MAY 2020
May 2020
May has been relentless in the sense that it was persistently intense in many ways - some positive, some negative.
Many of our “long term” followers will know that we usually have a fast-paced and intense Spring, Summer, and Autumn, followed by a quiet Winter. This allows us and our staff time to have annual leave since December is usually a very busy time with peak Summer production and the guesthouse busy season. We also try to live by Nature’s rhythms - as the leaves begin to fall, the days shorten and the pace starts to slow. Our area experiences Summer rainfall so by Autumn, the rain stops and the grass doesn’t recover as quickly. By the end of May we have usually had a few frosts already which cause the grass to go dormant. Being a pasture operation, we need to have grass, and grass recovery.
With lock down and a new normal, we have had much to reconsider. In the space of 2 weeks in March, the farm went from a growing income generator as part of a system to our sole source of income. This has meant in order to see us through winter, and keep our staff paid, we will need to continue some of our operations. We usually manage to keep the layers and pigs going through winter but this year we will be stretching the broiler operation a little longer. This has meant rethinking our broiler pens, and improving our grass management so that we can keep green, lush areas as long as possible. Broiler chickens are very sensitive to cold so we need to raise them in sheltered areas and provide alternative shelter for cold nights. This is new territory for us and is equally exciting as it is scary.
After a long and busy Summer, we are tired and longing for the slowness of Winter, one morning to have a lie in, yet immensely grateful for having the farm to pay the bills and the ability to keep our business going!
We ended April being short staffed as some of our staff chose not to return to work. With an increase in orders, this left us with long days and stressful, sleepless nights. We have always kept our team small so that we can function more as a family and take care of each other. This means that when half of our team is not there, the weight on the rest of the team is immense! We have had a handful of incredibly stressful times in our Bramleigh journey, that are etched into our memories. The start of May will definitely go down as one of these times! Times that change a person - taking a little piece, while forcing growth at the same time. The flip side of this was the solidarity we felt with our remaining two guys and how the four of us just ploughed on together.
My favourite sight in the kitchen - the little chicken bowl usually filled with afternoon treats from Kate!
But then the immense good of May - enter: The Chanthunya family! A result of lock down was borders closing and this meant that Chikondi, Kate and their family were unable to continue their journey to Malawi as planned. For them, this delay is very frustrating but we are so super grateful! We were over the moon to have them move to Bramleigh, semi-renting, semi-volunteering. The extra hands were just in time! We have so loved having the company, the support, the skills, the fresh eyes, and all of the love that came with them! (My favourite is coming in off the farm and finding a delightful little chicken bowl filled with Kate’s freshly baked goodies, just the pick-me up we need!)
Sampling Kate’s delicious hot chocolate…
Kate has been a whizz in the kitchen, helping with baking pizza bases, and together she and I have tried and failed, with much amusement, to bake sourdough bread. Chikondi and the boys have been helping us prepare for winter by converting an old tractor shed that can be used as an area for our broilers as a halfway house for a few days between brooder and pasture, while the temperature fluctuations are extreme, giving the broilers more time to acclimatise in less harsh conditions. This can be used as a cozy night time shelter if there are very cold nights, frost, or snowy conditions forecast.
Some of our value added goodies coming out of the farm kitchen - peppadew chutney, pork lard, and the sourdough bread experiments
With the help of the Chanthunyas, we have cleared along our fence enabling us to fix up weak areas to keep inside animals in (dogs!) and outside animals out (porcupine, bushbuck etc.). The next step was clearing a larger area for veggies - the importance of self sufficiency in times like these has never been more real, as well as having more of us living here. We have cleared a larger area between the house and the tool shed. This area was previously overgrown, full of garden trees and shrubs but it is close to the house - visible and along our daily path, easy to irrigate and sheltered from harsh sun and frost. The plan is to hire a wood chipper for all the biomass that coming out of the area to create bedding for broilers and compost for vegetable growing. The more we can use, the less inputs we have to buy in, the more regenerative our management can be.
pasture raised laying hens
The layers plod along quite happily with their mobile coop. This winter we have over 200 birds so it is nice and toasty inside at night. Egg production naturally dips during cooler weather so our ladies are working hard to keep up with the orders.
Forest Raised Pork
The pigs - rotters on trotters! They are like a naughty little gang that keeps escaping in search of acorns and other yummy goodies under the fallen leaves and in the garden, pinching citrus off the little fruit trees and tilling their way around anything interesting. We have been planting cover crops behind the bigger pigs which were growing well - until the bushbuck discovered them and nibbled the tops off!
The goats are happily browsing their way through overgrown veld and shrubs. They are so trained now that when their stable door opens in the morning, they run like mad out to their last grazing area, and in the evening, the same routine backwards. A handful of feed on either side keeps them happy, otherwise there is a lot disappointment! They are such fun animals to work with, they really keep us entertained. Sitting listening to them munch away on the mountain side is becoming a great reflective, mindful hobby.
REKO
REKO has been a fast growing animal lately! With lock down, people are avoiding shops and crowds, and perhaps more conscious of what they are eating. As a result, the REKO group has grown to over 1500 in Hilton. At the end of April, we managed to get REKO Hilton functioning again in Drive-Thru style. This meant changing locations to allow a flow, but this has limited space and access for the 30 plus producers who are part of REKO. and strict rules for producers and consumers. It has been the most management intensive REKO has ever been! Trying to get everyone to comply with government restrictions, and fitting REKO into that has been beyond exhausting. Our phones never stopped with messages from customers and producers asking questions, complaints, or issues. We eventually had to become strict and request no personal messages. Combined with our own business stressors, it added to May being one of our most stressful times in the journey of Bramleigh! However, some of the major kinks seem to be working out, thanks to many hands getting involved, and a bunch of producers volunteering to help with the organisation. And thanks to loyal support from many customers, our ship is still afloat! Check out our video
Since we can’t host farm tours right now, we are working on something virtual…