February 2103

Back to work big time, and really grateful for setting up the irrigation systems which are saving hours of time.  We’re still having a very dry summer, and despite a minor hiccup when we didn’t realise that the batteries in the timer were running out, the orchard and veg garden are looking lush and green.  Even my carrots are something to write home about.  Karyn is always quick to mock my carrot-growing prowess, so I made her be photographed holding some of them, extending her arm forwards like fishermen do to make their catch look bigger.  There’s more of the carrot season left to go, so optimistically they will genuinely get bigger in time.  We’re now eating only our own veg from the garden (including these beautiful purple potatoes), our own meat from the freezer, and even the fish that Peter and Billy caught.  Deeply satisfying!

We did buy a grass-cutter, a former vineyard beast which is happier on flat ground but can be chivvied along over our bumpy land.  It attaches onto the back of the go-kart, and Peter looks like a real farmer as he drives up and down.  It’s got rid of the worst of the dead grass, and also some major clumps of thistles, so we do look at bit greener than we did despite the absence of rain.  Peter’s usually joined on the go-kart by a boy or two, who are happy to help out with this aspect of land management, at least as long as it’s still a novelty.

 

Our total livestock numbers have increased by 10 - 6 chicks (currently chez Derryn) and 4 piglets who are all named ‘Poppet’.  The rationale for the name relates to what we’re going to do with the pigs.  It ends along the lines of ‘poppet’ in the freezer, ‘poppet’ in the oven etc.  Such wicked thoughts from the Bauntons.  Anyway, I’m trying not to think about that, because right now they are cuter than cute.  2 boys and 2 girls again from the same litter.  They are Berkshire/Hampshire crosses and display all the usual ‘pigginess’ of pigs.  They love digging with their snouts, and have all the table manners of, er, pigs.   They snort loudly when I’m nearby, and when I talk back to them, they shut up to listen to me, and go back to snorting at me when I stop talking.  If only the kids had such courteous communication skills!

 

The new chicks arrived on cue - 6 chicks from 8 eggs is a much better ratio than before.  They were born on January 31^st and are still gorgeous little bundles of fluffy feathers.   Thelma, their hen-mother, is doing a sterling job.  Derryn’s dad’s been busy building them a new home from one of her original designs, and they’re just big enough to free-range round the garden during the day.  Another of her hens is sitting on a few more of our eggs too, and so are 2 of our own hens (I didn't think that would happen again) - sooo egg-citing!   Our very first chick-hatchling at Derryn’s has turned out to be a boy, and he’s now big enough to eat.  That’ll happen sometime soon, if we can bring ourselves to (get Peter to...) do it. 

 

The flower garden making up Joanna’s Patch has been (and still is) delightful.  It’s probably a sign of age that I’m now enjoying flowers much more than ever in my life.  Though the garden looked sparse early on, it’s pretty much filled up now, even accounting for the storm bringing down the stunning hollyhocks.  I’m particularly fond of forget-me-not, cosmos (all colours and flavours, including chocolate), zinnias, dahlias and the rose ‘Rosa Remember Me’.  Much of my planting was geared towards providing food for bees, and there are wild bees enjoying them now.  I’ve waited too long for a swarm for my own hive (apparently there were very few swarms this year) and now it’s too late to set up a new hive nucleus.  I’ll begin again in spring, hopefully with 2 hives. 

Talking of flowers, the other stunning area of the garden is alongside the chicken run, where the sunflowers are.  Next year I’m going to grow a million sunflowers, they absolutely radiate happiness.  Soon the old flower heads will have dried and I’ll be able to chuck them over to the chooks.  The tallest sunflower in the photo is 11 feet high - Peter’s just measuring it.  Right in front of Sam is a gorgeous amaranth, and I’ll definitely grow more of them next year too.   I think it was part of a seed-mix which I chucked over the area, and I’m really glad I didn’t weed it out by accident.  The chooks will also enjoy its seeds, and maybe so will I if I can figure out how to harvest them.  I’ve also just sown some ‘chicken green mix’ - a range of seeds from plants which chooks will enjoy: plantain, minutina, parsley, cocksfoot, subterranean clover, chicory.  There was a classic moment when I was weeding the bed in preparation for the new seeds - a fork-piercing-water-pipe-fountain-incident.  We didn’t know the pipe was there, but Peter was able to fix it in a jiffy, and we’re now thinking of installing a plumbed-in water system for the chooks. 

The compost heap in the veg garden is finally covered in its outer layer of pooey hay.   It’s got lots more cow poo inside too.  Sam was in need of a few dollars, and I was prepared to pay for wheel-barrow loads of poo.  It has dropped its height considerably and is full of worms.  There are 2 other compost piles on the go, in the original compost boxes.  They’re receiving the current compost matter, and when they’re done I’ll create the next heap in a circular shape where one of the new mandalas will go.  There’s plenty of chicken poo yet to be utilised - hopefully there’ll be plenty of yummy compost to start the new beds with next year.  I’m putting some winter veg seeds/seedlings - leeks, brassicas, beetroot, parsnips and carrots - in the new mandala beds so the rest of the veg plot can be converted into 5 more mandalas (plus a pond) over the autumn/winter.  The grass in there is really lush from all the irrigation.  It’s a nightmare job to mow (though does provide great compost material) so it’ll be a big relief when it’s converted into paths between mandala beds. 

