July 2014

We’re currently in the midst of a cold snap, probably the coldest winter since being in New Zealand.  For several days every morning's had a frost, and more forecast to come.  There's no rain on the horizon, so little chance of clouds keeping the night temperatures up.  We've been blessed with plenty of sunshine though – beautiful crisp winter days.  The evenings are warmed by the wood-burner stove, and it’s pleasantly cozy inside as long as you haven’t hung around outside for too long after the sun goes down.  Mornings are the most challenging.  The frost doesn't lift from the shadier parts of the property until late morning.  We have to use a spade to prise the frozen lid off one of the rabbit runs to feed them.  Their glass water containers are completely frozen every morning, except for when it's been cold enough to shatter 3 out of 4 of them.  Optimistically it’s also cold enough to seriously hammer non-beneficial bugs and pests.

Happily the 2 sets of twin lambs born last week are being well-mothered.  They made a good decision to be born during the day, so at least had chance to be licked dry and fed several times before the temperatures plummeted.  The first twins (2 boys Peter and Tom - a Beatrix Potter theme courtesy of Karyn) were born a year and a day after last year’s first lamb (Hagrid) put in an appearance.  You forget what absolute bundles of joy they are, gamboling around the paddocks, vigorously shaking their little tails as they feed.  It’s great when they hang around within view of the kitchen window – that level of distraction almost makes washing up bearable.  The two remaining ewes will hopefully birth soon – one looks considerably more imminent than the other.

We’re also delighted to have rabbit babies, though we haven’t seen them yet.  Their mother built an impressive nest as far back into the hutch as possible, pretty much at the end of arm’s reach.  In the photo they're deep down in the straw, under the plucked white rabbit fur.  So far we know that it’s warm and wriggly in there, and await the new arrivals introduction to the big wide world.  Also we now know for sure that we have at least one male and one female adult.  We've put what we think is a female in the hutch of what might be a male, in the hope that we’re getting there with sexing.  One disadvantage of not being sure is that we have to separate them into individual hutches, which makes for time-consuming feed rounds (and the need for lots of water containers).

The chickens are getting more adventurous - not good news for their free-ranging longevity.  Whilst it’s lovely to see them strutting around in the paddocks and the orchard, it’s not so enjoyable to watch them scratch and kick the carefully lain straw all over the place.  They’re not beyond digging up new plantings either.  We've taken to letting them out mid-afternoon, in the hope that they won’t cause too much damage in the few hours before dusk.  The two roosters, Bob Jnr and Cornelius (pictured) seem to get along OK, and we’re getting plenty of eggs for our own consumption and for gifts.

Peter received an invitation he just couldn’t turn down – the opportunity to practice ‘Artificial Insemination’ on Betsy the (model) cow.  The company who provides our semen straws were having a stall at the Hokitika AgFest and bringing Betsy along.  It was a long but stunning drive to the West Coast.  The event was impressive and Betsy a joy.  I was relieved to be able to locate her cervix quite quickly – very similar to a human cervix, though I don’t usually find those via the rectum.  Peter managed to inseminate her efficiently too.  Maybe one day we’ll put this into practice on our own cows.

The veg garden has received scant attention in the form of straw application to a couple of the keyhole beds and the fruit bushes.  There’s still plenty more to do, but that’ll have to wait until we get more straw.  We’re still harvesting carrots (huge and oddly shaped - we've had lots of carrots with an extra appendage, but so far this is the first 'bury me in a Y shaped coffin' carrot!) and beetroots; otherwise there’s unsurprisingly very little growth of the late summer plantings.  The compost heap has also been covered in an overcoat of straw, and the old trampoline mat re-applied on top.  Fingers crossed for delicious compost next year.  In the meantime, this year’s compost has been added to river sand, fine pumice and peat to create mountains of glorious seedling compost. 

The nuttery is no longer a figment of my imagination!  The original 2 hazelnuts are now joined by 2 almonds, 2 sweet chestnuts and a walnut (with another walnut ordered).  They’re planted, staked, mulched with straw and welcomed to their new home.  They’re all grafted trees so hopefully will crop in the next 3 years.  All you can really see in the photo are the stakes and the pallet triangles around the hazelnuts.  Also added to the orchard is another small woodlot.  The area in the farthest corner adjacent to the wetland is only suitable for plants which don’t mind wet feet for prolonged periods.  Kanuka and Manuka fitted the bill, and Tagasaste is tolerant of most soil conditions.  Also tentatively planted are four Eucalyptus leucoxylon, known for its abundant winter flowers and hence nectar for the bees.  They are planted towards the back of the area in the hope that soil drainage will be better there. 

