On Saturday Michelle & I left Daylesford at the crack of dawn for a day of weeding our garlic, up at Callawadda. We drove through the usual towns, winding our way to Avoca where we stopped at the amazing Parkview Cafe for provisions.
We arrived at Terry's farm just as John from Biodynamic Growing magazine was leaving. Bummer, we missed out on a photo opportunity! And we had our matching gumboots on too! John was there to do a piece on Terry and his farm and apparently he was also very interested in our garlic. Hopefully he will mention it in the December edition. There was no time to dilly dally though so we hightailed it up to the paddocks and got down to business. The gods were kind and gave us a beautiful day, no wind, no rain and some lovely soft sunshine.
Crawling along the ground pulling out monster weeds isn't everyone's idea of fun but we always make the most of it and have a great time. Chat, chat, laugh, laugh, cackle, cackle, the time goes quickly.
It's a wonderful feeling being out in the fields, under a big blue sky with the birds tweeting and the garlic growing big & strong.
After a break for lunch we finished off the beds and the garlic was free to grow without the annoying weeds cramping it's style. There has been so much rain this year that the weeds have gone crazy. So different to last year when we had much less weed and had to water more often. We came across alot more daisy this year too, which is pretty, but very deep rooted & quite hard to pull out!
I love going to Callawadda, the country is so different to where we live. I really admire Terry who runs his farm all on his own, with the help of his 10 year old son, William. He has sheep, cattle and grows a variety of crops. He works long, long hours and often doesn't see anyone else for days.
He is such a lovely, warm man who always has a smile for us and makes us so welcome. Michelle grew up with Terry & it's thanks to him we have this opportunity to grow our garlic in his rich, fertile, bio dynamic soil. What a guy.
Driving home I was so exhausted, but the good exhausted you feel after a hard days work. Having been sick last week and dealing with all that asthma, I did feel pretty wrecked. The drive home was lovely though, with the late afternoon sun & the colours of spring making everything seem larger than life.
Sunday was a tough day, I didn't have much patience and I really just wanted to lie in bed with a hot water bottle! But I hung in there and kept my grumpy comments to myself (mostly..!) I did fall into bed about nine o'clock and today I feel alot better. The sun is shining and it's the start of a brand new week. What are you up to? Can't wait to hear, see you soon xo
