26/03/2022
When your kunekune buddy, just casually comes inside for a scratch by the fire ๐
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Off griding & living sustainably :)
Living on just under 4 acres & have a variety of animals, establ
When your kunekune buddy, just casually comes inside for a scratch by the fire ๐
๐
When living sustainably, it is so important to find an amazing bread recipe. Well it is for me ๐
bread is life to this gal ๐คฃ๐
I use my bread maker a lot, and without fail have perfect loaves of bread.
A day ago I checked out this awesome page called P**s easy meals! And came across a 'fool proof' loaf of bread recipe for the oven.
I almost just scrolled right past this post, because every oven bread recipe I have attempted I without fail completely butcher it ๐
dry, crumbly or rock hard bread ๐คฃ
But the words 'Fool proof' sucked me in, and I'm so glad it did, because this is the most amazing oven baked bread recipe I have EVER made. ๐คค totally mouth watering.
Check out p**s easy meals for the full recipe, preparation and cooking instructions.. You won't be disappointed!!!
It has been pretty busy here over the past few months.
We have welcomed many new babies to our tiny farm. Since August 2021 we have gained baby lambs, baby goats, baby chicks, muscovy ducklings and kunekune piglets. But before all of our animal babies existed, We welcomed a human baby girl ๐
on June 30th 2021.
It has been sooooo busy, but incredibly rewarding...
Below is a pic of the most recent babies to join our tiny farm ๐. Muscovy ducklings. This is one of 2 nests. We have 11 muscovy ducklings so far ๐
Our baby Kunekune's ๐
Super cuddly and just so adorable. These two were the runts of their litters. They were 5 weeks old when we got them (now 9 weeks old) But man have they grown!! ๐
Little ginger nut is a female and Oreo is a male ๐ฅฐ
Getting involved with the cooking of one of our goats.
My amazing mother in law taught me how to make goat larb, goat soup & marinated bbq goat ๐คค delicious!!! She also taught me how to make Lao bbq sauce.. even more mouth-watering ๐คค overall, amazing weekend.. ๐ค - Rach
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Eggs Eggs Eggs
With the change of season, our chooks are getting their lay on ๐คฃ๐
28 eggs this morning.... Nothing beats free range eggs.
Our newest addition to our homestead.
Meet Whiskey's baby 'Hiroshi' aka 'Roshi' for short.
We missed the birth of this little guy, but he is healthy & perfect. He is such a good size.
Tadashi wanted cuddles as well ๐ that one is getting huge ๐คฆโโ๏ธ๐ both boys look like their dad 'Rusty'
When our chicken's have missed us so much and have to follow us from the car to where they get fed... we had only been gone for a couple of hours..๐๐ฅฐ๐๐๐๐๐
Tadashi is groooooowing so quick. His horns are sharpening up & he is becoming really independent from his mama...
A few pics of Tadashi, his mama & papa & our little ninja & Tadashi's best friend Arch ๐โค
Haha can't forget Tadashi's crazy Aunt Whiskey ๐ she is due to have her babies soon ๐
It's been a little quiet here at the homestead with the colder weather setting in. But the best part is having a roaring wood fire ๐ฅ ๐
However, we did manage to kill & cook our first ducks, cantonese duck & roasted duck...๐คค
We had our first goat curry ๐คค We celebrate one of our children's birthday's & to top it off, we had sickness lingering in our home which caused covid testing (that part was awful) ๐ญ so sore... word of advice, try NOT to get sick, protect yourself๐ท & stay away from sick people๐ค๐คง... that swab is ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฅบmessed up!!! (Negative by the way)
And if you are sick.... don't be THAT GUY who thinks it's ok to spread your germs ๐คฆโโ๏ธ๐
Tadashi's horns are coming through โค
Fun fact about goat horns:
Goat horns have a lot of blood vessels in them that help the goats regulate their body temperature in the heat. Without horns, the goats have to resort to panting to cool off. If you live in an area with hot summers, a goat with horns will be better able to tolerate the temperatures
Thanks uncle google ๐๐
Best buddies, Arch & Tadashi ๐โค
Arch thought it would help encourage Tadashi to eat the leaves from the tree, if Arch 'pretended' to eat the leaves as well... until Arch said "ewww yuk" ๐๐คฆโโ๏ธ pretending turned into wanting to eat the leaves for real. Now Arch doesn't understand why Tadashi loves the leaves so much! ๐๐คฃ
More Chilies are coming through.
These ones are special though. These are LAO chilies, given to us from a lao family friend in Tauranga. She had grown these from seeds & man are they HOT...๐ฅ
Who likes their spice? We sure do ๐คค
Tadashi is getting so big & he is super clingy to Arch. He looooooooves Arch. Comes to Arch calling him & sits with Arch a lot.
They have such an awesome bond โค๐
Arch found a frog today. Strange because we haven't seen frogs since the colder weather kicked in.
Arch returned it to it's pond & was feeling hopeful that he might find more frogs in the pond ๐ธ
We have 3 frog ponds - sometimes frogs surprise us by hanging out in our gumboots ๐๐คฆโโ๏ธ
Today we welcome 3 new rabbits. 2 pure NZ White girls (Marshmallow & Angel) 6months old & a half NZ White half Giant Flemish boy (Batman) 8 weeks old.
