Spring seriously sprung for us this September
September was easily the busiest month since I returned home earlier this year with a lot going on across all our enterprises.
Starting with the sheep, the ewes and lambs finished their winter grazing in the vineyard in time for lamb marking. Thanks to a tremendous season through winter and start of spring these July/August drop lambs had grown exceptionally well with a large percentage being almost too big for the marking cradle. We sold two trailer loads of cull ewes through the Mudgee sale yards where unfortunately the market had softened but that’s the nature of the game where prices fluctuate significantly. With far better equipment and systems in place our processing of a wether was a resounding success, having learnt from last time and my experiences helping process cattle in the north. Our fridge is now stocked with a healthy supply of home grown lamb.
Last but not least, we were delighted to secure two top quality rams from the @etiwandarangelandraised sale, a stud’s genetics I’ve wanted to get into our flock for a long time and I can’t wait to see the influence these rams deliver. It was a momentous occasion for us, being the first rams we’ve used breedplan figures as a critical selection tool which I hope will greatly enhance the productivity of our flock going forward. Thank you to the Etiwanda team for breeding such lovely rams and for delivering them to Dubbo where it was much easier task for me to pick them up.
Among the vines, bud burst kickstarted the growing season in early September and now the vineyard is a beautiful carpet of green shoots several inches high, looking the best it will all season in my view. At the wineries the last batch of wine was bottled for the year. With the Mudgee Wine & Food Festival running through September it was wonderful opportunity for us to have stalls at the Twilight Tasting and Flavours of Mudgee events. It was a delight meeting so many lovely people, whose compliments and support mean so much as they sampled our @optimiste_wines among many other amazing local wine and produce businesses.
In the new orchard, the spring blossoms came in spectacular fashion providing a dazzling display of colour for a brief period as the newest trees awoke from their winter dormancy for the first time in our soil. The apricot planted five years ago flowered profusely and we’re excited by the bumper crop of developing fruit that should ripen in the coming months and we will certainly be netting that tree closer to harvest. As the rabbits left a mark on a few young trees I hastily set about putting guards around all the trees which are now safe and growing nicely. Finally, we set about starting a new compost pile by gathering various sources of material right across the farm which will provide the foundation for feeding the trees into the future, supplying them with the adequate nutrition to provide bumper crops for our enjoyment.
The cows delivered the final few calves which are now growing nicely as the cows regain condition in preparation for joining coming up. It’s a huge relief seeing the condition the cows are in now after a tough spring and summer last year and brutal autumn and winter this year.
While September was a warm and dry month with less than 5mm in the gauge, the good rain through winter has kept things going nicely but rain in October will be very much appreciated.
