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Yarnauwi Farm

~ Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

Yarnauwi Farm

Tag Archives: damara

Uses for sheepskins: prototyping seats and bags

25 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by Joel in art & craft, diy, livestock

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

art, art and craft, craft, damara, design, dorper, furniture, leather, leathercraft, sheep, sheepskins

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Prototype Yarnauwi sheepskin tripod campstool and belt pouch, demonstrating their commitment to the late-summer Fleurieu colour palette.

As part of running meat sheep on Yarnauwi, we’ve always been committed to using as much of each beast as possible, including tanning their hides at a local tannery when the animals go to slaughter. While our farm-raisedย sheepskins are available for purchase online and through our occasional stall at the Second Valley Market, we’ve also been exploring options for how we can better utilise this tough and supple material.

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The tripod stool

Our first attempt is a take on a classic tripod campstool: a luxuriant Dorper lambskin seat on an Australian Oak tripod baseย (Eucalyptus obliqua, fittingly this grows on the hills just a short distance inland from Yarnauwi). It took a few goes to get the hardware right, we’ve now settled on high tensile steel fittings to withstand the most vigorous campfire sing-along.

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Next in the works was a Damara hide belt pouch for threading onto one’s belt for outdoor adventuring, an extra pocket for farmy stuff (cable ties, a bit of wire and a pair of pliers, for example; or perhaps a hoof-trimmer and a lump of ram crayon) or even just to garner some cred at the local branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism.

We’re continuing to refine concepts, and learning oodles about leather craft and design in the process. We’d welcome any suggestions or feedback you might have! We hope to be able to release some for purchase via our Etsy site and through markets in the coming months.

 

The time of plans and projects

23 Monday Nov 2015

Posted by Joel in ecology, livestock, planning, regeneration, trees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

damara, ecology, farm, kangaroos, livestock, photography, planning, revegetation, seasons, sheep, southwestern Fleurieu, summer, trees, waterways

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Grain fields at Aldinga, and drying hills

It seems like summer comes sooner and sooner. Winter was short, and so dry that the dam never progressed beyond a puddle, then the sun was back, the grass grew for a moment then was bakedย dry again by anย early heatwave. The northern faces of the hills turned a bleached gold, then quickly the green haze on the south sides followed. And we’re back, heading into the hot season again, settling into a holding pattern of heat and dormancy until the opening rains.

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North faces baked dry in the first heat

Tolstoy apparently called spring “the time of plans and projects”. Now a year into our sheep project, we’ve begun tweaking our grazing practices in an effort to manage our pasture more effectively. We’ve increased our flock size through both breeding and the acquisition of some hardy, desert-adapted damara sheep, brought in from a dusty paddock outside Nuriootpa to replace the ageing and increasingly delicate Wiltshire Horn matriarchs. The existing flock hasn’t exactly embraced the new arrivals, there’s plenty of bleating and foot-stomping. You could cut the tension with a knife when we pour out the sheep nuts. Among the damaras is Manchego, our new ram. Looking at Pecorino’s legacy, it’s clear he has big hooves to fill.

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Yarnauwi on Etsy

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New work in progress, honouring the joy and vibrancy the Welcome Swallow brings to the farm! A swallow family have made a mud nest in the open bay of our shed, and for the past few months we have loved watching them raise young and take their babies on test flights around the shed #welcomeswallow #embroidery
Our popular "Fishes of the Fleurieu Coast" print is back in stock, just in time for summer snorkeling at Second Valley! This is a handprinted, two colour version featuring species commonly spotted along the coast and jetties of the #fleurieupeninsula. Available through our Etsy shop now! Link in bio. ๐ŸŸ๐Ÿ ๐Ÿก #print #printmaking #sea #fish #snorkeling #diving #fleurieucoast #handmade #ocean #reef #secondvalley #rapidbay #portnoarlunga #etsyseller #etsyshop @etsy @etsysouthaustralia @etsyadelaide @fleurieucoastmadebynature @fleurieulivingmagazine #fishing
๐ŸŒพ๐ŸŒป๐Ÿ๐ŸŒ„ #spring #silage #hayseason #hayfever #kangaroo #joey #fleurieucoast #fleurieupeninsula @fleurieucoastmadebynature #farm #southaustralia #yarnauwi
The bees are back! Five years on from our last attempt we're having another go at beekeeping on the farm, hopefully with more shelter, shade and forage for the colony after seven years of revegetation and planting! ๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒง๐ŸŒณ๐Ÿ๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŒป #bee #beekeeping #bees #fleurieucoast #fleurieupeninsula #farm #forage #honey
This year we planted a corridor of Holm Oaks (Quercis ilex) acorns for shelter, forage and a future fire break. They've germinated and are growing strongly! Adapted to the dry Mediterranean climate of Spain, the Holm Oak is one of the key species of the dehesa silvopasture system. The acorns are famous as pig forage as well as being the European oak most suitable for human consumption. ๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒง๐ŸŒณ๐Ÿท๐Ÿ #silvopasture #agroforestry #permaculture #oak #quercusilex #fleurieupeninsula #fleurieucoast #tree #acorn #farm
A few of our notes from the #fleurieucoast #festivalofnature Regenerative Agriculture through Grazing Naturally workshop with Dick Richardson and Ben Ryan. Plenty of new and challenging ideas for us to try out! @fleurieucoastmadebynature @cockatoocreekfarm @jagged.crow.farm @gumparkbeef #regenerativeagriculture #grazingnaturally #grazing #soilcarbon #soil #buildingsoil #fleurieupeninsula #fleurieucoastmadebynature #notes #illustration #permacultureillustrator #loveofdiagrams #diagram #ink #sketch
Fantastic to attend a regenerative agriculture workshop on grazing naturally led by Dick Richardson and Ben Ryan at the spectacular Ryan property. Great to meet some more aspiring regenerative farmers on the #fleurieucoast too! Thanks to @fleurieucoastmadebynature for another excellent program for the Festival of Nature. #regenerativeagriculture #grazingnaturally #grazing #festivalofnature #soilcarbon @cockatoocreekfarm #buildingsoil @jaggedcrowfarm @gumparkbeef #fleurieupeninsula #farm #agriculture
Sprouting seed bombs, created from local provenance seed and broadcast around #yarnauwi by our friend Steven Hoepfner. Thanks Steven, we look forward to continuing to watch them take root! ๐ŸŒง๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒณ #fleurieupeninsula #fleurieucoast #fleurieucoastmadebynature #seed #seedbombs #regeneration #revegetation #farm #regenerativeagriculture
Congratulations to Asher for his winning portrait of a tawny frogmouth in the Adelaide Hills NRC Threatened Species Art Prize! ๐ŸŽ‰๐ŸŽจ๐Ÿ–Œ #adelaidehills #art #tawnyfrogmouth #threatenedspecies #bird #painting

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