July 2015

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.

The cold snap has brought with it numerous magical mornings when the sun bowls in across the land.  Distinct lines of fresh green pasture gradually appear from beneath the icy surface as the warmer air melts the frost.  Some shadier parts of the property have remained frozen for days.  A close up of many trees reveals abundant lichen draped over their branches – testament to the clean air that we are so privileged to enjoy. 

Sam’s been at the National Brass Band competition, coming first in Junior (u 19) Soprano Cornet and 4^th in the Junior Cornet.  He was one of a winning 5-player ensemble and the band got 3^rd in the Marching and came 7^th 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"

  

June 2015

I’m starting to write this blog from a not-so-sunny Westport where I have a bit of work.  It’s rained on and off the whole weekend so far.  I have managed to get out and take a walk along the beautiful Carter’s Beach where we holidayed over Christmas.  The rain held off until I was at the furthest point of my walk.  There must have been a big storm which wiped out some of the mature trees which had been holding the sand bank together.  The remaining tree roots make impressive natural sculptures.  The pathway down onto the beach has also disappeared, so I had to leap down and fervently hope that it’d be possible to clamber back up again.  It was, but there’s still sand in the car.

The weather has also caused problems along the Kaikoura coast.  I recently drove back from Christchurch and was naively enjoying the thrill of huge waves which were splashing up onto the main highway and the windscreen.  The road north of Kaikoura was closed, so I was obliged to spend a few hours killing time around Kaikoura beach and shops before heading back home.  It’s a hard life etc.  The remainder of the coastal journey was slow-going, as there were long stretches with only one lane open.  The lane closest to the sea was littered with seaweed, driftwood, gravel and rocks - some of them bigger than footballs.  News stories told of vehicles being lifted up by the waves before the road was closed.  Not a great photo - it was taken out of my car window whilst slowly driving along.  The sea is usually turquoise/blue rather than white foam.

The veg garden has been a little neglected, though the weeding (as much as I’m doing) is nearly complete and there are only a few places that need to be mulched with the burned hay.  Crop-wise it’s still productive, though this is mostly leeks, carrots, Jerusalem artichokes and some greens.  Extra rocks from Sam’s garden clearance have been added to the fruit bed walls, so they do a better job of holding in the mulch.  The stock crop of ‘Mammoth Mangels’ (above) are thriving and seem to be still growing when very little else is.  The sugar beet isn’t so fond of the cold but is still alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There has been progress in the horse arena, though it’s still mostly in the conceptual phase.  We mapped out the whole arena, sketching the structures already there, and realised that even with some expansion there’s still a heck of a lot of unaccounted-for space.  More than half in fact.  We really don’t want to create more and more planting beds as we already have plenty, they’d cost something to set up and then would need to be looked after.  The final decision is to fence at the mid-way point and convert the unused side, holding the entry gate, back to pasture.  This will create a small paddock which would be good for housing animals who need to be separated from their mob – like lambing ewes.  The cattle probably won’t go in until the existing young trees (which we planted very soon after arriving here) are tall enough to not be munched.  

Another gate will be put in the dividing fence for access.  Madame Cholet and some raised beds are already in position.  They will be joined by a pig pen/run, divided into 2 half runs so that the pigs can be shunted across when they’ve dug up all the greenery on one side.  We’re hoping there’re enough wood planks in the ground (originally used to hold in the horse arena hard core and gravel) to create the 3 more raised beds which will fit into the space.  Eventually, there’ll be graveled weed-mat between the structures, in the hope of reducing the maintenance workload in the long run.  We have a view of the veg garden and horse arena from the living room, so it’s a relief to finally have a plan in place which will ultimately mean that we don’t look out onto a waist-high weedy horse arena.

 

 

Our freezer is now full of tender and delicious lamb and mutton.  Though they were still technically lambs at 10 months old, the butcher and the home-kill man, Bruce, were sceptical of their age as they were so large.  Bruce thinks he might charge us more than his standard lamb-rate next time if they’re the same size!  We were a little worried that we may have sacrificed volume for quality, but this doesn’t seem to be so.  Karyn and Carol, who had a lamb each, are really enjoying the meat.  The lamb legs have been so large that one has provided 4 meals worth of meat, plus some sliced cold for sandwiches.  Lamb curry and hotpot were no less tasty for being made using pre-cooked meat.  There’s plenty of chops and mince, and a big batch of home-made sausages. 

