Your hosts are the Campbell family. There's five of us in total: grown-ups Andrew & Anna, and three young munchkins (aka hosts and friends to your kids). In addition to us humans, there's a farm yard of animals to get to know during your stay.

Our aim is to offer you a home away from home. A place where you and your kids can enjoy the outdoors and animals together. A place, where you can ask questions about farm life and tree changing and all things animal and vegetable. A place we hope you'll have fond memories of for a long time to come!

Hope we get to meet you soon!

LATEST NEWS

July 2010

19th - major kindling collection before the next 5 days of rain

18th - a nice warm day, so good to see the native and our honey bees out and about again

13th - Yay! Found out we're a finalist in the North Coast 2010 Tourism Awards in the hosted accommodation category for our farmstay

10th - changed Ruby's bandage and recast her leg

7th - began demolition of the old chicken coops

6th - twin dorpers born, so sprightly!

3rd - Ruby the goat broke her leg when play jumping in and out of the trailer. Yikes! Emergency splint and off to the vet and she's now hobbling around in a little goat cast for 5 weeks

1st - Queenie the wiltshire horn decided to give birth to a gorgeous baby lamb right in the middle of our inspection for the North Coast Tourism Awards!

June 2010

30th - whoa...a really wicked frost this morning! Probably the worst here in 4 years!

26th - headed to Sydney to sell our Honeycomb Valley farmerceuticals (and tubs full of fresh lemonades) at the Frenchs Forest organic farmers market. Lots of fun and so great to see so many farmstay guests! Thanks for coming guys!

22nd - insulation installed in the shed so we can host bus tour groups in comfort!

21st - Our light sussex chickens camping at the front door and in the kitchen so need to give them a bit of a fence!

12th - Taree Envirofair with the Sun Oven cranking and selling our Honeycomb Valley "farmerceuticals", goats milk soaps, lip balms and Farm Bam moisturiser

11th - Landcare Field Day on legumes at our farm for about 50 people

6th - Wild mushroom collecting under the pine trees

2nd - Whoo hoo, our first native bee hive arrived! Pics available here: http://capeable.com/blogs/news/?p=183

1st - the HelpX crew helped us mulch half the orchard

May 2010

31st - with the help of Helpx, finished digging in all the turf valves for the mobile water trough system as part of a Landcare project

30th - Jenn, Lorna and Adam from the UK arrived as our HelpX'ers.

29th - Nabiac Farmer's Market, selling our lip bams and goat's milk soaps

28th - finally finished decking out the new chicken tractor caravan! "Hens on holidays" ready to travel the paddocks fertilising, eating fresh pasture and living in style!

9th - planted five more Clifford Carob trees about the farm

3rd - extracted last honey for the season, bees readied for winter

1st - Australia Open Garden scheme day out at Wootton's Merriwonga

April 2010 27th - started painting our new bee hives

24th - lots of animal and campfire fun with our guests

20th - cleared shed in readiness for bus group visits

12th - orchard mulching

9th - baked lots of cookies (made with our free range eggs) in the Sun Oven for sale at the markets

5th - Trimmed Harley the billy goat's horns with the help of our great guests

March 2010

13th - Gloucester Farmers Market day for us to sell our soaps and lip balms and honey etc - great fun!

10th - finished laying pipes for a Landcare project to show moveable watering troughs/cell grazing

8th - lots more soapmaking!

7th - did a cheesemaking course

6th - our honey won a "champion" ribbon at the Wallamba Show - yay!

2nd - hosted a beekeeping course with Rod the Bee Man for participants from Sydney and Queensland

February 2010

27th - started selling our goat's milk soaps, lip balms and natural insect repellent at the farmers market at Nabiac

23rd - made a new lip balm flavour...honey tropicana - yum!

16th - extracted another three boxes of honey...tastes rich and musky...a little like leatherwood honey but not as strong!

10th - registered "Honeycomb Valley" as our new farm business name so we will be able to sell all our farm produce (lip balms, soaps etc) under that name. Will convert the farmstay over from Country Roads Farmstay to Honeycomb Valley Farmstay in the coming months too

9th - Hollywood ploughed into a gate at high speed...gate came off worse than Hollywood!

4th - more batches of goat's milk soap including organic lavender, organic lemongrass, natural, yoghurt and honey

2nd - made some batches of goat's milk soap

January 2010

27th - sold three of our registered miniature galloway calves. So cute!

26th - tatooed our baby miniature galloways ready for sale to another breeder

25th - trimmed all the strawberries

18th - took delivery of 20 light sussex chicken eggs for incubating

12th - melted our beeswax in our solar oven and made natural honey & beeswax lip balms (spearmint and vanilla flavours)

9th - milking machine arrived for the goats...no more sore hands!

8th - more than 100mm rain in 2 hours saw a few of the shops in Nabiac get flooded. Water, water everywhere.

5th - picked up our new registered Saanen dairy goats, Ivy & Kay. Beautiful girls, beautiful milk for drinking, making cheese, icecream and goat's milk soaps!

3rd - delighted to find 4 peacocks and a peahen walking down our driveway this morning...and they weren't ours! A lost and found message at the local shops soon got their owner's attention...just took a few days to catch them!

2nd - sold our first farm-born, pure bred, registered dorper ram. He was a beauty!

1st - the new swarm of bees provided us with their first box of honey - yum!

December 2009

16th - 12 light sussex chickens hatched from fertile eggs we received from Abundant Layers in Victoria. Super cute and fluffy!

7th - Lots of swimming going on. Dug up and planted more potatoes, weeded and mulched. Semi load of BioBoost arrived for a Landcare trial. Molly the lamb keeps escaping and coming up to the house for company.

