Leap Farm in Copping, Tasmania, Australia | Farm

Leap Farm

Locality: Copping, Tasmania, Australia

Phone: +61 427 355 879

Address: Bryans Rd 7174 Copping, TAS, Australia

Website: http://www.leapfarm.com.au

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25.01.2022 Bream Creek: the land of rainbows. Such a lovely evening to be helping with putting the girls away.

25.01.2022 Autumn. It stinks.... .....of handsome buck! Today, we let the first of our girls in with Baldran. We haven’t *quite* got organised yet... the tethers are not yet tethered, that was meant to happen earlier in the week, but a combo of me working lots of hours and Iain nearly chainsawing his finger off (not badly - I was able to fix it just fine on the kitchen table and it’s healing well), and Erin has been super busy too, butwe are almost there. ... This afternoon, we spotted the girls at the fence (in the wrong paddock, of course) flicking their tails at the boys. Baldran was the mature, strong man, pacing the fence line and controlling the others. We moved him into his own paddock, away from the others (hence why I now stink) and the moved the girls in with him. It was love at first sight Meanwhile, the other lads were boofing each other a bit and generally horsing around together, showing off to the other girls. It reminded me of a pack of adolescent boys at the school social. Absolutely hilarious watching hormones in action! Clearly, we’re all mammals! So, 5 months away and we start all over again. It’s always exciting, but exhausting too. So you sort of want it to come round quickly, with this concurrent emotion of dread (although that’s really too strong a word). Definitely going to enjoy a quiet winter this year. And how good was our sunset tonight!?!?

24.01.2022 The year of the triplets continues!!! Salty and Coriander kidded in the shed. Meanwhile, Big Ears has thrown twins, as has Salt and Stilbo has a singleton. More coming imminently... of course, we’re (trying) to rip out the hay floor today too...

23.01.2022 Monday was pretty windy here. Discovered the fence down here and 2 other trees that are dangerously upright but blown against and propped up by bigger ones. I see some tractor time and chainsawing in my crystal ball. On a happier note, if you listen to the sound you can hear the swift parrots and musk lorikeets in the background. Getting this area fenced off (far enough from the falling branches) is a priority so we can protect these giant trees (Tassie Blue Gums - E. globulus) from the stock. And rehab our ground cover at the same.

23.01.2022 Letting the girls and babies into the paddock after milking, so that they can forage on the budding blackberry leaves.

23.01.2022 It’s Friday!! Who else is leaping with excitement for a weekend with a good weather forecast?!?! So relieved for the Sunday forecast of 17 degrees C - we’ll be at the Bream Creek Farmers Market with our premium dry-aged beef (all the cuts), beef sausages (taste tested on Wed night and absolutely delish, thanks Meat Mistress) and a very small amount of goat meat - our goats in the paddock aren’t in good enough condition, so they’ll stay there until they are. Well also have our fresh Tongola Cheese available. Sunday, Bream Creek show grounds, 9am to 1pm. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

21.01.2022 Iain purchased some new second hand digger tracks and we needed to pick them up - so a quick Road trip to the north of the state this weekend. Best thing was making the time to come up and stay the night with Mike Layfield and Lauren at Felds Farm . We find it so absolutely invigorating chatting to these inspirational farmers. And it’s so much fun. And Loz and I stole a quiet 20 mins to record a quick catch up on where they’re at for The Curious Farmer podcast. Typically, I’ve had yet another penny drop ah ha! moment. Again!

21.01.2022 What an inspiring Sprout Tasmania Cross Pollinate conference this year. There was a great diversity of attendees - farmers, chefs, others who work in agriculture, foodies, not-for-profits and more, who were able to come together in a room that felt supportive and safe so that tough questions could be asked, frank feedback could be received and idea-seeds watered that have sprouted. All voices were heard thanks to great leadership in the room and in the small groups - with so ...much diversity of opinion and thought this conference has shown a degree of maturity that is rarely replicated. We are so thankful to have been a part of this and are so excited to see what comes forth. And so excited to have developed relationships and invested in connections which will make all of us Grow Stronger. So many people to thank, but special mention to Jen Robinson, the GM of Sprout. Outstanding leadership.