I’ve been occasionally watering the native hedge in the horse arena, and it’s coming away nicely.  The last time it was watered, I counted how many plants were visible from a short distance away.  There were 5 plants, but when I closed in and pushed away some of the weedy growth, delightfully the other 29 put in an appearance.  I’m keeping everything crossed that it’s the same in the wetland.  Happily, the plants which were the least exposed and the most surrounded by weeds, were the best of all.  The wetland plants have never been watered, but they were in early enough to experience the wet weather in winter.  Here’s hoping!

'Worm Hollow' has become a happening metropolis.  Hopefully a bit of worm heaven for the current occupants, who will be joined by more worms which are ordered.  We acquired a load of old posts which will be used as plant stakes.  Some had tatty frost protection cloth attached, which I removed, sewed and stuffed with sheep wool to create worm duvets.  Should keep out the frost and keep them toasty over winter.  Now all they need is their own stripy pyjamas.

My days begin and end with irrigation checks, and rounds of small animal feeding and grain-soaking.   I’ve got the tasks down to about 20 minutes if I’m short of time.  If I’m not in a hurry, then I can indulge watching the animals enjoy the food I’ve gathered.  The cows wander over to chat and watch the pigs and chooks devour their feed.  They’re interested in what everyone else is eating, and are now developing an appetite for comfrey and other herbs, and sometimes a few sprouted grains if they’re lucky.  They tolerate a little gentle stroking, and I jumped a mile one morning when Butch nuzzled my bottom as I was bending down to fill up the chook food box.  These are special moments and I have to pinch myself to believe that it’s really me and my life. 

D’you know - it’s magic here. 

 

January 2013

 

While we were away on holiday in the far north, Mother Nature treated us to a couple of welcome dumps of rain, and one very unwelcome huge wind-storm.  It brought down one of our favourite garden trees - a maple which at the time was decorated with solar fairy lights.  Other trees on the property came down too, and several big branches.  The electric fence was damaged, so the cows went on walkabout.   Aphrodite and Persephone returned to the property, but Butch and Woody had other plans.  Luckily they didn’t stray too far, and were rounded up by our neighbours and Murray into another neighbour’s paddock.  When we arrived home 2 days later, they obediently allowed Peter and Billy to retrieve them.  Thankfully the sheep and the solar panels had stayed put.   

For our holiday we spent a few days at a campsite by Haruru Falls (near Paihia in the Bay of Islands).   Billy caught a 10.5lb snapper, and Lucas’ and Sam’s highlight was jet-skiing.  I visited the beautiful and serene Waitangi and took a coach trip to Cape Reinga via ‘90 mile beach’ and some sand-surfing.  Then we stayed a few nights in Wellsford so we could spend some time with our relatives, Shena and Doug.  It was lovely to finally meet them, plus see more of the north island. 

The hay was cut while we were away, and turned and baled soon after we returned.  Only 29 bales this year, but we still have plenty left over from last year and have also sold a few more.  Perhaps we’ll run out and have to buy a few more, but at least we’ll have a better idea of what the stock actually need.  We’re also looking into buying a grass cutter which can attach to the go-kart.  The grass in most of the paddocks is getting old and brown and preventing the fresh growth from coming through.  We may have avoided this with better paddock management, but did have to account for the pine felling.  Maybe we’ll work this out better next year, but it’ll probably always be a guessing game.  We’ve sown new seed in the paddock with the cut hay - clover, plantain and chicory.  The plan is to improve the pasture quality like this in all the paddocks after we’ve cut the old grass down. 

The veg garden and orchard grew enormously whilst we were away.  It seems it was worth sorting out the irrigation.  The orchard is still an overgrown mess, but the trees are big enough to see that it is actually meant to be an orchard.  I double-staked all the fruit trees when I returned, in the hope that the roots weren’t too badly rocked during the storm.  Probably a case of locking the door after the horse has bolted, but they do all look healthy enough right now.  The veg garden is smothered in thistles - again. Thank goodness (or rather - thanks mum!) for the super-sturdy gardening gloves I got for Christmas.   I’m actually coming to the conclusion that thistles aren’t the worst kind of weed.  They create excellent ground cover and pull up quite readily.  I’m assuming that those deep tap roots must also break up the soil structure, bring up nutrients from deep down and provide organic matter for worms. 

An opportunity to acquire 3 free laying hens was too good to pass on, so there are now 3 brown shavers for Bob to ‘service’.   For the first few days they settled them into a small hen house/run alongside the main run before being introduced to the flock.  There was minimal argy-bargy as the chief hen clarified the pecking order, and then peace prevailed.  Now there are 8 Mrs M’s, currently enjoying an abundance of greens from the veg garden and orchard.  The little chick is still small enough to get out of the run under the fence.  S/he goes in and out regularly, but never strays too far.  One of Derryn’s hens is broody again, and is presently sitting on 8 of our eggs.  Fingers crossed for a cacophony of chicks this time.

