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Lambing Time: A Family Affair

A ewe nuzzles her tiny black lamb at lambing time

Rewritten and updated for lambing in 2019

Farming is an eight-days-a week job. It’s our livelihood but it’s also our life. So, when our kids were young they helped out on the farm whenever they could. When the lambs arrived we needed them most of all because, in Spring, farming is a family affair.

All Hands On Deck

Each year, when lambing began the kids fought for the chance to drive around the sheep with Dad. It was great fun spotting the new lambs in each paddock. They slid merrily out of the Toyota truck to get the gates and raced to return straying twins to their mothers. 

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Kingston Memories: Mr and Mrs Ek

Mr and Mrs Eck lived in Kingston, on land stretching down the southside of Kent Street. Now it is a subdivision. When it’s covered in houses will anyone remember that this was once a farm?

My family will remember. And, I’ll always regret not taking photos of Mr and Mrs Eck. Because now I’ve only got memories of an extraordinary couple.

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Electric Fencing Ups And Downs

Every day in August – and now in early September, I stride back and forth across the paddocks helping to shift electric fences. Each one takes about half an hour so I have had plenty of time to reflect while I get my daily exercise. 

These days we’re a well-oiled electric fencing team, my farmer and me. But this wasn’t always the case…

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Oh! Those Gum Trees On The Farm

Gum trees tower over the house.

Blue gums line the gravel road that winds past our dusty little farmhouse. Look out to the west. Once you could see for miles, but not any more. Now your gaze stops at the towering gums.

Why are they still there, blocking my view?

Eucalyptus trees, as blue gums are more properly called, are a hardy bunch with more than a few annoying features.

You couldn’t call them pretty trees. Their bark peels like last week’s sunburnt skin littering the lawn with long brown stripes. Branches sprout every which way and their dull green leaves hang limply from every twig.

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Life On The Farm: Lambing 101

4 lambs at lambing time, all looking at the camera.

Spring

It’s September, which in Garston means spring, one of the busiest seasons in the farming year.

The trees are covered in blossom; daffodils abound; there is a ton of ground preparation to do before Terry can sow the new crops. But foremost in our minds right now are all our pregnant sheep.

Mamma Mia, here we go again: it’s lambing time on the farm.

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Town and Country — Team Building At Its Best

The team among tussocks and rocks at Welcome Rock.

There’s no doubt that James McNamee is a man of many missions. To us, he’s the mover and shaker behind our farm’s fledgeling hop business. At work, he’s a team leader who inspires loyalty and commitment. In fact, one of James’ biggest strengths lies in team building.

James may have physically left Garston many years ago, but it’s a place still dear to his heart. So it was with some delight — and perhaps trepidation — that in September he let his separate worlds collide. That turned out to be a win for all.

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