Ranui Orchard

We move today

2009-03-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-28T13:23:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-23T17:11:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-21T14:36:00.000-08:00

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.

More vegetable garden enthusiams

2008-12-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

Every year the vege garden gets better. The caulis and broccoli have been so healthy this year that they grow enormous and don't suffer any disease. Beans are climbing to the sky and when we get home we expect to climb the beanstalk and meet the ogre and his wife.

Today I mulched the corn, peppers, lettuces, leeks and of course the potatoes with a mixture of grass clippings and wood mulch mixed with a compost activator and some magic liquid (water from comfrey, nettles, chicken manure and human urine). There are potatoes growing everywhere and only the Maori potatoes were planted by me this year. The others all popped up unannounced. Carrots are good. The pumpkins the same except for four heritage pumpkins which I nurtured. Tomatoes look good on the west side of the house this year. I only have a few in the glasshouse as I am building up the soil there this summer instead. It is hard to keep moist and gets quite powdery.

I have planted radish and more beetroot. The latter are something I have yet to master growing.

Looks as though it is going to be a good apple season and I have had to thin them quite a bit.

I wasn't much good at growing peas though so I have fed them for the first time and then we will see. I thought they could do without feeding.

Growing kumeras, harvesting broad beans and dealing with passionfruit moth

2008-12-03T08:41:00.000-08:00

I have decided to grow quite a few kumeras. I have now harvested nearly all the broad beans and the theory of rotation is that I should start again by adding nutrients and growing greens again.

But we have enough greens and to grow kumeras will save more money. So I have planted kumeras in one patch to which I had added compost and all liquid feeds and wonder what will happen. Apparently they should be planted only in poor soil so will they grow all top and little root? So today I will put 20 more plants in without the extra nutrients right next door and see the experiment emerge.

As for broad beans I have learned you don't need to blanch them before freezing and have frozen heaps. Poor Malcolm is so sick of helping shell them. Then I learnt you don't even need to shell them to have them in a stirfry. Admittedly they repeated on me and I might try again with what is left in the garden.

The darned passionfruit has a moth. I have taken off a lot of leaves and will do some more research. It might need garlic spray.

An early summer report

2008-11-30T01:00:00.000-08:00

Things look so great now. The lawn isn't dry at all and everything looks very green.

I have got the bug of making compost in the actual garden bed rather than on a special pile and then transporting it. The handcart is a real boon. I can get a huge load of grass clippings from the pile left here regularly by a commercial lawn mower man and the wood mulch from the pile Malcolm makes when he uses the mulcher. This gets loaded onto the garden. Well the place where the broadbeans have come from anyway. Then I water it, add rock dust and lime. Then I add the various wondrous liquid feeds I have.

The liquid fish waste gets diluted 200 to 1. Then the worm wee gets diluted and added on. Then I use the diluted contents of this blue bin of comfrey leaves, nettle and a bag of chicken manure suspended in the water. Of course this latter stinks to high heaven and I am not sure that it is altogether right, because it must have e-coli in there.

Today at the edible garden tour run by our Transition Town group, an older guy told us that he cold presses his comfrey in a bucket with holes in over another bucket with a brick. The liquid which emerges doesn't stink and is very concentrated. I might try this but would have to get nettle water in somehow.

Anyway there is some new soil-to-be waiting out there. Not sure whether to plant the corn plants there but might try even before it changes itself into compost.

The other thing I did tonight was suspend some jars from apple trees. Inside each jar is 1 tbl molasses and 1tbl of vinegar and water, stirred of course. We have corrugated cardboard wrapped around each tree this year, or rather each branch of each apple tree. It is tricky to suspend them safely.

My first good carrots

2008-11-19T01:23:00.000-08:00

Finally I have learnt the art of growing carrots. Buy King seeds or use Koanga Garden seeds. I made the soil very fine before sowing. Used only rock dust and no nitrogen. Thinned well by two granddaughters who needed plenty of instruction. Watered well after thinning. And boy do they taste good.

Good veges coming from the garden now

2008-11-19T01:12:00.000-08:00

Gosh I realise that I now use the following to feed my tomatoes, greens and sweet corn:

Worm wee diluted
Fish concentrate very much diluted
From the blue barrel – comfrey, nettle, and chicken manure in a barrel of water, diluted.
Compost tea, made by aerating a panty hose full of compost for three days, having added 2tbl molasses and 1tsp humic acid. I use a $13 acquarium pump. All Elaine Ingham inspired, thanks to Ken Ross of Northland. So easy and cheap to make and teeming with microbes.
Bokashi buckets buried. Not doing these so often at the moment.

Those are the foliar feeds.
And of course when the soil is depleted I add compost itself and lime. The woodash in the soil under the potatoes and the tomatoes is obviously doing a good job because the stems are so strong.

Property is for sale with First National

2008-10-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

See on this site our property is now for sale with Grant Robertson of First National. Price $595,000. Phone him at 06 364 2430(0ffice) or 06 364 2430 (home) 021 660 113. Email is firstnational(at)paradise.net.nz

Rupert fells the macrocarpa shading the fruit trees

2008-09-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

A lot to clean up yet but the view is already very different with no macrocarpa there. More firewood too!

More photos of the working bee

2008-09-22T12:17:00.001-07:00

The effort of city children to distribute blood and bone is certainly appreciated. The smell stays with you for ages and here is Genevieve braving the reality of blood and bone. Hamish was suitably horrified at the smell and the origin.
There is also a photo of Genevieve in front of the figs which are just coming into leaf.
You can also see the process of mulching the feijoas as we lay down cardboard to kill weeds.

Working bee third day

2008-09-21T01:02:00.000-07:00

Yes it was fun as well. The Stanley handcart proved both useful and a great toy. Useful for carting the grass clippings and mulch all the way back to the feijoas and fun for joy rides round and round the house. The two year old Lachie enjoyed it most of all. In this photo from left are Jim, Rachel, David, Susanna, Ruby and Genevieve. In trolley are Hamish 4 and Lachie 2 (not visible)

I never thought we would manage to get the feijoas mulched but today people were great. We had heaps of grass clippings and wood mulchings to take back there and we laid down some cardboard and newspaper to kill the weeds beforehand. When we had run out of mulch we got the rotting leaves under the trees on the west side out the back.