21.01.2022 So dainty and cute! But you’re still not going in with the milker’s tonight.

21.01.2022 A little Christmas cheer I discovered in the dairy this morning. I think one of the children brought it up recently. Certainly made me smile. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas for those who celebrate, and a fabulous, fun, non-Christmas if you don’t! Cheers! Iain & Kate, Hamish and Pippi, and all the goats.

21.01.2022 The hedge trimmers at work. Every year, the babies do the same. I love it: an inherently goaty thing to do, apparently!

21.01.2022 The link is now working again!! Join us for our long table lunch on 18th October with the menu by Massimo Mele featuring leap farm meat, Tongola Cheese and Felds Farm amazing sourdough bread and vegetables. Link here: www.leapfarm.com.au

20.01.2022 Another set of triplets!! Macca kidded overnight, all 3 doing really well, strong little Boer x Toggies who remind me of little rugby balls. Toggies only ever have twins we were told.... apparently extras are all the rage on Leap Farm this year. Our triplet rate is always about 10%.... hoping not too many more, although will probably be at least another 6 does with triplets if our stats hold up. It can be so hard on the mums, and often or sometimes end up being outcast and become poddies (ours exclusively bottle fed kids). However, so far both Macca and Ally are doing so well and feeding them all!

19.01.2022 Celebrating #AgDayAU - so many of Australia’s primary producers are family enterprises, like ours. Not pictured here are Iain’s parents and my mum, and Erin - part family, part friend and part employee. We can’t do without them. Every time you choose to buy fresh, local seasonal produce, or even value-added processed foods made from Aussie ingredients, you support families like ours. And you support the communities we live in too. Celebrate AgDay with us, by shopping local and eating local, continuing to support Aussie Agriculture.

19.01.2022 Nina gets a sneaky treat... shhhh. Don’t tell Iain!

18.01.2022 Apparently they grew overnight!

18.01.2022 Trying to film the morning routine where we let the girls and babies into the paddock after their reunion post-milking... baby goats... love them so much, but my goodness....!!!!

18.01.2022 Need some inspiration to start farming or just to keep going? I know we do from time to time. Have a listen to this week’s episode of The Curious Farmer, where I chat to Coreen Ung from Our Mates' Farm - on this episode, she shares their why. And having a strong sense of why is so incredibly important when you head down any path, but particularly the farming one, full of bad days, disasters, long hours and the occasional win. We also touch on organic certification - what i...s and isn’t certified and why. I’d also highly recommend checking out their insta (or FB) stories for the cutest piglet pics you ever will see... Find it (and share!) in your podcast app or Spotify, or here: www.leapfarm.com.au/podcast

17.01.2022 You know the spring is on when you lose your angels in the grass!! Playing grass angels after snow angels only 3 weeks ago!!

16.01.2022 We are awash in kids! In about 4 days, almost half our girls have kidded. This pic is of the post-natal paddock where we put the freshies for 24 hours to ensure good bonding (imagine not having to 100% feed any kids - exciting and a little sad at the same time!). In here are the girls who kidded late yesterday and early this morning. So many kids lost in the long grass! But one thing I’ve learnt this year - it’s great at keeping them warm because they’re protected from the wind by the grass. This paddock is going so well - we strip grazed it last year towards the end of kidding, put the composting hay floor on it the winter prior, and occasionally it’s irrigated with seaweed and our dairy wash water (a bit like manure tea). Seems to be working well.

