Our darling cow, Greybell gave birth to a calf the other night. It was dusk, almost too dark to see but we could just make out her swollen belly and her arched back as she patiently pushed her baby out into the world. I had gathered the children all around to witness this awesome event and she didn't disappoint. In minutes the calf was on the ground and she was licking at him, stimulating him to breathe. This few seconds of uncertainty seems to take forever, but suddenly I saw some movement. This darling little calf lifted up his head and indicated all was well. Mother and baby are doing fine and are together all day. There are short intervals where she will allow us to pet her baby, who is still too innocent to be afraid of humans, but we certainly never push our luck and always watch for signs that she is upset with our presence.
In the gardens, Spring is everywhere. We have abundant tomato plants coming out of the earth - so many of them I am wondering how I shall use all of the tomatoes when they come. Sprouting so far are brocoli, shallots, carrots, capsicum, lettuce, strawberries, celery, beetroot and herbs. Nothing is ready for picking yet, other than the odd head of brocoli but I am trying to be as patient as possible. We had a mass plant recently where we added corn, cucumber, more lettuce varieties, eggplant and rockmelons. Here's hoping they will emerge soon.
Our fruit orchard has just had the addition of a peach tree. The lemon tree is powering ahead (which is typical really given that I don't actually like lemons!) and the mandarin, orange, cherry and apple trees are growing ever so slowly - I wish the results were instant! I am intending to put in a grape vine soon and looking into growing a few banana trees under some sort of cold frame, given that we get frosts in winter and bananas are tropical. We eat so many of them in our house though, it would be worth any modification we have to make to grow them.