And here is David shovelling grass clippings. We were so lucky because just as we ran out, the mowing service fellow arrived with more. And he fixed the line trimmer while he was here too.

Then we all got stuck in and cleaned up round the compost heaps and made two more lots of aerobic compost. Wonderful wonderful. And we mulched the persimmons with grass clippings and compost. And watered them.

My son David and his daughter Genevieve came from Christchurch and joined us. Rachel's partner Jim had just got home from Scotland.

Working bee second day

2008-09-21T00:58:00.001-07:00

Wow it was a great idea of Fiona's to have a working bee to get the place tidied up. Yesterday Alistair and Malcolm bought some gravel and fixed up the drive. The best picture I have is of Rauaroha, aged 2 who came with her father.

Then in the afternoon Susanna arrived with a couple of kids and we got the line trimmer going so she could clean up. I taught Ruby aged 10 to thin carrots, transplanting the thinnings so we didn't waste them. She in turn taught her cousin Genevieve the next day and they managed a bit of chinwagging while doing it on the Sunday.

Working bee first day involves wallpapering the kitchen

2008-09-21T00:49:00.001-07:00

So here is Oriwia, Malcolm's granddaughter pulling off wallpaper in the kitchen. Rob and Oriwia spent a long time doing it and the job was bigger than we all anticipated. There is more to do and oh the trouble putting back those two way electric switches! Rob is so patient. Things didn't work out on Friday night and the dark overtook him so it was a relief when my son in law finished wiring things up today. Rob will come back to finish the wallpaper when he has time. A long job. We are so grateful.

Freesias are a sure sign of spring

2008-09-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

The previous owners Margaret and Ross Dean planted quite a few lovely flowers under the walnuts and chestnuts. The narcissus are nearly finished but we greatly enjoyed them.

When the freesias bloom it is so lovely. You can see the grape hyacinths too. I don't know the name of the yellow bell like flower but they are everywhere and make a good show.

Picking macadamias now

2008-09-17T18:34:00.001-07:00

Well it looks as though we have a reasonable crop this year. The first year was good, the second I picked them too early and they were too small and this year it is just at the right time.

You have to take off the coating within 24 hours, then leave them to dry for 12 weeks. Had to get a ladder to get the top ones, scared I would fall and noone would find me. Still more to gather I think. Maybe we will use the young men when the families come for a working bee on Saturday.

Wow just picked yet another bucket. Wonderful! Good size this year.

And another photo is of the macadamias when about half of them have their green coats off. Malcolm takes some off every day. We have now filled a bucket with their shells.

Mulching in the spring

2008-09-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

I never thought these trees could use so much mulch. Christabel has shown me that it is easy to kill the weeds under a tree by putting down wet cardboard. And then we just pile on the half rotted grass clippings and the mulched up prunings. It just never seems to stop.

She tried to persuade me to make a bigger circle under the apricots but that is hard work and a heck of a lot of mulch. We already get extra grass clippings delivered from a local contractor to save him paying money to dump it in the Council's dump. So we have done the citrus, grapes, figs, apricots, plums, peaches (well the ones nearest the house anyway), persimmons (these sure need to be protected from the coming summer drought), feijoas (the ones nearest the house), the new avocado, two new apples, new grape, tamarillo, pears, quince and nectarine.

Malcolm's grandson Paul is living in Otaki now and was a great help recently.

Making new soil out the back

2008-09-10T04:25:00.000-07:00

When you grow root vegetables there is seldom enough room. So last year I started a patch out the east of the property to grow Maori potatoes. I laid down straw and mulch but they didn't do well as apparently Maori potatoes need a lot of water. It was just too far away from the house.

So this year I got my granddaughter to build a new garden. Rather than pay for someone to build raised beds, we used the nearby stones (this property and all surrounding properties are full of "Hautere spuds", big stones under the ground, and all gardens and all fruit trees have been developed by taking out those stones. In our case there are piles of them around and shrubs have been planted among them quite successfully over the years.

Well we have put brown cardboard down over the grass to kill it, then layers of wood mulch and grass clippings and manure and sprinkled it with EM. Then more and more and covered it for a while. Now that soil is developing, and the spuds have sprouted we have planted the Maori potatoes, not to mention some attractive flowers. (After all it is the bed we see straight out from the dining room window.)

Today I rummaged round in it and worked in some wood ash so that the potatoes have plenty of potash. Should have done that earlier. I worked it into the soil around the tomatoes too. Should have done that earlier too.. We live and learn.

The front of the house

2008-09-08T18:31:00.001-07:00

Here is a view of the front of the house. The plants are growing well there and the hollyhocks are rising again.

The blossom is all coming out well now

2008-09-07T21:20:00.001-07:00

The early plums look fantastic at the moment and the late plum has also come out in blossom.We are about to pick the last of the macadamia and weed the last of the figs ready for mulching. I think the persimmons will get some attention soon too. They are very vulnerable to lack of water so we will be very particular in giving them quite a deep layer of mulch.

In the vege garden I have just planted two heritage tomatoes next to the warm brick wall on the west and of course have over a dozen in the glasshouse. On the west wall I have transplanted some hollyhocks and hopefully will get a sunflower or two in there later. See above. I think they have just survived the transplant. I am growing tomatoes outside this year more than in the glasshouse, easier to water.

I have some more Maori potatoes sprouting and will soon put them where the cabbages and broccoli have been.

This property is for sale

Spring 2008 and the property is for sale

2008-09-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

We have been weeding, mulching, mowing and generally tidying up to put the property on the market soon.

The citrus have been fed. One of the best ways of killing weeds is to lay down some cardboard and then put grass clippings and brown mulch over them. Trying to build up mulch now while the moisture level is just right. We have had to clear under the new avocado and the newish apple (Monty's Surprise) and feed them well.

I have also made two new gardens. Photos next time

This small holding is for sale.

The big storm of late July 2008

2008-08-11T01:27:00.000-07:00

On the last Wednesday of July we had an easterly storm here with winds of 140km per hour relentlessly for hours on end.

