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.

July 2012

Greetings from a very wintry Onamalutu.  Another significant frost this morning, one of many so far this year.  It’s much better than the alternative of rain, which we’ve also had plenty of.   Mostly these cold nights give way to stunning sunny days, so I guess are really quite welcome.  It’s a glorious sight to watch the sun’s rays break out over the hills and make the frost disappear.

In the last couple of weeks we’ve felt 3 earthquakes.  Two were closer to the North Island, but the one last night was centred in Blenheim - actually near Okaramio which is just over the hill.  We do have an emergency kit, though I’m planning to check it out today and make sure it’s adequate.  Our caravan “Lazy Mazy’ was supposed to be our emergency shelter, but work on her has been stalled since we moved here.  She’s sheltered and water-tight at least, but not really happily habitable yet.

On the animal front, things have been relatively quiet.  I miss the pigs, their happy frolicking and grunting and enjoying a scratch.   I don’t miss the twice daily mission to feed them though, and that sense that they always wanted more to eat.  The cattle and sheep are so much more independent and peaceful.  We’ve moved them around pastures and are lucky enough to still have some remaining pasture, which they all prefer to hay.  The chooks are still conveniently laying in the former wood-box outside the front door.  The 3 turkey girls still potter about and poo everywhere, and don’t seem to miss the infamous turkey tom (who weighed 5.2kg and fed us for a few days).

Our free time has been spent outside on the property.  The wetland is in the process (I hope) of transformation.  The power company came and took down the huge willow which was threatening the cables.  They left a huge mound of branches and twigs and a giant log which will probably have to become a feature.  Its removal has certainly changed the view. 

130 native trees and shrubs, plus numerous cabbage trees and flax have now been planted with the help of Greg and Matthew from Renwick School - great work thanks boys.   They've also helped out with clearing away some of the branches, twigs and debris.  You can really see the difference this tidy up has made.  Lots more to do, but very motivating to see what progress can be made in a couple of days.  Those trees in the background of the picture are the crack willows (in winter dress) - all of which need to come out.  It’s a very exciting project, though one of those which seems turns up more and more projects as we work on it.  There's an obvious place for a path going around the back.  Wonder how long it'll take to get around to that?

T
he vege garden is also being transformed.  So far there are 3 keyhole mandala beds, two of which are pretty much complete.  They were staked out then sheet mulched, beginning with thick wet newspaper and cardboard, seaweed (gathered from Rarangi beach) and horse manure, and finally topped with some bought garden compost.  Billy's been helping me - perhaps he's dreaming of all the veges we'll get this summer?  Yeah right.  Hopefully that’s the last time I have to buy compost for this garden.  I do have some of my own but not in enough volume for setting up.  I really should have anticipated that the chooks would find their way in and scratch them up.  Some kind of plan is definitely needed and quick - every day I have to rake them back together again

The paths are being made from the horse arena gravel, which is working well.  Ultimately all the grass will go as all the whole area will be sheet-mulched.  I'm thinking of using the old animal feed bags which came with the horse poo, and we have plenty on the property too.  I'll cut them open and use them as weed mat, then cover with more gravel.  I’m paying the boys hard cash per wheel-barrow load to scrape up the gravel and gather flat river rocks to edge the ‘keyhole’ paths.  They want money because we’re going to Hanmer Springs for the weekend, which not only has a fabulous hot pool complex, but also the best sweet shop (the Lollipot).  Suffice to say a favourite destination for us.

Lucas is proceeding with his plans to study Design at Christchurch Polytechnic next year.  He’s visited the campus and even miraculously seems to be on track with his school work.  Sam has just returned from Timaru where he was attending the National Brass Band Contest.  The band was rehearsing lots in the build-up, so he’s pretty tired.  Luckily it’s not a problem for him to sleep in until the early afternoon.  The photos show Lucas in his suit for the ‘Formal’, and with Sam in his band suit.  I’ve added them to the blog in response to a request from mum for more family photos - there you go Grandma!!

       

June 2012

Winter’s well and truly here - many frosty mornings and even once some snow.  A neighbour tells us snow hasn’t settled here for 10 years.  If you have brilliant eyesight, in the photo above you’ll see 2 pukekos by the lake that formed after heavy rain.  Very exciting - it’s the first time we’ve seen them here. 

The house keeps toasty warm as long as the fire's lit.  I was almost hoping it'd be a crap fire so I could really justify that wood-stove.  I'm having to work on a bit more justification, but I think I'm nearly there.

Our cows arrived safely and have settled well, inseparable now from Butch and Woody.  And what’s really nice this time is that these ones are unlikely to end up in the freezer.   Aphrodite* and Persephone** are 10 months old, a bit older than the steers but not that you’d know it – they’re way more petite.  Billy remarked that “they must be girls because they’ve lied about their age!” They’re Galloway cows (aka Teddy Bear cows) so not  Greek Goddess-like at all.  Maybe they'll grow into thier names.    They should be the right age for insemination at Christmas, so optimistically we’ll have Speckled Park X calves around September 2013.  At least that’s the plan.

