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 13th. 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…
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