The rabbits had a great holiday chez Karyn, where they were very well-fed and cuddled.  There’s a chance that Galadriel might be pregnant, but we’re not really sure that we’re picking up on the right signs.  On their return home, they started to burrow, which may indicate a nesting instinct, but probably too much of a long shot.  Hopefully things will declare themselves before too long.  They’re also enjoying the fresh greens.  It’s very satisfying to gather up an armful of grass, clover, peas, beans and comfrey to feed them.  The chickens particularly enjoy marrows, which is very fortunate as I grew several plants from seed and then couldn’t tell them apart from the cucumber seedlings.  3 fortunate courgette plants ended up in the very well-nourished salad patch by accident and are producing a mammoth crop.  That must mean the cucumbers are among the corn and beans, but darned if I can find them.  Perhaps they’ll reveal themselves if I do a bit of weeding in there, but I’d hoped not to.  At least we should have plenty to feed the 4 piglets who are arriving in early February.

The worms have successfully transitioned from small-holding to farm.  We acquired an old bath which we’d intended to use as a cattle water trough, then decided to plumb in some proper troughs instead.  The bath has been transformed into stunning worm accommodation.  Peter built a wooden box around it with a lid.  Some old sheets of polystyrene shoved down the sides will provide insulation for winter.  The worms will also have a very snug duvet created from some old wind cloth stuffed with our (expertly shorn!) sheep’s wool.  The vermiliquid will drain out of the plug hole into an ice cream tub, and the vermicast will be gathered to make seedling compost next year.  Yum.

 

The wetland has been seriously neglected, and a recent walk around was quite worrying.  Some of the native planting is coming away really well, but there are lots that appear to be missing.  The weeds/pasture growth is pretty dense, and the optimist in me believes that they are there, just hidden.  The new native hedge planted in the horse arena appears to be missing too, but it’s not.  Once I’d whacked the weeds down in there, the new plants were thriving.  Fingers crossed that it’s the same in the wetland.

On the family front, Lucas turned 18 on January 13^th.  It was fine weather and he had an outdoor party.  Entertainment included a swim in the river and inflatable jousting, and the food (steak, burgers, sausages, new spuds, salad) was mostly produced right here by us.  He plans to stay at home until the end of September, when he’ll go to Christchurch to study Design.  He’s working full time at the winery, and has treated himself to his first car (a sporty little Mitsubishi).   Sam’s been away on an air cadet ‘bush camp’ and Billy went camping at ‘Curious Cove’ in the Marlborough Sounds. 

 

 

I wish I had more time to dwell on new jobs in the pipeline.  They include planting a shelter belt to the west of the property, to try and protect it from the worst of the winds, and putting in more fencing around a potential woodlot area.  Planting will have to wait until autumn or winter, so no real hurry, but I am starting to collect young trees.  I’ve grown several oak, sweet chestnut and horse chestnut from seed, and have ordered seeds from native trees.  No real rest for the lifestyle-blocker/small-holder, but no regrets either…

December 2012

We’ve gone from wet wet wet to dry dry dry in a matter of weeks.  There’s barely any water in the wetland, and irrigation has become an urgent priority.  I rooted around the shed and found an old sprinkler, which can cover quite a broad area.  In the veg garden, the whole area can be accounted for by siting it in 3 key spots.  Using a hose timer means that I only have to remember to move it between those spots and it’s not a disaster if I occasionally forget.  The spuds are flowering, the carrots are just popping up and the corn is stunning - not a time to be slack.  Cropping is well underway - snow peas, lettuces, spring onions, kale, silver beet and some bandicooted new potatoes for starters.

The orchard has also been treated to an irrigation system (of sorts).  I was considering a soaker hose system, but this would end up wetting the whole orchard rather than just the trees.  Instead it’s now adorned in a dripper system, using a sequence of connected black hoses.  The hose begins in a line up the soft fruit area with small upright sprinklers at intervals, and then continues through the orchard tied to the tree stakes and with a single dripper for each tree.  It’s very DIY and certainly not pretty, but seems to be effective.  Another hose timer completes the setup.  The newish trees are too young to fruit this year, but all have survived with most looking very healthy.  The two original stone fruit trees are laden with fruit this year - probably a nectarine and a peach, but yet to declare themselves.  It was quite a surprise to see them, since last year they produced nearly nothing and we considered chopping them down.  We’ve neglected them just as much this year, so it must relate to the natural variability of stone fruit cropping.

Much weeding and mulching has taken place in these productive zones, and hopefully that’s the lion’s share of the hard graft for this season.  Now that the plants have been given a head-start over the weeds, they’re on their own.  All new weeds will be left to provide ground cover and help with soil water-retention.  The worst to deal with were the thistles, which have left numerous prickles in my fingers.  They’re all over the property too, and thistle-bashing is our least favourite but most required activity.  I plan to complete the final phases of the veg garden development in autumn/winter when the pasture growth slows.  It will be lovely to have a pond and gravel/woodchipped paths and no grass to mow. 