6th - clearer boards on to two hives, ready for more honey extraction later in the week

2nd - Gearing up to sell Araucana chickens (the blue egg laying chicken) to the public, so another 10 eggs under one of our broody chooks

November 2009

29th - Collected 1st box of honey from the swarm caught a couple of months ago - yay!

26th - now the araucanas have all hatched, time to put light sussex eggs into the incubator

25th - yummo...more honey!

23rd - planted top patch with popcorn, normal corn, watermelon, cucumbers, sunflowers & pumpkins

22nd - dug up the garlic crop with the kids 200+ bulbs this year

20th - NTS guano arrives for distribution to Landcare members

19th - 14kg of fresh honey again thanks to our bees

13th - Used the Sun Oven (www.solarovenhireandsales.com.au) to bake pumpkin pies - yummo!

12th - Tracey the British Alpine goat gave birth to a little boy who looks more like his Stud Saanen dairy goat dad

10th - Incubated eggs start hatching araucanas! Chirp chirp chirp

9th - The first Villager Sun Oven ever imported into Australia arrives on our farm for testing!

7th - twin dorpers again!

6th - horse's hoofs done

4th - Princess the goat gave birth to twins, one named "Sarah" in honour of her grandma goat

3rd - finished planting the soya bean seed

2nd - Cleopatra the peahen laid her first egg of spring

October 2009

31st - started hand broadcasting soya bean seed on the internal paddocks
29th - finished the netting frame for the garden...now to start on the netting!
24th - Araucana eggs into the incubator
22nd - Sad day as poor old Sarah the goat had to be put down after a long and happy life
20th - First bronze orange bugs of the season return to the citrus trees, kids initiate a bug hunt
18th - Seedsavers meeting, lots of seed swapping going on
16th - Extracted honey from the bees...super yum Ironbark honey!
15th - Twin dorper lambs born to our stud dorper
13th - Two guests arrive from the Channel Islands to do our Introduction to Beekeeping course with Rod the Bee Man (see: www.capeable.com.au) - fab time.
12th - Sarah the goat to the vet with a virus. Container arrived ready to be converted into a farm shop to sell our honey, eggs and produce.
10th - Queenies the wiltshire's daughter gave birth
9th - Puddles 2 and Molly the lamb going great, like farm dogs, sitting on the mat at the front door, lots of fun
5th - First flowers ever on the pecans we planted!
4th - Bede helped us shear the alpacas
2nd - Trevor the snakeman relocated a brown snake for us

September 2009

30th - planted tomatoes & capsicums. Great results this season with lettuce & leeks and strawberries.
27th - had a stall at the Pacific Palms market selling our stainless steel drink bottles (Klean Kanteens) and cooperative games www.capeable.com.au
26th - Bede helped us shear our cross-bred sheep, our dorpers don't need it
23rd - massive dust storm across NSW - farm glows red.
22nd - Macadamia we planted flowers for the first time
21st - collected first ever bee swarm! Relatively trouble-free and lots of fun.
11th - extracted first honey of the season...a mix on winter and new season honey
6th - started bagging baby apples and plums to protect them from the bugs
5th - cooked another yummy meal in the solar oven...Thai Curry made with our own veg (broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, lime juice, lemongrass etc)...followed by sun-baked cookies
4th - Princess the goat has bronchial infection
1st - SPRING!!!!

August 2009 28th - vet course with Allan Glassop at Coolongoolook
27th - mulched the orchard
23rd - applied organic fertiliser to the bush tucker area
20th - soaked pigeon pea seeds, ready for planting tomorrow
19th - more slashing in the back and end paddocks
18th - mowed the wildlife corridor
17th - cut out all the old raspberry canes
12th - Molly the demara sheep abandoned by its mum arrived on the farm as a two day old tiny little thing. Bought her a chihouaha jacket to keep her warm and the kids sleeping with her and Puddles 2 in the laundry
11th - loads of asparagus coming up and lots of yummy strawberries
10th - Big day out to the beekeeping and glass bottle shop to get ready for the honey season! Rod the bee man is currently knocking together a third hive for us.
7th - Planted bok choy, silverbeet and some more lettuce
4th - Dorper lambing not going so great, one ewe died when a tiny stick she had eaten pierced her insides - very sad. Kids are raising her lamb via a bottle, giving him lots of hugs and bedding him down in the laundry at night. He doesn't make a peep all night once they soothe him off to sleep.
1st - Anna has finished first draft 78,000 words of non-fiction book "Little People, Big Picture". Whoo hoo...now only three more drafts to go!

July 2009
27th - Yum! First big, fat, tasty strawberries from the new strawberry patch.
20th - germination evident in the new winter feed paddocks
19th - Queenie the wiltshire horn sheep had a boy lamb
5th - started sowing paddocks that will eventually be winter feed paddocks...cow peas, rye corn, southern green rye corn, vetch wooli pod, vetch morava, cocksfoot vision clover, red USA clover, NZ white clover, Kangaroo Valley rye, Fitzroy rye, chickory choice, platinain tonic, demeter fescue, plus organic bat guano for fertiliser
4th - Amy came over to work with thoroughbred Hollywood.
2nd - started work dividing one of the larger paddocks
1st - The third cross-bred lamb born this week! Doing well!

