The leeks are nice and big with lovely firm white stems and leek and potato soup will be on next weeks menu, even though I have to watch my intake of carbohydrates. We have had a 100% take on our garlic and shallots and I can almost smell that lovely odour of garlic cooking already.

The most impressive harbinger of Spring has been the arrival of families of mallard duckling and our annual arrival of 9+ Paradise Ducklings. It really is fun watching then family trooping through the paddocks heading for swimming lessons on the dam and this year with the large pools of water in low lying areas the ducklings got a head start, without having to walk all the way to the dam. Needless to say the resident hawks are on the prowl for a free meal and they make the journey a hazardous experience for all these little balls of fluff. The Pukekos who live on the dam  take exception to being invaded and they make a racket whenever the new visitors arrive. Pukekos amaze us with their ability to dig out the roots of carrot weed which grows prolifically at this time of the year and as the roots are similar to parsnip roots in colours and shape, they have to dig really deep. Every day there are little mounds of weed leaves strewn over the ground and it sure saves a lot of weeding. Mind you we are not enamored when they use the same technique on our valued vegetable plants. (All my new season plantings of small asparagus seedlings have disappeared already.)

Guava bush

Our blueberry plants are coming away with a rush and hopefully will provide  a tasty treat for later, (blueberry muffins come to mind!) I am looking forward to the arrival of new bright green leaves on our deciduous trees, the oaks in particular are an annual treat and I can see that the Macadamias will soon have their delicate racemes hanging down like Christmas tree decorations. The little silver eyes are keen to eat as many guavas as possible, so netting is required. (I couldn't net the bush too early as it contained a beautifully made nest, with Mum and three eggs, so I had to allow her an exit.)

Chopper Spraying

# (3xdays later)

 This morning the neighbors started their paddock spraying and because they have such a large farm (and a relative with a helicopter) and this means they don't have any damage to their still very wet paddocks. I dare not use my little Kubota tractor as we still have a lot of extremely wet areas.

# UPDATE!

Today we have no ducklings left except our (Paradise flock) and our resident Pukeko family have had a disastrous week. Torrential rain produced a very flooded river and the ducklings were either swept away during the night or the hawks/eels have eaten them. The baby Pukeko is missing and when I looked at the latest compost hole in the garden it contained the body of a mature Pukeko who was lying at the bottom of the hole! Either he fell in during the night and broke his neck or he has eaten some lethal possum bait, which although hidden in a bait station, might have been accessible to a determined bird. We will never know! 

A very empty woodshed!

#Further Update!  Today the coldest September days since records begun. A decent frost this morning and only 2c promised tonight. More firewood required but the shed is almost empty and it will be fine for a few more days yet!