 

A trio of NZ White rabbits arrived a couple of weeks ago, and have been named ‘Gandalf’, ‘Galadriel’ and ‘Belladonna’ in honour of the Hobbit.  It was really difficult to find female Hobbit character names, so it’s likely that future offspring won’t be named.  Instead they’ll be eaten (but we haven’t mentioned this yet to the rabbits).  They’re a bit nervous of being held, but do tolerate it, even by boys.  We moved them into a big run designed for chickens, and sure enough yesterday they managed to nibble a hole in the wire.  I spotted Maggie chasing one across the lawn, but cleverly she managed to chase it into the shed where we caught it easily.  It was only when we returned it we discovered that Gandalf was missing too.  A few minutes later he turned up and was duly returned to a small rabbit-proof enclosure, made of tougher wire.  We’ll start looking for more suitable premises after Christmas, and keep the small run for future rabbit kits.

 

4 baby chicks hatched but alas 3 were taken by hawks.  We should have wised up to this much sooner than we did, but it is a lesson well-learned.  The chicken run now has some raggedy old electric fence ribbon running in zigzags across the top, in the hope of deterring the hawks.  The remaining chick seems to be doing well and is a feisty little critter.  Probably we’ll look at separating hen mums and chicks in future, and using a properly wired enclosure to protect them.  We’ll also get a few more hens so that we don’t lose out on egg production when hens are brooding.  This would also provide Bob with more females to harass - the hens sport bald patches on their backs from Bob’s claws during his moments of conjugal rights.  I do wonder if he abuses his privileges from time to time. 

The cattle have visibly grown in the last few weeks, as have the sheep (and lambs).  Despite being a ‘shedding’ breed, only Rambo has significantly shed his wool.  The others have shed to some extent, but clearly needed a bit of help.  Bring on the total amateurs and their one set of hand-shears!  After the usual lengthy debacle of rounding up (during which there is plenty of time to ponder on which is the more intelligent species), we eventually contained them in the race and began the process of shearing.  Wiltshires are a big breed, so getting them turned over onto their backs was quite a challenge.  I think they were a bit worried that Peter might be trying to dance with them (his reputation as a daddy-dancer seemingly extending into sheepdom), but we did manage to kind of wrestle 3 of them to the ground and hack off their wool.  The 4^th sheep was absolutely not having a ‘baa’ of it, and we ended up using a new, and as yet undocumented, technique of shearing her whilst she was standing wedged against the gate.  It was surprisingly effective and her haircut was no worse than any of the others.  However, we may well have set a new standard for appalling shearing, and are sincerely hoping that the lambs will be more considerate in their shedding-capacity.

 

The solar power was connected and has been quite busy generating power.  We can check on production from the comfort of home using a device which connects to our computer modem.  It tells us how much electricity we’re producing that day/week/month and what the temperature is.  On the hottest day the panels reached a whopping 44°!  We’re looking forward to our next power bill.

Amazingly we’re coming to the end of the immediate priority job list, so hope to have a few days off from the graft of lifestyle-block work and sit back and enjoy the summer.  As well as Christmas cake decorating and pie-making, there’s plenty to enjoy, from swimming in the watering holes, picnicking in the reserve among the mighty kahikateas, days out to the beach, bush walks and barbecues.  And Father Christmas might even bring us some new toys!

 

Cheers, Merry Christmas and warm wishes for a very happy 2013.

November 2012

The most exciting recent event by far has been the installation of the solar power panels on the garage roof.  It’s only just happened so the panels are not yet connected.  Of course, we haven’t got round to felling the shade-casting trees yet, but all in good time.  I have plans to replace them with a small citrus grove.  There’s already a lemon tree, which will probably be very grateful for the extra sunlight.  Maybe I’ll change the habit of a lifetime and actually plan properly and prepare the soil for citrus.

The pine trees are nearly all gone.  Just 3 piles of remnants left.  Peter has been burning them after salvaging any useable firewood.  We had to get a fire permit, so on bonfire night we actually had a bonfire, a few fireworks and a few friends.  There are still several piles of cut firewood in the horse arena.  They have been slowly going down and have earned us some very welcome holiday cash.  The view without them is still magic - like someone’s opened the curtains on the property.  The few natives that we planted are alive so far.  I’ve found myself wishing for rain, to spare me the monumental task of watering them.  The thermometer hit 30 degrees today - a stark reminder that we haven’t factored plant irrigation into our plans…yet.  Peter has plumbed in 2 water troughs for the animals, so it's a start at least.