All of them have been named by Arch ๐๐
NZ White & Giant Flemish rabbits are apparently the BEST breeds if you are wanting breed them to eat. They are meaty as. They have a lovely nature as well. Arch is super stoked with his new fluffy friends ๐ฅฐ
Rural life 'Traffic' ๐
This happens waaaaaaay to often ๐คฃ
Our not so little guy Tadashi is 3 weeks old tomorrow ๐
He is super cute, playful & loves his humans.....just as much as we love him!! โค
GEESE...
We thought it would be a good idea to get some Geese a while ago. Geese lay the biggest eggs, only once per year, about 9 eggs, around October.
We had 14 Geese at one point, given to us for free. We discovered that Geese meat is red, not white like chickens.
What are Geese good for?
- Mowing the lawns (Grazing)
- Security - Good guard Geese (make the loudest noise when someone they don't know enters the property)
- Feathers - amazing lots of feathers that can be used for all sorts, from arts & crafts to pillow stuffing etc
What are Geese NOT good for?
- Do the biggest sh*ts (anywhere & everywhere)
- Their meat was not nice - unless it was stewed for hours. And for a big bird it doesn't have much meat.
- They only lay once per year, so no ongoing free range eggs. AND the eggs are only good in baking. Eaten by themselves they tasted like metal.
- They bite & hiss like snakes lol
While the experience of having Geese was a good learning curve, we will never get Geese again.
Has anyone else had other experiences with Geese??
Autumn - Our favourite season.
Stunning colours โค
Reunited!
A few days before Chocky had her baby (Tadashi) we separated her from the other goats.
Today Chocky was reunited with the others. It didn't go so well :-(
Chocky & Whiskey were buddies... now they have to go to counselling ๐คฆโโ๏ธ to sort out their differences ๐คฃ๐
Work in progress, rebuilding their friendship, but man they can take some impact on their heads.
This little cutie has learnt how to escape his mama ๐คฆโโ๏ธ๐คฃ
Tadashi will be 2 weeks old on Monday. He is getting heavy & is super active. Still cuddly & adorable though ๐
When the in laws follow tradition & do their morning 'Date walk' around the homestead โค
It's so awesome to be reunited after weeeeeeeeks of living in COVID-19 isolation.
Who loves CHILLI? We definitely do ๐
These ones were given to us as small plants. They are now thriving!
We cook A LOT of Lao dishes in our home, so being able to pick chilies from our own garden is amazing!!
This morning's date walk - chook & duck feeding ๐
Promise, no PDA in this video ๐
Every morning Sone & I go on our 'Date walk' ๐
Date walk is walking together around the homestead, cuppa in hand (usually)
On these walks we feed our animals & discuss our plans for the day - So romantic ay? ๐๐ there are a few cuddles & PDA's along the way lol
This morning I was analyzing some of our fruit trees.
Mandarins are coming through, green apples are still going strong & the red apples are starting to come through again.
It's such a magical place. Our children help themselves to the fruit trees, I'm surprised there's still fruit available ๐
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Mung bean update!
They look amazing ๐ - This is our first attempt at growing our own mung beans in bottles.
Success... just in time for Pho tonight - Beef noodle soup ๐คค
The boys sorting out the portable electric fencing, run on solar. To help contain 3 of our 'naughty' goats. Whiskey (preggers) Snowy (preggers) & Rusty (always on heat) ๐คฆโโ๏ธ๐
This also allows us to maintain the grounds in sections & to protect the fruit trees & vege garden from the goats ๐ otherwise they might end up on our plates ๐คฃ๐
Oranges for daaaaaaays ๐๐
When we first came here, these oranges were the tiniest little things. Now they are thriving. There is literally hundreds on this tree... whoever lived here before has planted some of the most amazing fruit trees. Feijoa's & oranges are just the beginning ๐คคโค
As we ALLLLL know it is YUMMY FEIJOA SEASON ๐คค
One of the most loved fruits in our household & feijoa's go soooo well in baking & smoothies...
We are so lucky to have SEVEN feijoa trees here at the Vannathy Homestead...๐โค
FYI: Remember Feijoa's are a super fruit & a natural laxative ๐๐คฆโโ๏ธ So don't over do it ๐คฃ
Girls (& Arch) are doing some gardening today!
Clearing out the weeds & then we will be planting some herbs & veges ๐
Our boys are doing some homestead work.
Gathering wood & branches from 2 trees we cut down due to being old & a bit lifeless.
We had to cut them down before they fell on someone!!
Awesome work boys!
Today was 'Drenching' day. (The purple stuff)
Drenching is done to protect livestock from various parasites including worms, fluke, cattle ticks, lice and flies. Parasites hinder the production of cattle through living off their host and carrying diseases that can be transmitted to cattle.
So this is something that is really important to do at least 3 times per year to protect our animals.
I was too busy cooking, so missed videoing the process!
Daily cuddles with Tadashi. Today he is 5days old & he has grown sooooo fast.
Can't get enough of him ๐โค
Hello little one ๐โค
Tadashi is coming in the house more & more to get used to his human's ๐ค
Homestead cooking
We cook A LOT & usually make everything from scratch.
Today we are making pork, lemongrass & purple cabbage dumplings.
However this time we didn't make our own dumpling skins.
Our girls are pros at making dumplings ๐
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