We lost seven firewood trees as they were vulnerable to an easterly. The prevailing wind is nor westerly. Here is a photo of Malcolm's grandson Rupert using his chainsaw to clean up the fallen trees. Um well I couldn't find it on my photos, sorry. He has been wonderful. Even fixed the satellite dish back on the roof after it had been blown off.

And we managed to get some free pallettes on which to stack and dry the firewood.

Lately I have been weeding under the citrus, under the pears, the quince and the figs. The soil is great now, with big juicy worms showing up all the time.

The lettuces on the north face of the house are thriving. I have fed them with the bokashi I made. They will get even better and so the photo will come later.

My first ever kumeras

2008-05-19T16:07:00.000-07:00

A guy in a garden centre told me he had financed his university studies by growing kumera and in Wellington no less. His secret was to mound them up and put them under black polythene. So I did this and even in poor soil, they grew really big. More to harvest yet.

Grow your own food in sunny Otaki. Beat rising food prices

2008-05-10T01:13:00.000-07:00

Ranui Orchard
202 Otaki Gorge Road, Te Horo
7 minutes from Otaki town, Kapiti Coast, Wellington, New Zealand

A tree cropper's delight. Be self-sufficient in organic fruit, veges and nuts. A rare opportunity to acquire a food growing property where the development work has been done. Live in a spacious house where views from every window delight the eye.

* 233 sq m on 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres)
* native bush, lawn, fruit trees and nut trees, woodlot
* converting to organic since January 2006
* 3 bedrooms, kitchen/dining/living room, lounge, rumpus room
* implement shed, glasshouse, chookhouse, double garage, storeroom

Price: $595,000NZ
Enquiries: Phone 021 660113 office 06 364 8350 AH 06 364 2430
Or email firstnationalotaki(at)paradise.net.nz

For photos see entry on November 13, 2007 on this blogspot.

About the House
This special tree cropper's property is just seven minutes from Otaki at 202 Otaki Gorge Road, Te Horo. It has three spacious bedrooms, a kitchen/dining/living room, a large lounge and a huge study. The study was originally going to be the double garage so that is the size of the room, and it can be adapted for anything. So it would be listed as four bedroomed. There is an ensuite and a walk-in wardrobe. Altogether there are three toilets, a bath and two showers. A generous back porch area makes for easy country living. Full insulation with more wool recently blown into the ceiling. Monier tile roof, brick cladding. Deck out from living room.

Range hood over ceramic top electric stove.

Heating is by woodburner in the living room, with a pump transfer system to the lounge. This works very well.

The other buildings
There is a generous double garage with an attached store room and pump room.

There is a mower and implement shed with attached glasshouse and chook house. A shade house is situated near the garage. The Walker mower, valued at $10,000, is for sale separately. Nets go with the property.

What is growing on the land?
Of the 1.4 hectares or three and a half acres some is in eucalyptus firewood (there is always plenty of this), and three quarters of an acre is in native bush with magic pathways throughout and a clearing for events like weddings.

A large number of fruit and nut trees have been planted over the last seventeen years. There are walnuts (a good crop is on its way), macadamias (looks good this year), hazel nuts, and chestnuts. There are over 35 heritage apple trees, fifteen fig trees, four pears, two apricots, four plums, one nectarine, four peach, 2 almond, 1 cranberry, 4 persimmons, 1 guava, 2 lemonade, 2 nashi pears, a hedge of green tea, 2 carob, 1 grapefruit, 2 lemon, 1 lime, 1 mandarin, 1 orange, 1 raspberry, 1 cherry, 2 rows of red currants, 1 blackcurrant, 3 avocados, 1 kumquat, six olives, three kiwifruit, one tamarillo, five loquats, two rows of red grapes, several table grapes, a most wonderful vegetable garden, and a very good orchard of feijoas. The red currants and black currants are good this year too and a cherry has good fruit on it. In addition there are pine nuts and some unusual non-fruiting trees. In the summer the glasshouse is full of tomatoes. Corn, pumpkin, potatoes, Maori potatoes, kumera and yams were all in last year and now we have broad beans, broccoli, onions etc in. Garlic will go in soon.

Who would it suit?
This property has been organic for two and a half years and before that was not too chemicalised, so it would suit people who like to grow their own food organically and develop it as a permaculture property. There is scope for kunekune pigs, a house cow or chooks, as well as for installing irrigation.

What is the soil like?

It is classified as stony loam and everything has been planted by removing the stones just below the surface. Rock dust, compost, mulch, liquid seaweed, worm wee, manure, lime and EM (Effective Microorganisms) have been applied regularly to increase microorganisms in the soil and the worm count is increasing. Bokashi buckets have been dug into the vegetable garden regularly.

Wind, shelter, water and frost
There is an excellent water supply from the Hautere Plains scheme and the property seems to have its own microclimate. It gets very little wind as the shelter was planted early and it only has occasional light frosts.

Why are we leaving?
Our advancing ages. We have loved living here but our time is now up. It is one of the best houses we have ever lived in. Sadly, we must now move on.

We will miss the kumquat marmalade and the bees

2008-05-10T01:10:00.001-07:00

These have been the most marvellous citrus. Here is the kumquat in full flower and when you pass it there is a hum of bumblebees and honey bees. When the crop comes you can make the most deliciously tasing marmalade. It is unequalled in flavour.
This property is on the market

We will miss these chestnuts when we sell

2008-05-10T00:35:00.000-07:00

It takes a while to harvest them float them and cook them and peel them but look what you get!

Harvesting chestnuts

2008-05-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

We have at least six chestnut trees and the season is now. From the fallen pricky balls you extract the nuts, which are strictly a grain. Roll your gumboot over a ball and use gloves to pick up the nut.

We have had chestnut and pumpkin soup, chestnut and kumera soup and just plain boiled chestnuts as a vegetable.

This property is for sale

There is no greater pleasure than digging good soil in moist conditions

2008-05-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

Yes I had to prepare part of the vege garden for the next crop. I had grown corn and thought I would have to plant a green crop like mustard or lupins to fix some nitrogen and build some more soil after heavy feeders. But The soil was fantastic. I had dug in some bokashi buckets last year and of course the ground has had many feedings of worm wee and seaweed and blood and bone. So each spadeful was a delight. The clay below had some worms in it breaking it up and to see it fall apart so easily was super. I think I wlll plant either garlic or onions there.