June 2009
30th - Collected 12 replacement Isa Browns from Lil the chicken lady. They have a lovely temperament.
19th - Another fox attack on different chicken coop...the fox actually chewed the door off! Door being replaced with steel plates and a bit of serious fox hunting now going on!
15th - Terrible fox attack wiping out a lot of our beautiful retired chickens. Very sad.
13th - slashed the bush tucker area...midyim berries are doing well!
8th - Orange Blossom the miniature cashmere lop bunny gave birth to her first litter...including another gorgeous little orange bunny
6th - Spent the day at the Eco Fair in Taree selling the stainless steel Klean Kanteen drink bottles we sell through www.capeable.com, as well as the cooperaive board games we retail. Fun day.
2nd - Some of our free range chooks have been hiding a nice little pile of eggs in the orchard!

May 2009
31st - Harley the goat mated with Sarah our Saanen
21st - Anna up to 32,000 words now for non-fiction book she's writing titled "Little People, Big Picture"...about how to raise kids in a global context, so they can cope with and contribute positively to the big issues of our time.
18th - Added apple cider vinegar and garlic into all the animal troughs again
17th - Great Lakes Seedsavers meeting, lots of great seeds being swapped! Planted more potatoes.
14th - "Fun Factory" the miniature galloway, gave birth to little white with black points boy called "Fun Time"
12th - put escape boards on the bee hives so we can prepare to winterise the hives by reducing them down to two rather than three supers
11th - lit first home fire for the season...brrr and then aaaah.
10th - guests and we watch in awe as Mudcake gives birth to black miniature galloway calf who we have named Cupcake! Proud dad Mickey the Bull got some hay to celebrate.
7th - released 300 silver perch fingerlings + 100 glass shrimp into the dam.
6th - harvesting massive broccoli heads! The organically certified Dipel must have worked on those nasty caterpillars.
5th - a fox is stalking the chooks again
4th - Arrive back from holidays to the most gorgous little white-with-black-points miniature Galloway calf. Have named her Milky Bar. Her and her mum Kiarah doing fab. Oh so cute!
3rd - Hayes milks Tracey the british alpine goat for the last time...now he's heading back to Sydney he'll have to get his white stuff from the supermarket! Thanks for farmsitting for us Van der Meer family!

April 2009
29th - Hayes digs out the ute
28th - Hayes bogs the ute
24th - we and the kids off on a surprise holiday to our old workplace Heron Island while five-times-guest Hayes and family get a free holiday in exchange for looking after the farm!
20th - extracted about 20kgs of honey from both hives...smells and tastes delicious! Most likely it's tea tree honey whereas earlier in the year it was Ironbark.
19th - planted more mango trees, olives and blueberries
18th - alpaca toe trimming and fringe salon open for business again
16th - Snowy and Orange Blossom had their mating session
10th - finished planting the garlic patch + one whole bed of strawberry runners planted
5th - half planted the garlic patch
3rd - Still picking gourds. Kids had fun at the campfire carving and decorating masks from wood in the woodpile

March 2009
31st - Extracted another box of honey, bees are going great!
22nd - Won first prize for Light Honey at the Wingham Show
21st - Taste of Harmony Lunch at Nabiac - fab sharing of food and friendship
18th - AlPatchino & Jarrah + Cienta the alpacas had a mating session
17th - Andrew finished building the bench and sink in the vege garden so we can wash all the dirt off the produce out there and reuse the water straight onto the garden
14th - NEWSFLASH - Our farm stay bee hives took out first prize for honey at the Nabiac Show! 14th - NEWSFLASH - Our friendly farmstay chooks took our first prize for brown eggs and first prize for blue araucana eggs at the Nabiac Show...the blue eggs were the only ones there so they actually set up a new category for them...which wasn't hard to win as we were the only entry!
1st - planted onions and beans

February 2009
27th - Graeme Sait from Nutri-Tech Solutions held a field day at Country Roads Farmstay. 60+ people toured the farm, investigating everything from soil to animal to plant health. Max the sheep provided lots of entertainment for everyone. Also harvested our first 3 native finger limes - yum - the insides are like tiny balls of lime!
25th - Burkes Backyard March edition comes out with lots of pictures from our farmstay! Our 8yo was the kid's editor for the month and wrote two pages of articles for the magazine. Fun Factory the cow now has an even bigger head than before!
24th - Cleared flood debris along creek fence lines + slashed orchard for mulch
23rd - AC doing Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture all this week with Grame Sait of NTS www.nutri-tech.com.au.
22nd - Friends asked us if we wanted to raise a one week old short horn calf after its mother died from 3 day fever....so...2nd calf rescue in a few days! Moooooo!
20th - Planted peas, juice from our own carrots and oranges, lots of beans and carrots going into the freezer. Lots of fun in the evening at the 10th anniversary of Dyers Crossing Landcare, kids loved the bush dancing.
17th - picking lots of green beans and fresh figs
15th - Huge amounts of rain. Great Lakes Seedsavers meeting held out our place, very sloshy but lots of fun as always.
14th - Our old billy goat died. Tears. Buried him near the bananas
13th - Rescued Millie the lowline calf from a neighbour's place after her mum died
10th - Chicken manure to the banana trees, driveway bamboos and house citrus. Found tick on billy goat so started treating him with Vitamin C and lots of good stuff.
9th - compost building day! 3 loads goat manure + 2 big carts of leaves & straw + 3 loads of alpaca manure, 1 of aged horse manure + fresh comfrey and bits and pieces. After all that work, enjoyed the fresh raspberries in the garden!
5th - planted red kidney beans, Grosse Lisse tomatoes, celery & rocket. Coppiced the first of the cinnamon trees, scraped the bark and prepared the cinnamon for drying
4th - started pulling out the seeds from the echinacea and cosmos flowers so we'll have some to sell next season
3rd - planted more green beans and tomatoes
1st - Had our stall at the Blackhead Markets selling stainless steel, health & eco friendly drink bottles. The Klean Kanteens are available for sale at www.capeable.com.au . Also selling cooperative board games, some fresh herbs and eggs.

