It's been a hot and dry kinda summer so far, limiting opportunities to do much outdoor work. Temperatures above 25 degrees are intolerable, especially without shade, accounting for most of the vege garden. Paid work coming at me from many angles is also reducing potential garden time. Yep - already rolling out the excuses for uncompleted tasks before even being accused of anything (except by myself). Honey and fishing have been amazing this month though.
Gladys has been out and about a few times, whenever we think there won't be too many others around to scoff at our limited boat launching and retrieving skills and our dodgy reversing. Peter took a weekday off work (unbelievable!!) when there was a good forecast, and we launched from Waikawa for the first time. The Queen Charlotte Sound put on a glorious show - all sunshine, blue calm waters and native bush. The fishing wasn't too bad either. I caught my first shark (aaaw) and we took home kahawai, perch and gurnard for the table. Peter has been practicing throwing his cast net (Christmas present) on the lawn, where it looks very much like a giant placenta and cord.
Escape boards went onto 2 out of 3 of my hives and Jane's hive on December 31st, and the boxes were removed the next day. Jane came to help extract, which was an absolute joy. Solitary honey extracting really loses its appeal after a couple of hours. We extracted hers first, then mine, and ended up with around 26 litres of light, floral spring honey - quite different from my usual robust honey. I've bought some new honey boxes, having thrown a few out that were really munted. They've been paraffin-treated but should have also been painted. No time for that though - those bees needed more space. Painting can happen when they're taken off the hives over winter. My 3rd hive (pictured), one of Derryn's late swarms which had a few bees scattered over about 4 frames when it was first set up, had multiplied to fill 2 boxes by the end of December. No spare honey at that point, but I've since added 2 extra honey boxes as I've watched the hive volume grow. Here's hoping that the main honey season will be as successful as the early harvest.
The lambs are growing beautifully, though it's still easy to pick out Sunny and Snowy from a distance because of their respective sizes. Clover is shaping up to be as solid and rugged as her mum. I'm feeling bad that much of their pasture is thistle-ridden. That flood brought in heaps of thistle and dock seeds and there are small forests through most of the paddocks. Peter's desperately trying to fix our crapped-out mower, but without success. That leaves the dilemma of 'to spray or not to spray', with the debate further complicated by the bees who seem to love thistle flowers. No decision yet.
Many vegetable crops are reaching maturity. Madame Cholet's cache has been religiously watered every day. The two beefsteak tomato plants are showing off. The first 4 I harvested weighed a total of 1.3kg and have been transformed into delish relish. Several more have been consumed or are ripening on the kitchen windowsill. There are at least 7 good-sized rock melons that should be ready soon, and the single aubergine plant (that infiltrated the tub of tomato seedlings bought at the Linkwater Plant Sale) is fruiting beautifully, such a gorgeous purply plant. Peppers and chillis are forming, basil is popping up everywhere, and the ginger and turmeric in the tubs are suspiciously promising.
Veges in the beds are also productive. Greens like cabbage and silver beet are being eaten or going to seed. Courgettes are go, also providing marrows for next door's pig 'Polly". Potatoes need digging up in their entirety, not just the few at a time that I've managed so far. Outdoor tomatoes are blushing, and the corn that wasn't destroyed by rabbits has silky tassels. Most of the garlic has yet to be dug up - so far not too much to brag about. They're fairly small bulbs and will be a big task to process. The few elephant garlic that popped up of their own accord are fairly big and will be a delight to process. Pumpkins are going to be market-stall volume, probably the same for gourds.
The fruit has also come to the summer party. Plums are now ready and way too many to shake a stick at. The original plum tree (possibly Omega) that we chopped the main trunk out of has fruited amazingly, with most fruit at reachable height. The Hawera plum has its usual mammoth volume of fruit, and the Black Doris is also laden. Sadly the greengages are not so abundant, so those that are there are strictly mine only. The soft fruit has been absolutely epic - strawberries, blueberries and raspberries ready every 2-3 days, and joined by wild brambles that grow alongside the forestry track. Grapes are looking impressive too - we're going to peg some brown paper bags over the bunches to deter bird activity (not sure how effective it'll be, but probably no worse than previous attempts with actual netting).
Newcomer Yacon (gifted by Sam and Molly) is now nearly as tall as me, but I've read it usually grows higher than 2m. I'm really excited about what the fruit/vegetable (the jury's out) will taste like. As it's food-candy for the Aztecs, I'm sure it'll be good enough for me. In the UK, a gardening programme described it as an 'underground pear'. It's also known as Bolivian Sunroot and Pear of the Earth.
The forestry have been busy upgrading the track by our - house and have re-built a bridge over the Ohinemahuta river. Guessing that means more truck traffic. This bridge is much bigger than the previous one, so likely more permanent. We walk Maggie down there most days. It's only a short walk, but enough for her at the ripe old age of 112 (16). And now we can play competitive pooh sticks in the river.
The 'Almond Cow' that was a Christmas present from Lucas and Laura has been put to use. Almond milk has been successful , but oat milk needs a little more refinement to remove its chalkiness. There are heaps more recipes to try. It's incredibly simple to use, and handy when you run out of milk and live in the wop-wops.
Billy had to leave Spain and re-enter to renew his visa, so he took a jaunt to Paris. He returned to Spain with a a little covid virus. Enough for symptoms but not too bad. He's fine now, and plans to au pair for a different family near Barcelona shortly. Lucas and Laura are still awaiting a golden egg in the form of an MIQ place. Unless the government opens the border for long enough for them to get back.
We're just waiting for the spectre of Omicron to take hold. There are several cases in Motueka and elsewhere in the country, but not here that we know of. Around 60% of the eligible population have received their booster vaccine and good progress made with 5-12 year olds. So lots of vaccine work, and lots of clinical midwifery work too. My Nelson Educator counterpart, Ash, resigned at the end of last year, so lots of education work there until a new person starts. It's fair to say there's lots of hay to be made while the sun is shining.
“Believe me my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
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