This property is for sale

The quinces survived the summer drought too

2008-05-06T12:13:00.001-07:00

No problem. They actually thrived and there were few blemishes on this year's crop. Lots of stewed quince and friends have made jelly or jam.

It's feijoa time again

2008-05-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

Our families are now gorging themselves of feijoas, some grandchildren eating ten at a sitting or more. This bucket on the doorstep is a common sight in April and May. They survived well despite the drought this year.

Walnuts nearly finished, chestnuts coming on

2008-05-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

The walnut season has been a bit strange this year. Great promise in October and November with good crop swelling well, but the drought after that was phenomenal. It only broke in April. So the walnuts didn't mature before they dropped. But then it all happened. They then matured and dropped normally and we will have more next year I am sure because the trees are getting bigger and there are six of them. Four are still quite small.

As for the chestnuts they have driven us mad because we didn't know how to use them and tried to keep them without success. There is nothing worse than getting a bag of chestnuts from the freezer only to find that about 5% are any good and the rest have rot in them. So we are trying to just eat them as they come and last night had them as a vege. We float them and throw away the floaters which last night wasn't many at all. Maybe we will ask a family member if they want to market them. Anyone who wants any will have to pick up their own this year I think. We have six mature chestnut trees.

Photos of our house and garden for sale

2007-11-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

Malcolm uses his new Stanley Handcart

2007-11-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

Yes it is a cracker. So easy to push and it holds so much. Here is Malcolm using his birthday present to take weeds to the compost.

Phacelia is attracting bees

2007-10-24T16:03:00.000-07:00

The herbal ley is looking really good and it is exciting to see the phacelia in full bloom now. They attract a range of beneficial insects. Here they are under the fig trees. The white flower bishop's lace is due to come out soon and hopefully the clover, which you can see is lush. We also have some rue and wormwood under the figs. I have no idea whether the cat's mint that I planted there is still alive.

We have the herbal ley under the figs, the apples and under a couple of citrus, though I believe the latter isn't recommended as the roots are too shallow and the citrus needs all the nutrients they can get.

Later in November here is a photo taken by David Johnson with his good camera.

The cherry looks better this year

2007-10-23T09:46:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a bit shaded by the next door tree, but we have now pruned that rather heavily so more sun should arrive. I used to have to put neem pellets on the ground to stop the pear slug and must watch it now to make sure it isn't attacked again. Anyway there is good blossom. Of course we sprayed with EM and Organic 100 too at this stage. Might do it again later as we would appreciate cherries this summer...

The waratah has been beautiful

2007-10-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

I guess it thrives in South Africa and in Perth but our waratah has been a wonderful sight during September and October.

Now Sept 2008 and this property is for sale

The sage is in flower

2007-10-18T12:42:00.001-07:00

I guess I should be breaking it up or doing something with it. Meanwhile the blue flowers on the sage are rather lovely.

View from the front in a frost

2007-10-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

We can drive cars down the left, and the teenagers are going to have a party after New Year at the back there.

The wwoofer staked the broccoli

2007-10-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

I joked in passing that if the broccoli at the front door grew any bigger it would need staking, then while I was babysitting Annika actually staked it! I had fed it bokashi some time ago...I have never seen a broccoli staked. She has been marvellous spraying the fruit trees with Organic 100 (seaweed and fish waste) and EM (effective microorganisms activated with molasses in a warm place). A smelly job for her. I really hope it pays off and we get some cherries.

An unseasonal frost

2007-10-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Have already lost some pumpkin and a cucumber because of the cool spring but today there was a frost. Looks as though the three hulless pumpkins might have survived. Don't know yet. Anyway here are the onions in the mist and frost. It is going to be a sunny day and Malcolm really wants to mow. He had another accident with the mower last week and then the rain has delayed things.

Later. Well the figs and the grapes have been affected by the frost and of course we lost some pumpkins and a cucumber. My concern is that the figs and grapes recover. (Later – they do.) Certainly many of the breba fig crop are now nowhere to be seen. That is the early crop. Also the potatoes which were not in sheltered positions were burnt a bit.

a website where you can just sit and watch the world...

2007-10-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

Try this everyone. It is about global warming, global population etc. Brilliant.

http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf

Anika shovels out compost for spreading

2007-10-08T14:17:00.000-07:00

This week we have had a young German wwoofer here, Anika from Essen and here she is shovelling out the compost which is ready. She also helped make the new compost. We make it anaerobically, watering it with EM (effective microorganisms) and scattering bokashi zing in the mix. We stamp it down and it doesn't shrink. This compost was used to prepare a bed for pumpkin.

A year later we have this property for sale now

Herbs on hand

2007-09-18T15:41:00.001-07:00

We seem to have most herbs, which of course have their seasons. Parsley is responding to the bokashi too. Sage is good and of course lemon balm thrives. I am never sure which thyme is which but it doesn't matter much they are all good in salands and in soups. The mint is separate of course, too invasive..

Two types of macadamias

2007-09-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

Last year wasn't a great macadamia crop either, mostly due to the cold wet spring which seemed endless. This year Malcolm has pruned them and spent hours mulching the prunings and spreading them out underneath. He will also scatter rock dust.

It seems we have two varieties, one with pinky catkins and one with lime green catkins.

Bokashi worked on the cabbages

2007-09-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

I made bokashi a few weeks ago, left it for eight weeks (that was hard for me!) and then put it round the cabbages and celery and kale. Well everything has flourished, especially after a recent rain. The savoy cabbages are hearting well and the celery looks like celery. Last year it was hopeless'

Uncle Joe plum looks promising

2007-09-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

Our best plum tree looks really good this year. Last year the crop was quite light due probably to losing a big branch the year before from overloading. The two early plums have also flowered beautifully.

Not sure about pruning skills yet..

2007-08-18T15:39:00.001-07:00

Red and black currants pruning is a bit hairy. Here is one example.

The phacelias will bloom again

2007-08-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

That herbal ley under the fruit trees will come to life again soon. With alyssum in flower all autumn and winter, soon the phacelia will be a mass of blue and the bees will love it. Well perhaps a month or two yet. They are still growing a lot after all the rains. The clover is dense too.

