Bonsmara–our cattle of choice

Two years ago Herman decided he would like to get some cattle to wander about the backlands. Our neighbour on the backfence Oom Piet , a third generation farmer, had some Bonsmara to sell. Beautiful, chocolate brown cows with soft eyes and gentle natures.

Bonsmara are a South African breed of cattle. In the 1930′s there was a need for a breed of cattle that would thrive in the sub-tropical regions of Natal and the Transvaal and be good meat producers. The exotic British cattle had the desired growth and breeding but didn’t perform in the hotter climate and were very suseptible to the tick borne diseases. The indigenous Afrikaaner cattle were disease resistant and handled the heat well, however they didn”t have the desired growth potential, developed late sexually and didn’t calve regularily.

A breeding programme was set up where they took five different British bulls and bred them with Afrikaaner cows. They had good results with the Hereford and Shorthorn crossbreeds, which they further mated with  3/4 Afrikaaners to get 5/8 Afrikaaner and 3/8 Hereford or Shorthorn–the result being the Bonsmara (named after ”Bonsma” a man involved in the breeding and “Mara” the name of the farm they were bred on). 

Seventy-five  years later the Bonsmara is a efficient, productive beef  breed that is disease resistant, low maintenance, highly adaptable,  has low calf mortality and good fertility.

It was also in our favour to get the cattle from our neighbour as it meant we could just open the gate inbetween us and allow the cattle to come through–no transport costs, no stress on the cattle and they would  be very used to the diseases in this area making them hardy and resistant.

A short note on Oom Piet–our neighbour who sold us the Bonsmara–pictured on the left.  He is 84 years old and was born and has lived on his farm all his life. He cleared the farm by hand from Rooikrans and farms with cattle and thatch. When we first met him he was 82 and had just bought a new stallion–to ride and tame himself. He is a living legend, his farm a legacy to hardwork and perserverance, a dying out generation when people had to be innovative and resourceful  to survive. They lived above and below the law, their farm was their world and they made the rules. Pioneering spirits, when “men ran with the wolves” and in Oom Piet’s case with a very naughty twinkle in those very blue eyes! 

On the right is a photograph taken on the day we took delivery of the cattle. With Herman is Oom Piet and his son. The cattle were rounded up and then tagged on the ear (our first experience of seeing a neck clamp in action). Quite an experience, keep in mind these are not tame milk cows but cattle that roam free on the veld.

There were then herded off to our fence line by one of the labourers riding a pony with very skew ears with a lot of attitude and keen to show off his cowboy skills.

They settled in well and have been breeding fantastically, the first lot we bought were all pregnant. We then bought a magnificient bull who has been very happy up there with all his ladies doing his duty. We are on to our third lot of calves–so our little herd is growing nicely. Below are a few pics of these gorgeous  creatures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the right is a picture of a three day old calf born on our farm. The mothers hide them away in the bushes for about a week and it is almost impossible to find them. We were very lucky to see this one.

It is still such a thrill when we go riding into the backlands to spot the cattle, it is like seeing game. With the sun glistening on their rich, brown hides. Sleek and beautiful, passing silently through the bushes or stopping to look at us inquisitively.

Silly Goose

Some really good friends of ours are coming to visit this weekend and I have promised them a goose to cook. Paul is a trained Savoy chef and Pam is a great foodie and comfort cook. We always spend our weekends together cooking delicious meals. Paul arrives with his chef’s knives and box of fresh ingredients strapped onto the back of the Landie, a gin and tonic in one hand and a good recipe in the other.

Now after all the finger wagging and threatening at these really badly behaved geese I am getting cold feet. The geese have been quite a task to have in the poultry camp. They squabble and fight, shout and swear and bash their wings at each other. They chase the children, wings out, sending them screaming over the fence. They peck my legs when I feed them, knowing exactly that soft spot above my Wellingtons, behind my knee. Giving me purple bruises as they hang on with their beaks and do a grinding motion with their jaws. They also quietly swear at you behind your back  ”shhhhhit”   and  “gaaaaaat!”  as you clean out their water bowl.  And this is in the non-laying season. If a female is sitting on eggs you can’t get within 3 meters of the nest without the male attacking you. So what was I getting cold feet for?

Well, geese mate for life , and I ended up with exactly 4 pairs (excluding my 2 goslings). So if I slaughtered one then I thought I must slaughter two–one pair. I have even decided which two I should slaughter. Unfortunately my geese all look completely different and I have come to know all their bad behaviours and quirks individually. It is not like the ducks which are all white so just take your pick–any two!! And now this morning the female due for the oven, caught my eye–and I lost my nerve.

I also read up about how to kill a goose (humanely of course) and you can’t just break their necks like chickens–you have to pin them to the ground and something about a broom and another person which I won’t go into—too much stress for the bird and me. Perhaps one can just shoot it?