The pigs are next on the list, though we’ll have to do some juggling around in the freezer to fit them. Like last time, Karyn and Carol will have one each, we’ll send another pig to the butcher, and process the last one ourselves at home.  I’ve got recipes lined up to make pancetta bacon, sausages, chorizo, salami, ham, prosciutto and black pudding.  Plans to construct a cold smoker out of a wine barrel won’t eventuate in time for these pigs, but we’ve had an offer to use a neighbour’s.  We’ve been trying to find a way to cold smoke without using either gas or electric power – that rules out the available commercial smokers.  We seem to be getting there though, just a couple more things to source.

In the meantime the pigs have been getting more and more difficult to fill (food-wise) over the last few weeks, and the otherwise welcome rain has turned their run into more of a quagmire than a paddock.  They’ve trashed every food container, so sometimes we just have to put their food onto a dry patch of mud.  They don’t seem to mind, but we do.  There is an old concrete horse feeder which we hoped would solve the problem.  It has drainage, but this blocks with all sorts of debris and then fills with rainwater.  We’ll have to find a solution to this before we get more pigs.

The ewes are looking decidedly pregnant and we’re wondering when we might have the pleasure of beautiful baby lambs.  Last year’s lambs were born in the July, so maybe it won’t be long.  Hopefully they’ll pick a good weather day or night to give birth.  Then we’ll have to start keeping an eye out for a replacement ram – ideally one that actually sheds all its wool.  Either that or think about growing on one of our own ram lambs (assuming we get one). 

 

 

The cows are mostly managing to behave themselves, though Zeus is getting more mischievous.  He has been known to take a gate off its gudgeon pins, resulting in the need for a few fix-it jobs.  Hera’s looking more rounded in the belly.  Hopefully there’s a gorgeous calf growing in there.  We still haven’t managed to coordinate either ourselves or an AI technician to inseminate Athena, which is quite frustrating.  We’ve been using heat detection pads on her butt so at least we have a better idea of when she’s on heat.

 

This month has been relatively quiet on the farm.  Few jobs are urgent so we can slowly work our way through what we’ve got.  We’ve even had the luxury of an occasional weekend day off farm-work (mostly weather-driven), and the tantalising promise of a lie-in when the pigs are gone.  I’ve taken on lots of (too much) extra clinical work – a bit beyond making hay while the sun shines, which was the idea.  I’ve ended up with a total of only 2 days off this month, and my working days include extra travel in the form of 2 trips to Westport and 2 to Christchurch.  Hopefully that’ll mean enough earnings to actually take some leave in July.  Lucas will be home for a week and says he’ll help me with glamming up Lazy Mazy, the caravan.  Here’s hoping we can lavish on her the attention she deserves.

Back at home, Billy’s had his 15^th birthday.  He chose a normal vanilla sponge cake this time – quite a change from the usual fantastical cakes that the boys have requested over the years.  I iced it with butter icing which Billy said looked ‘professional’ – quite a coup there.  There’s also been some fantastic news on the job front for Peter – a promotion to ‘Bottling and Warehouse Manager’ in the winery.  It’ll probably mean longer working hours for him, and therefore optimistically fewer for me.  I’m guessing not quite enough to turn me into a lady of leisure.  Still, anything’s welcome.  Who knows what projects I’ll come up with when I’ve got more thinking time? The photo of Peter looking like a plonker wearing my glasses was taken by Billy.  I'm beginning to worry that Peter will die before me - how will I ever find my glasses if he does??

 

 

It’s the shortest day today – mental note to think about getting some garlic planted.  So far so good in terms of getting through winter.  It’s a real luxury to not have to scrimp on the firewood.  Dark and cosy evenings in by the fire are a kind of forced relaxation zone, which we all need.  Here’s hoping there’s enough daylight hours to get our winter jobs completed before spring arrives. 

No words of farming wisdom come to mind, so I’ll finish with this poem by Dorothy Parker which has really tickled me:

“I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table,
after four I'm under my host.”

May 2015

April 25th was the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.  We attended the dawn ANZAC service in Picton.  Us and a few hundred others.  Like most commemoration services around the country, it was very well attended.  We should have better accounted for parking, and this was about only time when we were delighted to have to park miles away from an event.  The service was lovely, even from a distance, and Picton was simply stunning at daybreak.  Sam was playing his cornet and marching with the band in Blenheim, so we went onto that service too. 

