We've had a lot of stormy weather this week. Last Thursday and Friday were particularly bad with high wind coming from the east. Thursday night the power went off just as we were going to bed. P later noticed it appeared other people around us had electricity, just not us and our immediate neighbour (both houses are fed off a separate line that comes up from the street). He went out to investigate later on and found an electrian turning off the power to our line as the power lines were blowing into the trees and arcing. He said he'd be back in the morning to turn it back on again.
Friday morning the winds were still blowing strong so I took the kids out and didn't expect the power to come back on again any time soon. It came back on at 10am, just over 12 hours after it went off. We will need to get the trees trimmed pretty soon before the next big storm comes along.
As well as blowing power lines around, the storm blew down a few small branches here and there but luckily there was no real damage. However I was back in the paddocks again today clearing away fallen branches, just as I thought I had finished it two weeks ago.
The storm may be over but it has pretty much rained every day since then, and is forecast to rain for the next week as well. I'm not complaining - I'm glad the water tank is getting a chance to fill up. But it means I haven't had a chance to mow the grass either and it is growing so quickly at the moment. It's only been three weeks since I cut the grass in the lavender field and it's almost as tall as the lavender already.
Before the storm hit last week I managed to find some time to dig out a strawberry patch. Bought 20 strawberry plants for $20. Also bought a roll of chicken wire and some pins to hold it down so that I can create some kind of tent to keep the birds from stealing the strawberries. That cost $50 so all up I've spent $70 on it. Hope we get a lot of strawberries out of it!!! Of course this will (hopefully) last for years so we'll eventually get our money's worth out of it (I hope!).
-M
29 September 2009
22 September 2009
Week 41
Have had a few weather extremes this week. Early in the week it was so hot and sunny that we had to go out and get ice creams. Then today it has been so cold I've had to light the fire.
I may have only mowed the grass two weeks ago, but it needs doing again. I was going to do it today but it rained this morning. By this afternoon it had dried out a lot so I mowed part of the lawn, but the ground was still quite muddy and I now have big tractor tyre marks all over the lawn. I also somehow managed to break the tractor seat. It has come away entirely. Something else that needs to be fixed I guess.
While the weather was good I got out the weedsprayer and went up and down the driveway with it. Everything is starting to grow with a hurry now that spring is here.
Went to a Farmers Unlimited meeting and learnt a bit about highland cattle, and also about the perils of having an archeological dig on your property (despite how cool it would be, it's not much fun for the landowner apparently).
We have five different citris trees on our property. There is a lemon tree, an orange tree, a mandarin tree and a grapefruit tree. The fifth one I'm not too sure about. It looks a lot like a mandarin but has come to fruit later in the year and tastes sweeter. I think maybe it's a tangerine but I don't know much about them. The mandarin tree is still covered in fruit, even though we've been eating lots. I think it's coming to the end of its season though as they are starting to lose their taste. The orange and grapefruit trees have barely been touched. Personally I prefer mandarins and because it has been so fruitful I haven't needed to eat any others. Maybe I should look up some marmalade recipes.
-M
I may have only mowed the grass two weeks ago, but it needs doing again. I was going to do it today but it rained this morning. By this afternoon it had dried out a lot so I mowed part of the lawn, but the ground was still quite muddy and I now have big tractor tyre marks all over the lawn. I also somehow managed to break the tractor seat. It has come away entirely. Something else that needs to be fixed I guess.
While the weather was good I got out the weedsprayer and went up and down the driveway with it. Everything is starting to grow with a hurry now that spring is here.
Went to a Farmers Unlimited meeting and learnt a bit about highland cattle, and also about the perils of having an archeological dig on your property (despite how cool it would be, it's not much fun for the landowner apparently).
