We move today

Yes. Trucks packed at each end ready to move. They are moving here and we are moving there. It is all go.

This blogspot is coming to an end now

Well we are about to move into the Otaki village and I will no longer post here. I may be posting on http://rangiuru.blogspot.com as we develop this new property. It has been a very good autumn with apple, pear and quince crops very abundant. We still await the NZ Tree Crops Association coming here if they need any scion wood from the apples. However it may be possible to wait till the trees are pruned in winter to get that wood.

Potatoes grew huge among comfrey

This was an amazing discovery today, though knowing what nutients comfrey brings up from below I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Today I harvested the grapes round the water tank. They are black and probably wine grapes I think.

This photo shows one root, so apparently I dug a shaw of potatoes, Malcolm says. And I found a huge potato among the strawberries too where I had piled in the comfrey water and other feed.

Soil has lots of worms

One thing I have learnt rather reluctantly is that you just put mulch on a garden then you have heaps of food and good soil biology. I used to dig and dig like my father and first husband did but now I just mulch and scratch.

But every now and then I have a good look at the soil. A great time for this is when I am digging up potatoes. This soil is now so friable, it breaks apart and there are heaps of worms on each side. Here is one rather big one. And I know that if you don't disturb the soil too much it is better for your health. Just learnt this. Being a science graduate and very curious I always need to know why a rule exists. I took no notice of Malcolm when he told me not to dig. He didn't explain that if you dig you disturb the fungal chains which make polysaccharides. If you put on chemicals it kills the bacteria which produce polysaccharides. And polysaccharides are essential for making glycoproteins for the body. Glycoproteins are used all over, they have a heap of functions in the human body.

Anyway now I know why, I will just mulch and have a peep at my results every now and then.

The property has sold

To Leigh and Hamish Wells of Rangiuru Road. We leave on 25th March. Here we are with our sold sign. The agent was Grant Robertson. We bought their property.