whats up with us during june - july 2013

It has been a busy few months.  Lots to report......

The hens started to lay....they are now rewarding us with an egg each every day.

Remember the  Town Hall that we bought in 2009?  We have been storing the timber since then  and this year is the time to either put the Hall back up as it was when it was constructed in 1890....

Or use the Oregon Pine and old wood - and build something different.

                                                                                                                   BA Town Hall  circa 1890

The inside of this beautiful building.  Although old and flooded a few times , we thought the timber was still pristine.  We decided to tender on the building.... were successful and we had to dismantle and remove the building from its original site.  

  We suspect that some of the timber were subjected to .....shrinkage........during storage at our factory.  At least it was under cover there , but since we moved it to the farm, it was stored in the open.....

The Hall being carefully dismantled (2009)...

It is now 2013   and    in    step    Builder James Naicker.....and his team.

Ground breaking!  And the building work started.....

We adopted Anzac and Roxy , the two adult dogs of an expat family leaving Fiji.
They were city dogs before coming to the farm - but very eager to learn!

                                                        and the first pole is up!!

Meet Mr James Naicker - our builder!

It  wasn't just building these past few weeks.....

Sometimes

                      it is just right to sit down with everybody.....and have a "talanoa" (talk - Fidjian)

It is 6 months since cyclone Evan.

  The broken branches are now becoming more of a hazard. The bark holding some of these branches are now dried up and the slightest wind causes the branches to tumble down.....in this case right on top of my young  fruit trees in the nursery.

 \






Thank heavens for a

            handy man!!!

James and his team continued to make magic. 

 Claude could hardly keep up with taking photos!  Everyday a  task that James set up, was completed. 

 We are very happy with the progress. 

 Here James explained the technique of laying floor boards.....Look at the beautiful condition of the old floor boards.

and the roof is up!!!

Because we were not sure how much wood we lost due to "shrinkage" , we decided to build small cottages/rooms and see how far we got with the timber.

Yes.   We
                 had
                        more
                                    rain !

                                                   Lots of rain!

Busy as always, Claude used the wet, unproductive days to service his fishing reels.

 
\
 and the result......!




Work on the cottage stopped for a few days during the rain.

and the sun came out....and work continued.

Afternoon "talanoa" session.  All attending....hahahaha!

One of the most beautiful features of our cottage

                                                      is the beautiful  wrap around steps.
                                               
                                                                 James is busy building them here.

Remember our outside bathroom?  One morning Claude found these

                                  mushrooms in the bathroom....

James and his sons starting with cottage 2/3

Gardening is a non stop event....  an old derelict fishing boat became a garden feature.....

The cottages in progress....

and now the hard work starts for us. 
The old wood needs to be sanded down.

 The floor boards ,
                        the beams....
                                              the walls.......

Claude with another project.
                   A nearby resort replaces their Kayaks and we sure could put their old ones to good use  .......                                                               after fixing them up!

Claude's new projects in waiting!

Roof is up on cottage 2!

Our beautiful cottage.

we had  picnics with friends and neighbours....

But a farm has loads of work.  Claude has been busy with

grass slashing and tractor work. 

and removing trees from our vegetable fields.

Wesley is declaring WAR on weeds....and trees !

a beautiful pic isn't it?

The cleared field....it was hard work and took many days....

a thought I would like to share - 

Nothing worth having, comes easy.

the make over of a YAMAHA AG 200 farm bike

on the farm in March - April 2013

The farm is starting to look beautiful again.  Although it will take a long time before we can get it back to the state it was before  cylone Evan,  we are starting to see the garden recover.

 

 The flowering shrubs flowered profusely and it was quite an adventure to look for the blooms on the hibiscus and other flowering shrubs.   I made the cuttings over the past months and it is the first time that they are flowering..

 A series of troughs of low pressure, prevalent trade wind
flow and Tropical Depressions influenced Fiji’s weather in
March.
Rainfall during the month was generally average to above
average.

