April 2013

For a while it was starting to look like the drought was breaking, though not really much rain here.  But in the last few days we’ve had persistent rain, heavy at times and have now turned back into a bog.   At least our water worries are alleviated.  Plenty of underground water and it turns out that the stop/start of our water supply was related to the pump filter getting clogged up.  Peter got phone advice and fixed it on the spot.  The woodstove’s been lit, food cooked on it and in it, and baths are back on tap. 

The rain is seriously highlighting that some of our animal houses are not completely water-proof.  The pig house remains clean and dry, though most of the run is a quagmire (and a bit smelly too).  Some of the rabbit and chook houses are now sporting very unattractive tarpaulins to keep the sleeping-quarters dry.  Peter’s done some work on them, and plans to do more once vintage is over (very soon).  The improvements to the accommodation will also make them more mobile and accessible, which optimistically should reduce time needed to get them fed and kept clean.  We’ve just worked out that we’ll need 4 rabbit runs to house all the different ages/sexes.  Gandalf will get a bigger run to himself, the females need one each, plus one for kits which are weaned but not big enough to sell or eat. 

The baby rabbits continue to eat and grow.  Belladonna, the younger NZ White doe-rabbit, has added her own brood - another nest-ful of kits.  These are still way too young to leave the nest, and until they do, we won’t know how many there are.  This time we were alert to the early signs of her plucking out her fur.  We removed Gandalf immediately and provided lots of hay for nest-building.  Gandalf is doing his ‘I’m not impressed’ act again.  Perhaps he has to look after himself when the women are raising their young.  The other kits are now 7 weeks old and are vigorously growing and gorgeously cute.  We’ve been researching how to sex them.  It’s not an easy task at this age (and everyone has a tale about getting this wrong) but we do need to know so that we can advertise them for sale.  The plan for those that don’t sell is to go in the freezer.  We’re going to ask $30 each, so should re-coup costs relatively quickly.  Either that or have lots of delicious rabbit meals.  At least it would make a change from sausages, though they are still retaining their popularity...

The chooks are growing, and we’ve just transferred the 5 teenage chooks (born and raised at Derryn’s) into the main run.  Fingers crossed they sort out the pecking order without too much trauma.  The other younger chicks are now 6 weeks old and will stay put until they’re big enough to join the flock.  It’s time to think about a cull, as it’s getting quite expensive to feed 20 chickens.  Over to you Peter…

Derryn came round and helped to shape and lightly prune the fruit trees, which are now looking so much better.  Some look like ballerinas with their lower branches pulled down with twine.  This should improve the tree form, allowing light in and encouraging fruiting on the lower, more reachable branches.  The orchard’s still an overgrown mess otherwise, but it’s yielding plenty of herby greens for the rabbits and the chooks.  I’ve decided to pull out the low fruit hedge/bee food plants from the orchard, and transfer them to the veg garden where they will receive more attention.  This will mean that the orchard can be easily grazed once the fruit tree leaves have dropped – that should tidy it up a bit.

The veg garden is looking much less overgrown, even vaguely tidy in places, especially the mandala beds.  Plans for developing it are progressing.  Instead of using a pond liner, we’ve decided to sink an old bath tub and a large water trough as water features, both of which were already on the property.   It’s just a matter of starting to dig.  Then it’ll be onto converting the original huge oblong beds into more manageable mandalas.  There are 20 sacks of horse manure, several barrow loads of flat rocks (thanks Sam!) and heaps of cardboard, plus a car bootful of seaweed from Kaikoura (thanks Ander and Billy - it was a beautiful day along the fabulous east coast, especially at Kekerengu).  Once the pasture growth slows up, paths will be put down using old cut-open stock feed bags as weed-mat, and cardboard, and then covering them with the wood-chips that Peter created from the mountains of willow pulled out of the wetland.  Current production of veg is still relatively prolific (even carrots), and there are plenty of veg seeds and seedlings planted for winter.
 