Back home, I’m slowly working my way through the vege beds, either wintering them down or re-planting with winter crops.  Probably I need to stop planting, but somehow I can’t.  I was obliged to rescue some cabbage seedlings which were out-growing their little 6-packs and were reduced to merely $1 per pack.  Surely we’ll eat 12 cabbages over winter?  Once I’d mentally committed to buying them, it was easy to justify getting a pack of onion seedlings since I was going to be planting anyway.  I’ve been looking for a smallish tree to replace the maple which we used to decorate with Christmas lights until it blew over in a storm.  A dwarf gingko talked me into buying it – all ancient, gnarly, mystical, and medicinal - right up my street.  I got it in and staked within an impressively tiny amount of time.  Since I might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb, 2 feijoa trees also found their way into my shopping basket.  They are heeled into the vege garden until they can be planted in one of the new horse arena beds.

The horse arena is looking a lot tidier since Jorgi came and spent a day clearing it.  There’s plenty more left to go so we’ll probably ask him to come back another day.  We’ve acquired 12 compost boxes (thanks Karyn!) which will work well as raised beds.  The plan is to get them in position in the horse arena and plant them up with olive trees.  The horse arena is starting to take shape, but it’s a big area and we haven’t yet planned what to do with all the space.  Here’s hoping that it will evolve organically and be all the better for our lack of foresight…

The carrots in Madame Cholet are finally looking unmistakably like carrot seedlings.  Very few of the peas germinated, though they’ve probably provided a good many meals for rodents.  Some tomato seedlings have germinated from the tomatoes left to rot.  I’m intrigued about how they’ll progress over winter, so they’re staying put.  The temperature in there is still reaching the late 20’s or even early 30 degrees most days.

The new bed in the vege garden is complete and keeping cosy beneath a layer of hay.  It'll be good-to-go for next year's crops.  I've acquired more of the winery steel support structures (thanks again Karyn!) so it'll be home to tomato seedlings in spring.  It should be beautifully nutritious soil, having been the base for a huge compost pile for the last year.

And talking of clearing, Sam had a pretty good idea.  There’s a large raised bed in the garden which kind of just sticks out into the lawn.  It’s home to a gorgeous Acer (of the maple kind, not the computer!), a large overgrown Daphne, a wild Rose, numerous bulbs and zillions of weeds.  It sits above the septic tank access, which causes anguish for the bloke from ‘0800 FARTED’ when he comes to empty it and has to scurry in the undergrowth to locate it.  It bothers me from time to time when I can’t help thinking it’s a bit of a weedy eyesore but it will be months before it reaches the top of the priority list.  Sam’s idea was to clear it and re-claim it as part of the lawn, and since it was his idea, he’s got the job.  The maple tree is staying and the bulbs will be re-homed.  The rocks which raised the bed are being re-used – some around the fruit beds in the vege garden, some around the ponds, and the rest will await their fate.  Everything else is compost.  Once completed it will optimistically reduce some of the garden workload and provide a more significant fire break around the house.

And talking of fire, the Onamalutu valley has been alight again.  Much less dramatic this time, but a lot closer to us than the last fire.  It was a ‘skid fire’, allegedly the formidable result of the composting process! The forestry practice of burying unwanted logs and branches in huge holes means that there’s lots of both composting and combustible material.  That compost can get hot enough to spontaneously combust is an amazing concept.  In this case the fire was blamed on some recent light rain which accelerated the composting.  5 hours of choppers and monsoon buckets and a night of heavy rain weren’t enough to extinguish the blaze, which burned like a bonfire overnight.  The photo shows how close to us it was.

The orchard trees have been pruned and their branches tied down for shaping.  This year I've had to do it on my own, unable to coordinate with Derryn who has a much better eye for this than me.  Hopefully it's not too much of a stuff up.  Peter's sawn off a couple of big branches from the bigger nectarine and plum trees which we hadn't touched until this point.  We've heard that this kind of wood will make good wood-smoke for cold-smoking, so it'll be reserved for  that.  That does require us to actually get a cold-smoker, which is another project.  Our new neighbours (Shona and Craig) have smoking experience which we hope to tap into.  The pigs are nearly ready so we'd better get on with it. 

