Is it possible to be a farmer and an IT specialist at the same time? We found a true example with Andrew, our new woof host. With his wife, Deborah, they bought a farm of 100 hectares 2 years ago. He's raising young milk cattle and sheep for other farmers. As you may noticed, he's also a software developer. She's a full-time school teacher. Two children's complete the family: Guy, Minecraft addict and Eva, a princess who knows what she wants; and a small doggy, Daisy (but we called her Chouchou!)

The farm
The farm

In this fully-booked timetable, every help is welcomed... And that why we were required: we built a glasshouse to protect the veggie garden, prepared the meals and, mainly, sprayed kilometres of electric fences. We had a quad bike and a 50L tank full of a mix of herbicides which meaningful names were 'Terminator' and 'Thistle Killer'. Let's forget ecology for a while... The mix prevents every plant growing during 12 months, and so reduces electric losses on the fence. The hazardous part of job, beside the mixing of the chemicals following the safety rules, is following the fences on uneven paddocks without putting the quad bike upsidedown... That wasn't easy... To reach the paddocks, we also have to cross a swing bridge which width is exactly the same as our vehicle one.

Working vehicle
Working vehicle

In the kitchen, we're Hitomi's helpers, a cowoofer from Japan. On the menu, bakery (we even prepared croissants), soups, pizzas, plum sauce,... We also go for a walk with the doggy doggy who might have some farm dog genes. Due to how much hair she got, it wasn't a bright idea and so we tried, unsuccessfully, dog cleaning. Hitomi was replaced by 3 French, Dikkenek fans.

Daisy aka Chouchou
Daisy aka Chouchou

Andrew's well furbished shed was quite useful to upgrade our Chariot: 55 back seats removal et sleeping platform construction with room underneath. Chariot 2.0 (evolution') is now ready to hit the road again to the wilderness of Fiordland.