July was heralded by the joyful arrival of the seed
catalogues (no Peter, this isn’t sad at all.
Whatever.). It was particularly
heart-warming as it coincided with one of the coldest cold snaps we’ve ever
had. Before ordering new seeds - in the
interests of thrift - I broke with the habit of a lifetime and actually checked
out and listed the seeds I’ve either collected or have left over from last
year. I have to say that I won’t be doing
that again - it diminished the whole seed-browsing experience. Thankfully Derryn’s enthusiasm for
seed-shopping has been infectiously redeeming.
We’ll put in a joint order and do a bit of swapping and sharing.
The pigs were dispatched with the usual degree of
angst. Rea, who named them after
Shakespeare’s King Lear characters, sympathetically pointed out that it was all
bound to end in tragedy. Friends are
enjoying their shares of pig products, and we managed to butcher and process
one pig as planned. Well nearly. No Black Pudding again as the home-kill man
says it’s too hard to collect blood when animals are shot. I made some pate instead. One huge salami is hanging in the kitchen,
alongside a drying prosciutto. The
prosciutto this time has been boned-out, so it only needed a couple of weeks
curing in salt. Without a bone it should
be easier to slice when it’s ready in about 6 months. A couple of large hams were soaked in brine
and then frozen along with several batches of cured bacon (pancetta), sausages
and chorizo. The local butchers are doing
mostly chops, pork joints and wet bacon (Danish) from the other pig.
A couple of the hens are laying regularly. Perhaps they know something about when spring
will show up. The youngsters are all
grown up and it’s hard to tell who’s who.
There’s some rooster competition for Cornelius, including the lovely
black boy in the photo. Now that they’re
used to their new home, the chooks are being let out to free-range in the day. Optimistically it’ll take a while for them to
discover the vege garden, and even when they do there are no delicate seedlings
to be scratched up. They’ll probably
spread the burned hay around a bit, so may need to be re-contained at some
stage.
A wheelbarrow full of vermicompost and a couple of litres of vermiliquid has been retrieved from the worm farm. It's still abundant with numerous hard-working worms, despite the freezing conditions. The worm poo will be added to this year's seedling compost and the worm wee will be diluted and sprayed onto the fruit trees and early veg crops (when they emerge).
Having failed to harvest West Coast flax when I was working
in Westport (just too busy), I have managed to gather some from several plants
along the Wairau River. I’m determined
to weave another basket before I forget how to do it. I’d ordered some flax dye from an online
company, and had sourced a giant, very old jam pan from good ole ‘Dust and
Rust’ in Murchison. The process requires
boiling water, and with the inevitable potential of mess, it definitely needed
to be an outside job. The barbecue was the
obvious place. Mistake number one was
going ahead despite knowing that the gas cylinder was nearly empty. Mistake number two was adding way too much
flax in the first batch (intending to do only one batch and not picking up on
the ‘way too much’ signs soon enough). Peter
came to the rescue, cutting down a piece of galvanised mesh and weighting it
with a rock so that the disobediently flapping-around flax could be
submerged. The first batch was actually
a success – beautiful maroon flax. The
gas ran out before the next batch was complete, so it ended up as a rhubarb
colour – pinky/greeny, though also quite beautiful. I’m planning to pretend that was my
intention. Maybe it will work well in
basket-form.
I’ve had a week off work and have managed to fit in a few
small jobs, though nothing like what I’d hoped to achieve. Lazy Mazy the caravan has been reviewed but still
awaits her transformation, as does the original chicken run and the horse
arena. The flower beds need weeding and
the clearing around the acer has yet to be completed. On the plus side, there’ve been a few
enjoyable lunches and coffees with friends, and lots of long overdue and very
dull housework has been done. Batches of
washing liquid and toothpowder are made, wine has been racked (bottled in the
case of the ginger wine – and totally delish), camping gear sorted, even
windows cleaned. Lucas was home too, so
there’ve been a fair few smokos and plenty of good food. Peter’s had his first week in the new job
(going well), so it’s been ideal for me to take up the day-to-day house/farm
chores leaving him to just relax when he got home. 
Billy’s soccer game in Picton was a good opportunity to pay
a visit to the gorgeous Karaka Point.
It’s a place of great sentimental value to me (some of Dad’s ashes
scattered there) and was blissfully peaceful early on a Saturday morning. The tide was high and the clouds dispersed and
disappeared as I watched. Truly
awesome. The road out to Karaka Point
has been improved, making the drive less hairy than previously. It seems that several new houses have appeared. They’re mostly of the large, flash, designer
variety and are located high up on the hills.
Probably they have stunning views, where the scenery can be admired
safely from a distance, protected from the ravages of nature by height or glass. It’s sad that human’s superior status is so
often defined by dominance over nature, rather than connection to it.
We have a resident kereru (wood pigeon) who spends a lot of
time in the native trees alongside the driveway. The photo show him/her in our tulip tree. Bird-life like fantails, tuis and pukekos
have been noticeably plentiful this year, as have other less-desirable wild-life
like mice, rats, possums, rabbits and stoats. It’s great to see so many birds because it’s been a ‘beech mast’ year
when native beech trees produce an abundance of seeds. This occurs every 2-6 years and can be really
bad news for native birds as pest species can multiply rapidly. Even trout numbers increase as they gorge on
swimming rodents. 
I’d been waiting for the ewes to birth their lambs before
publishing this blog, but they will have to appear in next month’s instalment
instead. It’s really quite a relief that
they haven’t been born into a minus 6⁰ night, especially as their mothers show no
signs of needing to bask in any available rays of sunshine. They are absolutely disinterested in eating
hay, so hopefully are getting enough nourishment from the pasture. The cows are extremely interested in hay, and
keep tabs on our movements around the house, mooing loudly if they think
they’re missing out on a hay opportunity.
They’re clever enough to recognise our ute as it rounds the last bend
before the house, and are very aware of when Peter is out and about. Zeus is bigger than ever and though known to
be a softie at heart, I’m definitely not taking the chance to test that out.
Sam’s been at the National Brass Band competition, coming
first in Junior (u 19) Soprano Cornet and 4th in the Junior
Cornet. He was one of a winning 5-player
ensemble and the band got 3rd in the Marching and came 7th
overall. Not bad for a provincial band
up against the big-city bands. Billy’s spending a few days in Christchurch with Lucas, so the house is
pretty quiet. Cupboards are stocked and
firewood stacked so there should be a moment or two to relax. Shame I’m doing ‘dry-July’ as a tipple of
something would go down well. When I feel a need to do a little tidying, I’m inevitably drawn to the wise words of Martin Crawford, who has for many years been developing a fabulous food forest garden in Devon, UK (http://www.permaculture.co.uk/videos/living-land-part-1-forest-gardening):-
"Tidiness always costs you energy"