Also the borage is in flower in the vege garden. Chris' bees are still here so will enjoy them as well as the lavendar.

The first of the tomatoes are in!

2007-08-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

Quite a job to get the soil ready in the glasshouse! But we dug in first the green crop, then later a lot of compost and worm wee.

Then I planted moneymaker, Sweet 100 in red and yellow and one called Early Girl. Five plants so far. There will be lots more

Our front door

2007-08-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

For ages I have been dissatisfied with what is at our front door, so I dug out a huge untidy shrub and poured in some compost. Then I planted some flowers and some strawberries. In another spot I put lettuces among the flowers.

This year's citrus are doing well

2007-08-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

Lemonades, oranges and grapefruit look good but limes seem a bit later. We have two lemon trees somewhere else. Might put some manure round them even yet.

The green veges love bokashi

2007-08-18T14:49:00.000-07:00

Yes. The bokashi I made two months ago has now been spread around the green veges and they are thriving. The celery has a new life and the cabbages love it.

I made in on the shed floor. Pine sawdust, bran, seaweed, blood and bone, rock dust mixed together. On it pour a 3% solution of EM (effective microorganisms)with molasses. It also has an accelerator a tiny bit of ceramics EM. I keep it in a barrel with a cloth on and weights holding it down. Apparently because it has a predominance of anaerobic bacteria then putting it on veges improves the antioxidant proportions in the veges.

Satsuma mandarins are ripening

2007-06-18T04:47:00.000-07:00

They are good and seem early this year. Already delicious. We have put a lot of compost and manure round the citrus and are even going to plant another lemonade tree shortly, well as soon as the soil is really wet enough. So far there hasn't been much rain, just fine days and a lot of dew.

Try again with that alyssum

2007-06-18T04:31:00.000-07:00

The herbal ley looks different in autumn and winter

2007-06-18T04:23:00.000-07:00

Yes well. Remember how we sowed a herbal ley with a great many seeds in it during spring? In late spring we had a lot of phacelia flowering which attracted beneficial insects. Twas a mass of blue. They died down and the alyssum began to flower. Here is the alyssum, the white flower and behind it you can see the phacelia coming again. Also the clover is flourishing at the moment.

The various mints seem to be coming again now. Under the figs we have added rue and wormwood and catmint and catnip though I had to plant the latter twice and must go and inspect to see if it is still there. But two rue plants are now seeding. They were hard to grow.

Making anaerobic compost

2007-06-18T04:15:00.000-07:00

This is me Deirdre stamping on the anaerobic compost

2007-06-18T04:01:00.000-07:00

We have learnt how to make anaerobic compost with EM or effective microorganisms. Basically you have to activate the EM1 adding molasses and warm water and leaving it in a warm dark place for ten days. Then you dilute it in a watering can and you have a wonderful solution of beneficial anaerobic bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms ready to water on your compost.

Well this one was one we had neglected for a while, as we had just piled weeds on it for months. So we sorted it all out, pulled out the woody stuff and added grass clippings and watered it.

Then to keep it anaerobic you have to stamp it down and cover it.

Silver eyes love the persimmons

2007-06-18T03:54:00.000-07:00

Just as for figs, we have to get there before the birds. Fortunately persimmons don't mind being picked a bit early and ripen up well inside because it is quite difficult to cover them with nets, too high. Anyway we are sure enjoying our daily persimmons for the month of June.

This one had been upside down about to tackle the fruit and was just pausing before flying off and I caught it.

Malcolm mows front area for grass for compost

2007-06-09T01:03:00.000-07:00

He loves doing it too, but today got the mower clogged. You can see the pile of grass on the ground.

Feijoas, Adriatic and Brown Turkey figs and apples

2007-06-07T20:49:00.001-07:00

The autumn crops have been light this year, thanks to a dreadful wet spring which went on forever. However there have been enough figs and enough apples and feijoas for us and for close family. The persimmons are coming on, ripening up and are delicious now.

Fortunately this year we found another Adriatic that the Deans had planted a few years ago and this time it bore fruit. Just as well because the big one has been too sheltered and hardly ripened at all. A month late and so few ever got round to ripening. But the one in the sun is looking good.

The two apples in the photo are Tydemans Late Orange. One tree still isn't ripe. That is the last of the apples and we have planted some more - Gravenstein and the one from Wanganui with such good health properties – Monty's Surprise. It is a heritage apple again and its research is so good that Good Health Wanganui, the body that provides public health in that district, has bought 5000 trees to give away to households in their district.

We have also planted another cranberry because the other one is doing so well in acid soil near the pine trees.

Great weather in autumn and lots of apples

2007-04-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry for no photo this time, my iphoto doesn't want to export at the moment. The heritage apples have been simply wonderful this season after a year off last year. We love peasgood nonsuch, Jacques Lebel, Egremont russet, lobo, Captain Kidd, nonnettit bastard.

Figs just started two days ago and it takes a while to pick them using a ladder and put the nets back. Then we usually give some away while they are good. People just love them. The late fig doesn't look too promising this year after the dreadful spring we had. It affected so many things – the macadamias, hazelnuts, walnuts for a start.

We had wonderful tomatoes in the glasshouse, didn't grow any inside. Grew parsley and basil with them to enhance the flavour.

Grapes were useless almost, seems hard to convert them to organic..

We have about eight big pumpkins nearly ready. Chestnuts coming very soon.

Now it is September and this property is for sale as we are getting older

Nashi pears

2007-03-07T00:40:00.000-08:00

Well the birds or the rats got quite a few of them despite the fact that we covered them with the nets. Two days ago there were these wonderful nashis waiting to be picked. Today only two were left and one had lost half. The one last one was utterly marvellous.

Pumpkins galore

2007-03-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

Here they are again. No idea what variety they are, probably a seed of one which was tasty. The fruiterer shop in Otaki sells wonderful pumpkins.

2007-03-07T00:31:00.000-08:00

Don't know why I have got fennel going to seed. Presumably I grew them to draw minerals from deep down. Anyway they have wonderful flowers attracting insects!

