Farmer Mama Tong

 Sunday, September 4, 2022

We'll start with gratitudes in this post. Today, a friend from SF shared that she and her family try to practice the 4 Gs: grace, gratitude, grit, and generosity. I appreciate this very much and will keep that in mind for myself too. 

Today mom is grateful for, 

• being able to pet and feed the animals today. 
• on the way to farm, seeing Lisa and Boulder, the dog. She invited us on an outing together. 
• the farmer, Penelope, gave us a ride into town.
• hearing stories about Penelope's neighbors
• knowing that on Sundays, motorcycle riders come from Wellington and ride on the Rhumtaki Hill and ride through Martinborough.
• seeing the mommy pig have 11 baby pigs. 
• we ate dumplings and pad thai at Crouching Tiger
• buying lamb meat from Scotty the butcher. He also gave us a bag of corn chips!

Today I am grateful for,

• the chance to see my mom love the animals so much. 
• connecting with people back home in SF.
• all my friends and family that support me to be my best self. 

Last night after dinner, mom did some word searches in a puzzle book she's had since the start of the pandemic (June 2021). She bought it at Lakeshore's Lucky Supermarket. We then played Ticket to Ride. We're both new to the game. Mom won and beat me by a lot. She was pretty happy. Things that came up during the game:

• you're trying to cheat me
• you didn't shuffle the cards well enough
• how did you catch up so fast
• you were trying to be greedy, that's why you lost

We had a really good time playing and mom wants to play again tonight. 

Martinborough Manor Farm

On our walk to our destination, we passed the Martinborough Golf Course. I told mom that I wanted to learn how to play golf. Mom shared that she learned how to play in high school. I asked her for a demonstration. Guess that looks about right!

Our adventure today was a paid visit to the Martinborough Manor Farm. $30 NZD/each. After our almost two hour tour, mom commented that the cost was totally worth it! 

Penelope and Bill own the Martinborough Manor Farm where they grow and eat what they grow. We first stopped and met the three goats. They gently ate out of our hands. 

We then feed the sheep. During our time in NZ thus far, every time we walked near sheep, they would turn the other way. Not these sheep on the farm! In addition to the grass and hay that they eat every day, they also have these treats whenever humans come to visit. They love us. 

Penelope shared that the "odd" or gamey smell when sheep are cooked is from the the fat of the sheep. 

There were so many kind of poultry here: hens/chickens/rooster, geese, turkey. Some are pets, some are to lay eggs and some are raised to be eaten. 

The donkeys really enjoyed the carrots. They've got big teeth (remember Donkey in Shrek? Yeah...big teeth). Penelope and I walked away from the donkeys and mom stayed to continue to pet them. Penelope said: your mom needs a donkey. 

We met Tinkerbell, the pig, who just had eleven babies four days ago. The babies were already sold before they were born. $100/each. Penelope shared that pigs were more valuable per lot because pigs can have many babies where sheep can have at the most two babies. Tinkerbell had to sets of babies this year already. She's had 22 piglets just this year. 

The boar on the left are the piglets papa. 

We next met two cows, one is the grandmother and one the granddaughter. 

The grandmother has been feeding the granddaughter. 

The farm had a lot of rabbits that were being raised as well. 

Many will have babies and be sold as pets to families. 

Penelope took us around the vegetable garden. It's pretty expansive and I'm just amazed at the work that it takes to run this farm. 

Mom was loving the pigs here. Penelope said: "Your mom should get a donkey AND a pig."

A bonus to the farm tour was checking out the flowers on the farm. Penelope grows these to sell as bouquets and to florists who order flowers for weddings. 

She has to pick 100 tulips for a wedding coming up in a few days! 

There was only one tree on this piece of property when they purchased it 7 years ago. Penelope and Bill planted EVERYTHING! I am so impressed with the people in New Zealand and how they tend to their land/gardens/farm. Penelope said this is the kiwi way of life. I can barely manage my own garden in the front and back of my house. In addition to being a farmer, Penelope teaches maths (yes, that's how they say math) online to students in university level. WOW!

 

Bill feed these two cows baleage (grass with vinegar). I guess this is what grass feed cows is? They seemed pretty happy. The grass smelled nice and vinegary. 

Penelope showed us some compost they get for the garden from a mushroom farm. She offered to drive us back into town which was great cause we were hungry!

I really enjoyed this farm visit. There is a lot of effort, time, work that goes into making food for our consumption. I am so grateful for all the people who grow our food. 

We had a most delicious lunch at Crouching Tiger in town. Dumplings and Pad Thai noodles were surprisingly delicious! Mom commented that the dumpling skin was very thin and she thinks they are homemade (rather than frozen).