16.01.2022 After all the anticipation, we’re excited to announce that we’re celebrating the start of cheese season with a Long Table Lunch. This on-farm experience will start with a tour around the dairy, so you can see what we do, how we do it, and why we choose to do it this way. You’ll have the opportunity to cuddle kids, and Iain will also talk about cheese making. From here, we’ll walk you to our long table in the paddock, where we’ll be serving you a menu crafted by Massimo Mele... made from Tongola Cheese fresh season cheeses, Leap Farm meats and Felds Farm fresh veg and bread. We’ll sit with you and explain and talk about our farming methods and values. The amazing menu will be accompanied by local wines. Of course, spring weather can be fickle. In the event of bad weather, we may have to relocate to the shed, and if the forecast is horrendous, we will need to reschedule, but we will ensure you have plenty of notice. Tickets are VERY limited!! To purchase, head to www.leapfarm.com.au

16.01.2022 Here’s a photo of my bum and back, with my sister and my Mum’s cousin Bruce and his wife Marg - I used to absolutely love going to their farm in West Gippsland to help with the milking and calves. I was 9 or 10 when this was taken, and those memories (sights, smells and sounds) more than 30 years later () remain as clear as if it’d been there last year. Always was destined to be a farmer. One of my happiest childhood places. #womenwhofarm #invisfarmer #dairyfarm #familyfarm #kidswhofarm #gumbootsforlife

16.01.2022 Sunday is Market Day! We will be at the Bream Creek Farmers Market from 9am to 1pm, with goat roasts, sausages, mince, shanks, quick-cook cuts and more. We'll also have beef mince and dice (perfect for slow cooking). I meant to take a photo of our pulled goat recipe - I made some late last week, but it was so yummy, I forgot to take one... We had it in tacos. Hadn't tried that before: total winner! Made better with Curdy on top (of course). We will have 500g packs of frozen ...Curdy also - and then next market, we'll have babies and will probably be milking! Fresh milk = fresh cheese.... Exciting! Our Leap Farm boxes are also available weekly through the Farm Gate Market drive-thru service. Pics of very pregnant girls, hanging out in the shed as they avoid rain drops.

16.01.2022 Taking the ducklings outside for a foray into grass and water. They’re loving! So is Pippi...

16.01.2022 We can't make it to the Bream Creek Farmers Market this Sunday as stall holders: we're out of product!!! The last couple of markets, you've all been so fantastic and bought so much that we have no meat left, and we're also out of the cheese we froze at the end of last season. We're going to start milking our girls (for cheese making) on Saturday - so we won't have fresh cheese until the November Market! Stay tuned for future posts when we are putting it back into retail shops... in Hobart and Launceston. (Shhhh - just quietly, I'm a little relieved - I'm hoping that we both get to sit down for half an hour to enjoy some food and coffee chatting to friends at the market - and maybe I can take less than 17,000 steps and 40 floors, which is about my average this week!). This kid is 2 days old. She is Wasabi's littlest of the triplet. One of the Bream Creek locals (Pippi's best mate) has decided her name is "Apricot". She rather enjoys a cuddle from 4 year olds.

15.01.2022 First egg today! And finished some chook house Reno’s (used the wood from the apple tree that Iain and I pruned with the chainsaw). Also got a new Quamby rooster for them today - hoping they’ll get inspired to lay in earnest again... I’m desperate for real eggs (and they’ve certainly had their share of my garden - time to pay back, Girls!) #eggs #realeggs #freerange #pastured #gardeneggs #foundundertheolivetree #familyfarming #polyculture #regenerativefarming #nithingtodowithgoats @ Leap Farm

15.01.2022 A freshie! Only a week away from expecting the first kids, the cows have started calving. The first calves, twins, hit the ground a couple of days ago. Both doing well, but unfortunately mum seems to only be able to keep her eyes on one at a time, so we’ve adopted Moana. I’ll post a pic in the next day or so. My goodness calves are so cute!