 

 

The flower garden, including 'Joanna's Patch' are coming away well.  There's a mixture of annuals and perennials, plus some roses and other more established plants.  Flower volume has yet to peak, and it's a bit sparse in places (though the weeds are valiantly trying to fill those gaps).  Hopefully next year will be even better.  All around us the wild plants are flowering too, including stunning wild foxgloves.  The naturalised and wide-spread gorse is smothered in its brightest yellow bloom.  After an incident involving getting stuck in the electric fence and being chased by cows, Maggie the dog still refuses to leave the garden around the house.  All this space, but ironically we have to take her off the property to walk her.  At least here are some benefits from Lucas' part-time job in a butchery.

We’ve planted more natives too, in the horse arena.  They’ll be a wind break for the tunnel house I’m planning sometime in the distant future.  It may be a few years until they’re fully functional in this respect, but at least it’s a start.  The wind blasts through there, so there would be no point even considering putting in a structure without wind protection.  The plants will make up part of the view from the living room.  Attracting birds will definitely be an added bonus.

 

The lambs are growing fast and the sheep are shedding their wool all over the paddocks.  They’re really raggy and have been rolling in the ash left from the pine fires - right now they look like quite a motley old crew.  The fourth ewe didn’t have a lamb, and we’re not sure what happened there.  The paddocks are growing rapidly, and the cows and sheep aren’t making much of an impact on the pasture.  We will make hay again this year, but much less than last year.  Last year was a bumper hay year for everyone, so we only managed to sell a few bales of our excess.  Happily we’ve been advised that hay keeps for a couple of years, so should have enough to last through next winter.

The ‘artificial inseminator’ paid a visit (2 visits in fact - since Aphrodite and Persephone weren’t considerate enough to synchronise their ovulation) with ‘Speckled Park’ semen straws.  He did the deed and was confident that there’s a good chance they are pregnant.  Cows are pregnant for 9 months, so the calves will be due in July, in the middle of winter.  We gave that lots of thought, but in the end we figured that we should fit in with the timescale of the inseminator who was already working in the valley.   And we’re hoping the new-borns will stay warm enough, as long as they’re with their mothers. 

 

3 chook eggs hatched chez Derryn, but only one survived.  That little one is being very well looked-after by its adoptive mother and is growing bossier by the day.  If it’s a girl, it will stay on at its current residence.  If it’s a rooster it will come back here and ultimately become Sunday dinner.  In the meantime, 2 of our own hens have miraculously become broody and are currently sitting on a few eggs each.  Derryn’s girls are also broody again, and they’re sitting on a few more.  Fingers crossed we end up with lots of cute fluffy chicks.  We’re planning to build a separate chook house/run for the boys - thought we’d best not assume that Bob will welcome them with open wings.

Talking of dinner, we’ve located New Zealand White rabbits and a trio will be on its way to us in mid-December.  I was relying on them to keep the pasture growth down in the orchard, but we’d need an army of bunnies right now to do that (or perhaps just the one were-rabbit).   And not talking of dinner, we’re hoping to have a new colony of bees very soon, and possibly another hive.  There is no local hobbyist bee club, so Derryn and I are thinking of setting one up next year.  If we can attract some knowledgeable speakers, it should be a great way for us to learn. 

The veg garden and orchard are taking up massive amounts of time.  Most of that’s down to bad planning on my behalf.  Preparing beds/weeding too early (i.e. too long before planting) and then having to re-weed has been a recurring theme.  Some surprising failures as well, including a poor pea and bean strike rate and carrots totally overwhelmed by weed growth (go on Karyn - gloat).  The corn crop is (mostly) sown, and I planted out 20 tomato plants yesterday.  The earlier brassicas and green leafy crops are looking fab, as are the purple potatoes.  The fruit trees have sprung into life, though the stone fruit have been hassled by leaf curl.  One more tree to be added - I couldn’t walk past a gorgeously named cider apple tree - a Broxwood Foxwelp - from the Nelson Growables fair.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been here more than a year already.  It’s still a huge privilege and to have the opportunity to work with this land.  At times, it definitely veers on the ‘life-sentence’ rather than ‘life-style’ block, but we’re optimistic that at some point we’ll be able to move into a maintenance phase.  Let’s hope that happens before we die.

 

October 2012

On Friday we became aware of the pitter-patter of tiny hooves - our very first animal was born on the property.  I was away in Nelson for the day and got an excited call from Billy on my way home.  We temporarily named this lamb ‘Friday’ and he was soon joined by ‘Sunday’ and Monday’.   It is indeed a privilege to be among the guardians of such beautiful lambs, and we have one more ewe yet to birth.  They are totally delightful, playfully springing around, always close to their mums.  Gorgeous time-wasters!

On the subject of babies, we’re also hoping for some chicks.  My friend Derryn has 2 broody hens but no rooster.  We have fertilised eggs (unless Bob turns out to be seedless) but no sign of broodiness among the hens.  So, Derryn’s girls are sitting on some of our eggs, and they should be due to crack in the next week.  In the meantime we’re still getting around 5 eggs a day, which is way more than we need but makes great gift currency.  Bob has become quite aggressive, but that doesn’t affect us much because he seems to enjoy pottering around his patch.  Some of the Mrs M’s occasionally still escape, but Bob has always remained inside the run. 

