Hillandale Farm News -- September 2001
Our last news roundup from Hillandale was specially exciting due to Gayle's wedding (in case you missed it, our May newsletter is still available) and over the months since then we have been busy with lots of farm activities.
The South African winter has been very cold this year and Hillandale has not been an exception. We have had many frosty mornings and many cold windy days. But we are not unhappy! We expect this in the winter and we feel that the cold kills the bugs and gives us a good chance of a decent summer.
Signs of spring
The first signs of spring are already evident...the roses have been
pruned and the new shoots are already appearing. The almond trees are blossoming and the peach trees are almost there.
The great news is that the oats I wrote about in our last newsletter has germinated and is now about 10cm high so it will hopefully provide the much needed extra feed for the lactating ewes and nannies in October.
Wool sampling and shearing
Sheep shearing will take place from the first week in September for two weeks and for the very first time we have taken wool samples from all our sheep so as to be able to shear according to microns and not according to handle.
This involved bringing in 1600 sheep and tagging each one then
shearing off a 50g sample and putting it into a plastic bag with the
corresponding number to the one on the tag in the ear of the sheep, so as to be able to identify each sheep at shearing time. The samples were sent off to the Fleece Testing Bureau in Port Elizabeth and we plan to shear according to the results.
This is a new innovation in South Africa and we have reason to believe we are among the first farmers to do this on an entire flock. It's an exciting development as it removes all the guesswork from classing. Furthermore we are told by the wool agents that buyers will pay a premium for wool sorted this way as
they know what they are buying.
Riverine rabbits and web connections
Those who read our last newsletter may recall that we were
working towards establishing a conservancy for the Riverine Rabbit in our area. The good news is that registration for the Krom River Conservancy was successful and the registration certificate was handed over recently (21 August 2001). Anyone interested in this very rare little creature is invited to visit the website www.riverinerabbit.co.za.
We have joined Cosmotrav International and you can find good pics of the farm and homestead from someone else's viewpoint at www.cosmotrav.com.
Holidays ahead!
With the advent of the September school holidays and yet another long weekend many folk are flocking into the country and at
Hillandale we expect a busy time ahead. The Karoo is particularly pretty in the springtime and we look forward to welcoming visitors who will be spending time with us during this period.
If you would like to visit Hillandale soon, or at any time, just let us know and we'll be delighted to help with information and bookings. You can find our contact information on a separate page.