January 2009
So in addition to having lots of fabulous fun with our guests...here's some other things we got up to:
29th - ringed and tailed the dorper lambs
28th - started building garden shed
24th - separated lambs from mums so they can start being weaned
23rd - collected the honey super and extracted it with the kids... 22 jars of honey! Taste sensation
20th - lots of swimming, dancing & campfire fun
19th - some amazing carrots being harvested! Chopping, blanching and freezing so we have our own frozen, convenient carrot supply in the coming months
15th - added a honey super to the smaller hive and popped on a clearer board so we can get honey minus the bees in a few more days
14th - fixing orchard irrigation...just in time as the trees are suffering and the grass is all dry and crackly
12th - last apples of the season from the Golden Dorset tree. Delicious.
11th - more honey extracting
10th - made our own popcorn from the special popping corn Ontos Oval we'd planted.
8th - made pumpkin soup from the first pumpkin from our special vine...Uncle Geoff's Wellington Boot butternut pumpkin...he's been saving the seed for decades and it gives a fantastic long pumpkin, fab tasting, easy to peel and just a small bit at the end where the seeds are. Thanks Uncle Geoff Strain! Your seeds are now being shared with our local Seedsavers group.
6th - gnocchi making from potato glut
5th - Pasta sauce making thanks to kilos of tomatoes + oodles of basil, garlic and onion
1st - Dorper Mum died, so we're now bottle feeding cute Max...but his twin sister has latched on to another mum

December 2008
26th - More honey extracting - tastes of sunshine!
24th - Great Xmas eve with family and friends on the farm..home grown potatoes, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onions and honey, local wine...special day.
23rd - extracted our first honey!
17th - eating more yummy Golden Dorset tropical apples
16th - solar pump not working...ant nest!
15th - And twin dorpers again! Gorgeous. Requeened 2nd hive with Rod the bee man. Added another super to the strong hive...honey time soon!
11th - twins again, another girl & boy. Requeened the first bee hive.
8th - planted bush beans, broccoli, silverbeet, coriander, rocket. Harvesting tomatoes, squash, zucchini, carrots, red kidney beans, cucumbers & silverbeet.
6th - More dorper twins! A boy & a girl this time.
4th - Twin baby girl lambs born today to one of our dorpers - absolutely gorgeous
3rd - harvesting first lot of shelling peas...sweet as!
1st - Rod the bee mentor came over and helped put new super on one of the hives, plus queen excluder. One hive going great guns, the other definitely in need of a new queen. Saw two baby bees get born!!!

November 2008
29th - lots of potato digging going on... kipfler, nicola & purples
28th - lots of carrot pulling going on!
24th - planted popcorn as support for climbing beans, and 2 sugarbaby watermelons to block out the weeds in the chicken tractor patch
19th - birds nicked the best raspberries
18th - milking Tracey the British Alpine goat for fresh milk and so we can make goat milk soaps
16th - picked up our new pedigree breeding bunnies - miniature cashmere lops - from Christine Carter at the Rabbit Fanciers show in Sydney.
15th - harvested most of our garlic crop
12th - made yummy curry with our own cauliflower, silverbeet, spring onions, garlic as well as beans and tomatoes from the farmers market...only lentils store bought
11th - Plum trees giving us fab first harvest
10th - made second batch of elderflower champagne...first batch disappeared way too quick!
8th - our 12 new day old araucanas arrived and moved into their warm little box
6th - sowed cowpeas in middle paddock
5th - harvesting broccoli & cauliflower for dinner

October 2008
29th - bagged fruit tree clusters to keep off the fruit bats & birds, plus our new juvenile peacock arrived
28th - ate our first apple from the tree we planted 18 months ago - delish!
25th - some shahtoot mulberries and blueberries ready for eating!
21st - planted tiny test patches of lucerne, sunflower seeds and green lentils
19th - alpaca shearing
15th - planted some more corn up the top in the chicken tractor area
14th - Rolled out 50 tyres into the paddock thanks to Modern Motors at Nabiac. Then filled them with compost, soil & tree starter and started planting the gourds
13th - started prepping the ground for gourd planting...better late than never. Saw our first swarm of bees....pity they were ours vacating the hive!
9th - scarified some more tagasaste seed and sowed into tubes
7th - 'Magic' the chicken returned after 3 weeks of us believing her perished...with 14 baby chicks!
5th - added the 1st super and queen excluder to the hive
3rd - Small hive beetles have already found our new bee hive...so employing a mix of traps to oust them
2nd - Sue visited and taught us how to make Elderflower Champagne...lucky she brought some of her earlier brew with her - yum! Made pasta with our own spinach garlic, oregano & perennial basil
1st - Princess the goat gave birth to cute little "Izzy" ...spot on for a British Alpine...but Princess' Mum is a Saanen!