The vegetable garden is coming on, though is behind schedule.  Comfortably behind schedule - as are most of our tasks.  Much of the soil preparation is now done, with only 1 mandala and one small original patch still needing to be prepared for seeds/seedlings.  Lots of veg are already planted, with more lined up when we’re sure the frosts are over.  We had one last night which killed a couple of courgette plants, so a lesson learned there.  And a trio of pukeko have taken to checking out the veg garden once the sun rises.  There are a few pulled up seedlings, but otherwise they don’t seem to be doing much harm.  Still to create is the pond (probably next year, or perhaps autumn) and to get rid of the grass between beds by making paths of gravel and woodchip. 

 

The soldier pines are all down, though some are yet to be processed.  The paddocks are quite damaged and will need considerable effort to clear it up before it is safe to use machinery to make hay.  The horse arena is a perfect place for oodles of firewood storage.  There are also pine cones galore, and plenty of woodchips and wood shavings which will come in handy for improving the soil and lining the chooks beds.  They’ll also make good gifts to fellow gardeners and chook-keepers.  We’re planning to hire a big grunty chipper/mulcher to deal with the pine remains and the crack willow which is in piles around the wetland.  Among the piles of waste pine there is still plenty of useable firewood, so it’s another task to get that chopped and stacked.  Today we planted a few native trees (Rimu, Totara, Kauri and Lancewood) in clumps where some of the pines were, in the hope that we manage to look after them well-enough that they survive.  More native plants will go in next winter, plus a woodlot, more nut trees and fodder trees.

We’ve still been getting more rain than usual, but the warm temperatures mean that everything is growing.  The orchard trees are all happily springing into life, as is the herbal ley and the pasture plants around them.  Probably I should just say ‘weeds’, but there’s a fantastic variety of plant-life there, even if it does look like an overgrown mess.  I plan to find time to get round to a tidy up once the veg garden is in a maintenance phase.  In the former pig pen, the potatoes are starting to pop up.  There are tens of kilos of seed potatoes in there (plus some in the veg garden) which should keep us going most of the year.  And in my tiny lean-to greenhouse there are veg and flower seedlings coming through.  Scattered around it are other seedling pots which can’t fit in.  I’m just moving them around, in and out of the greenhouse, in the hope of a good seed strike rate.

The bees have succumbed to varroa and what’s left of the colony has abandoned the hive, returning only to scavenge the remaining honey.  The hive was about half way across the property on its way to a new spot in the veg garden when we noticed fewer bees.  It’s very sad, and partly reflects my inexperience.  I had treated the hive for varroa and checked it a couple of times, but it wasn’t enough and I may have missed some early signs.  There are many tales of hives lost to varroa, so I’m trying not to totally blame myself.  I have my name down on the list for a swarm, and am thinking about hiring another hive and learning more from an expert on-the-spot rather than going alone.

 



There’s still plenty of water in the wetland, which continues to hamper the clearing-out progress.  The native plants are happily showing signs of growth.  We just have to make sure they’re not swamped by the grass which is rampant now that it’s not being grazed.  The cattle are desperate to get in to this lush grass, and have been able, on occasion, to find a way through.  They’d been wising up to the electric fences going on and off for the woodsmen chopping down the pines, and found the places where the fencing was damaged.  This has created opportunities for adventure and we’ve retrieved them from various places off the property as well as on it.  One memorable evening we had to round them up from just outside our neighbour’s driveway, and guide them along the road in the pitch dark using car headlights for visibility.  Peter was resplendent in dressing gown and gumboots.

As a happy (though probably short-sighted) result of cashing in some of our pensions, we’ve decided to go ahead with solar power.  It turns out that our next door electrician neighbour, Karl, is just setting up a company which is importing solar panels from Australia.  The price of these panels has halved in the last 18 months, and it’s promising that they’ll significantly reduce our power bills.  We’ll stay on the grid, and sell excess power on sunny days back to the power company.  Our garage roof faces nearly north, is at the best angle, and the fuse box is inside – all in all a perfect place for the panels to go.  A couple of lovely trees which are shading it will unfortunately have to be felled.

Quite an exciting month really.  It’s a good feeling to be connected to nature, particularly during spring with its anticipation of abundance.  The new lambs are entertaining us all, particularly Billy who has always enjoyed the country life.  Billy sometimes entertains us too, and this photo shows the sign he put on the toilet door when he was cleaning it as part of his weekly chore.  All we have to work on now is encouraging as much effort into the cleaning as the sign-writing!

 

September 2012



Two words this month - WET WET.  Any more and we're in danger of turning into a band, and water won't be the only thing that's all around us!!  Even still some frosts.  But in between, some serious signs of spring.   Buds a-bursting and blossom a-plenty.   One of those endearing bumble bees stung me when I leaned on it by accident whilst weeding.  My finger swelled so much I couldn’t even pick my own nose.

