moving trees....

When we first arrived in Fiji, whilst waiting for the titles and paperwork of our farm to come through, Ronelle started the nursery. 
She made cuttings of shrubs , collected seeds and basically 'made' all of our plants and trees.

read about the early days here 

 

                                             and also here



One of the interesting trees she 'made' was Tavola tree,
 a coastline tree also known as the Beach Almond (Terminalia catappa)

Tavola trees  are very tall trees with one main trunk from which the branches stand straight out like an umbrella.

We planted 8 small saplings 4 years ago and they have been dwarfed by other trees and long grass , but managed to survive on the edge of the property, right on the coastline.
The trees in the background totally obscured our view and today we decided to clear the skyline....

 When we started to clear, we discovered a few smaller Tavola trees  and we decided to 'move trees' , rearrange them and make use of their stunning 
skyline splendor.

 The leaves are very large, hard and once a year it turns
 gold and then red and fall off, leaving the tree bare.
 The leaves are used as medicine for coughs, applied on wounds and burns.
The kernel can be roasted and is used as a substitute for pine nuts in pesto. 

We are happy with the outcome and love the new skyline view!  What do you think?

the slasher ...

  One of our most valuable assets on the farm is the slasher....

(a slasher is a scrub clearing equipment, towed/pulled behind a tractor....)

  hahaha , more than that -  it is our    bundu basher!! 

and as it was not new when we bought it, and we certainly put it through hell on our farm.....it had its life

                                                         and then one day- poeffff. 

 It was done. 

              

 

No matter how carefully  Claude  tried to clean and fix the parts.....

we knew.....

                         We ordered the new gearbox from New Zealand

 and whilst waiting for it to arrive, Claude gave the slasher a much needed     face-lift.

Claude took the slasher in to our local blacksmith for some deep  welding 






                   
 

  

 


          and 

supporting 
                                    and strengthening

                          of the skids and body.



                        Then sanded the old paint layers and rust off...

 Then sprayed on  the undercoat.....

Finally Claude sprayed the body a Beautiful Blue....

and then.....

                   and then.......

at last  it was time to be behind the wheel and start cutting the grass down....

                                      this is what waited for CLaude.....

it is the rainy season in Fiji...it is the growing season.....

 

took him a few days and the farm looked and felt like a park again....

xxxx

some more pics

 this is actually a pic of a broken support....Claude had to make a new leg/arm/support....hopefully that is the last breakdown!

the broken part....

 the furnace...heating the metal bar....

 bending it on the anvil....

ta-da!!

xxxxxxx

till next time......

muddy path...

It is rainy season and cyclone Pam has just passed us by. 

 The farm is muddy and today Claude and Sai plan to fix the muddy path that the goats have to follow twice a day...

Footrot in goats (and sheep) is caused by the 

  bacterial organisms Fusiformis nodosus, and Spirochaeta penortha.

 The infection spreads when goats walk over the soil or pasture contaminated by infected carrier goats or sheep and mud is an excellent breeding ground!

Mild to severe lameness in one or more goats is the first sign of footrot.

Once infected, a goat may be a carrier of footrot for years.

So, prevention is better than cure and this is a dirty, muddy job that simply has to be done for the welfare of our goats.

Claude is using old cement railway sleepers....

                        it has been 'stored' on the land for ages

 and I am always on about the 'rubbish' and 

                                                    he 'has to get rid of it'....

    Today Claude  proved how valuable the old sleepers are....

       The cement sleepers are very heavy and it is backbreaking work....

            

                        then they started to fill the gaps between the sleepers 
                                                                                   with sand....

                             and then it was all done...

                                                     very proud of the work . 

           well done Claude and Sai !