On the home front, we've finally got round to ‘processing’ one of last year’s lambs.  The other will be processed someday soon.  Peter’s boss Stefan came round with his dad and they ‘did the deed’.  Peter then went ahead with the butchering.  Voila - some joints and chops, and then the rest minced.  The sausage-maker was dusted off and delicious lamb sausages are now on the menu.

La piece de resistance for July has definitely been the arrival and installation of the tunnel house – now named ‘Madame Cholet’ after the female lead of the Wombles.  They were the original recyclers of Wimbledon Common, and quite clearly ahead of their time.  I must confess to believing that I own 6 of their singles on records, but alas no record player.  They were last sighted in a packing box somewhere.  The tunnel house is made by Morrifield in Invercargill on the South Coast, and designed to cope with challenging weather.  It’s totally fabulous and such a pleasure to spend time in.  It’s been well-pinned down, surrounded on the north east side by wind cloth, and protected by the Gin Palace to its south.  At 6 metres long and

2.35m wide there’s plenty of growing space.  So far it has a long bed on the north-facing side, created from straw bales sitting on a bed of poo and topped with vermi-compost and garden compost.  They've been soaked and should already be starting to breakdown.  Seedlings can be planted directly into the bales, until eventually it all breaks down to create soil.  Pretty clever eh?  It’s a much better (and cheaper) alternative to carting in topsoil.  Peter’s built a bench along the south side as a potting bench.  Below it is another straw bale bed.  All good-to-go just in time for spring. 

We were delighted to host a visit from the lovely Hayley, our ‘flower girl’ who I finally got to meet.  She’s Graham’s step-daughter and thus a beautiful connection to my friend Joanna.  She’s been living in Wellington, but heading back to the UK and then onto Canada shortly.  We took a mail boat ride out of Picton into the Sounds, stopping off several times before reaching Ship Cove.  Other than a slightly disconcerting tendency for the resident mail recipients to be male, bearded and wearing a blue checked shirt, it was a perfect afternoon.  Another day with animal feeding, dog walking, wine tasting and of course, table tennis, and then Hayley was off heading south to the ski fields.  Cheers Hayley – please come back sometime!

Though it’s still mid-winter, the baby animals and the fattening buds of the trees show that they’re getting geared up for spring.  This light at the end of the tunnel is a reminder that winters are significantly shorter in New Zealand than the north of England.  That’s another good reason to be here, in our little slice of paradise.  The final photo shows the Onamalutu Valley, taken looking up the valley from near the school bus stop.  Mount Riley is the jaggedy peak and Mt Sunday is to its left.  We live among the foothills of Riley.  No complaints about my work route!  In the midst of the current array of global crises, it's a sheer privilege and a profound pleasure to be in this haven surrounded by beauty.

June 2014

Approaching the shortest day on 21^st June can mean only one thing – the seed catalogues will be out soon.  Perhaps I’m a bit weird that this is a highlight, but I know there are others like me.  This year is particularly exciting because we should have a greenhouse up by then – actually it’s technically a tunnel house.  It’s 6m x 2.35m with doors at each end and a couple of vents.  The photo shows some of the site clearance.  We‘ve decided to tuck it behind the Gin Palace, instead of the original plan to put it in a corner of the horse arena.  That means that the native planting which was supposed to eventually grow and provide a protective hedge is now too far away to do that.  A windbreak will be erected on the north/west sides, and Peter has managed to bag several posts which will do the job of supporting the windbreak fabric perfectly.  The new position will be more accessible and also closer to the tap.  I have plans to have 2 half wine barrels, one filled with water, and the other with poo, both of which will serve to absorb the day’s heat and release it during the night.  I have other plans too, but I’ll stop now.

