Season of the sticks

• By Natalie Pitfield

Seasons become far more important when you live on a lifestyle block.

Spring means cows that are feisty after the sugar rush of lush new grass. Summer means the possibility of dry brown paddocks and a lack of natural feed. That’s certainly been the case this year.

After an initial forecast of a warm, wet summer, we decided to top our paddocks as there was a promise of rain to come. When that didn’t eventuate, everything quickly dried out and shrivelled up. The paddocks were the brownest they’d been in years.

Thankfully we only had a small number of young heifers on board. Our area was declared a drought zone, and then the real panic set in.

Once you’re low on grass you have the option of feeding out either hay or similar or a
supplement feed. We didn’t have any hay on board, and I knew the dry conditions would push the price of local hay way up. We’re not like dairy or beef farmers. Our beasts are simply there to keep the grass down and we rotate them every two years. So, spending a fortune on feed really isn’t an ideal scenario.

In the middle of our property is a natural spring. We created a drainage trench that extended from the middle of the property down to the end and we generally didn’t run stock through that area as there were future plans to make it something of a feature.

We’d added a pond and a little bridge and used all the rocks in our bottom paddock to line the drainage trench. But desperate times call for desperate measures. So, into the drainage area the cows went.

I was so pleased with the job they did of grazing areas that were too difficult to be topped.
And they came out looking fat and well fed. After a few tricky weeks, the rain finally came,
and the drought was broken.

I was so relieved I could have gone out and danced in it. With the warm days, the grass started to grow quickly, and the cows were a lot happier. So were we.

I took the dogs for a walk and let them have a romp around the property. As they get older,
they’re not as keen to have long walks around kilometres of hilly paddocks. Sometimes, a
shorter romp in a paddock that’s had all sorts of critters wander through is enough to keep
them sniffing and exploring very happily.

But this particular day they ran off to the paddock the cows had just vacated. Then Milo came back so covered in cow manure it was hard to tell he was a dog at all. He was pretty much a walking cow pat. You can imagine the smell.

The most intensive bath in history followed, and then I washed his collar and myself. Next
time the cows have been grazing an area, the dogs like to romp in there’ll be a strict
withholding period before they’re allowed back in.

RECIPE: American Hotcakes

Method:

1. Sift flour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the
   centre.
2. Lightly beat eggs. Mix eggs, melted butter and milk together.
3. Add egg mix to flour mix and whisk with a fork until well blended and smooth.
4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave for 20 minutes.
5. Heat a tsp of butter in a frying pan on medium to medium/high and spoon batter into the pan. Cook until the top bubbles slightly, then turn. When pancakes are golden on each side, remove from the pan.
6. You may need to melt more butter each time you cook pancakes. Serve with maple
   syrup and cream, jam, lemon and sugar or whichever toppings you like.

You can add blueberries, chocolate chips, M&Ms, raspberries and other delicious things to
make your pancakes even more special.

* Substitute GF flour, DF spread and a DF milk if required