June

Lavender field as at end June 2011


Vegetable garden as at end June 2011


Winter is now in full swing. I can't really complain because we had such a long summer and mild autumn. But now it is quite cold. Still, we've only had one real frost so far, so it's not as cold as it could be I suppose.

We've had the fire going every evening, and noticed a lot more success with it than the first year we were here. The main factor has been bringing the firewood inside and letting it dry out for 2-3 days before using it. As well as just understanding the way fire works, the best placement for the wood in the fire, how to get optimal heat at the beginning and slow it down as the room warms up, etc. However in the last few weeks we have been going through so much wood each day that I'm having to bring it inside every 2-3 days and it's not having the chance to dry out as much as it needs to before we use it. We are also very quickly going through the carefully split and stacked wood that P and I sorted last month.

Got a book out of the library about composting, and read it trying to learn more about it. The book said the way we've been composting (i.e. burying our scraps) is called trench composting and basically ineffective when it comes to making something to put on your garden, unless you actually do it IN the garden. Well, I'd pretty much figured that out for myself as the pile was not growing, and the only thing that was growing was the scraps. We had corn that had sprouted from a half eaten cob that was buried. I carefully dug these out and transplanted to a tub on the deck. So far so good, they are still alive but not growing any bigger. There was also an avocado growing, which I very carefully dug out and planted in the ground near the citrus trees. I find it ironic that I have tried a few times to grow an avocado from seed in a glass on the windowsill without success, yet one that got thrown out and buried in the ground actually grew into a tree. It has grown quite fast so hopefully we'll be growing our own avocados to eat in a few years. I know it's probably the wrong time of year to transplant these things but I needed to move them out of the compost.

I have also tried to make a new compost pile using layers of lavender clippings, the neighbours pony poo and sawdust, rotten wood, plus food scraps, vacuum contents, fireplace ash and paper. I built up a few layers of each. Didn't even use up half of the available materials but the heap was getting big enough, plus it was starting to rain, and I thought I’d wait a few weeks and see how it did before using the rest. So far it is looking good and healthy, but hasn't changed much either. The lavender clippings aren't breaking down much. Mind you the weather has probably been too cold for anything to happen. Should add some more layers on soon.

Have decided not to plant anything else in the vegetable garden now until spring. Didn't get around to it in time and now I think it's too late. The only thing growing is the mustard seed and it's doing really well.

Have had lots and lots of rain in the last couple of months. In April (I think) I started re-digging my trench in the lower paddock but didn't get very far before I had to stop. Then the rain came and has pretty much rained ever since. The paddock has been very waterlogged and boggy. I won't be able to get back to it again until summer probably at this rate. The pukekoes and ducks are enjoying it though. Have seen a male and female duck hanging around together a lot. And at the beginning of June I saw a mother duck leading about 6-8 babies behind her, walking through the paddock together. Haven't seen them since so guess they were just passing through.

-M

May

Lavender field as at end May 2011


Vegetable garden as at end May 2011


May began with three of P's friends coming over to give us a hand shifting logs, rounds and firewood out of our bottom paddock. We hired a log splitter and P and I took turns to split the wood we already had, and the guys split the stuff they gathered and took it away with them. I looked at all the wood we had split and estimated we had a couple of years worth there. Now I'm not too sure.

Over the course of the next week we moved the split wood into the newly cleaned out woodshed and stacked it nicely on pallets. P had put up polythene to catch the drips, but had to modify it a few times as the wind and rain got hold of it. It is now fairly water-tight.

Not content with just building a new woodshed, P is now working on a carport to keep the tractor and bits dry. His first attempt, using a large tarpaulin as a roof, didn't work very well. So he's back to the drawing board but not out.

Also at the beginning of May T came around and we pruned the lavender.

In April we were complaining about the lack of feijoas this year. Our neighbours gave us a whole bagful. And then this month our trees suddenly started dropping an abundance of fruit that I hadn't even noticed on the trees. We had so much I didn't know what to do with it all. I discovered making it into a feijoa juice drink was quite nice. Scoop the pulp of four feijoas into a bowl, add a quarter cup of sugar, and pour some boiling water over the top to dissolve the sugar. Leave to cool. Once cooled, strain the juice into a jug and top up with cold water. It's pretty much the same recipe for making passionfruit juice too, but we didn't really have any of those this year.

We bought a new ride on lawn mower from the Lifestyle Farmers Field Days at the end of May. A John Deere. We've been using the tractor to cut the grass pretty much since we moved in here, and it really rips up the ground. Also can be tough to manouver, and feels a bit scary driving on the slope under the fruit trees. I've wanted to get a real ride on mower for ages, but the one I really want is probably upwards of $10k. We deliberated for a while before deciding to get this one as there are good points and bad points. It’s slower than the tractor but can get a lot closer and turn in smaller circles. It mulches the grass and spits it out to the side unfortunately right under the adjacent row of lavender but at least it doesn’t leave great clumps of grass behind like the tractor does. It did a good job on the hill under the fruit trees. So far I'm pretty happy with it. We also bought a leaf blower as it was recommended to use one of these to blow the grass clippings away from the mowing deck everytime you finish using it.

The vegetable garden is empty at the moment. My next job is to plant some broccoli and spring onion seedlings (no more trying to grow from seed) for the winter and put more mustard seed down in the rest of the garden. I'm going to give broccoli another go over winter when the cabbage moths aren't around and see how it goes. I'm also going to make up some proper compost with the horse poo and sawdust the neighbours gave us, the rotten timber from the old woodshed, and the lavender clippings.

-M

April

Lavender field as at end April 2011


Vegetable garden as at end April 2011


Autumn finally began in April with a run of cold and wet weather right at the beginning of the month, which was a real shock to the system. We lit our first fire of the season about halfway through the month, and at the end of the month I noticed snow on the Tararua Ranges one day.

Finally got the tractor going and mowed the grass. The grass around the house hadn't been done for a month and a half, the grass in the lavender field hadn't been done for two and a half months. It was almost as tall as the lavender.

P and I cleaned out the old woodshed. The previous owners of the place had kept their firewood thrown in a heap under the ramp which leads to the back door. One corner is well protected from the elements. The other corner is both exposed from the side and from gaps in the decking above. We have been slowly going through their pile of wood, until what we've been left with is the stuff from the exposed section, which is half rotten. We cleared all the wood out, kept what was good and got rid of what wasn't. Am left with a nice tidy floor, and a big pile of compost from all the dirt that was at the bottom of the woodpile.

P then used polythene to line the ceiling to prevent drips, and made walls to protect the wood from the side.

Still continue to gather heaps of walnuts. Have started getting feijoas now too. Ended up having to throw out half a dozen cucumber/zuchhini because I'd forgotten about them in the fridge and they'd gone bad. What a waste. Harvested four pumpkin.

Nothing left in the garden now. The carrots and spring onion seeds I planted never grew into anything. However the mustard seed I planted have done well. One section of the garden is growing well with mustard. I must plant more in the rest of the garden. Am also considering trying brassicas one last time, to see if they do any better in the cold weather.

The neighbours have given us a big pile of pony poo and sawdust. That's the big pile of stuff you can see in the front of the vegetable garden photo. I must get around to composting that or doing something with it.

-M