The last day in April will mark the end of our sixth year on
this Free State farm. We have all grown and changed in this environment. Now we
are slowly preparing to move back to the Cape in a few months time. The
challenge for me, Elastic Mom, is to hold onto the lessons that I have learned,
and they are many. I hope to apply some of them, albeit modified, to a
completely different coastal lifestyle.
For now, the task at hand is to continue to stretch my
resources and keep to my use-it-don’t-lose-it principles, and all the other
thrifty tools I have up my sleeve as we wrap up our farm life. Our four dogs
and two cats will be the only animals making the move with us.
This week we sold our last two Jersey cows, Hope and Rosie.
They went to join Joy at our friends’ farm. It is so hard letting go of my
precious girls, but I know they will be loved and well cared for in their new
home. This means the end of farmers markets for us for now, as we no longer
have copious amounts of cheese and butter. Had I known that we would be
leaving, I would have stored up butter and cream rather than selling it in
croissants and pannacottas.
We are left with one bullock that was intended for beef;
grass fed, organic prime beef at its best. He will be making the trip to the
local butcher quite a bit earlier than planned, but will provide us with beef
that we can transport frozen and also sell to a few lucky people.
Winifred, our pig is pregnant and we will sell the piglets
when they are weaned, rather than raising them ourselves. Sausage, her brother,
has lived up to his name. We will sell Winifred and her future mate, the dashing
spotty Houdini once the piglets are weaned as well.
Our chickens will likewise be sold off, and some unlucky
young roosters will become coq au vin. We have also promised some chickens to
our staff.
Lucy Lamb is going to live with my vegetarian friend where I
know she will be safe and loved along with the three other hanslammetjie sheep
that already live there. Once her fleece is long enough, it will be shorn and
kept for me so that I can spin it.
Meals will be planned around the fresh produce and open jars
in the fridge. The last of the harvest in our bountiful vegetable tunnel will
be picked before the frost and cooked fresh rather than pickled or frozen for
winter. I will dry surplus tomatoes rather than freeze them. There is not all
that much left in the tunnel. I won’t plant out the seedlings that I had
planned for our winter garden. Once all the fresh produce is used up I will
focus on cooking from the contents of our freezer. Jams, pickles and preserves
can travel with us to our new destination so I probably won’t open any new
jars.
My head is spinning a little with new tasks and a change of
focus, but I am confident that we can do this hard thing.