It’s been relatively quiet on the animal front.  The cows are enjoying their extra hay feed-outs – they can spot Peter coming home and line up along the nearest fence mooing.  We’re hoping that the 3 girls are pregnant, though still some doubts about this.  Aphrodite should be due in August – we’re hoping but not holding our breath.  Zeus is getting pretty big and has started to dominate the herd a bit more.  The sheep are independent and as usual move with ease between paddocks as if the fences aren’t there.  We have yet to ‘dispatch’ the 2 remaining last year’s lambs, who are fast becoming mutton.  Hopefully there’ll be the pitter-patter of tiny lamb hooves in a month or two.   The rabbits are all healthy and we’re expecting some rabbit kits in a couple of weeks if our rabbit-sexing skills have worked.  Dammit - that’s a pretty big IF.  

The chooks are now down to 2 roosters (the newest Bob and Cornelius) and 8 hens.  These are the youngest hens and they’ve recently started laying.  They’ve been getting more destructive when free-ranging, which is a shame because it means they don’t get to free-range every day.  We’ll probably reduce to 6 hens as otherwise it’s too many eggs.  We’ve been getting more and more efficient at processing, which is handy because chicken is making a welcome meal change from red meat.  One chicken can provide our dinners for 3-4 days – one roast, possibly one day of leftovers, followed by 2 days of soup.  We’ve found that cooking in the slow-cooker after being prepped with a peppery rub makes them succulent and tasty.  Some of the birds are 2-3 years old so it’s great to have found an easy way to make the meat tender.

The veg garden weeding is slowly getting there, but of course it’s like painting the Golden Gate Bridge.  The weeds are gradually being tackled, and happily I’m not feeling overwhelmed by the volume remaining.  It’s still messy and I had decided to use some weed-killer around the perimeter where the surrounding pasture weeds are creeping in - but haven’t done it yet.  It doesn’t sit well, especially now the bees are around.  Maybe I won’t do it after all.  The veg seedlings are coming away, and we’re still abundantly supplied with carrots, beetroot and the stored spuds.

The driveway has had its gravel make-over, and it’s quite a transformation.  Peter took a day off work to help with the spreading, and afterwards we moved Lazy Mazy from under the car port to around the back of the sleep-out.  There’s a 12V socket in the sleep-out which we’ll be able to plug her into, and the car port is now being used to protect the ute and Sam’s car from the weather.  Plans for Lazy Mazy’s make-over are still more conceptual than real, but I have taken the necessary step of buying a couple of foam mattresses. 

Some of the beds around the house have been tidied up, with straggly grasses pulled out and shrubs planted.  There are some old favourites of mine from the UK, like Pieris, Hellebore and Ceanothus, as well as a gorgeous protea which I just couldn’t walk past because it’s called ‘Burgundy Nipple’.  It sits under the house eaves with some frost cloth on chilly nights.  Peter has ingeniously crafted some low fences made of woven willow harvested from the wetland.  There are also some small Teuchrium hedges and cuttings from a dwarf Hebe to hedge the bed along the front of the house.  Hopefully that’ll keep the bees happy.  Barley straw is mulching the areas completed so far, but it’s not finished yet and now the tunnel house has arrived it’s dropped down the priority list.

We’re still waiting to ‘get a bloke in’ to sort out the fencing.  The weather hasn’t helped here as there’s been lots of rain.  We have got round to a new kitchen sink (cue the crappy kitchen sink jokes) as the old one was small, didn’t drain and had a leaky tap which had been gently rotting the cupboard below.  We don’t have a dishwasher so more sink space is practical. You can tell it’s new because it’s still really shiny.  Shame it doesn’t make the washing up any more enjoyable.
 

Our 'baby' Billy turned 14 on June 17.  Part of his birthday experience was a trip to Christchurch with Peter to watch England play the Canterbury Crusaders.  They took Lucas too, and stayed at his place.  They were hoping to catch up with Chris Ashton, one of the England squad and nephew of my dear friend Pats (his mad auntie Patsy).  They couldn’t find him, but whilst looking for him they ran into the beautiful Dan Carter instead.  Peter had the gall to ask him if he knew where Chris was!  England defeated the home team soundly, with some spectacular tries. 







It's hard to believe another month has passed and that we're now looking towards spring.  Another few projects are developing, including planting a 'nuttery'.  What a great word.  There are a couple of hazelnut trees at the back of the orchard already, but plenty of space for few more.  I've been researching them and think that some sweet chestnuts, almonds and walnuts would work.  Possibly even macadamia, but it may be too cold for them in this valley.  Some nut trees (like the American Walnut) shouldn't be planted in an orchard because their roots contain a chemical which inhibits the growth of apple trees.  Bare-rooted trees are just coming to the nurseries, so I'll see what I can find. 
Happy days.
 

