Farmer Roy's Random Thoughts - I never said it was easy.

[holwellcourtfarm]

Imagine going into a shop and asking for a couple of pounds of apples and only getting one apple.
Feckin massive!

View attachment 991186

There used to be a cooking pear tree here that produced pears about twice that size!

Utterly inedible raw but beautiful cooked.

The landlords bulldozed it along with the walled garden it grew in when they dug us for sand.

 

[Kidds]

I’m guessing it would be downgraded / wouldn’t make it into the fresh fruit market because it was out of spec ?

I sprayed it orange and sold it as a pumpkin.

You would never find one in a supermarket, not least because the variety wouldn't be on their acceptable list never mind the size of it.
It is a Crispin, also known as Mutsu and actually very popular in Japan.
I don't supply supermarkets so it would not get rejected because of that, my customers are more interested in what they are buying so I reckon if I sent it to a shop they would be delighted. I do send Bramley in that size and never had any adverse comments.
I make juice, Crispin are fantastic for juice as they yield so much and the resulting pulp is so clean they really are a delight to work with. By clean I mean when you empty the cloths out after each pressing all the pulp falls away without sticking to the cloth. We grubbed our old Crispin orchard a while back and I saved graft wood so I could plant a new orchard just for juicing, this is out of my new orchard and there is a really nice crop in there.
They also ripen later so while I am flapping around trying to get the Cox before they leap off the trees the Crispin just sit there waiting. They will also easily barn store until February if I need to.

 

[Kidds]

The landlords bulldozed it along with the walled garden it grew in when they dug us for sand

A shame no grafts were taken.
Talking of which, these are yours. Only two made it and I had hoped they’d be stronger but nevertheless there are two Bramley trees here for you. They will be good trees when planted out.

 

[Jim bean]

Roy did you make the barbwire balls, l've always wondered how to do those. Yours appear quite small though.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Roy did you make the barbwire balls, l've always wondered how to do those. Yours appear quite small though.

No, they were made by a local. They do a variety of sizes, but these are that size because that’s what my wife wanted

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

A shame no grafts were taken.
Talking of which, these are yours. Only two made it and I had hoped they’d be stronger but nevertheless there are two Bramley trees here for you. They will be good trees when planted out.View attachment 991193

Do you mind keeping them a while longer?

A significant part of the farm is about to go on the market and the final yard planning result is (theoretically) due in mid December. We should know where we will be going by spring. I could collect them on our way up.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

No, they were made by a local. They do a variety of sizes, but these are that size because that’s what my wife wanted

Are they tied, or just "balled" and held by the barbs? Glad they were bought up as I have (literally) heaps of old barb after removing all our old dinosaur fencing

be great to do something crafty with it instead of just bury it

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Are they tied, or just "balled" and held by the barbs? Glad they were bought up as I have (literally) heaps of old barb after removing all our old dinosaur fencing

be great to do something crafty with it instead of just bury it

It's called "upcycling" these days



In told

 

[Steel]

I have been watching this snake for three days and the amount out from under the drum never changed. He was moving about and had bared a patch and the dry grass was blocking where he was under the drum. I decided he must be stuck so lifted the drum and found he was jammed in a slot in the drum.
I managed to hold the drum up in one hand and push him down out of the slot with a shovel. He stood up with his mouth open to thank me then went under the drum. Hopefully he can get back to eating mice now.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

I have been watching this snake for three days and the amount out from under the drum never changed. He was moving about and had bared a patch and the dry grass was blocking where he was under the drum. I decided he must be stuck so lifted the drum and found he was jammed in a slot in the drum.
I managed to hold the drum up in one hand and push him down out of the slot with a shovel. He stood up with his mouth open to thank me then went under the drum. Hopefully he can get back to eating mice now.

View attachment 991240

What sort?

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Eastern brown. Only really 4 types around here. And I've only ever seen 3 of them. Browns, tiger , and red belly black snakes. Of which I have only ever seen one on our farm. Definitely not a fan of tiger snakes.....nasty mothers.

 

[Steel]

Eastern brown. Only really 4 types around here. And I've only ever seen 3 of them. Browns, tiger , and red belly black snakes. Of which I have only ever seen one on our farm. Definitely not a fan of tiger snakes.....nasty mothers.

Have you ever seen a Curl Snake. They look like baby brown snakes as they have black stripes on their heads and the rest is brown. They only grow about 3 feet and are nocturnal. I found I have them when I found one in our kitchen. I thought it did not look quite right for a baby brown so took a few pictures and looked it up. Apparently they are not as venermous as Browns and will just make you feel crook if bitten.

 

[Kidds]

Oh, well that's alright then.
Almost tempted to get a few myself on the strength of that. Not!

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Have you ever seen a Curl Snake. They look like baby brown snakes as they have black stripes on their heads and the rest is brown. They only grow about 3 feet and are nocturnal. I found I have them when I found one in our kitchen. I thought it did not look quite right for a baby brown so took a few pictures and looked it up. Apparently they are not as venermous as Browns and will just make you feel crook if bitten.up

Nope. 4th snake I was thinking of was carpet python. Had never seen a tiger here till about ten years ago either. And I've only ever seen one red belly on our place as well.

 

[Steel]

Nope. 4th snake I was thinking of was carpet python. Had never seen a tiger here till about ten years ago either. And I've only ever seen one red belly on our place as well.

Other than the one Curl Snake I only have ever seen Browns here.
I wish I had Black snakes.

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

I wish I didnt have tigers. Nasty little barstewards. They'd rather stand and fight than best a hasty retreat.

 

[le bon paysan]

f**king snakes, I hate them!

Edit. Spiders too!

 

[Farmer Roy]

Nope. 4th snake I was thinking of was carpet python. Had never seen a tiger here till about ten years ago either. And I've only ever seen one red belly on our place as well.

blacks are quite common here, although they tend to be fairly timid & get out of your way quickly, so there’s probably a lot we don’t see

 

[Farmer Roy]

f**king snakes, I hate them!

Edit. Spiders too!

snake bites account for similar numbers of fatalities as do bee stings

meanwhile, you are 3 times more likely to be killed by a horse in Australia than you are a snake

Forget spiders and snakes, horses are more likely to kill you, study shows

More Australians are killed by horses than all the country's venomous creatures put together, a new study by Melbourne researchers finds.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Yale]

Pensioners are more of a danger here.

Was digging a short track out by a road today and lost about an hour by being collared by a couple of local coffins dodgers.

Would be rude not to have a chinwag in the autumn sunshine.