Spring Biodynamic Prep Sprays

Its that wonderful time of year again!

We have our good fella Shane Martin come to our property and do the magical biodynamic prep spraying. 

We are certified Biodynamic here at Ruby Hills and it is a special way of doing things that essentially involves gathering a wide armful (or truck full!) of all that is good and enzymatic and energizing - and share it with the soil and animals and flora and fauna. It is indeed a special time of year.

little helpers carrying a drum of "worm wee"

these are the flow forms that create the special vortexes that energize the brew.

We are certified thru NASAA and use Biodynamics Australia. 

Here is an excerpt explaining biodynamics in a bit of a nutshell... 

WHAT IS BIODYNAMICS?  

A healthy, well-structured soil, rich in humus and high in biological activity is a prerequisite for any sustainable agricultural system. Decades of experience with the Biodynamic method on Australian farms have shown that these soil qualities can be promoted and degradation reversed by the correct application of Biodynamic techniques. Biodynamic practitioners seek to understand and work with the life processes as well as enhance their understanding of the mineral processes used in conventional agriculture. Healthy soil is a prime basis for healthy plants, animals and people. Biodynamic farming practices are of an organic nature, not relying on bringing artificial fertilisers on to the farm, although some organic or natural mineral fertiliser may be necessary during the establishment phase. On Biodynamic farms we seek to enhance the soils structure and nutrient cycles as well as plant growth and development with the use of specific Preparations which are made from farm-sourced materials. These are the Biodynamic Preparations numbered 500 to 507 used in conjunction with established agricultural practices such as composting and manuring, crop and pasture rotations, tree planting, the integrated use of livestock, etc. As the name suggests, these Preparations are designed to work directly with the dynamic biological processes and cycles which are the basis of soil fertility. Pest and disease control is generally managed by developing the farm as a total organism. However, Biodynamic practitioners may make use of specific products for weed and pest control, which they make from the weeds and pests themselves. Weeds and pests are very useful indicators of imbalances in soil, plants and animals; and the aim in the Biodynamic method is to use such indicators in a positive way. The Biodynamic Preparations were developed out of indications given by Dr Rudolf Steiner in 1924. They are not fertilisers themselves but greatly assist the fertilising process. As such they only need to be used in very small amounts. Horn Manure Preparation (500) is used to enliven the soil, increasing the microflora and availability of nutrients and trace elements. Through it the root growth, in particular, is strengthened in a balanced way, especially the fine root hairs. Horn Manure 500 helps in developing humus formation, soil structure and water holding capacity. Horn Silica Preparation (501) enhances the light and warmth assimilation of the plant, leading to better fruit and seed development with improved flavour, aroma, colour and nutritional quality. Compost Preparations (502 to 507), known collectively as the compost preparations, help the dynamic cycles of the macro- and micro-nutrients, via biological processes in the soil and in material breakdown. (from)

a day in the life of...

4 a.m. Nic starts the day after a strong cup of tea – out to shift one of the few the A-frame sheds with the John Deere.  He is greeted by immense white fluffy Maremmas  that can be easily seen even though it is still dark. The skids pull along the thick rich soil with ease, and he jumps out of the cab to open the hatches. The hens nearly burst out of the doors and hatches – ready to hunt bugs that have unknowingly stepped into their turf overnight. They’re gobbled up with ease and satisfaction – off to find some more and to see what’s under the brush in the shelter break and catch up on the local gossip between Henny Penny and the others.

Change of machinery to a four wheeler and a pair of eager bordercollies to fetch the cows from their overnight paddock. Waking the girls – udders full from their rest in the fresh air and soft grass. They waddle over the track to the simple, old milking shed – 7 a-side. They wait patiently in the yard for the lights and music to come on, stepping into place to be relieved of their pure creamy goodness. Then a leisurely stroll back out to a new fresh paddock to be investigated and ruminated. 

The calves are next on the morning jobs – bawling out for their warm cuppa. They anxiously press their cool noses onto the feeder and nourish themselves with their mother’s milk – quickly getting their fair share between their group – the milk is quickly sucked away. Off for a warm nap in the hay with a satiated belly.

By now Amy and the 3 kids are clattering around the house – getting dressed, organizing their day after warm sleepy cuddles.

12 eggs on the cooktop – daddy is clobbered by sleepy faces and smooches before we all tuck into a hearty breakfast and strong coffee and tall glasses of milk.

Milk bottles to fill straight from the vat- no machinery needed, hand capped and tucked away into an esky or box in anticipation of being opened and coveted by their soon to be owner relishing in their unpasteurized, unhomogenized purity.  