September 2008

28th - Queenie the wiltshire horn sheep gave birth to little girl "Spottie"
27th - Bede helped us shear the sheep...and Polly the damara sheep gave birth to baby boy 'Spot' in the afternoon - cute as.
26th - Rod the bee man caught us a swarm of bees in Forster and brought them out to their new home on the hill here! Yay! Our first hive is up and running.
25th - planted sugar snap peas, red kidney beans, choc mint & lemon balm
24th - Planted out row of pigeon peas on outside of the vege patch, and also about 12 cumin seedlings as an experiment...hilled up potatoes
22nd - planted Mandarin + a Pinkabelle Apple + a Gala apple...and discovered heaps of baby apples on the trees we planted last year - Yay!!!!! The Shahtoot Mulberries are also loaded, as is the old established mulberry tree...will be a feast for the birds, the bats and hopefully us humans
21st - Transplanted onion seedlings into the garden and attended the monthly SeedSavers meeting. These meeting's are so great as you get to meet heaps of interesting people, hear about all sorts of plants and get to have a connection with your food. Lotsafun!
18th - Took the planks off the carrots as they've come up really well...a lot sooner than we were expecting.
15th - Potatoes already coming up!
14th - Had a stall at the Small Footprint Festival at Pacific Palms selling Cooperative Board Games (we're the Australian distributor for these great family games...see more info at Cape Able , as well as stainless steel drink bottles from Klean Kanteen. We love these bottles because it means more plastic doesn't end up in landfill, and they are safe to drink from as they have no BPA's or leaching...oh, and they look cool too.
12th - Turned the solar power on for the pool...it's swimming time!
9th - Planted sunflowers - Giant Russian + Pollenless. Planted 2 blocks of corn, 1 Jolly Roger and 1 Ontos Oval for popcorn. Sowed Uncle Geoff's pumpkin seeds. Added a few more rows of carrots.
8th - Planted yellow squash plus some Roma tomatoes
5th - Planted one whole bed of potatoes...about 6 varieties incluing Kipfler, Dutch Cream, Blue and Desiree
4th - Finished laying all the newspaper and one gazillion wheelbarrow loads of sawdust thanks to great guest Mark
3rd - Planted out the carrots using the plank method...plank of wood laid over the carrots to keep them moist and weed free until gemination
2nd - All the horses had their hoofs done
1st - Planted broccoli, sugarloaf cabbage, cauliflower

August 2008

28th - Planted more strawberries, marigolds and borage. Planted most of the herbs...Curry Plant, Perennial Basil, Oregano, Stevia, Mushroom Plant, French Tarragon, Spearmint, Mint, Coriander, Dill, Rosemary, Lavender, Speedwell and more...smells fab around here!
25th - Our peacock took fright and flight and disappeared at night! Uh oh. No sign anywhere.
24th - Planted out the lemongrass
22nd - Author Bernard Cohen arrived on the farm. He was giving creative writing workshops for the school, and stayed with us for an awesome weekend. Thanks Bernard!
21st - Planted out the Heritage raspberries...yum!
19th - Started laying out newspapers (thanks to Catherine at the Old Bank Centre for saving the papers for us!) and sawdust for the vege garden paths
18th - Last of the vege garden beds completed - Yay!
16th - Our aracauna chicken, who we got for Christmas as an egg, has laid her first green egg!!!!!!
15th - transplanted the old asparagus crowns into new spot in the vege patch
14th - Brown bantam now proud adoptive parent to 3 chicks
11th - Super sad day - Rembrandt our champion male miniature cashmere lop bunny (champion because he had an awesome personality and won a rabbit show) was killed by a goanna while trying to defend the baby bunnies. So very sad. Lots of tears as he was a farm favourite. He's now buried in the new vegetable garden with strawberries and marigolds above.
10th - Life & Death on the Farm: Had to put down one of the new dorpers who had a heart condition. The kids held a burial ceremony with flowers placed all over the sheep...she'll now help with the fertility in the new vege patch. But the good news...Sarah the Saanen goat gave birth to two female kids...Tots and Didi!

July 2008
Laid out newspaper and lucerne hay in the garden area prepped by the chicken tractor...ready for future planting
30th - Mickey the miniature white galloway bull arrived, nose ring at all. He was happy the meet the girls straight away! That should mean a little less mooing from the cows from now on and a little more making out.
29th - Puddles the lamb following us around like a puppy, super cute!
28th - Work continues on the new raised vegetable beds...and continues, and continues...
23rd - Patch the suri alpaca, son of Lily, had his ear tagged
20th - Seedsavers meeting where we shared Uncle Geoff Strain's Wellington Boot Pumpkin seeds...an awesome pumpkin that has all the seeds down one end and a long tube of easy to use, yummy pumpkin! Our Uncle Geoff has been saving the seed from a mutation for more than 20 years!
18th - Orphaned 3 day old lamb dropped off for us to bottle feed. Baaaaa.
14th - Twin goats (one boy, one girl) born to British Alpine goat Tracey. Put the cows onto the seed trial grass to try and get some more germination.
12th - John Millington came out to help lend a hand pruning the apple, plum, cherry and pear trees to shape.
11th - New black headed Type 4 and 5 dorpers arrived to start our new breeding flock. Naming competition begins! First major frost of the season. Brrrrr.

June 2008
24th - Pipe finished to back paddock
22nd - Firewood collecting for the cottage slow combustion heaters
20th - Have the alpacas guarding the lambs and their mums at night.
19th - Single boy lamb born. Super cute!
18th - Twin lambs born, one boy and one girl. Mum left one behind in the paddock so a rescue mission launched.
16th - Started laying pipes for the new water troughs
13th - Set the new water troughs in. Ryegrass trial doing well.
11th - Finished mulching the wildlife corridor - yay! Job completo!
10th - More lantana & fireweed pulling

7th - Past guests Ben (8) and Emily (5) surprised us with our very own Wollemi Pine!!!!!
Troughs arrived for the recently fenced paddocks
4th - Fun Factory the Cow met with the AI expert from 'No Bull' for another attempt at getting in calf
3rd - With the help of generous farmer Les & his super spreading machine, spread BioBoost in a number of paddocks.
2nd - Trial plot of Rye Grass starting to germinate
1st - The first of the IsaBrowns we bought as day old chickens at the end of December laid her first egg!