 

May 2014

 

There have been some cracking dawns and sunsets lately, making the descent into winter thoroughly bearable.  Frosts have greeted us for the last 3 mornings, with ribbon mists around the hills, the sunshine bowling in and then moody evening skies.  The first frost heralded the annual sloe-picking pilgrimage, and they’re now safely pricked and steeped in gin.  Billy’s help was invaluable for the sloe harvest this year, as many of them were high up in the thorny bushes.  The brewing wines have all been racked and so far so good – none of them a disaster yet, but it is early days.  I can’t wait to see how the meads mature.

We are getting through some of the items on the gargantuan to-do list of tasks.  However after a few cattle adventures, and the observation that the sheep don’t seem to notice that they are supposed to be penned into specific paddocks, we’ve decided that the fencing needs attention - as in professional attention.  Storms have brought down trees and branches over time, damaging fences which have been fixed up in an ad-hoc way.  The electric part of the fencing has been affected, and the cows are quick to wise up to the opportunities this has provided for adventure.  We’re going to bite the bullet and get a fencer in, in the hope that it’s relatively easily remedied. 

Lots of attention has been lavished on the veg garden.  The pumpkin harvest has been triumphant, though not many people share the view that this is a good thing.  It seems that I’m acquainted with more than the average number of people for whom one pumpkin is too many.  I’m banking on the certain knowledge that those who shun pumpkin soup can often be persuaded to enjoy pumpkin in the form of cake.  This also has an advantage for the cake-maker in the form of a fitness-regime.  Cutting up a pumpkin surely requires more energy than the calorific value of a cake.  Even if you use a machete.

Carrots are still flourishing, and we’ve realised that the one photographed in last month’s blog is frankly a runt compared to some of the mammoth carrots we’re now digging up.  (Are you reading this Karyn?).  Beetroots and a late crop of lettuce are also feeding us, and sugar beets are a real treat for the cows.  Winter crops including onions, leeks, peas, french fennel, spinach and brassicas are sown.  Four of the keyhole beds are cleared and planted with peas as green manure.  Barley straw will be laid on top of them in the hope that weeds will be minimal by spring planting.  More cuttings have been taken from the low hedges as gap fillers for the few that haven’t/won’t survive, and for use in the flower garden and other beds around the house.  So far so good – the hedging is finally starting to take shape.

The orchard trees have been treated to chook poo, vermiliquid (worm wee) and barley straw mulch as part of their wintering down.  One of Peter’s colleagues, Jorgi, came to help out and thrashed down the vegetation along the front fence.  The whole orchard now looks huge.  So huge in fact, that it’s probably in need of a few more trees.  I’m going to research nut trees, as we probably don’t need any more fruit.  The ground there is quite damp as it’s alongside the rain-route from the hill opposite to the wetland.  Hopefully there’ll be some varieties that can tolerate wet feet at times.

Last year’s compost has turned out to be magnificent, despite never having been turned.  I’d planned to add it to this year’s pile on the assumption that it wouldn’t be ready, but once I’d cleared the weeds from the top, the luscious chocolate-cake compost below revealed itself.  It’s been spread over some of the keyhole and fruit beds already, and will be a perfect base for the next batch of seedling compost in spring.  Happily it bodes well for this year’s compost which also hasn’t been turned.  The sunflower stalks have been cut up and put down as a base for the next rounds of composting in the pallet compost boxes.  Hydrangea stems make up the next layer, ready for the usual mountains of weeds and assorted poo to be piled on top of that.

With much trepidation I finally got round to checking out the woodlot, prompted by Peter saying that he could only see a handful of the 50 trees planted there.  Thankfully I’d recorded which plants had gone where, and marked each spot with a bamboo stick.  It was just a case of ferreting around in the weedy growth around each stick to find the tree treasure hidden within.  All up, 4 were (probably) dead and about 6 were missing (the records weren’t completely accurate).  Most of the missing were cabbage trees, some of which were quite small when planted.  The weedy growth has been thrashed away from around each tree, in the hope that they will grow taller than the weeds next year.  Some are a bit misshapen from being squashed by hefty weeds, but they should come right.  I’ll refill some of the gaps with young kahikatea, oak and cabbage tree seedlings which are good-to-go.  It’s very satisfying that the survival rate is considerably better than I’d imagined, and great that this includes the few exotics (liquidamber, witch hazel and sugar maple trees, plus those grown from seed like oak, horse and sweet chestnut) as well as the hardy natives.  Maybe next year it will even start to resemble a woodlot.