The warmer weather was bound to come as soon as our woodstove was fitted - hurray, here at last.  It has come in handy for those occasional frosty mornings (even with our not-very-dry firewood), but probably won’t be fully in action until autumn.  In the meantime it’s lovely to look at and hot baths are seriously back (very pommy).  Here's the very first attempt at using the oven: a pear tart served with freshly-made custard (using our own eggs) - not a bad start.

Whilst I’ve been getting to grips with the oven, Billy and his friend Liam had a much better way of coping with the rain.  This giant puddle formed quickly during a heavy downpour, but disappeared the next day.

The vege garden is slowly taking shape.  Very slowly really.  The spring winds are blowing the tarpaulins off the mandala beds, and weeds are coming through.  And the grass is growing fast, as it is in the garden.  With more rain forecast tomorrow (Saturday) it’s looking like yet another week will pass before the mower emerges.   I’ve chopped down the green manure, and am now in the process of roughly digging it in.  Despite the rain, the soil isn’t waterlogged, and the structure is lovely and crumbly, like chocolate cake.  Mmmm.   The only vegetable growing right now is a purple-sprouting broccoli.  - just the one plant.  For months there were 10 plants and I believed them to be non-sprouting purple-sprouting broccoli.  Utterly disappointed, one-by-one I fed them to the grateful cattle.   I’ve definitely learned my lesson here.   The one plant is only there because I hadn’t got round to digging it up.  It’s absolutely smothered in glorious purple sprouts - my all -time favourite veg.

 
The cattle and sheep are enjoying the spring pasture growth, and we’d been moving them around the property in the hope of synchronising their pasture use with the pine tree removal.  The woodmen came today, so we’re now several pine trees down.  The plan is to get them all felled and chopped within a fortnight, then stacked in the horse arena (at last it’s come in handy!).  They’ll be taken away as they sell, so may be around for a while.  We were thinking we may have to wait until late autumn to plant up natives along the river, but I don’t think I’ll be able to wait that long.  I’ll try to stick to one or two clumps where there is most erosion along the river bank, and hope that I can get an efficient enough irrigation-thing going to keep them alive over summer. 

Rambo’s owners have decided to add some different genes to their flock, so he’s staying on, at least for another season.  He’s begun to shed his wool, so hopefully the ewes will follow suit soon.   We’re still not entirely sure they’re pregnant, but we are totally optimistic.  Our neighbours are happy to help out if they get into any difficulties with lambing.

Rabbits have also moved onto the, er, menu.  Many moons ago, Peter’s dad used to breed rabbits for meat.  He says he’s not fazed by the whole processing business of fluffy bunnies.  Can’t say that I share that.  However, they make good lawn-mowers and there’s plenty of herby pasture in the orchard.  We’re thinking of converting a couple of the ‘mobile’ chicken runs into rabbit runs.  Apparently ‘New Zealand White’ rabbits are the best meat-rabbits.  We just need to locate a source, which is not as easy as their name suggests it might be. 

Progress on the wetland is still stalled, though Bailey came round for another session and we planted another 28 plants on the high slope, plus a few flaxes which were lurking around the driveway.  We were gifted several clumps of flax, and are getting around to planting them.  Thankfully they are very hardy and have tolerated much neglect.  The removal of zillions of willow branches from the wetland is becoming more urgent.  They’re all sprouting shoots, even the pieces which are stacked in our firewood piles.  Talk about a resilient weed.  It is quite high on our priority list to shift them, but not until they’re high enough above the water level to be reached.

The days are stretching out - there’s even occasionally a bit of time after work to potter around outside.  The seed potatoes are chitting away under our bed, and seed packets are starting to arrive.  I’ve gathered the ingredients and created seed-raising compost - compost, river sand, coir and vermiculite.  All good to go, and I’m hoping to get some seeds sown at the weekend.  The wild ducks are quacking, the birds are singing and the sand-flies are biting.  The boys are growing too, and hatching plans for their own lives.  Lucas is considering study options for next year, and Sam’s musical interests are taking over our lives.  We’re looking into a summer break in Northland.  We have relatives up there (my dad’s cousin Shena and her family) who we’d love to meet and spend time with. 

That Lotto win’s still eluding me, so in the meantime, on with work it is.  Come on you sunshine….

August 2012

One word: WET.  There’s been so much rainfall that pretty much everywhere is a great big bog.  The one silver lining is that the wetland is absolutely stunning.  It’s great to see it so full of water, and fantastic to observe that the native trees (mostly black beech) are in exactly the best place, i.e. along the banks.  The crack willows are just randomly growing anywhere.  This has not been really obvious before, and confirms (to me at least) that the willows should go.  Another 28 native plants plus a few more flaxes went in last weekend.  Bailey from Renwick School came to help out this time and we made some great progress on the higher bank.  It was too water-logged to plant anywhere else.   I’m keeping everything crossed that the plants we put in earlier, lots of which have been completely underwater for some time, will live to tell the tale. 