May 2008
31st - Baby lamb appeared! Cute as anything! Gorgeous little girl.
29th - Semi-trailer full of BioBoost arrived to give the vege gardens and paddocks some lift.
27th - Sowed some oats in the top paddock above the dam
23rd - Ruby the beautiful miniature cashmere lop eared bunny gave birth to her latest pedigree litter of 8 bunnies! Cute as can be.
23rd - Third raised garden bed in the ground...now for the seed catalogues!
22nd - Fences finished across the farm to keep the stock off the creek. Yay!
20th - Planted last of the tagasaste up in the alpaca paddock
19th - Seeded an oats test patch behind the chicken tractor....mmmm...home grown porridge...if we beat the animals to it!
14th - Lantana pulling on side road fenceline...strangely satisfying!
12th - HURRAHHHH! Finished planting the last of the trees in the wildlife corridor - yayayayay! Huge job, so great to have it done.
9th - spread the seed in top paddock for the seed trial...testing rock dust and guano (organic fertilisers) with variety of pasture improvement seeds
8th - fencing underway to keep the animals from polluting and eroding the creekbanks
7th - planted 35 tagasaste (tree lucerne) in the orchard windbreak. It's a good fire retardant plant, is nitrogen fixing so great for the soil & mulch, and is an excellent fodder plant for the animals.
6th - Unbogged ute...finally
5th - Much to guest enjoyment, Andrew bogged the ute in the creek.
3rd - Interplanted Hakea salicifolia (willow-leaved hakea) along the road windbreak...about 40 plants. Rammie back home from visiting another farm and very happy to see Queenie the wiltshire horn sheep!
2nd - Every day we're out planting more trees in the wildlife corridor!
1st - First garden bed, built of hardwood, now complete!

April 2008
30th - Finally dry enough to get across to the back paddock, boggy but planted 85 more wildlife corridor trees (the ones that like water!). April rainfall total: 465.5mm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
20th - More rain. And more rain. Days of rain! Mud, mud and more mud!
18th - hand scattered a green manure crop with guests in the lower orchard area, seeds included: subclover, fenugreek, oats and woolly pod vetch
13th - moved the chicken tractor, great result so now ready to plant garlic where the chooks have turned and fertilised the soil
11th - mulched orchard trees
8th - Rain, rain, rain - Creek flooding
7th - More tree planting amidst showers
6th - Tree sorting
4th - What an awesome day! With the help of our friends from Landcare: Athena, Les, Alice, Rolf, Bruce, Helen, Trevor, Lorraine, Kit & Geraldine we were able to plant, water, tree mat and tree guard 360 trees for our new wildlife corridor. The Catchment Management Authority are part funding the hard costs of the 760 metre planting...1200 trees all up! The aim is to develop a long wildlife corridor to link existing vegetation and riparian (creek) zones on the western perimeter of the property, to provide biodiversity and a habitat for birds and other creatures. The corridor will also provide shade, windbreak and some beautiful trees and shrubs to enjoy including locally indigenous: Flooded Gum, Swamp Mahogany, Water Gum, Blackwood, Hard Quandong, Sandpaper Fig, Forest Red Gum, Brush Box, Tallowood, Turpentine, Spotted Gum, Lilly Pilly, Willow Leaved Hakea, Pink-tipped Bottlebrush & Banksia integrifolia.
1st - Slashing of paddocks begins

March 2008
27th - started levelling the vege patch to make way for raised beds
25th - The first 31 trees planted into the wildlife corridor thanks to guests the Barlow family
22nd - The new (to us) second-hand tractor arrived! Bigtime boys toy and lots of fun for us and our great guests! It won't always be here though as we're sharing with another local farming family, makes sense to share so it's utilised better. Old tractor still in pieces from its breakdown but will hopefully be back together soon - it's a great old workhorse.
18th - Our latest litter of pedigree miniature cashmere lop eared bunnies are ready for sale
17th - Took new soil samples to check on health of the soil
15th - Another fabulous campfire, one of many, and another great night!
12th - 20 new Goji Berry plants arrived for planting in the orchard. Popped them in with two new pecans and a dragonfruit.
11th - All the horses had their hoofs done
4th - Started staking out the tree line for the wildlife corridor planting area
1st - Compost ready and new pile started

February 2008
29th - Check of the bushtucker area shows ALL trees still alive after their first year! Yay!
25th - Picked up our new miniature horses from Gloucester way. Honey, foal Pixie and Sooty seemed very happy with their new home at the farmstay!
23rd - Nabiac Show. Great day was had by all. Won 2nd prize for Mulberry Jam...okay...so there were only two entries! What will we spend the 50 cents prize money on!?
20th - Munching on delicious mangos from the mango tree - yum!
19th - Poor Teddy the black headed dorper died instantly after getting into the same paddock as Rammie. Rammie lived up to his name. Unnamed child will never leave gate ajar again
12th - 14th - Biological farming course
8th - Chook tractor arrived, spent a few hours assembling it and then introduced our family of Isa Browns to it

January 2008
29th - First araucana chicken out of its shell! Soon followed by another one, then some Sussex...but only 6 out of the 20 eggs were fertile!
28th - Incubating eggs started to chirp!
A month of fun with guests: swimming, campfires, playing with the animals & just hanging out! And other things like…
25th - Fox spotted near the bottom chicken coop
23rd – vaccinated cows for pinkeye
22nd – built new roosts for the chooks
21st – Hollywood damaged his eye, treatment begins
20th – massive fig harvest on the tree this year
14th – ride on mower arrives, lots of fun!
11th – eating raspberries and fresh peas straight from the garden
9th – began incubating eggs of rare chook breeds
1st – began new fence down driveway