Many natives have been cleared from Peter’s work premises, and he’s been able to rescue some of these and bring them home.  They’re currently potted up and will be planted out as a hedge border on the left boundary of our property.  In time they should help to secure that boundary, provide wind and sun shelter and nourishment for bees and other wildlife.  Peter also rescued a fairly mature cabbage tree and it travelled home on the back of the ute, much to the amusement of those who saw it.  It came with a huge root ball, and is now resident in one of the back paddocks close-ish to the house, making up part of the view to the back of the property.  Hopefully it will be happy there.

 The beehives are now united into one big hive after the discovery of no brood (and presumably no queen) in one of the hives.  The plan was to divide them back into 2 hives in spring once queen cells are formed.  But when checking fellow beekeeper Neville’s hives, we discovered 3 queen cells.  After professional advice and deliberation we decided to attempt to transfer the queen cells to my vacant hive rather than wait until spring to get a new colony started.  The chances of this being successful were small, though the risks too were small.  In the event, the queen cells were no longer there when we went back for them a few days later.  Disappointing really, but great that my beekeeping knowledge has increased enough to consider being experimental.  The online apiculture course is partly responsible for that confidence.

 

 

The West Coast was magical as always, and even came with pretty good weather this time. I was there for a few days on my own before Peter dropped Sam and Billy off. Their highlight was a cave-rafting trip near the small coastal town of Charleston. I’d have loved to have joined them but figured that being on call but having no cell phone signal in a cave probably wasn’t very professional. Next time perhaps - we’re expecting Rachel, Jif and the boys for Christmas and plan to spend a few days there.

 
 

Mother’s Day on May 12^th was special and simply delightful.  Lucas paid a lovely surprise visit and stayed for a couple of nights.  I was woken up to breakfast in bed, and Billy resurrected ‘David Beckham’ as my waiter.  We went for a picnic at the Onamalutu Reserve down the road, taking the fantastic ‘posy’ of cupcakes which Sophie had made. The sun shone and the place was deserted except for us.  It’s still hard to believe that somewhere so pristine and beautiful is just on our doorstep.  I collected lots of native seeds as there were berries a-plenty, and voila – yet another project.  Now they’re sown I guess I just have to remember to water them.  Shouldn’t be too hard. 

Despite the endless list of tasks, there’s still a sense that progress is happening.  Peter does his best to inject some reality about what it’s possible to achieve, gently suggesting that we complete one project before launching into another one.  So radical.  I know he’s right, but he has also been known to observe that I’m never happy unless I’ve got too much to do.  New projects are driveway re-gravelling, and sorting out the plant bed at the front of the house (digging up over-grown and over-flowing plants/grasses, planting a hedge and re-planting with happy bee-loving plants).  Lazy Mazy is still awaiting her make-over, and the veg garden just needs about a solid week of work.  Dreams of a greenhouse are more persistent, though much ground work in terms of wind protection will have to happen first.  In the meantime the season progresses and brings its magic.  The morning drive down the valley to the school bus stop is breath-taking, especially on a chilly morning when the sun is burning up the cool night mists.  Such an uplifting start to the day.  Such a privilege to be here. 

 

April 2014

The clock change and about 10 days of rain (with more heavy rain warnings forecast) make those heady sunny days seem long gone.  We’re seeing (and hearing) a lot more of this weka now the ground is damp.  Pukekos and kingfishers are also showing up, and one day there was a heron by the veg garden ponds.

The tulip tree has finally had the haircut it needed - a pretty severe short back and sides. Peter hacked huge limbs off with the chainsaw, going back and forth taking extra bits off to balance it out, ending up chopping off a lot more than planned.  We used rope to guide a couple of the biggest branches, and at one point had to tie the rope to the back of the ute for extra traction.  Thankfully no humans or cows were harmed in the process. In fact, even the washing line which was tied to a lower limb was left unscathed, and the cows really enjoyed munching their way through the tulip foliage.  The tree pruning has provided some momentum for trimming back several other overgrown shrubs in the garden.The task is by no means complete, but getting started is a pretty big step.