There are around 1000 eggs to be collected from the paddocks, phone-calls, emails and books to be reckoned with, children to be bustled from here to there, neighbours and friends dropping in to share in the generous produce this 250 acres provides, tractor work to be done, deliveries to be made, veggie patch and orchard to be tended, marketing to be handled, orders to be taken, eggs to pack and grade, feed to be brought out to various entities of the animal menagerie that calls this place home.  

–that is just a drop in the bucket of happenings around this place.

The afternoon brings a second milking, and feeding of calves, dogs to be tended to and fed, 2000 chooks to be tucked away into bed after dark, and then of course ourselves. 

Some days are filled with sunshine and easily managed happenings. 

Some days are filled with howling winds, mud up to your guts and overtired people (big and small!)

But all our days are filled with satisfaction, commitment, love, and family.
Everyday –without fail.
Seven days a week.

Bath Milk in a shop near you?

We're out!

Well, not "out" asleep like our baby here on top of the silage wrap in the tractor. Yes, he thought this was an appropriate place to have a catnap the other day while we pruned our orchard.

We're out in the shops with our bath milk! (google it if you are wondering what the go is!)

You can find our fresh, straight from the cow, unpasteurized, unhomogenized bath milk at the lovely following shops:

Naturally on High - Thornbury

Lamanna Fresh Organics - Brunswick

The Green Grocer - North Fitzroy

and locally around these parts at:

Greenheart Organics - Inverloch
soon: Aherns - Foster

Ask your local shop to stock it - we're keen to get this goodness out to you, but we need the demand to be there.

We're still up to our armpits in mud around here in South Gippy.

Our hens however have started hooking into production with a handful of warm springy days, so the hen fruit is plentiful!

We have a paddockfull of heavily preggos cows waiting to start their spring production. These "fresh" cows will  certainly make for a busy springtime! 

Have a happy day... from the Paul Family.

Leave us a comment and let us know what you would like to know about us, or any questions you may have. We're happy to share.

Our new logo!

What do you think?

Soon to be on 2 products - Ruby Hills Organic Eggs & Ruby Hills Biodynamic Bath Milk!

Stay tuned...

June Farming...

Hello there!

We've had some chilly nights and days, and plenty of mud about. 

Yesterday we spent the day pruning fruit trees, draining mud away from the house and farm jobs.  

The kids helped out with egg collecting and did their favourite jobs - getting grubby!

this is our Maremma bitch, "Queenie" - hoping she'll fall pregos so that we can have little white chook watchin' fluff balls!  .... with potential dad to be below... "Sailor"

Here's Nic with Monty and Gretta on our afternoon collection. We collect eggs once a day from our A frame hen houses out in the paddock. 

The man that brings all of this lovely Organic produce to life - Nic...

interesting attire for our littlest one... but he's happy - so there's no harm, right!?

Here's one of the Hen Head Quarters. We have 4 of these around in the paddocks. Nic shifts these every 2nd day or so. It really helps when the ground is not really muddy and wet - sometimes the tractor has a hard time getting grip and moving them along.

This is the big boy helper, Baxter. He's a chook catcher extraordinaire! 

... the paddock's grass and herbage that the cows went into lastnight. 

We are getting closer and closer to having bath milk in a bottle! 

Terribly exciting to be putting our milky goodness sucked up strait from these pristine Organic paddocks and into a bottle for others to enjoy. Stay tuned....

nutritional difference!

Pastured Eggs

Eggs are an exceptionally nutritious food as we all know!  It's not surprising, considering they contain everything necessary to grow new life!  But all eggs are not created equal. Anyone that produces true pastured egg knows they're profoundly different. So has anyone who's tasted one. This has been vigorously denied by peak industry bodies the world over, primarily representing conventional egg farmers, which assert that eggs from giant smelly barns are nutritionally equal to their pastured counterparts. 

Mother Earth News decided to test that claim. They sent for pastured eggs from 14 farms around the U.S., tested them for a number of nutrients, and compared them to the figures listed in the USDA Nutrient Database for conventional eggs. Here are the results per 100 grams for conventional eggs and the average of all the pastured eggs:

 Vitamin A:

• Conventional: 487 IU
• Pastured avg: 792 IU

Vitamin D:

• Conventional: 34 IU
• Pastured avg: 136 - 204 IU

Vitamin E:

• Conventional: 0.97 mg
• Pastured avg: 3.73 mg

Beta-carotene:

• Conventional: 10 mcg
• Pastured avg: 79 mcg

Omega-3 fatty acids:

• Conventional: 0.22 g
• Pastured avg: 0.66 g

Eggs also contain vitamin K2, with the amount varying substantially according to the hen's diet. Guess where the A, D, K2, beta-carotene and omega-3 fatty acids are? In the yolk of course. Throwing the yolk away turns this powerhouse into a bland, nutritionally unimpressive food.