December 2007
29th – picked up new Isa Brown X hen and 10 chicks from the market…cheep cheep cheep
25th – fab Christmas on the farm with all the relo's!
24th – planted ice cream bean trees, plus 3 saba nuts
18th – Sarah the white goat goes downhill again, this time with a tick (stages remarkable recovery after lots of care)
16th – planted new Japanese Raisin tree
15th – Mulched the Midyim berries in the bushtucker area
14th – planted 2 x Carob “Clifford”, chillies beginning to appear on the Rocoto Tree Chilli
11th – Picked up Cienta & Bravado the alpacas after latest mating
10th – 1500 tree guards arrived for next March planting
4th & 5th – Biological farming course

November
29th - Planted 2 lilly pillys to 1 lemon-scented tea tree along the front of the mounds
28th – Baby “AlPatchino” born to Lily the alpaca. He has a patch on his knee, and naming rights went to past guest Hayes.
27th - Callistemons planted along roadside
26th - Mound walls being planted with Hop Bush, Tick Bush, Weeping Boobiala, Lomandra and Dianella
20th – planted out watermelon and cucumber seedlings
19th – Harvested couple of rows of garlic & fertilized half of the orchard
12th – “Mudcake” our new miniature Galloway heifer arrived on the farm
10th – Bronze orange bug hunting mission on the citrus trees
6th – New fence line going in across long run of paddock
5th – Goats broke into the orchard and munched the tops off the bamboo
5th – Earth mound construction begins
4th – Trench digging for orchard irrigation lines to new dam

October
31st - Replanted some Oldhamii bamboo to different location to make way for the work on the earth mounds
30th - Very sad day on the farm with Fun Factory the miniature white galloway's labour not ending well. To make ourselves feel better preserved bottles and bottles of mulberries and made bucketloads of mulberry jam too.
27th - planted out tomato seedlings
26th - Finished yard roof!
22nd - Mulberry season in full swing!
21st - The absolutely gorgeous Kiarah and Fun Factory and Coco arrived to take up residence at the farm. These miniature White Galloway cows with black points are just cute! Coco isn't like her mum though, she's a straight black calf.
20th - first Mulberry crumble of the season, kids picked bucketloads! Sold the first two peachicks we have raised.
19th - First of the two pedal boats arrived!
18th - Beautiful baby Eastern Rosellas hatched in their favourite nesting post
16th - For a few seconds thought one of our goats had been hit by a car, but on closer inspection turned out to be a deer
12th - Hannah the cashmere lop gave birth to six beautiful bunny kits
8th - Fruit bat trapped on fence in orchard. FAWNA's bat man to the rescue
6th - Queenie had her first baby, the black and white and very cute Prince...Wiltshire/Dorpa cross
4th - last beam finally up in the yards
2nd - planted 5 Midyim berries in the bushtucker area

September
30th - Sheep and Brutus all shorn
28th - sowed ancho & relleno chillies
26th - Uh oh, baby chicken plum disappeared
24th - planted four raspberry canes...can't wait for those
22nd - dehorned baby goat Princess so she's not a danger to her compatriots when she grows up
21st - Baby chick hatched under its adopted mum the brown bantam. Only one egg of the four we put under her produced. Very cute!
19th - Alpacas driven down to the Central Coast for shearing and for Cienta to be mated. Horse float had to be totally cleaned due to Equine Flu restrictions, eventhough it hasn't had a horse in it since January. Lots of signs on the sides saying "Alpacas Onboard" to avoid death stares from passing motorists concerned about us travelling during horse flu ban.
17th - All of 1st and 2nd grade from Nabiac Public School (65 kids!) to the farm for an excursion, scavenger hunt, art by the dam and animal feeding. Lots of fun!
16th - Built new compost pile with lots of help from the kids...a mix of horse and alpaca and chook manure + fresh lawn clippings, leaves and paper.
12th - Just like that spring has sprung! Crickets, moths, frogs and birds...and a new baby girl goat to Sarah our Saanen. Darcy has named her "Princess".
4th - Installing solar panels and pump for the dam

August
28th - Enjoyed the spectacle of the Blood Moon lunar eclipse. Clear skies, stars shining bright, awesome sight.
24th - Began work on the new alpaca shelter
14th - Broccoli going to seed early because of hotter temperatures. Lost our small vege garden crop just like that.
11th - Weekend beekeeping course at Tocal NSWDPI. Buzzzzzzzzzz. Stay tuned for Country Roads fresh honey.
9th - Some asparagus ready for picking and tasting mighty fine
8th - Isaac the goat off to another good home...hopefully he won't eat their garden and get sent back again!
7th - Started improving alpaca's pasture with a mix of paspallum dilatatum, kara cocksfoot, fitzroy ryegrass, red clover USA, prestige white clover, Tonic Plantain herb and choice chicory...all in a nice mix of organic bat guano!
4th - Hollywood on his first big test ride up to Talawahl Stockhorses on Dargavilles Rd - he did great.

