Wool Centre at Ross- Yarn Tour Part II

Our first stop was historic Ross on the Midlands Hwy about an hour south of Launceston. Ross remains mostly untouched and unchanged visually from it's convict times and is so steeped in Tasmanian history that I'll revisit that subject another time but for now we'll visit the wool centre.

By the way, I think Ross has THE cleanest and most pleasant public toilets in the whole of Tasmania and makes an ideal stop for morning tea. It was an idyllic mild winters day, crystal blue skies, no wind and warm sun shining down. We set up a quick tea and coffee station on a nearby bench and served ANZAC biscuits and an Apple Spice Cake.

Directly across the road is the wool centre, perfect!

It is a retail showcase for woollen garments and knitting accessories but it is also houses a fabulous "museum" and historical display of the sheep industry in Tasmania.

You could spend at least an hour looking at the displays alone but unfortunately we only have half an hour and it's back on the bus so I arranged for a talk to the ladies about 

White Gum Wool

You can read the full story here about the ethically raised sheep in the Tasmanian midlands and you can also watch a story clip here from a Landline special here.

I contacted Nan Bray, the owner of the sheep farm, to see if she would speak to us at the centre but unfortunately she was right in the middle of shearing but we had a lovely lady from the centre give us a brief insight into the difference of White Gum Wool. Many of the techniques employed on the farm are in direct contrast to most properties and I would imagine there a few hairy-eared farmers having a bit of a scoff but I think Nan is a real hero. One of the really interesting things she does is manage pasture for greater diversity of food selection and she allows the lambs to self wean and stay within their family groups for five years. Her philosophy is that though genetics are certainly important, just as, or if not more importantly, is the way in which sheep are raised. You get back what you put in. Do watch the video link, it's a great story.

The ladies had a great time and most bought something from the White Gum Wool range. I bought a ball of the sock wool to try and look forward to working with it. They will become a pair of socks for Craig.

Don't you just love these needles? These are from Art Viva and are Tasmanian made, you may recall from a recent post that I tried these out at the Campbell Town show this year and bought a couple of pairs. I really like the point and angle on them. Here is the link for Art Viva if you would like to see more.

That's it, time's up!

Back on the bus for a bit more mystery knitting and on to our next stop in Hobart!

........

Before You Drop That Bomb...

Some green beans climbing the federation fencing wire. Lush, happy and producing loads of beans.

Let's have a closer look though....

Does the sight of this cause you to gasp and quickly head for the pesticide? 

It certainly does for most people. Even organic growers reach for pyrethrum (because it's safe and natural right?) or some other concoction of rhubarb leaves or tobacco. 

WAIT, can I ask you to spend 10 minutes before you do and really look at the plant and ask yourself a couple of questions first.

There is some leaf damage but there are also more flowers and plenty of beans. The vines seem to be in good health. Healthy plants should tolerate a reasonable amount of attack from pests.

Don't reach for poison just yet.

There are a couple of dead cabbage moths (bottom left) within but I think they have sought shelter here. I bet they have laid their eggs elsewhere. I can't see their eggs hanging from the underside of the leaves or their chubby bright green caterpillars munching away.

I've searched and searched but can't give you a definitive identification of this common garden moth we get here in Tasmania. It is sheltering from the mizzling rain. The moth itself is not a problem but the larvae that hatch are leaf eaters. During my quick inspection I only see two so they are clearly not in outrageous numbers yet.

Here is a green shield bug. Shield bugs make up a large common category and are sap suckers. In great numbers these could definitely ruin your plant. They are easy to spot because they don't particularly hide from predators. They do tend to be a colour that blends with their surroundings but they also have stink glands that secret a foul smelling liquid, hence their other common name of stink bugs. Because of their harder shell, pyrethrum is usually not effective anyway. So hold that spray!

KEEP LOOKING....

Ahh, the nymph stage (young before adult stage) of the above green shield bug. I am no entomologist but I suspect the colourings are for warning or "foxing" as it probably hasn't developed it's stink glands yet.

This is significant though. I can see six nymph shield bugs in a small space. Numbers are multiplying and definitely could do significant damage but experience has shown me that the plant will take a bit of sap sucking.

Some baby spiders show me that other predators are in the area.

Consider first and remember that spraying a control substance will also kill the predators that are helping you with your problem. Within this vine is probably small frogs and stick insects who also rely on bugs for food.

So standing back and weighing it all up....

The plant has been producing well and I have been picking beans for about six weeks. yes there are some holes and webbing leaf damage but the beans are tender and juicy. Reasonably I can expect another few weeks of picking and I weigh that up with wading in and killing the bugs. What would I gain? Another week or two of cropping? By then the beans are getting tired any way.

The shield bugs perhaps look like they are increasing but natural predation could take care of that within the next week. Given that pyrethrum isn't effective there is no point spraying. My preferred method of control is manual in most cases anyway. In this instance you would use a small brush to move them into a jar or a pair of forceps because remember, they secrete smelly stuff and you don't want that on your hands.

From my experience in the garden, I find the key is to keep things in balance and everything will cycle and take care of itself. 

You definitely DO NOT want to eradicate any one thing.