The sheep have also settled and have now been named.  There’s a rugby theme to their names, even though they’re female (at least we hope so!).  There’s ‘Nonu’ (Ma’a Nonu), ‘Israel’ (Dagg….think about it), ‘Tate’ (for England player Matthew Tate) and finally ‘Fitzpatrick‘ (Sean).  You really didn’t want to know eh?  Billy and Peter reckon they know who’s who – but I can’t tell them apart.  Hope that doesn’t count as ‘sheepism’.  Anyway, they’ve done a fine job of mowing the orchard – you can even see where the new fruit trees have been planted (and now staked).  We’ll move them to another paddock at the weekend for a change of scenery and pasture.

Fighting between the 2 turkey toms (and excess turkey poop around the house) led to a reduction in their numbers.  One male and one female were processed, leaving 3 females and a tom.  Since becoming leader of his pack, this turkey tom has turned his attention and aggression to his next rival – me.  Apparently it’s not unusual for turkeys to attempt to be dominant like this, but frankly it’s a pain in the arse.  He displays constantly and stalks me, snapping at the back of my legs.  He stamps and makes angry wheezy sounds, and tries to follow me into the house.  When I open the curtains…..he’s there, like a scene from a horror movie, waiting to torment me.  Sometimes it’s quite entertaining, mostly it’s infuriating and a bit of a concern that he might go for someone else.  When he really gets on my nerves I find myself childishly gesticulating a cut throat and declaring: “into the pot you turkey”.  To think, I used to be a vegetarian.

The chooks, on the other hand, are being delightful.  5 eggs most days thank you very much. Several of these are double-yolkers, as you often get with young birds, and there was even a triple-yolker (hope you enjoyed it Karyn!).  They started to lay them in our firewood box just outside the front door.  At first we tried to persuade them to return to their nest boxes in the hen house, then we realised that being able to pick up clean eggs from by the front door is a truly fantastic concept.  Peter took the wood out and replaced it with hay, and we created a second ‘nest’ – a hay-lined cardboard box on the other side of the firewood box.  Voila!! 

Not long now for Smoko and Supper, who now look absolutely huge.  Interestingly they've begun to fight with each other, which didn't happen when there was 4 of them.  They mostly come to blows over food, taking it in turns to be push the other away.  We haven't cleaned out the pig house in the whole time we've had the pigs - it hasn't been necessary as it's remained squeaky clean.  All we've done is added a few extra haybales, mainly for warmth.  We've decided to see how long the meat from 3 pigs last us before deciding when to get more piglets.  I've enjoyed them, but they are quite time-consuming in terms of feeding - I'm looking forward to a break.

There’s no real change in the wetland in the last month, except for some clearing up of willow branches and 130 native plants ordered.  The council has agreed to cut down the tallest willow which could bring down the power lines if it fell the wrong way - Murray didn’t want to go ahead for that reason.  It’ll take 3 months before it gets to the top of their list, but won’t stop us being able to begin planting.  I’ve earmarked the 2 week July holidays to get on with planting, and am hoping to have some volunteers to help out.  I’m also hoping that we’ll make some progress with clearing more of the rampant willows before planting begins.  There’s been quite a lot of rainfall and the water level is the highest it’s been.  Hopefully it’ll be high more often once the willows stop sucking it out. 

The vege plot is also unchanged, though the green manure is growing well, and I’ve tentatively drawn out some plans for mandala beds in the new fenced-off area (and eventually to replace the existing oblong beds).  It’s the first draft so very likely to change several times before I settle on something.  I’ve included a pergola in the middle next to a small pond.  Not a priority of course, but knowing me it’ll probably be one of the first things that goes in.  After all where else am I going to sit and drink my beer/sloe gin/vanilla vodka?

My Go-organics course has come to an end (once I’ve finished the assignments) which I’m quite sad about.  We had a great group and our fabulous tutor, Chris, is totally motivating and inspiring.  I only wish I had a fraction of her knowledge and skills.  She’s mentioned the possibility of a further course in propagation which we’d all be up for.  And being able to propagate natives would bring down the costs of re-vegetating the property.  We had our final session / social right here, and it was great to show off the place and get everyone’s ideas.  The top tip came from Chris for suggesting we use the gravelly grit from the horse arena for paths in the new vege garden.  Genius.  What the hell else are we going to do with it?

TIme to sign off now and go and do something useful.  Firewood stacking, fencing, sorting out willow branches, housework (yeah right) etc.  It's BIlly's 12th birthday tomorrow so we're out bowling and having a sleepover tonight.  One more year then they'll all be teenagers.  No stop, I'm not even going there.  In the meantime it's a stunning sunny winter's day, after a serious frost  again this morning.  Sigh.....life's sweet.




*Aphrodite: Greek Goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation.  She was born when Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the sea foam (aphros) arose Aphrodite. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus.
**Persephone: Queen of the underworld.  She's the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter.  Also known as Kore (maiden / vegetation goddess)