my name is Peter and I am - no, sorry "was" - a German. The reson why I say "was" is, that we are meanwhile New Zealand citizen and live here since February 2000. And with "live" I mean "life" as in enjoying, embracing, living life!
We have a small farm, what we call Lifestyle block in New Zealand. We live in Wellsford which is 100km north of Auckland. I work as a Computer specialist and am in the lucky position to be able to work from home permanently!
We farm Angora Goats and Sheep. The sheep are coloured mixed breeds and we use their wool mainly for spining and weaving. The Mohair wool from the Angoras goes to the wool dealer. We also have chicken and Ducks. I love ducks - dead and alive!
Just this morning my wife came into the office and had 8 ducklings in her hands. Cute!!! We are not organic certified but apply organic principles. Especially the use of Effective Microorganisms (EM) gets me very excited. Our approach is to be as selfsufficient as possible. So far we make our own meat, poultry, eggs, milk (75%), pasta, bread, mayonaise, tomato ketchup, vegetables (75%), fruit, jams, pickles, herbs and most of all: Beer and wine! This is my hobby. I am a very enthusiastic Crafts Brewer and wine maker. I make alcohol out of everything! I make a very good Grapefruit Wine, a nice Guava Wine, Lemon Cider and a Fejoa Champagne. My main beers are German Wheat, Pale Ale and Stouts.
Next on the list is our own Butter amd cheese. But I am miking only one goat at this stage and need more milk for this. I also want to make my own soap.
My wife is currently attending a study course for agriculture. She gets very excited about tractor lessons and chainsaw training. It's a worry,isn't it? She spends more time in the farm supply shop than in a boutique. She is good friends with milk tanker drivers, farmers (especially if they have fence post rams) and vets. Gosh how our life has changed! Unbelievable.
Our dream: Become even more selfsufficient, stop working and produce good healthy food to affordable prices. Because that's one thing which upsets me very much: Organic food is about three times the normal price than unhealthy food. And I do not see a justifcation for this! My dream, is to allow normal families with a normal income to live a healthier and better life. Yes, I am a dreamer, I know!
That's it about me. If you have questions ask them. Otherwise you won't get an answer!
Cheers
Peter
Perhaps you could post it in the recipe section?