But it seems like the geese are safe for now—this ex-city/farm girl has chickened out!!

Sorry Pam and Paul–maybe I can offer you some steak?

Processing our first ox

I wrote a while ago about the first ox that we had slaughtered. And that it was hanging in the cool room for 2 weeks–maturing. After the 2 weeks we got one of the local guys who works at the butchery to come and help us cut the specific cuts. Out came the rump and sirloin steaks as well as the fillets. We also processed 20kg of steak mince and then the work REALLY started. Now this was a 440kg Bonsmaras ox that slaughtered out to 220kg!

Herman and I spent a good couple of days surrounded with piles of raw meat. (it wasn’t as bad as it sounds). Herman cut all the meat off the bones and I cut it into cubes and packed it into 2.5kg packs. I have never seen so much meat in my life. While cutting all this up instead of feeling “yuk–raw meat–etc–etc.” I found myself thinking about themes like sacrifice, how the ox had been sacrificed–I know the essence of it lives on but I felt  honoured to be able to use it’s body.  There was also no moral judgement in that we had killed this animal to eat (also no inner conflict), it felt neither “good” nor “bad” but just the way it is. The animal was able to exhibit normal behaviour in it’s life, freedom of movement, no stress and freedom to eat natural food. I actually started enjoying working with the raw meat, enjoying the smell and the texture, enjoying this gift from the ox.(not bad for an ex-vegetarian).

The next step was to make some wors. Herman got a “secret” recipe from a “tannie” who used to supply wors and traditional farm produce through a farmstall she had just closed down. We felt like alchemists, grinding and mixing the spices. Then, with our hands, mixing it into the cubes of fresh meat, letting it rest, cutting spek by hand , mixing that with the meat and then mincing it coarsly—we felt as if we were involved with some forgotten secret or long-lost past  known only to our fore-fathers. 

Our R50 wors stopper kept us going until late into the night, but we ended up with 30kgs of the most delicious wors, packed into 500 gram packs and stacked into the freezer. We still have about 90kgs to go–we decided to freeze the cubed meat and distribute our first batch to future customers so they can taste and experience this truly free-range, organic and hand-made sausage!! The plan being to make up the rest and deliver directly within the month.

I suppose I better get cracking on a Rusfontein Wors label!

An added note, the mince is WOW and the sirloin we kept whole. We cooked it like a fillet for a dinner party–I have never tasted such amazing beef before. So now our house freezer, the butchery chest freezer and the extra freezer are all full–of beef. I never realised how much meat came from a cow/ox.  Nothing was wasted all the bones were cut up and all the other bits the labourers took—we feel smug about that, knowing nothing was thrown away and every bit of this magnificient creature was utilised.

Next time we want  to be a bit cleverer with the different cuts of meat that one can do with beef.

A Friend for Shadow?

Last week was a very fast and busy week here in paradise. We are busy building a little feedroom/stable for Shadow and his (we are still looking) friend, along with the feedroom is a paddock and a lunging ring. We are also finishing off all the building renovation work of the old farmhouse on Rusfontein, by next week I will start doing the interior and decorating as well as the garden. We also had to work and process all the meat from the ox that was slaughtered (the next blog entry) and I almost got a friend for Shadow.

Down the river from us there were two beautiful chestnuts on a holiday farm. The mare recently died leaving the gelding very much alone and a bit neglected. The owners were very happy for us to take him as they realised he needed some TLC as they don’t live here but are only here on holidays.

My horse friend, also Margie, organised a horse box and some helpers and off we went. WELL–three and a half hours later and this horse was not going to be boxed–under no circumstances. We also saw him in full flight, had to catch him in the neighbour’s farm, saw some serious kicking and wild horse behaviour. Bucking and bronco-ing all over the place.  Take him away from the box he was as placid as a lamb—but one look at the box, the heels dug in and there was no way he was going in there. So—he didn’t go in there!!

That night I hardly slept–knowing I am only a beginner rider and Herman wants a gentle horse (not an ex-race horse that is chestnut -his specifics - so why was I trying to get this chestnut race-horse?) I made the desicion that in this early phase of my horse career he is not the horse to have here. So the other Margie said she would take him as she is a seasoned horse lady and has a zero intimidation factor when it comes to horses. Since her stables are only 6kms from where old “Harry Casual” was , we decided to walk him there–which is what we did last Saturday. He was as sweet as anything, no spooking, alert with no funny behaviour and well behaved all round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On arriving at his new home he was introduced to his new room mates (all four of them).  There was much squealing, sniffing, kicking, running, bucking and excitement all round. A couple of kicks later (I am told this is normal horse-who is the boss here kind of behaviour) he was settled in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether he turns out to be a suitable riding horse for us –still remains to be seen. The other Margie in the meantime is enjoying him and happy to have him to stay. I suppose only time will tell.