 

Peter is bringing home buckets of crushed grapes from the winery, which is much loved by the cows.  It has increased the cattle’s tame-ness - even Aphrodite and Persephone who have always been timid.  They are now quite barrel-shaped, so hopefully a couple of gorgeous calves to come in July.  The cows love the grapes so much they hang around the paddock gate whenever we’re around.  This makes it tricky to manoeuvre around them at pig/chook feed times, and requires extra vigilance with keeping the gate shut (eh Peter??).  They’ve also been known to lean against the chook enclosure, damaging the chicken wire.  The adventurous chooks take immediate advantage of the breaches and go on walkabout.  One day Bob decided to join in the fun, and I’ve still got the hole he tore in my jeans to prove it. 

The pigs don’t share the love of grapes.  Last year’s pigs did relish them, but this lot are much pickier it seems.  I keep giving it to them in the hope that they acquire the taste, but with limited success.   They do seem to enjoy pretty much everything else, including acorns.  Happily they were gifted a huge quantity (thanks Tania/Tania’s mum/Saskia /Marcus!) which significantly bulks out their food supply.  If you asked them, they’d be adamant that they are half-starved of course. 

The autumn bounty has provided opportunities for foraging: wild apples, stone fruit, fallen leaves (for composting) plus a bumper crop of sloes alongside the road just outside Renwick.   I’ve been collecting sloes every autumn for years, and this is the very best crop.  Some of them are huge, maybe some kind of damson/sloe cross.  They’re all put to good use in gin and vodka – yum.  I’ve also created vanilla and quince vodkas, which last year were very successful, though didn’t last long.   There are large batches of strawberry jam, quince jelly and pear& vanilla jam, and I hope that’s not the end of it.

The solar panels are proving to be very effective.  The last couple of power bills have been really small ($90 and $73) so they are already starting to pay for themselves.  The long hot summer has helped.  During the rainy days we were only generating enough electricity to boil a kettle, but now the sun’s making a comeback that will increase.  The days are shorter but hopefully the reduced solar energy will be off-set by the use of the woodstove.

It’s time to start battening down the hatches and preparing for winter.  There’s definitely more of a feeling of being connected to the land and the seasons when you live in the country.  Daily activities like the animal-feed rounds take longer, but once you get over the chore concept, it’s such a pleasure to be outside, seeing and feeling nature.  It’s hard to imagine life without it. 

March 2013



The big dry continues, and not just for us in Marlborough.  Much of the North Island has been officially declared a drought zone, and with no significant rain on the horizon, probably the South Island will follow suit.  We haven’t been affected by the water restrictions because we’re not on mains water.  Ours is pumped up from an underground well/bore, which means that we don’t have any idea how much there is.  It’s quite worrying when the flow of tap water stop/starts all the time, which it’s begun to do lately.  I’ve stopped automatic irrigation, and now hand-hose to eke out whatever supply we may have.  It’s time consuming, but not half as inconvenient as running out of water would be.

The 6 chicks at Derryn’s are now 5, but are growing beautifully.  And we have 5 of our own chicks too - truly gorgeous bundles of yellow fluff.  As soon as they were born, we moved them and their hen-mum into new accommodation.  We designed and built a hen house/run on wheels so it can be moved around.  It’s two-storey with the sleeping accommodation upstairs.  The stairs themselves are ultra-designer - a floating staircase no less!  It solved the problem of the stairs not trailing on the ground when being wheeled around.  Peter added some decorative features too, as you can see in the picture.

 

The farm animals seem contented. The cattle and sheep still have sufficient pasture and continue to grow. The lambs are 6 months old now, and nearly as big as their mothers. They could be processed any time really, but we’ll probably wait a couple of months until there’s less available feed. We noticed that a couple of ewes had very large udders (one particularly so). The books told us about black bag and blue bag - forms of sheep mastitis, but they didn’t appear unwell. Droopy udders, we’ve heard, is quite common in ewes and thankfully it’s looking like that’s what it is after all. Ah - the ravages of childbearing and breastfeeding!

