Happenings

While at OverThere Farm, we had quite a lot of happenings going on, from visiting 'tannie' Pam's lovely tea garden to separating cream. Here are a few.

We went to art class once or twice with Mirte and Femke at Pam's, as well as visiting her tea garden as a family. Every time we went it rained though, so we sat on the veranda, not in the beautiful, flowering garden.

Dear old tannie Pam and her dog, Puff.

Now where did all the cookies go....

Projects

Usually after milking and teatime every morning, the project of the day is tackled. Here are a few projects we've done in our time here....

New Life

On OverThere Farm, there are quite a lot of animals who are looked after daily and provide food as well as amusement. Since our arrival, there's been a few new faces and we've experienced the wonder of seeing new life.

Solitaire gave birth to a calf, Uno, who at first got kicked when he tried to drink. But after getting the baby to a dry warm place and giving the mother time, she calmed down. Jerry milked the new mom and we bottle-fed Uno. After some time together, he managed to drink and is well and energetic now. 

Newborn calf.

Daily Chores

On a farm, there are certain things that have to be done every day. Most of us has one of these chores, in the morning and the afternoon.
Every morning the cows has to be fetched from the fields and milked. In the afternoons, the calves and cows are separated so that there is more milk the next day.

Herding.

Hikes

On Sunday (October 5) we drove to Cobham Nature Reserve near Underberg and Himeville, 2 small towns only 5km apart. A rather amusing story surrounds the lane of oak trees that spans from the one town to the other; Underberg started as a shop in 1886, and when a new town had to be built in the area, authorities decided that Underberg's location was not suitable for being a magistrate seat. As a result Himeville was established in 1902, and a long rivalry carried on between the two, such that the oak trees were planted to try and improve the relationship...

Together with Marina (our fellow volunteer from Germany) we went for a 15km hike in the Southern Drakensberg Mountains. The weather was great and we walked past lots of clear pools in the Polela River. Unfortunately it was too cold to swim in!

OverThere Farm

Our host farm for October has been one really interesting experience so far.
OverThere Farm (as it is called) is a post-organic, self-sufficient farm, which means that most of what they eat is grown (or slaughtered...) here. We have been welcomed by the Graaf family; Jerry, Marcella, Mirte (15 yrs) and Femke (10 yrs) who are also homeschooled. Mirte also maintains a blog on their own farm's activities, have a look here: http://growingupafarmergirl.wordpress.com/.

We shared our first week with another volunteer from Germany, Marina Liebhart. We've been settling into the daily farm life routine, and have been busy with lots of chores and projects (which I will post about in the near future).

A view of the fields and house.

Plowing in preparation for potato planting.

The massive vegetable garden.

The path leading to the volunteers' sleeping quarters.

Byrne Valley

We've arrived at our destination for the month of October... Byrne Valley (near Richmond, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa). We had no idea the place even existed, but we've been pleasantly surprised by the environment. The hilly surroundings are green and colorful with azaleas (flowers) growing in the streets of the local village, and forest plantations creating a peaceful atmosphere. 
At first, it rained for 2 days and it was very cold (especially for spring in South Africa). Luckily the sun came out after that and because of the rain everything is fresh green. 

Driving into Byrne Valley.

Taking a walk with Marina, another volunteer from Germany.

The main road of Byrne Village. 

Beautiful spring flowers everywhere.