July
27th & ongoing - Planting of the bushtucker area has begun down near the new dam! Finger Limes, Bunya Nuts, Illawarra Plum Pines, Riberries, Black Apple, Lemon Myrtle, Rose Apple, Davidsons Plum, Macadamia...mmmmmm
20th - Isaac the goat sold and then returned soon after for eating his new owner's flower patch!
12th - Nabiac Junior Campdraft on, lots of young kids riding huge horses really well!
8th - Tracey the British Alpine goat gave birth to little male goat named "Cinnamon". Mum and kid fine!
5th - another boy lamb arrived!
4th - Our new lop-eared cashmere breeding bunnies arrived from Canberra! Rembrandt the stud bunny won best rabbit at the Canberra Show and is adorable and soooo friendly! His breeding harem of three are extra cute too.
3rd - Mulberry tree pruning to ensure a bumper crop later in the year

June
25th - New lamb born - a boy. Kids christened him "Little Lamb".
10th - Alpaca beauty salon open with fringe and toenail trimming
8th - And the rain came down! 175mm!!!! Nabiac centre flooded, school cancelled, great excuse for an adventure on the farm to see the placid little creek turned into a raging torrent! Huge test for the new dam, filled and overflowing, the spillway taking a hammering, but worked perfectly. Few fences down over the creeks. Very cold and wet alpacas needed shedding, Hollywood rolled in the mud in his new winter coat. Dams full!
4th - Lots of citrus on the established trees, 3 more passionfruit dropped (that vine has been producing for months!), couple of very tiny plums

May 30th - built new door for bottom chicken coop to stop Polly, Queenie & Teddy the sheep breaking in and stealing all their grain
22nd - completed final work on yards (6 month project!) all timber now oiled
9th - saved the seeds from the last giant sunflower for planting next year
8th - Spread native weeping grass seed on new dam wall
7th - drip irrigation installation complete in orchard. Harvesting great lettuce from the garden and sowed more broccoli & spinach in seed-raising tray
6th - Finished western windbreak
4th - Dam building finished, top soil scooped back on top and ready for planting
2nd - havested half the potato patch, couple of good boxes worth
1st - Department of Lands began work on the 3 megalitre dam! Planted more garlic.

April
30th - finished planting southern windbreak with beautiful Illawarra Flame Trees and Turpentines
25th - planted first 3 macadamias into the windbreak, plus added 2 olives, 2 avocados, 2 aniseed myrtles and 1 lemonade tree to the orchard
24th - marked out the 3 row windbreaks for the orchard
21st - Gingerly removed the peahen's leg splint...looking good but she's still not ready to put weight on it.
18th - The alpaca salon was in session with fringe trimming for Bravado and Rapper
13th - Started scattering clover around the orchard and some paddocks
1st-10th - The food forest is taking shape thanks to guests, family and friends! In went the bananas, avocados, blueberries, jaboticabas, limes, mangos, bamboo, apples, pecans, Japanese raisins, mulberries, cinnamon, olives, oranges, guavas and more!

March
26th - Went mushrooming around the paddocks for the yummy mushrooms with the pink gills, found plenty, as well as some of the poisonous type which we steered clear of!
20th - We farewelled Trilby the jumpy alpaca but welcomed the new boy on the block, Rapper, and the lovely Lily who is pregnant and due toward the end of the year. Both are Suri's and seemed to fit straight in with Cienta, Jarrah and Bravado.
17th - Rammie jumped the fence in the yards! A sight to see as the big ram sailed over...he couldn't quite believe it either and we easily caught him again.
11th - Planted garlic, carrots & silverbeet
9th - Our first baby alpaca born on the farm! Cienta gave birth to a beautiful little girl around breakfast time and the cria was up and around in no time balancing on those long legs...ultra, ultra gorgeous! We named her Jarrah!
8th - the lovely kids from Nabiac Pre School came to the farm for a picnic and to meet all the animals. They just missed out on seeing the Yeomans Plow arrive along with the very big tractor needed to pull it through the rock hard ground here (you know it's hard when it takes 30 minutes to bury a mouse!). The guys will work the farm for a few days trying to break up the soil a bit without turning it over, so we can start building topsoil, minimise erosion and catch more water. Then it's farewell to the big tractor and plow and back to our 40 year old one!
6th - "Hollywood" arrived! Named because of the MGM stud brand on his flank, Hollywood is a 15 year old chestnut thoroughbred and is a very tall boy who just loves carrots! A beautiful horse, very magestic and proud.
4th - Miss Peahen somehow broke her leg so we've splinted it with a paddlepop stick so she can still get around to care for her chicks...she's still tossing back the blueberries so fingers crossed she'll do well!

February
26th - ZCwent out fishing on the river at Nabiac with Pete from Castaway Charters and caught & released his first fish. Very proud 4yo.
25th - Big story about Country Roads in the Sun Herald. Alpacas now think they are famous and are refusing to eat out of their recycled ice cream buckets, want silver bowls with their names on them! Imagine!
24th - Strange looking creature seen waddling/sashaying across the track down by the creek...looked very much like a platypus!
21st - Thick new spears of asparagus starting to appear
19th - Last of the passionfruit gobbled up, now we have to wait until next Summer for more!
15th - Paddocks limed at 1 tonne to the acre to help regenerate the soil naturally. One semi-trailer bogged all day!
12th - 27.5mm of rain to 9am - whoo hoo!
11th - planted 5 rows of seed potatos
6th - last of the peacocks feathers has fallen out, that's his moult for the year...might call him "Stumpy' until they grow back

January
26th - wild birds and fruit bats decimated the fig tree, only a few left for us humans
25th - trimmed goats' hoofs
24th - Peacock has started moulting
22nd - 4 baby bunnies born
21st - 20 cows broke through from the neighbour's and wandered across the farm until they were rounded up
20th - One of our chooks laid it's largest egg yet (must be all those yummy scraps & free range fun!)...130gm!
17th - picked up Cody the pony from the Brady's place where he's been for 10 days being broken in. Looks fab!
15th - 2 peachicks hatched!!!
14th - Sarah the white goat doing much better!
12th - planted watermelon, rocket, bok choy, bush beans and new sunflowers
9th - Sarah the white goat really ill, have been trying to nurse her back to health after Rob the vet diagnosed severe Barbers Pole worm infection.
1st - baby chicken hatched to broody black hen, only one of the three eggs that had a chick in it. Very cute!