The reduction in egg numbers to less than one a day meant that some (4) chooks have been dispatched.  This time Billy helped with the plucking, though it can’t be said that he enjoyed this opportunity to hone an important life skill.  We now have one rooster (Cornelius II), 2 moulting hens, 2 teenage hens and 5 youngsters.  They’re all housed together in the orchard run.  They seem to have worked out the new pecking order with a minimum of fuss, which is a big relief.  The old run will receive a make-over during winter.  We originally designed the run without a wire roof, but added one when it became apparent that hawks were flying in and taking baby chicks.  It was a hurried and dodgy DIY job using some old electric fence ribbon and recycled vineyard bird netting – mostly effective (give or take a few escapees) but ugly and way too low to walk under.  Stooping at our age is no fun, especially when it involves unpleasant little tasks like cleaning up poop or catching wayward chooks.

The remaining 5 lambs are 10 months old, so it’s time to dispatch them too.  The home-kill man will come next week, and we’ll also farewell Rambo.  We’ll keep an eye out for another ram so that we get a bit of varied genetics.  3 of the lambs are going to friends, which will still leave us with an abundance of meat.  Glen is having one of them, and he’s coming round to help with the butchering of his and ours.  It’ll be a bit of a gruesome day, though no doubt made lighter with Mandy’s (Glen’s wife and fellow midwife) vivacious company.  Maggie will of course be happy. 

We’ve had a couple of big storms, but were nonetheless surprised to discover that a giant willow in the wetland had been knocked over, roots and all, totally trashing a fence.  We don’t know when it happened but it must have been an impressive spectacle at the time.  It’ll probably keep us in firewood for a few years, assuming that we can get hold of a chainsaw big enough to tackle the massive trunk.  Since firewood means heating, hot water AND cooking (indoor and out), that’s a big deal.  

I paid the ultimate price for not turning up to our beekeeping club’s AGM – in my absence I was voted in as secretary.  Bugger.  It’s an irony as I’m the person with the least amount of beekeeping knowledge and experience.  Still I guess they knew that.  I’ve just done a full disease check of my hives and removed the Bayvarol (varroa) strips that went in a couple of month ago.  Both hives are looking good with plenty of brood, stored honey and pollen. However they have very different characteristics. Hive 1 is loud and defensive and doesn’t tolerate my clumsiness.   Hive 2 is gentle and calm, to the extent that I can get right into the brood boxes before they become even a bit agitated.  Fingers crossed that they both make it through winter. 

Having picked up an ancient double-boiler from an antique shop delightfully called ‘Rust and Dust’ in Murchison, I finally got round to having a go at dipping beeswax candles.  It’s obviously quite a craft which will take some time to perfect, but even though they looked odd they at least functioned as candles and smelled heavenly when lit.  I’ve also had a bash at making some ginger wine, using an original Mrs Beeton’s recipe.  It should be ready in a month, when she suggests you stop the fermentation and mix in 75mls of brandy.  Then you can simply add whisky for a whisky mac.  I’m not entirely sure that’s the same version of ginger wine that Peter remembers fondly from his childhood, but I am looking forward to drinking it.

On the home front, our living room has been transformed by a rug.  I managed to choose one which met with the approval of the young men of the house.  And the dog.  We’ve moved the furniture around to accommodate the bright blue rug which is now a popular place on which to slob.  It also conceals a number of carpet stains of known and unknown origin.  It should postpone the need to re-carpet for a few more years.  Sam has passed his full driving test so can now legally transport Billy around – something which we intend to totally abuse in the next few months of him still living at home.  Billy’s taken up Taekwondo again and it’s the soccer season, so there’s lots of to-ing and fro-ing.  It’s scary to think that he’ll be 15 next month.  When Lucas was that age he was behind the wheel of a car, but the law has since changed so Billy will have to wait another year.  That’s enough time for a bit more therapy!

I made my first trip to Australia this month.  Brisbane was the host town for the ‘Passage to Motherhood’ conference.  The mostly Australian audience were appreciative of my presentation (‘Does meconium deserve its crap reputation?’) and the whole conference was inspiring.  It was a sunny 24-28° and having left a frosty morning back home, it felt to me like summer was back.  It was quite a surprise when it was dark by 5:30pm.  I didn’t get to see much of Brisbane as the conference took up most of the daylight hours.  It was enough to whet my appetite to return one day though.  The photo shows the city at night from the walkway bridge over the Brisbane River.

Many wise words were spoken at the Brisbane conference.  These by Einstein were the most profound to my ears.  It’s something that I bear in mind when my tired inner voice tries to persuade me to just obliterate those weeds and pests with nasty chemicals, rather than think of a better way.

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.”