Just before the rain came down, the flower garden got a thorough weeding, new perennials were planted, and clover straw laid down.  More cuttings have been taken to use as low hedging around the flower bed (dwarf lavender) and around the other planted beds (teuchrium).  These beds are currently edged with flattish river rocks which get overgrown with lawn weeds and wreak havoc with the strimmer.  Using living boundaries instead will also provide extra bee nutrition, though it will be next year before they’re ready to plant out. 

Optimistically the sand-fly population will begin to diminish.  They’re a serious nuisance and there is no exposed bodily part that is safe.  Even when I’m sweating under more clothing than the temperature warrants, they still find a way.  Flying into my ears and up my nose happens frequently, and so does taking a bite out of my lips.  It’s surprising that no cosmetic company has yet realised the potential of ‘sand-fly-stung-lips’ as an alternative to bee-stung lips.  Maybe it's just too effective.
 

 

Blenheim proudly hosted a royal visit from Prince William and Kate.  Unfortunately I had some urgent weeding to do, so didn’t turn up in my union jack undies.  Sam was playing in the band, and Billy joined the crowd along with his school mates.  They didn’t get to chew the cud with royalty, but Sam had a chat with PM John Key.  He didn’t remind John about his 2010 meeting with me and my spare vagina; I’m not sure why.

 

The grape vintage is now mostly over, and Peter’s back to working in the winery.  One evening during the harvest we popped out to see him.  Sam and Billy were invited to ride on the harvester, pretty darned exciting for them.  Peter managed to get hold of several buckets of surplus grapes, which are now bubbling away along with several other home-made wines – peapod, peach, crab-apple, plus the 3 demi-johns of mead.  As usual I got a bit carried away, but hopefully at least some of them will be drinkable in a few months.

Whilst the wet weather has significantly reduced the watering workload, it has increased the weeding workload, which won’t be dealt with until the sun dries the ground up a bit.  Hopefully the rain will result in a good flush of paddock herbage before colder weather sets in.  The veg garden remains productive – just look at the size of Peter’s carrot!  Several mushrooms have appeared in the damp wood chip paths, including these shiny reddish ones which popped up just outside the gin palace.  The orchard is nearly ready for the sheep to graze.  The smaller fruit trees now have protection in the form of pallets, tied together in triangles around them.  Hopefully that’ll do the trick, though it’d be a mistake to underestimate those clever sheep.

The 3 adult cows (Aphrodite, Persephone and Hera) have all been inseminated, though we won’t really know if that’s been successful for a while.  Persephone was last up and received Galloway semen.  We’re hoping that at least one cow will sell as we’re already potentially over-stocked.   My nephew Arthur, who has an interest in Greek mythology, has been charged with the responsibility of making a short list of names for the new arrivals.  If we get a girl, I’m keen on ‘Minthe’ because of her story*. 


There has been a reduction in cattle numbers - Butch had a visit from the home-kill man.  It was a very unsettling and emotional day.  I’d planned to be out, but he came early in the morning before we’d left for the school bus.  The shot rang out very soon after his arrival, which was probably the kindest way for Butch.  He was a huge steer and should provide heaps of meat, which I’m trying not to think about right now.   Aphrodite seems to have taken command of the herd as its matriarch.  Maybe Zeus will attempt a coup when he’s bigger.

Easter’s nearly here, and Lucas and Sophie are spending a few days with us (and Sophie’s family).  In their honour, the sleep-out has been cleared and cleaned and is now actually habitable by human-kind as well as mouse-kind. The photo is here as evidence that it can look like a real room and does not have to always be a tip (ahem…).  None of the kids appear to have grown out of Easter egg hunting, so ‘muggins here’ has had to negotiate with the Easter bunny again to organise an early morning hunt.   I’m looking forward to heading over to the West Coast next week to do some midwifery work.  Peter will bring Sam and Billy to join me for a few days, and we’ve got some lovely accommodation booked just outside the town.  Optimistically I’ll get a bit of down-time to enjoy the serenity and native bush in one of my favourite places in the world.