Silver beet, a few apples, cabbbage too

2007-03-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

Today's harvest

2007-03-07T00:27:00.000-08:00

Yes a big leek, a few tomatoes, lots and lots of beans, one corn not visible, and some carrots.

Pumpkin everywhere

2007-03-07T00:18:00.000-08:00

It seems to have taken over most of the garden. And you can see there are some good ones there too. At the front is a newly planted set of rocket plants, haven't had any for a while. Actually we haven't got any kale at the moment. My idea of growing cabbages, cauli and broccoli is to plant them then watch the white butterflies demolish them, then pull them out! But today I planted some, then sprayed them with dipel the approved organic spray. Have got more ready to use in two weeks time too, which is an advance for me. And the bees are having a party in the borage and the flowers of the korean mint. I can't bear to prune it back.

Tomatoes have been abundant for a long time now

2007-03-07T00:09:00.000-08:00

Great tomatoes this year again. No disease. The trick was to grow mustard there in the winter and it sterilised the soil. Also have used a lot of comfrey water and seaweed juice or worm juice, just whatever I have at the time. Two varieties mainly were Sweet 100 and Moneymaker, though somewhere are a couple of heritage tomatoes I got from Koanga gardens.

Kumeras amongst the pumpkin

2007-03-06T23:23:00.000-08:00

We extended the vege garden in winter so that we could grow kumeras, which we really love. Lots of digging out stones and transporting compost and topsoil, and at last there is some hot weather to grow them. They are thriving, especially when they are watered daily. Some are growing well under the pumpkin.

Jan and Dave cover nashi pears

2007-02-19T00:08:00.000-08:00

Jan and Dave come from Wisconsin and were with us for four or five days. We had many interesting political discussions with them.

Dagmar and Paul come from Scotland

2007-02-15T12:10:00.000-08:00

Our first wwoofers of 2007 were from Inverness, though Dagmar is German. They did some great work.

Stephanie cleans out our pantry

2007-02-15T12:07:00.000-08:00

Stephanie, a wwwoofer from France who has been living in Melbourne, cleans out our pantry on a wet day. What a job!

Phacelia attracts beneficial insects

2007-02-15T11:52:00.000-08:00

Yes we have had such pleasure from watching the various bees and hoverflies in the blue flowers of the phacelia in the herbal ley.

The friend who has his beehives on our property says they are making lots of honey. Borage coming out next all over the place.

Here is Malcolm tidying up after tree pruning

2007-02-15T02:33:00.000-08:00

It seems an age since I have posted a photo but here goes now. Malcolm has put in many hours trimming and getting rid of unwanted branches and of course we have a lot of new good material from our mulcher now. His grandson Willie Dacker came the other day and helped him put it through the shredder.

Back from holiday and have had two lots of wwoofers

2007-01-24T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well the ability to send photos might have deserted me (I interfered with it somehow and can't get it back, I used flickr.com for a mac) but the garden continues to flourish.

I wish I could send photos of the heritage apples which are all swelling and looking so promising. We have already finished thinning them (very late I might say) and used the thinnings for stewing. In fact I had so many I had to freeze them.

Our first wwoofers were Dagmar and Paul from Scotland, wonderful people. We did heaps of work. Everything grew so much while we were away for a three week holiday it sure needed attending to. Fortunately we had had family in the house all that time and the glasshouse and vege garden had been watered regularly and the geese water changed. On arrival home we found the early plums had all been eaten by the birds, there are no more early fruit on any of the olives and disease has entered the wine grapes. Well the grapes were never disease resistant anyway. I always put off spraying them, even with Organic 100 or baking soda and it's time I was more disciplined about it. Anyway they look generally better than last year thank goodness.

The herbal ley is proving wonderful for all sorts of beneficial insects. I think I have identified a hoverfly – not sure. Bees are having a party in the phacelia and the various white flowers are growing underneath them. Borage is just staring to grow bigger. By autumn each plant is huge and the bees love it. So I had to transplant a lot of young borage plants from the vege garden (we had a very big one there last year) to under the fruit trees at the back. The coriander I put under the citrus is flourishing, wonderful for cooking with.

And that brings us to the French wwoofer Stephanie, who is with us now. She loves cooking and yesterday cooked us a delicious lunch which I am still recovering from.

My son in law and daughter noticed that the walnuts almost all have borer, so we had to treat them with a dose of kerosene and seal it with wax. Oh dear.

We have also had trouble with rats who seemed to get half our nuts. Devious brutes. So hopefully we are outwitting them now. A fisherman friend on holiday suggested using nylon fishing line to hang them from in the shed so they can't climb down it. Hopefully that will work.

The weather has been fairly awful. Spring was cool and wet and summer not very obvious. We have only had a few really hot days so the prospect of the kumeras doing well is not strong. Tomatoes are ripening in the glasshouse now, most of the carrots didn't germinate (they are germinating now as it is warm and wet) and you can say goodbye to growing broccoli in the summer due to white butterflies. They hardly grew much anyway.

The corn, beans and squash are working well together. Three sisters the Hope Indians call them. Beans climb the corn and the squash is creeping underneath, beans create soil for all of them.

Bryan my son in law did all the shredding while we were away and many little mechaical jobs fixing things.

Oh and I forgot, I love tradesmen. Our plumber came this week and sorted out the filter and now we have good water pressure again. What a relief. Now we need an electrician again for the caravan as it is shorting out too often. Must go for a swim.

Fruit are ripening now and veges are all planted.

2006-12-21T01:16:00.000-08:00

Well at last. The broad beans have been good but are now finished. Red currants are great and black currants are just starting but don't look as plentiful as the reds.

Loquats are good too but require a ladder to pick and then they aren't exactly user friendly. A great taste but such a lot of pip, in fact 3-4 pips in each. And we have to share them with the birds, plenty for all of us actually.

The cherry isn't having a good year at all sad to say.

Yesterday I started poking round the early plums and found some ripe. I had a good feed and brought some in too. On the way I picked a couple of leaves of Vietnamese mint and chewed one and lo and behold it went beautifully with the plums. So I made some more up. Delicious.

