The Big Wet.

We've had 120ml of rain since Wednesday night.

I think the drought we've been living in for the last ten years has broken.

We've had enough now, thanks!

More than enough!

This is the farm stall where we sell our fruit, veg and eggs.

This is the farm shop car park.

This is the shop garden that Bren ploughed up last week in preparation for the new season's planting.

This is The Short Creek Paddock, again freshly ploughed.

And the tyre swing.

This was the driveway into our place.

This morning all our guests had to leave their cars on this side and wade their way across.

This is Farmer Bren checking to see where his beloved top soil has been washed away to.

This is our new waterfall.

Muskvalley Falls has a nice ring to it.

Certified organic trout?? Rice??

This is where I stood to photograph the flood waters and almost got knocked over by the current.

This is where I left my car at the bottom of our hill, afraid to drive any further.

And this is my Farmer Boy going to check out the damage, trying his hardest to remain optimistic despite the fact that more rain is forecast this week and we probably won't be able to plant a vegie crop this year.

Bring on Summer, I say.

Organic inspection.

This is Doune (left).

Doune has come to Daylesford Organics today to perform our annual NASAA (National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia) inspection.

As a Certified Organic farm, each year we are visited at least once by an inspector who comes to ensure that we are complying with all the NASAA standards.

This inspector reviews all our records from the past year. This includes all our planting, harvesting and sales records, as well as proof that everything bought onto the farm as an input was Certified Organic.

Doune will also have a physical look around and may take some tissue or soil samples to make sure there are no risks from contamination or other potential problems.

There are three elements that are linked in the certification process and they are the people, the land and the product. A combination of all three is an organic management plan.

For the past seven years we have been Certified Organic with NASAA and have the license number 3500. It's a lot of work and a lot of record keeping but we are proud of our certification and like that it gives our customers confidence in who we are and how we are growing.

Farming our future.

Over the past few weeks I have overheard Bren on the phone to different restaurants around Melbourne telling them how due to the large amounts of rain and the cold Spring whether, that our season is really late this year and we may not have any produce until mid January.

You'd think he would be stressed about not producing anything yet, about letting them down and about constantly having to deliver the same bad news.

But he's not.

After almost ten year of working in so closely with Mother Nature, he knows that she is calling the shots and there's nothing he can do about it.

I also know that to my husband what grows above the surface and what is harvested from the plants is an added bonus. What he really cares about is what is going on below the ground. He is obsessed with the health of his soil. I have heard him talking on more than one occasion about taking a few years off from growing stuff and just focusing completely on his beloved soil and compost.

I also know that he is looking at the bigger picture.While I am concentrating on what we will have to take to the farmers' market this weekend, he is looking way down the track into the future months and the years to come. He speaks often of the olden day farmers who would get one bumper crop about every seven years. Growing a crop takes so much out of the soil that he wants to make sure he is putting as much, if not more, back in.

Any minute now the ground will dry out, the boys will work the soil and plant the seeds and then there will be the never ending cycle of weeding and picking and planting but for now we are just waiting, watching, planning, composting and enjoying our children, the next generation.

Have a great weekend every one.

And there's an interview with me over at Thea and Sami today if you want to go and check it out.

Mercurio's menu tonight.

I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in Victoria, Australia it is raining cats and dogs. We've had 33mm so far this weekend and it doesn't look like its stopping any time soon.

So when its so wet and horrible outside, what better way to spend the late afternoon than getting cozy inside and watching the episode of Mercurio's Menu filmed in Daylesford last March.

Its on channel 7 at 5.30pm tonight.

I blogged it way back here.

I wonder if you'll read my blog differently after you have heard my speaking voice.

Keep warm and dry out there and have a great weekend.

Four things.

As well as the usual farm jobs, there have been some new and exciting things going on at Daylesford Organics lately.

The first one being this new/old truck that Bren drove home from Seymour last night. He had to get a special license to be allowed to drive it. It has a cool room in the side and storage in the back. It doesn't have a radio though. Yet.

I think the best part about the new truck is its number plate.

It makes me feel like a real farmer.

Second, is the load of our new personalised cardboard boxes that arrived this morning. Don't they look great! Its so much fun to pack our orders in them rather than in the generic apple boxes we've been using for the past ten years.

From now on all our egg, vegetable and fruit orders will go out in Daylesford Organics boxes.

The third thing is that Pierre turned 27 yesterday!

Hip hip hooray!

And fourthly and finally, Farmer Bren will be at Collingwood Children's Farm Farmers' Market this Saturday the 13th of November from 8am-1pm selling the best eggs in town.

Hopefully he'll see you there.