15.01.2022 Goat hooves - swipe for the before shot. On our farm, despite the piles of rocks, hooves require regular trimming. I guess it’s just not the same as the vertical escarpment that the species evolved in!! We have a lot of hooves to trim. It usually takes us 2 whole days to get through our mob. We do this every 3 months. It’s hard work, but we manage to make the goats and ourselves more comfortable using a cradle (the mother flipper). I got Erin to record a little video of me trying to explain how to trim a hood while demonstrating (harder to talk and trim than I expected!). Happy to share - let me know if you’d like to see it.

14.01.2022 It’s cold out there today! Best stay snuggled up together then. Bliss.

13.01.2022 Don’t you just hate it when you get buzzies in your beard? How’s a girl supposed took good for the camera?!?!

13.01.2022 Picking flowers for Mum.

13.01.2022 It’s been a tumultuous time on Leap Farm. We very sadly said goodbye to Sammy on Wednesday last week. He was 14, and came to us as a pup when we were living in Darwin. He was meant to be Iain’s dog, but really was George’s dog (my/our first dog, who chose Iain for me!) - he was such a kind and gentle dog. We miss him so very much. And it’s very weird not having a dog for the first time in 22 years.

11.01.2022 On the platform this morning, Erin snapped this pic of Stilbo, Tiree and Phryngo... 3 generations all in order, all in a row... like undone babushka dolls according to Erin!

10.01.2022 The latest episode of The Curious Farmer has dropped today - in this episode I explain the system that we use with the girls and kids in order to produce quality milk for our cheese, with the best interests of our animals in mind. We do things a bit differently from most operations, and it works for us and the girls. You can find the episode on your podcast app, Spotify or just follow the link. Hope you enjoy! And keep the questions coming!! Pictured here - Lulu giving me ...a kiss before she tried to eat my favourite beanie. https://the-curious-farmer.simplecast.com//qa-with-kate-th

10.01.2022 Determined!! Clove kidded this morning about 9am. She’s had 2 lovely little boys (boo - we wanted her to throw girls: great temperament and great milker) - one of whom was so fresh she hadn’t had a chance to deslime him before he found her teat!! Look at him go

10.01.2022 GOAT MEAT BACK IN STOCK!!! We have our full range of meat cuts back in stock as well as our goat snags (beetroot & herb, Boerewors). We will be selling our goat, along with our beef and our Tongola Cheese on Easter Sunday at the Bream Creek Farmers Market - be sure to check out the Easter program of events - heaps of fun for the kids with Easter egg hunts and jarping. I’m sure we’ll sell out quickly, so make sure you’re there early... 9am to 1pm.

10.01.2022 IT’S STARTED!!!! Due date tomorrow, Threepy, in her usual fashion has had to go first. I’m just glad she kidded today and not tomorrow when I have to go to work. Have hand milked, made sure her little boy has had a good drink, and then home for brekky. Pippi is, unsurprisingly, beside herself. Hamish (before school) decided that his name is Pineapple. Pippi looking forward to a girl being born that she can call Strawberry. I guess we’ve had our naming theme decided for this cohort! A fruit salad of kids!

09.01.2022 The Curious Farmer Podcast is back for Season 2! The first episode of the season has dropped, and you can find it on what ever "Podcatcher" you use - it's also on Spotify or follow the link below. Episode 1 features Jen Robinson from Sprout Tasmania : if you're a small producer (or related to or friends with one) and you haven't heard of Sprout, this will definitely worth a listen so you can find out what they do and why it's important to you. Please share the podcast with yo...ur small producers, so that they can directly benefit from what Sprout's advocacy work at state (and federal) government level. Season 2 will look a bit different from Season 1 - Kate will be answering questions that you might have, as well as explaining a bit more about our way of farming and how we do what we do. We're looking forward to it, and hoping you will too - so drop a question into messenger or email [email protected] https://the-curious-farmer.simplecast.com//sprouting-a-cul