 The presence of TD16F during the first week of March
brought rainfall to all parts of the country

The above shrub is particularly beautiful.  The flowers, which resembles a hibiscus, change colours over a few days...from white to pink to darker pink.  Don't know the name yet, but will blog more about this shrub.

 At Monasavu, 278.7mm of rainfall was recorded in March,
which was 45% of normal.

As you can see, the worst is cleared up in this area....I think the fallen tree in the back will stay ...use it as a feature....

The workshop is just about finished. Floors done with one of the walls to be finished.

 Claude started on the laundry and a workplace for me.

Once again we had the help of strong Fijian boys to help lift and carry the roofs and walls sidings that we used previously.  It was neatly stacked on the farm but got

 'shaken'
                           and 
                     ' stirred'                                  during cyclone Evan!

just a few boring shots of  holes for the poles....

 and we had an Oops again!

The land is still  full of broken down trees and branches dangling from the tops of trees that we have not been able to clear after cyclone Evan .  Claude is slashing as much as he can with the tractor -  clearing at the same time.  Whilst slashing and clearing in a spot where he has not cleared since cylone Evan, a  tree branch dislodged itself ....from somewhere........ and stuck right through the cab of the tractor.

His foot got stuck ( see the LH  shoe underneath and behind the branch ) and he managed with great difficulty to get the tractor to stop as he could not push the clutch!

OUCH!

 

 After this mishap and dare I say it was the second Oops as the first Oops was a branch that fell on him.....(no photo)   - Claude was on light duty and ever the busy bee, he started to renovate this

 

 Yamaha AG 200 farm bike

From this - 

 To this !

Mobile on the farm !

overview of agriculture in Fiji

Fiji Agriculture

Agriculture, which was once a major stronghold of Fiji’s economy, now comprises only 8.9% of the nation’s GDP. More than three-quarters of all Fijian households used to engage in agricultural-related activities, but now many of those workers have switched over to the growing service industry.
Sugarcane is Fiji’s most important agricultural industry, accounting for over one-third of all of Fiji’s industrial activity. Indigenous Fijians own most farmland and local residents of Indian ancestry farm it and produce about 90% of all sugarcane, which is then processed into raw sugar and molasses in the Fiji Sugar Corporation, which is predominantly owned and run by the government. The European Union is the largest export market for Fiji’s sugar.
Coconut and copra (the dried meat of the coconut) are also important agricultural products that are widely used and exported from Fiji. There was a ban on exporting copra until 1998, and since then a new copra-buying company has emerged, raising the price of copra considerably. Fiji also grows and exports bananas, pineapples, watermelons, cereal, rice, corn, ginger, cocoa and tobacco.

A flood in January 2009 devastated areas in the central and western regions of Fiji and destroyed most of the farmland in Sigatoka Valley, an area that supplies 70% of vegetables to all local farms. Agricultural production suffered massively and relief from Fiji’s government, as well as seedlings donated by the Taiwan Technical Mission and AUSAID allowed many farmers to stabilize their vegetable production and make up some of the profits they lost due to the flood.
According to the Fiji government, the January flood as well as the devaluation of the Fiji dollar by 20% (which also happened in 2009), have had a positive impact on agricultural production by adding value to harvested crops. Other sources indicate that the flood and the global economic crisis actually have the potential to devastate Fiji’s agricultural economy.
In April of 2009, the government of Taiwan advised Fiji to curtail its falling rate of the GDP in relation to agricultural production by vigilantly increasing its export business in whatever way possible. Currently, Fiji imports more than it exports, which contributes to its widescale trade deficit. In August 2009, the government of Australia announced that it would give Pacific island nations a relief package in the amount of $150 million to combat the effects of climate change on its agricultural production.
Every ten years since 1968, the government of Fiji has conducted an agriculture census, which enumerates and evaluates all farming programs by village, tikina and province. The information collected in the census is used by the government to make plans for agricultural reforms and rural development. The newest census has been conducted in 2009 and will be published at the end of the calendar year. (At the time of writing, new data was not available.)