It's important to note that "free range" supermarket eggs are nutritionally similar to conventional eggs. The reason pastured eggs are so nutritious is that the chickens get to supplement their diets with abundant fresh plants and insects. Having little doors on the side of a giant smelly barn just doesn't replicate that. 

{from}

In the Press...

Hello there. We've made the front page of our local paper for the 2 week run over Christmas!

We're terribly proud, and are enjoying our celebrity status with the locals. 

Here's what the article says...

Amy and Nic Paul and their children, Baxter (4 ½) Gretta (3 ½) and Monty (18 months), have built a happy and healthy lifestyle around the Organic Biodynamic dairy and poultry farm they have been leasing at Fish Creek for nearly a year. Amy is from America and Nic from New Zealand, but they find that South Gippsland suits them down to the ground.

Living the good life down on the farm

“HAPPY hens make delicious eggs!” says Amy Paul, who with husband Nic is behind Ruby Hills Organic Eggs, one of the newer stalls at the farmers’ market.

The eggs are produced by the 1,000 hens on Amy and Nic’s Fish Creek property (see photo on front page). They have been leasing the certified Biodynamic dairy and poultry farm of long-time Fish Creek organic farmers Ron and Bev Smith for almost a year. The farm is certified with the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia (NASAA).

“We believe in producing a product that we relish eating ourselves and feed to our family. Biodynamic farming is a step beyond organic in that we enhance the microorganisms in the soil by using specific biodynamic preparations, use the moon as a guide for timing of practices such as parasite control and we use homeopathic remedies - for our chooks, cows and ourselves,” says Amy.

The family also harvest some of their own veggies and have a thriving orchard and a worm farm.

‘Free range’ and ‘grass fed’ are understatements for the chickens that produce Ruby Hills Organic eggs. These fortunate chooks have acres of grassy slopes (the farm covers a total of 250 acres) on which to wander each day. There’s little to stress them, either. The Pauls’ five Maremma sheepdogs keep the eagles and foxes at bay, and each night the hens bed down in a spacious hen house.

Nic also milks 70 cows once a day. They supply their milk to True Organics Co-operative at Warragul, with a fortnightly order  to Red Hills Cheese.

“One day we’d like to make our own cheese, but we haven’t the time for that at this stage,” says Amy.

Life is certainly busy on the Paul farm, with three young children as well as all the chooks and cows, seven dogs, and 750 baby chickens.

“There’s always lots of help to collect the eggs, but no-one has yet put their hand up to help me milk the cows at five in the morning!” laughs Nic.

Amy takes eggs to Melbourne each week, where she finds it hard to keep up with the demand.

“We get lots of positive comments,” she says.

The Queen Victoria Market is the main Melbourne outlet, but eggs are also sold to several specialty organic shops. Locally, as well as the farmers’ market, they can be bought at Green Heart Organics at Inverloch, Aherns in Foster and at the Paddlewheel in Koonwarra.

“We’re always on the lookout for more local outlets,” says Amy.

She and Nic were dairy farmers in New Zealand for four years before jumping the ditch to Queensland. It was there that they started eating organically and decided that they wanted to produce a product they believed in.

“Ethical standards are much higher in Biodynamic and Organic foods than in commercially produced food,” says Amy. “It’s good to be part of the solution rather than adding to the problems that are facing the world with the overuse of chemicals and modification to traditional foods. In the end humans lose the race with the so called “cheap food.”  We end up paying for it with our health.” 

Ron and Bev Smith, who created this organic farm, still live up the road – they are building their own house and continue being active in Organic advocacy. 

“Ron and Bev created such a magic farm. We feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to take it over and maintain their vision of organic living,” smiles Amy.

Life is good down on the farm.

the start to 2011

"Holly" guarding the "Hooligans" - the 16 week old hens..  

These 300 girls will start production when our original 1000 hens start dropping production in March.  They will be joined with the 450 babies that are in the baby shed - keeping warm and socializing until they are ready to go out to the paddock like these little ones.  

They are so much fun to watch grow. And they grow SO quickly! Their little long necks sure were long when they first sighted the outdoors and the grass they were about to step onto for the first time. They've been out for about a month and are foraging and growing like proper little hens!

Funny thing - this is not the first blog post that Holly has been in... Check her out here... 

a little Christmas Eve Eve paddock get together...

Hello there - just a few happenings from around the place. 

We hope that your Christmas was joyful. Ours was for sure. 

We are so happy to be where we are, on this special farm, in a warm and inviting community here at Fish Creek.  We've been beaching and walking at the Prom - amidst the farm work....