 Just because it is a pest doesn't mean that it doesn't have a vital part to play. Everything is reliant on something else. It's all part of the cycle  or the chain. Think of yourself as the custodian of the garden rather than the controller. Your job is to aid and assist not to seek and destroy.

I haven't used any sprays in my garden, organic or otherwise in at least 20 years. 

Spend a little time and weigh it all up, including the consequences of wiping out not one but several species. Could you be in fact doing even more harm than a few chewed leaves?

Egg Production-The Facts of Life

Commercial egg producers, whether they be battery or free range, have one goal in mind,

to make money.

Eggs/time/feed/dollars.

The juggle is to achieve optimum eggs from a hen in the shortest feeding time possible in order to have the most profitable ratio.

A hen can only lay one egg a day at best.

At low light level times like winter when the daylight hours are shorter, hens go "off the lay" naturally and resume again as the days grow longer. 

Periodically they will get broody and "go off the lay" and want to just sit on the nest. It's a natural occurrence and will happen to hens in different degrees and definitely to some breeds in different degrees. For instance, bantams are known for their broodiness but that works in your favour if you are wanting to raise chicks.

Sometimes hens can get stressed by hot weather, lack of water etc and go into a moult and ...you guessed it,

"go off the lay".

So a farmer raises his hens juggling the conditions and manipulating the environment to keep his hens laying, cos a non-laying hen is a mouth to feed. He will put artificial light in the coop to keep them laying. When they go broody, hens are thrown off nests or placed suspended in cages so they can't get warm and comfortable. I have known people to even put bricks in the nest!

NEWS FLASH!!!

Just like humans, fowls are born with a set number of eggs. 

They have a genetic pre-ordered number of ova at birth, that's it. 

Just like humans, they don't release an egg every day of their lives.

Production is high in their peak, sometimes they get clucky, and then egg production becomes more spasmodic in their 3rd year gradually dwindling away with age.

For the back yard fowl keeper, naturally you desire egg production but it's not that vital that we have them laying every day at all costs to justify their existence. Let them be and be natural. If you are really bent out of shape by poor production then only keep your fowl short term and dispatch or re-home them at the end of their second year. I tend to think nature knows what it is doing. As a woman, I know that sometimes fertility can take it out of you and if a fowl goes broody I let her hormones go and know that she will resume duty when she is ready, perhaps like mine sometimes, she needs a break.

Come winter, I accept the seasonal food changes and modify our diets. We are getting about one a egg a day on average here but that is fine for our needs.

Too often I see commercial "advice" crossing over into the domestic locale.

Have a bit of respect for your food and work with it. 

Dr. Harry can rattle off the top of his head the average number of ova a bantam carries and the average of a leghorn etc but the point is, there is only a set amount. Why do you think Isa Browns lay so methodically, reliably, exhaustably and rapidly? Because commercial farmers have bred them that way.

Go with the flow. Stop making your hens uncomfortable with bricks in their nest and light in their eyes and let nature be. If you get to a point where you do not want to keep financially outlaying for your fowl, then move them on and get new stock but seriously, the cost is not that great when they are free ranging and converting scraps to manure and keeping down the pests in the area. For a domestic grower there are far more benefits than just egg production.

THE END.

(not one of our layers but one of our meat birds ie: rooster)

Take Action - Help Ban Live Export

Did you watch Four Corners tonight? What they showed was absolutely shocking

Dear friends, whether you are Australian or not, please sign the petition against the most horrible cruelty I have seen ever.

The following from the GetUp site:
Right now Australian cattle are being maimed and tortured before suffering the most painful deaths that the animal welfare movement has ever seen.

What's more, this callous slaughter is carried out in facilities that use equipment paid for by Australian taxpayers and inspected by Australian authorities.

Tomorrow we're presenting a petition at Parliament House in a press conference with the RSPCA, Animals Australia, and the Australasian Meat Industry Employers Union (AMIEU). The urgent petition calls on Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig to end the cruel practice of live cattle export.

Can you join the campaign and forward this to friends and family?

www.getup.org.au/campaigns/animals/live-export/ban-live-export

If you weren't convinced before, just watch this video footage from Animals Australia. Warning: the video is hard to watch, but it's worth the discomfort if we can help prevent this happening to other animals.

Let's call on the Government to immediately halt the live export of Australian animals to Indonesia and move towards an end to all live exports of Australian animals within 3 years. A huge public outcry right now, while the Government and the public are paying close attention, can ensure that not one more ship loaded with Australian cattle is allowed to leave an Australian port bound for Indonesia.

If you've seen the horrific footage of cattle being slaughtered in Indonesian abattoirs you'll know there is simply no room for more excuses from an industry that has had over a decade to fix this problem.

http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/animals/live-export/ban-live-export

Our campaigners are in Canberra tonight with experts from the RSPCA and Animals Australia. The Agriculture Minister has already started to walk back from his previous support for live exports -- but another inquiry or investigation isn't enough. It's time to end live exports. Please join the campaign and forward this email to friends and family.

Thanks for taking a stand,
the GetUp Team

GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you'd like to contribute to help fund GetUp's work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here. Authorised by Simon Sheikh, Level 5, 116 Kippax St, Surry Hills NSW 2010