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.