Elderflowers have finished but their cordial is still going, and the apples have been thinned a bit but maybe we should have been more ruthless. The herbal ley is looking really great under the apples and figs and I look forward to a whole bloom of white flowers later. And of course all the apples.

As for the geese, well they get out a lot. Not sure that the electric fence is doing much at all. And tonight Malcolm was mowing and broke the mower when he hit a big root. A big bolt was sheared off, and we hope we can get a borrowed mower for the holidays from the Levin firm KC Motors. If not... Sounds an expensive accident.

And the corn is growing up, with beans and squash. The kumeras are hopeless because it hasn't exactly been a tropical spring. In the glasshouse the tomatoes are swelling and I finally finished picking off laterals and tying them up before we go away on holiday and have family look after the place.

The tamarillo has now recovered after the awful spring and even looks healthy. Peaches are generally quite useless and macadamia are all finally picked. Well guess what? The rats have eaten all the hazelnuts we had stored in the storeroom and have taken half the macadamias to high places and scattered them everywhere including in the garage roller door. We had one onion bag stored in the mower shed and thought we were clever because we tied it from a rafter. And the darned rats climbed up there and down the string, demolishing half the bag. So next year it is 2-3 bags from the rafters and lots of early rat poison. All that work picking and dehusking and drying them and mostly to feed rats. Darn.

Ther radishes are up and the carrots have finally germinated after several failures in the spring. Good greens always means we have had salads every day and the herbs are extremely plentiful and varied. Peoppermint tea is great. I have peas and beans planted everywhere.

The wine grapes are still holding their own and the table grapes look healthy thanks to all the Organic 100 sprayed on them (fish waste and seaweed) They love it

A happy moment during our property blessing and wedding

2006-12-13T00:30:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Well after six years of living together we finally got married on Dec 2nd, which was a very happy event. I think what we are laughing at here is the wee dog that Winsome brought chased the cows in the next door paddock. It wasn't long till the cows thought there was something wrong here as the dog was diminutive and they were big. So the cows turned round the chased the dog back to our property. He scuttled in so fast we all burst out laughing. We went from here into the clearing in the native bush for our wedding ceremony. And of course it was a brilliantly fine day after weeks of rain and indifferent weather...

Malcolm rides the mower at full speed

2006-12-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

He was keen to get it all mown before the weather broke and sure as eggs today has been very wet and windy. This is Malcolm with his head down going for it. You can see the red currants in the distance with nets over them. We picked a good bowlful yesterday and there are plenty more.

Matze and Peggy plant the Wedding Bells rose

2006-12-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Yes it is true, we did get married last Saturday and Wendy and Russell gave us this lovely climbing rose. After considerable discussion, and rejecting five other sites, we settled on this one. It is visible from the dining room window, next to the green tea and can climb on the framework set up for the kiwifruit. It looks as though we will have some fruit this year though it is a strange variety and has a bad history, so no doubt it will be well pruned back in the future. Matze and Peggy are from Berlin, East Berlin actually, and have been very helpful to us during the week of our wedding preparations. They looked after our place for three days while we went away to find some sun (it wasn't there in Napier at the time either!).

Boys clean up the branches that Rupert cut off

2006-12-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Yes it is Rupert, Malcolm's 25 year old grandson from Dunedin. He visited complete with chainsaw and trimmed a great number of branches under Malcolm's guidance. Here he is transporting the branches the day after our wedding. In the trailer is Temmy (Malcolm's great grandson and Daniel (Deirdre's grandson) They had a ball.

Rupert fells a diseased almond tree

2006-11-28T22:54:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

We have been told there are two almond trees with silvery leaf and since this virus affects the tree fatally, it might as well be got rid of.

Well today was the day. Malcolm's grandson Rupert has arrived from Dunedin (he is a student there) and he very kindly brought all his tools, chainsaw etc for felling trees, which, like his father Graham, he loves to do.

So it was a sad day for Malcolm who hates to see the end of trees. But a relief as they have not produced any nuts. Only one produces nuts actually. We will have to burn the wood as we can't compost it.

Of course our next big event is that Malcolm and I are getting married in the clearing in the bush on Saturday.

The 35 heritage apples have set well this year

2006-11-25T13:37:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

I think this is Tydemans Late Orange apple. Other varieties we have are Nonnetit Bastard, Gravenstein, Lobo, Jacques Lebel, Alfriston, Peasgood Nonsuch, Scarlet Pimpernel, Mother, Sunset, Sturmer and Laxton's Fortune. Prima was the only one which fruited abundantly last year and this year it only has a handful of apples set. It seems to be having a year off.

We have really tried with these apples. Some trees are so laden we will have to thin them. Interestingly we didn't prune them at all this year. And I have just hung a couple of Pheronome traps for codling moth. Hope it wasn't too late!

Preparing figs for herbal ley

2006-11-25T13:27:00.000-08:00

Preparing figs for herbal ley
Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

There is one thing really good about a very wet spring – you can keep planting! Here we are in late November preparing the ground to sow a herbal ley under the first row of figs and it isn't too wet to do it. So we already have some catnip, two wormwoods and two rue plants and hopefully will get some comfrey and nasturtium in before it completely dries up. And some of the fig cuttings have taken really well. We have some breba figs already but no main crop figs are yet appearing. It is probably too darned cold. We are still wearing thick winter jerseys.

Preparing figs for herbal ley

2006-11-25T13:18:00.000-08:00

Preparing figs for herbal ley
Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Preparing figs for herbal ley

Three geese round the kumquat tree

2006-11-23T17:34:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

This photo dates back to the time when we had three geese. Unfortunately we lost the female, the little one on the right. She disappeared when we were absent for a day and we never found her. That is until recently. Malcolm was clearing the back pathway in the native forest and he found her skeleton and feathers. She must have strayed, got hungry and then fell prey to something. Sometime after she vanished we also found two eggs she had laid in the gum trees.

Actually with the weather being so rainy for so long, the solar unit powering the electric fence no longer worked. That's why we have had to shoo back the geese a lot. They learnt to get over the fence and have lost all fear of an electric shock. So may the sun shine from now on...

Traci the wwoofer from Alaska

2006-11-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

She is lovely. Happy always, hard working and she came at a time when it just kept on raining. Fortunately she said she loved getting wet and dirty and this was easy because the main job she had was grubbing in preparation for sowing the herbal ley. She also helped me name all the heritage apples and helped spread lime.

