January February March
Notes on 2019:
Animals:
Goats:
Because the effort of taking goats to pasture and back does not seem to justify the results (for just a few goats) we got rid of all of our goats during the year.Pigs:
It was a tragic year for our pigs. Starting in August we lost a fattening pig and two sows by early October. One of the sows died just before she was scheduled to farrow.Ducks and Chickens:
The causes are still not clear.
Luckily we were fattening two piglets (one male and one female) which seem to have survived. It is our intention to restock on the basis of these two during 2020.
Our boar Pinkie, also seems to have survived -but is too large to mate with a smaller animal. So he (and we) shall need to be patient.
Plants:The free range ducks and chickens seem to be thriving without much attention.
However, a number of ducks were killed (apparently while mating) in December.
After tying up all the older male ducks -except for the oldest one -the problem seems to have been solved.
The policy of putting manure from the pig pens on the garden patches -as well as fencing them off as protection from ducks and chickens seems to be paying off. Although harvests are still small, they are increasing.
We are now reaching the point where trimming and clearing are as important ass planting.
Garden refuse is either composted -or fed to the pigs,
Some fruit trees were planted in 2019 -but we are still waiting for several mahogany and Coconut trees to be cut down so we can plant more fruit trees.
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Maintenance seems to be the main theme for the coming year:
A major project for 2020 is to finally cut down the mahogany trees previously planned for 2019.
We also hope to replace several coconut tress with fruit trees -however government permission is required for this.
After last year's losses, two pig pens need to be cleaned out, disinfected -and restocked.
A reservoir by one of the pig pens has cracked after subsidence -and needs repairing.
Our wooden boundary gates need to be repaired or replaced -as does the metal gate between the boar pen and its neighbouring pen.
Hopefully, we shall continue cultivating and improving the many areas areas that still need improvement. Including the continued fencing off of selected areas as protection against destruction by ducks and chickens.
The Cultivated Areas will also need to be maintained: Encouraging the continued improvement of soil in order to increase the production of human and animal foodstuffs. Hopefully allowing us to reduce our dependence on commercial produce.
As the garden becomes more established and more productive -we hope to shift the emphasis somewhat away from just food production and move more towards the pleasures of recreation and relaxation.
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