What I Did Last Summer...

What a summer...do you really want to know what happened?  Really???  Really Really????

OK, I'll tell you then.  SUMMER FROM HELL.  No, really!  Really really!!  All possible things that could go wrong went wrong.  We were put through the real-life trials and tests that come with choosing a dream that is not easy in real-life.  We faced a number of realities that we knew were coming, and a few that were surprises, but did we quit?  NO!  We have changed some alignments, re-adjusted some expectations, and all is full steam ahead.  Well, full steam in a holding circle until the damn house gets sold, anyway.

Last I posted I was whining about all the lost hay.  10 days of work for wet rotten hay.  (which is good as litter for the animals, so not wasted, and litter costs more than hay anyway, so there...there's always a bright side!|).  What i didn't mention, was that in those 10 days, the vegetable garden was completely neglected, cause Gab was doing hay and I was stuck in Salò with the kids and school and such.  Just 10 days of glorious weather, then 5 days of rain,  in the beginning of June was enough to completely jungle-ify the early veg -- the peas and beans were completely lost to weeds...no, really, completely.  We had chenopodium (so delicious when small, so completely invasive when allowed to grow) over 4 feet tall, the beds completely infested and we couldn't find the poor beans in the jungle.  So we decided to just plough it over and give up on the beans for this year.

That's not so bad, anyway, because the three sisters (corn, zukes/pumpkins, green beans) were just glorious, absolutely booming and tons of them.  So we were consoled...but not for long.

In early July, we lost a goat.  Ernestina got herself tangled up in the electric fence and couldn't get free.  Wouldn't be a problem if we were around, but it was Raffi's birthday party, so we were gone for the day.  That was a hard hard blow, and it had consequences.

Gab didn't trust the fence anymore, and wouldn't turn it on for fear another goat would be hurt or killed.  It didn't take long for the goats to figure out that the fence was no longer a hindrance to them, and within a day or two they started escaping regularly.  First once, then twice...then three to four times every single day.

what corn looks like after a goat attack

Goats really like corn.  The corn is right on the other side of their fence.  The corn didn't last long, and as soon as it was gone, they started on the zucchinis and beans underneath.  Once again, we were consoled..."at least they don't seem to like Solanaceas, and the they are leaving the (glorious, healthy, strong) tomatoes, peppers, eggplants alone."

Weeeellll...they don't like solanaceas as much as they like corn and zucchini.  But as soon as the corn and zucchini was finished...well, tomatoes will do in a pinch.  Yes, when I saw the destroyed tomatoes, I have to admit, I broke down and cried.  But it wasn't finished yet.

Once a few hundred metres of glorious corn

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants gone...they moved on to the onions and garlic.  Ever smelled onion-garlic goat farts?  You don't want to go there, believe me!

The simple answer would be to just fix the fencing, but its not so easy. The electric mesh is too big for small newling goats (though OK for adults), but we can't put fixed fencing because we don't have planning permission, and its also the middle of summer and the woods are hard to clear and fence in when all is growing.  And on top of that, fencing is a huge job and Gab is completely demoralised and distracted.  It will take ordering different mesh, for chickens, which has to be ordered and shipped because its so uncommon, taking about a million years to arrive, AND it costs a fortune.  We could have tried to fence off just the garden, leaving them free to roam everywhere else, but then they would escape to the neighbours' gardens, and that would have far worse consequences than just our own losses.  anyway, it wasn't an easy fix!

mmmmm onions and garlic!

So here we are in August, and we haven't managed to harvest a single thing.  Its not just the goats either, the fox got 8 chickens, someone stole the turkey cock, and the crows got almost ALL the baby chicks because we let them out of their safety pen too soon.

What to do?  Keep on trying of course.  I started to plant the winter cabbages, put down a bed of brussels, and they didn't even last out the day.  Holy Moly, do goats LIKE cabbages.

That same day, I met a friend of Gab's who also keeps goats, and told her about the brussels etc, and she told me there is a proverb in italian, much like having your cake and eating it too, that says "si salva capra o cavolo" -- "you can save either the goat or the cabbage, but not both".  ooooo, thems be fightin' words i say.  And so I went straight home and individually fenced off just the cabbage section, and if any stupid greedy goats wants to risk their life to eat my cabbages, well fine!  We'll make goat sausages.  SO THERE. HAH!  (goat sausage is sooooo yum!) And the cabbages are still doing beautifully, we will be able to start picking them soon, hoooooraaaah!!

Yes, we ate all the fruit too...

Add to all this turmoil 6 people living in 600sqf for three months straight of average 35 degrees sweltering hot sun.  Add to that the blocked septic system for about 3 weeks (eeeew).  And you have a recipe for a lot of tension and stress, a lot of doubt and anxiety.  We had to do a lot of work on our relationship, on our plans, on our dreams and our expectations too.

But we've come out on top of things, and ready to do things one step at a time, rolling with the punches as it were.

I just look naughty, don't I?

And is ALWAYS the case, out of difficulties comes growth and new ideas and always something positive.  We are more together, more dedicated, and also more relaxed about the whole enterprise.  Whereas before this summer, we were frustrated, pushing and pushing but not getting anywhere, now we will take it as it comes, and are working from rooted strength rather than just blind enthusiasm.  Until we sell the house, we can't do anything more than that, so one step at a time!

Another super bonus...in the absence of our own harvest, I focussed so much more on what was free, wild, abundant and already there in nature.  We still have a freezer full of food and a pantry full of jams and preserves, just made out of wild food instead of cultivated.  I made elderberry jams and elderflower syrup, have dried elderberries for putting in muffins and breads and such.  I have racks of jam from cherry dogwood fruits, wild plums and damsons, wild strawberries, blackberries.  Wild mint and achillea teas, nettles in freezer, and so on.

And from this comes an awesome new idea -- I reckon there's a high end market for jams and preserves made from wild fruit.  I'll call it "wild thing" and sell it for gobs of money in fancy restaurants and boutiques to well heeled city folk who want "more than organic".  Quantities are limited, obviously, and the product absolutely fantastically delicious, as well unusual.  Combine rare, unique, and delicious, and I think we may find a way to make this project actually even make some profit for us.

We did have one grand triumph, though -- it wasn't ALL disaster.  The bees did their job, and we harvested over 100kg of the best wild mountain honey you have ever imagined.  Mind blowingly delicious!  Oh, and the goats can't dig up potatoes, so lots of potatoes too!

Now that autumn is upon us, Gab has spent a month clearing paths in the forest for fencing, building up the fixed fencing and gates around the stable and paddock (and planning permission be damned...don't tell any park authorities though!) and installing the new smaller mesh electric fence all around.  They now have a great big piece of land to browse and munch in peace, without threatening anybody's gardens.

And so we get back into the swing of things!  The bucks arrived yesterday, and soon we will have a stable full of pregnant goats.  Soon I'll go up and get some pictures, and that will be my next post...in a few days, rather than a few months!!