We’ve lit the fire a few times, though it’s more of an indulgence as it’s not really cold.  It’s just scrummy to draw the curtains, don pyjamas, eat chocolate and watch the flames.  Happily the damson gin is ready to warm our cockles, and certainly doesn’t disappoint. 
Winter – bring it on.

 

*According to the story, Minthe was a beautiful water nymph who attracted the attention of Hades. Hades was the stern ruler of the Greek Underworld and the husband of the goddess Persephone. It seems, however, that even Persephone’s obvious charms could not keep the attention of Hades at all times. The Underworld god therefore engaged in an illicit – but not terribly well hidden – affair with the Naiad Minthe.

Naturally, Persephone found out about the relationship between her husband and the water nymph. And in a scenario that is all too familiar in Greek myth, the spurned wife took revenge on her husband’s mistress. Minthe became the unfortunate object of Persephone’s wrath. The goddess of the Underworld began to step on Minthe, beating the poor Naiad with furious kicks. Minthe however was transformed into the mint plant, and with each tread of Persephone’s foot, this plant released a delightful scent. This is the myth of how the aromatic mint plant received its name.

March 2014

The month began with an unleashing of nature’s forces.  On Sunday 2^nd I was happily planting out winter veg seedlings during the heat of a sweltering 26 degree day.   The next day I drove down to Christchurch.  The sun was shining, the east coastal route stunning as always.  At 4:30pm Billy rang from home to say it was hailing.  5 minutes later the hail was joined by lightning and cracks of thunder.  20 minutes later it was all over and the ground was a white-over.  Billy took this photo showing the size of the hail stones next to a marble.  I escaped Christchurch the next day as the roads were beginning to flood.  They continued to flood until roads became rivers, and rivers became roads.  Many buildings and structures were waterlogged.  A one-in-a-hundred-year flood apparently, that Christchurch could do with like a hole in the head.  Lucas, along with many other Cantabrians, didn’t go to Tech or to work because both places were closed.

The bees look to be battening down the hatches for the autumn.  Each hive has its varroa treatment in situ (Bayvarol) and there’s less brood.  Upwards of 7kg of honey was extracted from 6 frames – too much for us to eat, too much even to give away.  One obvious solution came to mind – mead.  There are plenty of recipe ideas on the internet, so now I’ve got plain mead, vanilla mead and orange clover mead bubbling away in demi-johns.  They should be ready for racking in 4 months.  It’s really exciting to be back making wine again. 

Alongside the plum tree is a peach tree, which also had a great crop of fruit this year.  A big storm was forecast (from cyclone Lusi) so we stripped most of the peaches.  The storm didn’t match up to the severe weather warning, but we did end up with 19.4 kg of fruit.  Quite a haul.  Around the same time I picked all the remaining orchard fruit – nashi pears, Bon Chretien pears, eating apples and cider apples.  The pears have been preserved in honey syrup in jars and the peaches have been transformed into a few things – jam, jarred peach slices, and of course, peach wine. 

Whilst looking through wine recipes I came across a few old favourites.  Peapod wine was particularly memorable and it’s an ingredient that is and will continue to be, abundant in the veg garden.  Pumpkin wine might also have to be brewed, in the interests of using up what’s available.  Vintage (grape harvest) is about to begin in earnest.  Peter will be working night shifts as a MOFO (mobile operation field officer) on the vineyards, which could give him access to surplus grapes.  In the last few years, wineries have been buying a specific volume of grapes, rather than all the grapes on a site.  Any excess might be left on the vines if they don’t have the capacity for more.   Fingers crossed that Peter can bring some home, and then I can take the unusual step of making wine from grapes.

The chook house/run is complete and occupied by the young Rhode Island Reds and the Cochins.  We’ve decided to keep the Cochin rooster (Cornelius) and some of his harem.  Hopefully in spring we’ll get a variety of chicks, some pure and some mixed breed.  Derryn came round and we plucked 4 chooks (including Bob Jnr) that Peter killed.  Not a pleasant job at all, and we only used the trick of plunging them into boiling water for the last one.  It worked a treat – the feathers came out much easier.  We’d tried using hot water before, but it didn’t work then.  Boiling water is obviously the key. 