Also water-logged is the orchard.  This is particularly bad in the places nearest the tiny stream (barely noticeable in dry weather) which is the conduit for the rain falling on the hill across the road.  It cuts across the orchard, and flows down into the wetland.  Most of the fruit trees only went in this year, so I really hope that they can tolerate having wet feet for so long.  Happily all of them are budding up, so maybe spring is closer than it feels.  There are even some huge bumblebees around too.  There orchard is now also home to some ‘new’ (mostly ‘acquired’) plants.  I’ve planted a kind of low hedge, made up of soft fruit (currants, gooseberries, boysenberries) intermingled with flowers for bee food (lavender, rosemary etc.).  There’s plenty of room to continue the hedge, so they’ll soon be joined by raspberries and blueberries, and some native rock daisies.  I’ve sheet-mulched around the plants (cardboard and horse manure so far), then I’ll under-plant with mountain strawberries and flowers for beneficial insects.  I’m picturing the end result as a gorgeous mass of colour and scent.  Probably it’ll be wild and messy and the birds will scoff all the fruit, but it’s still a lovely thought. 

We plan to dig the stream bed deeper so it can carry more volume of water, and then plant swamp flaxes and other marginal plants alongside to help hold the banks together.  It’s so tempting to think about hiring one of those mini-diggers to do the job.  We’d have no shortage of volunteers with that, and we could even dig out a pond in the vege garden whilst we’re at it.  The pond will be the next phase of the permaculture vege garden, so I’m pricing up pond liners and wondering how I can bribe boys to help dig it out.  Hmmm, perhaps I should seriously look into the digger.  There are now 4 keyhole mandala beds, but the weeds are already breaking through from below.  It seems that the excessive rain has dissolved the newspaper and card much faster than expected.  I’ve made some temporary covers with tarpaulins for now - not pretty but should do the trick.  The original vege beds are looking good with their green manure cover.  Not too long for them to be dug in and then the season will really begin.  It must be time to pore over the seed catalogues!!

The beehive has begun its journey over to the vege garden.  Moving it at a metre a day means it will take a few weeks to get there, but should be better protected from the wind and the waterlogging.  There’s not a lot of bee activity apparent, though a recent glance inside the hive confirms plenty of bees and plenty of honey to see them through the rest of winter.  It’s quite a relief after the worry of whether the colony was even viable. 

The turkeys are no more and the chooks are contained in a hen run/house.  We pulled the original hen house from behind the hay shed up to its new home just beyond the sleep-out.  It’s on skids and was quite an exciting moment to watch it being dragged along by the car.  Going down-hill was fine and there was a collective sigh of relief as it made it up the other side.   We put up a wire fence so they now have their own pad.  That the chooks are actually contained is more the hope than the reality.  One particularly persistent Mrs M can still get out, and sometimes she lures another Mrs M along too.  We’ve clipped their wings, but there’s a chance that they may be getting out under the fence, rather than flying over it.  The rain has made the ground so boggy that it’s hard to tell, and harder to secure.  Still, there’s considerably less poo around the house, which was getting to be much less tolerable with all the rain.  I’m looking forward to a big tidy up of all the poultry damage around the house and garden once the weather dries out. 

The cattle and sheep seem fine despite the lousy weather.  The cows escaped from the property one night to go partying on the neighbouring forestry land.  Some idiot left the gate open - it must have been me but I’m not admitting that too loudly.  Luckily it was the morning after Sam’s birthday sleepover (he bought the bow and arrows with his birthday money) and the extra boys made for an easy round-up.  They’re farm-boys so it was pretty much a busman’s holiday for them.  The returning cattle had that arrogantly guilty look about them, a kind of teenage ‘whatever’.

Thankfully the sheep didn’t seize the opportunity to escape too.  Perhaps it was a cattle-only party.   They’d have been much harder to drive back as they’re still pretty nervy and give us a wide berth.  Lambing has begun in earnest across the country, but we’re only expecting the pitter-patter of tiny hooves in early November.  Rambo will return to his real home anytime soon, so here’s hoping he’s done the deed.  We really have no idea so will just have to wait and see.

Our dry firewood supply is long gone, so we’re in the ironic position of firewood, firewood everywhere but not a log to burn.  We have plenty but it’s all wet - both unseasoned and rain-wet.  The fire isn’t working that well any more either, so we’re having some chilly times.  There’s no point getting it fixed because the good news is that the wood-burner stove is ordered, and we’re just awaiting the consent formalities.  And we are getting some wood stockpiles going, so next year should be sorted.  It looks like we’ll just have to sit this one out as there’s no dry firewood available anywhere to buy.  The woodsman who’s coming to cut down the pines has none spare and his business has been significantly delayed by the rain.  He can’t move machinery around in a bog - we may be waiting a while.

I’m still dreaming of a stunning wetland, with a small jetty (and deckchair) perhaps.  Of spending more time at home, tending the animals, fruit and veges.  Of solar hot water and wind power, and perhaps a rainwater collection and waste water system.  Maybe even turning the boys into hippy land-lovers with a penchant for permaculture.  Probably I’ll never get there, but at least I’m on the road and enjoying the journey.