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.
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 ‘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.