08.01.2022 There’s nothing quite like a freshly picked, new season, heritage, organic and regeneratively grown apples. Tastes even better when you know where they’ve come from. These beauties were from Matt and Cor at Our Mates' Farm, and feature the Mutsu - Cor’s favourite and the apple we talked about on the latest episode of The Curious Farmer podcast. I can attest that this Apple is outrageously delicious. I’d strongly suggest you make your way to your local farmers market and get ...some great quality apples this weekend. If you can find the heritage breeds, nab them! From what I can gather, these types don’t travel well, which is why they’re not in supermarkets. So best you travel to them... Absolutely worth it. Gotta love eating seasonally. Perfect for pairing with Tongola Cheese

08.01.2022 Moana and one of Mull’s kids caught snuggling in the sun a couple of days ago! Moana (our lovely little heifer with an M on her forehead ) had a mum who got confused and was only feeding her twin broth. MoMo was on her own for a week before the kids started dropping, so she has spent much more time with them (and the big girls) than our cattle. She does mob up with them when they come near her home paddock, and it’s lovely to see her touching noses with some of the others.... But as we’re still giving her milk, so she ends up with the goats each evening and is well bonded to many of the kids. We are often approached with enquires for goats as pets or new farm acquisitions. We are pretty strict: ruminants (like MoMo and this kid) are herd animals, and we need to respect their needs, not just our own. We don’t let goats go to homes where they are alone or tethered... it’s just not fair. And we always check that prospective goat owners understand that they have different dietary needs from sheep and cattle - they need to browse rather than graze grass. Our most valued resources are the 2 Storey’s Guide books: Dairy Goats and Raising Meat Goats. We also use Pat Colby’s book Natural Goat Care. If you have goats or are thinking of getting goats, these are a must read.

07.01.2022 Stay tuned for an announcement coming from us this afternoon..... #leapfarm #tongolacheese

07.01.2022 Clever Ally produce her triplets yesterday. Last one was breech and huge - helped into the world by an ever-vigilant farmer Iain. 2 girls (names Strawberry and Raspberry) and a boy (Peaches, apparently). All doing well this morning.

04.01.2022 Just let the girls and babies together after milking, watched Sass call to MoMo and she called back. Love the little cuddle they give each other before feeding. Feeding is such an act of love. My heart is full.

04.01.2022 Good morning! Is it my turn yet? Globi (named for out beautiful Tassie Blue Gums - Eucalyptus globulus) is waiting at the top of the ramp, ready for milking and breakfast. Goats are very particular about hierarchy. You can see here that Globi is first in line, and all the others are keeping away from her as they watch proceedings, otherwise she’ll dominate them in some way (we all know humans like that: lovely people who like to be in charge ... ) Of course this is the second last run, so Globi has a long way to go until she’s a Queen! Not doing too badly for a first-year Milker. She’s a good milker too (Nina is her mum, one of our quiet Queens).

04.01.2022 These 2 are having the most delightful school holidays and kidding season. We can’t believe the difference in their usefulness (!!) and delight compared to last year. Just fabulous to see and so grateful that they have the opportunity to see life (and death) and truly understand where their food comes from. Just thrilled with their handling of the animals too. Both have so much more confidence around the goats and babies, despite Pippi getting butted (literally, on her butt) a few times due to some overly enthusiastic chasing of kids!

03.01.2022 I can't believe it's taken so long, but I have finally got around to publishing another episode of The Curious Farmer. This time, I chat with Brian Horsley about the plant probiotics he manufactures... I'm keen to try them out now that the weather is warming up and the days are getting so much longer. Pic of his Veggie Patch taken in early June (he'd just picked the last of the tomatoes, which tasted like the summer) where we watched as I recorded our conversation. https://the-curious-farmer.simplecast.com//magic-in-a-bott

01.01.2022 3 more - well done, Ally! I’m certain you feel better now (and can walk up the hills again).

01.01.2022 Tips and tricks - how we trim all the hooves!