 

And we have other babies - a nest-ful of rabbit kits.  One day there was white fur all over the ground in their run, and the next it had all been gathered up and made into a nest which wriggled.  For several days they were blind, pink and ugly, and we didn’t know how many there were.  Disturbing them wasn’t really an option for us rabbit-keeping beginners, and now they’ve declared themselves as 6 beautiful bouncing babies.    Galadriel’s the proud mother, and it even took a while to be sure about that.  Rabbits only feed their young about twice a day, and don’t seem to spend much time with their in-nest youngsters.  Gandalf was removed soon after the birth, and despite his new and luxurious accommodation in Derryn’s former chicken house/run, he seems quite grumpy.  He is a new father I guess…

The pigs drive us insane at times.  When we approach with food, they charge into the fence.  They surround us when we enter the run and can only be briefly distracted by the throwing down of food.  One sunny day I returned home with a gruesome migraine and Sam.  There was a pig on the driveway and 2 more behind the hedge.  It took a while to work out how they’d escaped, and in the time it took to attempt to secure the run, the 3 pigs had managed to get themselves into the chicken run.  It’s quite amazing that they managed to squeeze under that fence - a feat eluded by the considerably smaller chickens.  We lured them back with food, only to find they’d escaped again an hour later, and were on the road.  Holy crap!  A few days later they escaped over the fence, at the place where they’re usually fed.  Necessary fortifications (higher fence and low barbed wire) mean that now we either have to climb in or chuck the food over to them.  It depends on available time.  They’re really enjoying the sprouted grains and sweetcorn (demolishing whole plants) and have several treats in the form of apples, stone fruit and occasionally kids’ leftover school lunches.  And yep, they’re still always hungry.

 

Delicious sausages have featured in our meals lately.  After attending a ‘Pig in a Day’ workshop (http://www.preserved.co.nz/pig-in-a-day-workshop.html) and getting a hand-mincer and sausage-maker, I’ve been getting into the swing of sausage production.  We haven’t got enough of our own pork left, so I grudgingly had to buy some belly and shoulder pork and get to work on them.  The workshop also included bacon, salami, black pudding, prosciutto and pancetta, which I’ll have a go at when we have our own meat supply.  We’re thinking about processing our own pigs at home (with the help of the home-kill man and a butcher-friend) next time.  I get a sense of nausea even thinking about it now, but hopefully I’ll get over myself. 

 

The orchard and vege garden are mostly wild and weedy, but nonetheless productive. I'm finally getting more relaxed about weeds, and beginning to really appreciate their role in soil biology and chemistry. They've also provided much needed shade for the vege crops as well as food for the animals (dandelions are a new source of delight!). Some of the vegetables end up as stock-fodder too, for pigs, chooks, rabbits and worms. If they're lucky, the cows and sheep also get a look in. Unlike the children, they're not picky about dodgy-looking produce.   The photo shows one cropping session, and I'm about to harvest another batch of tomatoes to make into tomato sauce. Herbs and onions will be added, then everything roasted and pureed and put into jars to store. 

The sunflowers are nearly over, but have yielded an immense crop of seeds which will keep the chooks and the rabbits happy.  Many seeds have been saved and there’s now quite a good supply of a range of flower and vegetable seeds for next year.  The flower garden still provides much pleasure and should be even better next year.  Check out the stunning rose ‘Rosa Remember Me’.

 

Touches of autumn are appearing - some fallen leaves, shorter days and chillier mornings.  Sometimes we get a morning mist which seems to be providing moisture before it’s burned off by the sun.  That could explain why our pastures are still a quite green, and not completely dry-brown as much of the region is.  The Onamalutu valley is a sight to behold on these mornings, with sunny and shady spots, dappled light, and trees and animals emerging out of the mist along the river.

“Maybe if we are surrounded in beauty, someday we will become what we see”.
 

 

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.