This day is worth remembering - the 2nd of December, the day our first caper bud appeared! It's been 5 years, or is that 6, and our caper venture has been fraught with unfortunate events, but despite it all they are determined to do their best.
You can see the auspicious little bud at the centre of the plant, in front of the leaf with two little holes in it. Brendan has suggested we could auction it off as they do with the first mango of the season :) This plant would be the best example of how they're going, but there's quite a few others that are not far behind. It's interesting that it's the plants that get the most water that are doing the best, so as we fine tune the irrigation with different dripper sizes I'm hoping that the others will pick up as well. Naturally quite a few have died, but I would say the majority will pull through, although how productive they will be is another question.
It's probably a good time to mention that when we bought Hebron we were looking for a crop or venture that would bring in an income to help the property support itself. After some investigations and figure crunching we decided that capers were perfectly suited to our climate, soil type and limited rainfall. We purchased 350 plants (approx) after attending a field day in Mannum. A series of events and circumstances have meant that the plants were not given the best start but we are dedicated to seeing this caper venture get established. So this single caper bud is very encouraging that we are finally getting something right!
We had another lamb born this week, this time a ewe. I vaccinated and tagged her with our PIC number but we'll have to put her ID tag in when there's more hands on deck. The flock are all doing well and most of them have shed their winter coats. There's a couple of ewes that will need a bit of clipping when we bring them in for drenching this month, so we'll phase them out in the next cull.
Today as I swept the sand off the verandah area yet again I decided enough was enough, so I moved a whole heap of sand away and dumped it at the end of the verandah so I can pave the fenced-in area. Is now a good time to also say that I nicked the water pipe with the tractor bucket? But never fear, I fixed the hole and all is well again. (phew!)
At the end of the day I noticed the dam water pump was running and thought I'd better investigate because nothing was supposed to be watering. Thankfully this culprit was easy to find - that's because there was a fountain of water shooting up over the trees! A section of pipe near the orchard area had developed a split, so after a cut and join all is well again. Very odd to have this occur so I thought it was worthy of a photo.
So all is well in Hebron and things are ticking along nicely. Naturally I'm always disappointed I couldn't achieve many more job I had on my list, especially because the weather was mild, but it's a lesson to be content with what I can achieve and to be patient.
May Yehovah bless us all until we gather again next shabbat.
Shalom
It's probably a good time to mention that when we bought Hebron we were looking for a crop or venture that would bring in an income to help the property support itself. After some investigations and figure crunching we decided that capers were perfectly suited to our climate, soil type and limited rainfall. We purchased 350 plants (approx) after attending a field day in Mannum. A series of events and circumstances have meant that the plants were not given the best start but we are dedicated to seeing this caper venture get established. So this single caper bud is very encouraging that we are finally getting something right!
Today as I swept the sand off the verandah area yet again I decided enough was enough, so I moved a whole heap of sand away and dumped it at the end of the verandah so I can pave the fenced-in area. Is now a good time to also say that I nicked the water pipe with the tractor bucket? But never fear, I fixed the hole and all is well again. (phew!)
So all is well in Hebron and things are ticking along nicely. Naturally I'm always disappointed I couldn't achieve many more job I had on my list, especially because the weather was mild, but it's a lesson to be content with what I can achieve and to be patient.
May Yehovah bless us all until we gather again next shabbat.
Shalom
Dear Annette,
ReplyDeleteBeautiful symbols of New Life - the caper bud and gorgeous lamb! Thanks for sharing,
Wendy
Hi Wendy - the lambs are so lovely aren't they! Bit tricky to catch but very placid once caught.
DeleteGetting your hand in on the tractor? Bet thas was fun, would have liked to be a fly on the wall as you got used to it. Thanks for the update. Dad
ReplyDeleteSorry guys, but your secret is out - that tractor is easier to handle than most cars I've driven and turns on a dime :) Only using the bucket and puttering around in low.
DeleteWent to Coopers to pick up some metal clips to fix the split pipe, and he told me that it was static pressure that caused it to split. Sounds like we'll have to replace that pipe at some point.