December 2017

It's already been a scorcher of a summer.  Day after day of sun and temperatures in the late 20s - early 30's.  Plant growth has taken off, and fruit is ripening nearly too fast to eat.  Weather records have been broken, and drought threatens across the country.  We were treated to a spectacular super-moon earlier in the month - a truly ethereal event here in the Southern hemisphere.

Walter, our new ram, was collected from his former home (thanks Lucy!) and transported in our re-WOF'd and re-number-plated (at considerable expense) trailer.  The flock didn't exactly welcome him with open hocks, but he has since settled in well.  Finally and literally the black sheep of the family.  He was very curious about the cows, presumably because he'd never seen them before.  He's only 3 months old, but hopefully he'll be just about in action in time to produce some lambs in winter.

The vigorous growth has meant that we've done our hay sooner than ever before.  Our usual haymaker was unable to help this year.  An assortment of neighbours came to our rescue, and we now have 145 bales stacked in the hay barn.  This is probably way more than we'll need, but we can either do less next year or sell some.

The bees have enjoyed the good weather too.  The original colony was full-to-bursting, so I inserted an 'escape board' and over a few days, removed 2 supers of honey.  They were duly extracted (13 litres) and the delicious honey is now potted and even labelled.  In my totally unbiased opinion, it's the best honey in the world, and significantly better than last year.  The other 2 new colonies seem to be getting on well, with both starting to build up honey stores.  I haven't worked it out yet, but at least one of them is housing some pretty aggressive bees that have been quite territorial.  I've had several stings and there have been times when it's not been possible to work in the vege garden.  Buzzing around your face is one thing, but flying kamikaze and bouncing into your head until getting stuck in your hair is another matter.  Perhaps I'll have to look at some re-queening next year.  

The weeds have been seriously getting away again, so I've requisitioned some help in the form of Greg.  He's tackled some of the worst and prickliest areas of the vege and flower gardens,  There's still plenty left to do, but his help has made a big difference.  And Karyn's been quietly making good progress in the main flower garden - not just the roses.  The weeded spaces have already been filled with seedlings, including a dozen tobacco plants.

A voucher from Edible Gardens was my leaving gift from the Polytechnic (thank you lovely colleagues).  What a joy it was to droolingly leaf through their extensive catalogue and make my selections.  First up had to be another cider apple tree.  Not that I need another cider tree, but totally irresistible was one called 'Slack Ma Girdle'.  I've been looking out for a perry pear tree for years.  The one in the catalogue is grafted onto a dwarf rootstock so shouldn't get as massive as they're known to be.  The pears are too tart to eat but can be crafted into unmissable perry (pear cider).  The trees are currently potted into large bags and will be planted out in autumn, assuming a decision is made about where to plant them by then.  Two seedless grapes have filled in a couple of gaps among the vines, and a worcesterberry is in the peachcot bed.


I've finally got round to trying organic weedkiller.  The brand's active ingredient was clove oil.  It was sprayed on the weedy gravel paths around the olive trees and initially made the weeds wilt.  It didn't kill them though and now they've resumed their former vigour.   Bugger.  Back to hand weeding on my knees on hot gravel.  Weeds are busy in the keyhole beds too of course.  They won't all need serious attention as many of the vege seedlings are big enough to hold their own.  Besides. the weeds are doing a good job of protecting the plants and the soil from the worst ravages of the sun.

Rabbits have been more than a nuisance this year.  They're digging up new plants rather than nibbling them.  They also flick copious amounts of soil onto the gravel paths, and they expose deeply buried weed seeds to the soil surface. I'm trying various methods to keep them at bay, none of which involve the commonly recommended shotgun.  Spreading 'blood and bone' works for about 24 hours.  Pegging down plastic mesh over newly planted seedlings seems to be the most successful, though it's early days yet.  I don't mind sharing, but I do object to rampant destruction.  Mostly the seedlings have been replaced by other seedlings kept in reserve - one of the bonuses of being addicted to growing too many plants.

Soft fruit is on tap - strawbs, raspberries, gooseberries and currants.  The joy of collecting fruit for breakfast smoothies and beyond hasn't even begun to wear thin.  Mulberries have been and gone and were very pleasant indeed.  The birds loved them too.  Most of the orchard fruit is on its way, including several cider apples (Foxwood Broxwelps).  One of the original peach trees that fruited its heart out last year isn't looking too flash, but its next-door neighbour seems relatively abundant.  Another of life's mysteries.  There's even a handful of blossom on the persimmon tree - that's the first time it's flowered so fingers crossed.  Pretty little feijoa flowers are out too.  The sheep have done a little bark-gnawing in the orchard, but optimistically no lasting damage.  

Vegetables are also taking shape.  Some of the garlic is ready i.e. browning off, though I haven't yet been brave enough to see if it's worth digging up.  My track record with garlic doesn't exactly forecast a bountiful harvest.  Tomatoes are coming through and some are even turning from green.  The corn is gorgeous and throwing off seed heads, and beans are winding their way up the stems.  Carrots have been weed-challenged, but I'm keen to see how much that affects the outcome.  If it doesn't make a difference, then I'll be saving myself a lot of regrets.

Sam's been busy with band stuff and has even been on the news.  He was the bugler for the dawn Re-Opening Ceremony of SH1 between Kaikoura and Blenheim, following earthquake damage repair.  The photo above appeared in 'Stuff' and shows the beautiful sunrise that day. It's such a relief and joy to many that this key coastal road is back in action.  There are plans to build a cycle route - the Coastal Pacific Highway - that eventually will link Ship Cove in the Marlborough Sounds (where James Cook first landed in 1770) to Cathedral Square in Christchurch.  The path will run alongside the road and also veer off along the coast.  The Kaikoura earthquake that damaged the bluffs along the original road has made the logistics possible.  When completed it'll be a fantastic asset for the South Island.

The sleep out is cleaned and now ready for our Christmas visitors - Marcus, Nikki, Arthur, Jago and Freya who will arrive next week.  I'm starting to get my head around food supplies and entertainment.  I've managed to bake a vegan Christmas cake - here's hoping it tastes as good as it looks and smells.   Lots to do, most of which probably won't be done, but realistically we won't starve and no doubt entertainment will invent itself.  

Season's Greetings from our little slice of paradise.