Yes I grew this cauliflower

2006-11-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Good cauliflower. I think this was grown on the spot where I had dug in a bokashi bucket. Fortunately the white butterflies have not started their summer yet! We also have some excellent cabbages coming on.

Getting ready to sow seeds for herbal ley in heritage apple orchard.

2006-11-05T10:34:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Actually the term herbal ley isn't all that accurate, because they aren't all herbs. But here is Malcolm after a session grubbing the turf, reasonably easy after all the rain. And it should be good conditions for germinating because it is nearly full moon as well. We bought the King Seeds Beneficial Insect Mix but asked them to leave out the fennel.

It consists of buckwheat (white flowers), dill, Bishops flower (ammi major or white lace), parsnip, ammi visnaga (white lacy again), daucus carota (wild carrot or Queen Anne's lace), phacelia, bergamot (bee balm orange or pink) and alyssum (white). We will also put some clovers and alfalfa in.

The blue phacelia already have flowering is attracting a huge range of insects and we have borage, nasturtium, comfrey and a few herbs growing. This year's apple crop looks really promising and the soil is looking reasonably good. The only apple tree which hasn't set much fruit is the one which fruited heavily last year. It seems to be having a year off.

I must say after all the grubbing we get really tired. I can only do 45 minutes of it at a time.

Developments in the vege garden

2006-11-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Well the brassicas are at the stage where the white butterflies are about to arrive but I will be spraying with dipel which is OK in organic circles. See the big mustard plant. Behind them is the bed of corn and beans. On the left the borage has extended itself but the bees are having such a party I can't bring myself to cut it in half. In the middle at the back are the broad beans. On the right are the red and black currant bushes. Behind the broad beans we now have a kumera garden. Behind the borage is the herb garden.

A lot of work has been done in a week

2006-11-01T00:51:00.000-08:00

In the past week, with Jan Tillman our strong young wwoofer from Germany, we have completed the following:

We have created a new piece of vege garden, which is no mean feat because it all had to be dug out and remember there are stones just beneath the surface. Malcolm and Jan used picks and then had to take away all the stone. We will grow kumeras there once we get in some new soil.

We have brought in manure, sand, clay to do various jobs. The clay was mixed with the manure and plastered on the apple trunks, and the sand is ready for more seed mixes.

We have done a great deal in the vege garden, getting rid of some winter veges and planting new ones for summer.
We bought a line trimmer which means the edges are now all neat.
We mowed the back part of the property for the first time for ages. The weeds were getting away because the geese didn't like them enough and didn't eat enough.
We have ordered a seed mix of the following to sow under the rows of apple trees:buckwheat, dill, bishop's flower. ammi visnaga, parsnip, caucus carota, phacelia, bergamot and allyssum.
We have lime ready to spread and we are doing this to raise calcium levels mostly.
We have spread rock dust and sprayed with Organic 100, a mix of fish waste and seaweed. Huge jobs.
We have picked and processed more macadamias.
We have used quite a bit of the liquid manure and nettles and comfrey to feed the trees.
We have made two compost heaps and spread compost from the remains of one of them.
We have done all the shredding of all the branches that were lying around under the trees. Wonderful.
The grapes have been sprayed with oil, detergent and water and actually look much healthier.
We have got rid of big invasive plants in the front border and have some bare land to plant corn and beans or amarynth.
We have fixed up all the places where stakes were too close to fruit trees, doing damage to the trunk.

Chris Christoffels checks his beehive

2006-11-01T00:38:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Very kindly this friend has brought his beehives to our property for the spring so that our apples can be properly pollinated. It has been great and it looks as though it was successful with many apples set. The bees have had a ball with the phacelia, the borage and the various flowers around, but now they will have to go home because flowers are short and they may starve.

And here he is doing it

2006-10-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

2 great iPhotos
Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Actually it was a fun job. We were very glad of good gloves.

Jan the wwoofer mixes manure and clay for apples

2006-10-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

2 great iPhotos
Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

I guess more than one person has suggested that to deal with the lichen on the trunks of our apple trees we scrub them down with a wire brush and then plaster them with clay and cow manure. Here is Jan the young German wwoofer doing this awful job. He reckons he has had three smells in three days. The first was the fish waste on the compost heap and the second was this. The third was today when he sprayed the foliage of fruit trees with Organic 100 which is a mixture of fish waste and seaweed. He had to wash his clothes afterwards. We also ruined the wire brush with this job but here is hoping the apples are better.

Tomatoes in glasshouse in late September

2006-10-18T00:42:00.000-07:00

tomatoes in glasshouse.JPG
Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Well this year we have a bit of whitefly and I have sprayed with oil and detergent and water and put up yellow stickies and planted a pyrethrum plant.

I must say it going to be challenge to get the watering system up and running again because Malcolm ran over the hose late this afternoon.

These tomatoes are a mixture of Russian red, Waimana, and some cherry tomatoes. I grew mustard over the winter and Richard dug it in, then I added more of everything I could find to nourish the soil.

Some pumpkins sprung up too...I transplanted them or gave them away.

Walnuts in spring

2006-10-18T00:37:00.000-07:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Although the Dutch walnut finally packed up and died, the others are fine and you can see the knots that will develop into leaves or flowers. Wait and see.

This is the first chestnut to be in full leaf

2006-10-18T00:35:00.000-07:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Out the front patch the chestnuts and walnuts are in various stage of leaf and this one gets lots of sun so wins the race. The grass needs mowing again and this was only taken a couple of days ago.

I think this is an elder

2006-10-18T00:32:00.000-07:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Time will tell I suppose but this seems to be an elder and we will later pick the elderflower and make cordial out of it.

The springtime is a great time to identify trees. We have now found the mulberries and I am told we have to get a net over these which will be a mission as they are high. The Turks down the road that wanted to buy our place wanted the mulberries. There are another two small ones near the carobs too.

Cherry blossom

2006-10-18T00:28:00.000-07:00

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Originally uploaded by localcurrencies.

Our one cherry looks really good but we will have to be careful with the pear slug and to get the net on in time.