The other half of the converted box has now been transformed into a storage area.  There’s space for firewood, which will provide us with a good dry supply relatively near the house, and a huge shelf, wire-netted to keep the contents safe from rodents.  There are also a couple of bars which we can hang sacks from.  Right now it’s home to some of our (credit where it’s due - Peter’s) vast potato crop, but in future it should be good for fruit and veg (root veg /corn/
pumpkin etc) storage.  There’s also the potential to extend the shelf if needed.  An interior fly-netted space will eventually be added for meat hanging (salamis, prosciutto).  

 

During construction Billy laid down on the shelf and in a crappy Geordie accent declared that there was ‘loads of room and I’m 6 foot 3’.  Gorgeous Geordie George Clarke’s series ‘Amazing Spaces’ has reached NZ and I’ve been transfixed and full of ideas for Lazy Mazy the caravan.  It seems that I’m not the only one in the house to enjoy it – Peter had laid on the shelf a couple of hours earlier and come out with exactly the same quip (only with a slightly better accent).

 

Talking of prosciutto, I finally plucked up enough courage to open up the prosciutto from one of our pigs that I salted and hung last July.  It was a worry that it might have gone off and a huge slab of meat wasted.  As the muslin cloth was opened, the delicious aroma of prosciutto became apparent.   Happily it’s absolutely delicious.  It was a difficult job slicing it, but the $25 meat slicer that Peter bought from a 2^nd hand shop proved its worth.  Billy helped to pack the thin slices into vacuum bags.   The salami was less successful, way too salty.  That must be down to my lousy maths – you have to carefully calculate the volume of salt to meat.  A shame, but I don’t intend to get it wrong again. 
 

The freezer’s getting decidedly sparse, and Butch is next on the home-kill list. I’ll definitely have to be absent for the event – he’s become part of the farm and endeared himself into our affections. Despite his threatening stare, he’s mostly a big softie and definitely a big character. However we don’t have the capacity to feed 6 cattle over winter, so it has to be. If we end up with 3 pregnant cows then hay supplies will need more careful targeting. So far Aphrodite and Hera have been inseminated with Speckled Park semen (mistakenly for Aphrodite who was supposed to receive Galloway semen). Hopefully Persephone will be on heat soon – if so, both her and Hera’s calves will be due around Christmas.  Zeus is growing bigger by the minute, with no sign of his damaged leg from birth.  Though it was an unpleasant thing to do, I'm mighty glad that we castrated him when he was young or he'd already be a formidable bull. 

Yet another tragic rabbit story to report this month. Security in the hutch housing an adult female and 3 kits was breached, and they all escaped into the night. When I went to feed them in the morning, one was lying dead in front of the hutch, mutilated. A second was dead in the next paddock and a third in the animal shelter. The adult rabbit returned whilst we were taking in the carnage, and practically ran into my arms. She looked like she’d been in a fight but seems to have recovered. Peter believes it to be the work of wild cats, which we sometimes see. It was so excessively cruel and unpleasant, and deeply upsetting. At least I feel a little bit more justified in keeping them in hutches/runs safe from predators. 

The veg garden is still beautiful, but still only to me.  It’s untidy but productive, though there has been a little bit of clearing up.  The potatoes are harvested and the beds thickly sowed with pea seeds.  The hedge cuttings have now been planted around the beds, even the box which is painfully slow growing, so the cuttings are still tiny.  Hopefully they’ll take off.  There aren’t enough lavender plants so I’ll take another batch of cuttings to complete the circle.  The globe artichokes have been stunning, and many of them have been left to flower to be enjoyed by the bees.  Beans have been picked and eaten or blanched and frozen.  Pumpkins are maturing and carrots are BIG (eat your heart out Karyn!).  Tomatoes have been roasted with onions, garlic, herbs, seasoning and a sprinkle of honey, then blitzed into sauce and frozen in jars.  Courgettes and marrows persist, mostly being fed to the appreciative chooks.  The asparagus ferns are still alive, maybe even flourishing, so hopefully will crop in the next few years.  It’s indeed a busy time of year and I’m looking forward to putting a big chunk of the veg garden to bed over winter. 

 

My academic leave is just beginning and hopefully that means there’ll be a bit more time to spend on the farm.  Autumn tasks like food preservation are kind of on track and we’re prepared for winter in terms of firewood and animal feed.  Still lots of sunshine, but the days are definitely drawing in and there can be a chill in the early morning air.  Maybe, just maybe, this will be the year when we get organised and on top of the work.  Yeah right….dream on.