We have five different citris trees on our property. There is a lemon tree, an orange tree, a mandarin tree and a grapefruit tree. The fifth one I'm not too sure about. It looks a lot like a mandarin but has come to fruit later in the year and tastes sweeter. I think maybe it's a tangerine but I don't know much about them. The mandarin tree is still covered in fruit, even though we've been eating lots. I think it's coming to the end of its season though as they are starting to lose their taste. The orange and grapefruit trees have barely been touched. Personally I prefer mandarins and because it has been so fruitful I haven't needed to eat any others. Maybe I should look up some marmalade recipes.
-M
16 September 2009
Week 40
Today I begun clearing up after the big storm in March. At the time of the storm I cleared away all the tree branches that had fallen and were blocking the driveway. But there were still lots of smaller branches littering the paddocks. Cleaning it up has been pretty low on the priority list though. However the neighbour's stock have been through all our paddocks now and the grass is pretty short, meaning all the branches are now visible again (after having been buried under so much long grass) so it finally moved to the top of the priority list.
I don't know how important it is to clear away all the fallen branches. To me it looks unsightly, but more than that I figure it is a tripping hazard to the stock. I began in one of the two paddocks at the bottom of the driveway as it is more visible than some of the other paddocks. I only spent an hour or two there as it started raining quite a lot. This is one of the two paddocks which has been quite waterlogged (the other being the one on the opposite side of the driveway). There is a large pipe which runs under the driveway that drains the water from paddock 1 (where I was) to paddock 2. As I was clearing away branches I discovered the pipe was slightly out of alignment, and partly blocked by branches, long grass and mud. I cleared some of it away and watched the water start draining away.
However it's a bit of a hollow victory because now paddock 2 is even more waterlogged. Next week's chore will be to get into there and clear things out. I don't know exactly where the water goes from there, but I do know a few hundred meters away there's a culvert. Maybe it flows underground to there? I hope so because I don't really want to just shift the water into the neighbours field next.
It's only a week since we mowed the lawn and already it is looking like it could do with a cut again. It's not long exactly but it is starting to look untidy.
Have noticed an increase in bird noises and a gathering of stray pieces of grass on the deck. Suspect the birds may be trying to nest in the guttering again.
-M
I don't know how important it is to clear away all the fallen branches. To me it looks unsightly, but more than that I figure it is a tripping hazard to the stock. I began in one of the two paddocks at the bottom of the driveway as it is more visible than some of the other paddocks. I only spent an hour or two there as it started raining quite a lot. This is one of the two paddocks which has been quite waterlogged (the other being the one on the opposite side of the driveway). There is a large pipe which runs under the driveway that drains the water from paddock 1 (where I was) to paddock 2. As I was clearing away branches I discovered the pipe was slightly out of alignment, and partly blocked by branches, long grass and mud. I cleared some of it away and watched the water start draining away.
However it's a bit of a hollow victory because now paddock 2 is even more waterlogged. Next week's chore will be to get into there and clear things out. I don't know exactly where the water goes from there, but I do know a few hundred meters away there's a culvert. Maybe it flows underground to there? I hope so because I don't really want to just shift the water into the neighbours field next.
It's only a week since we mowed the lawn and already it is looking like it could do with a cut again. It's not long exactly but it is starting to look untidy.
Have noticed an increase in bird noises and a gathering of stray pieces of grass on the deck. Suspect the birds may be trying to nest in the guttering again.
-M
08 September 2009
Week 39
Today I turned over the ground in the vege garden in preparation for planting some vegetables. I've been told not to plant tomatoes until around Labour Weekend in New Zealand (end of October), and have decided to wait until then to plant the other veges as well. Last month was so mild that I wondered if I should have already started planting things. Then this week the temperature dropped and we had a few more frosts, so I know the cold weather isn't quite over yet and it's best to wait a bit longer. Although having said that, we already have lots of potato plants popping out of the ground.
I have the figure "six weeks" in my head as the timeframe for preparing the soil before you plant anything. I don't know where I got that figure from. I may have read it in a book but can't remember which one. Or I may be totally wrong. Anyway, when I last worked on the vege garden at the beginning of winter I spread compost on top of the soil and then lavender clippings on top of that. Today I used the fork and manually turned the soil over (rather than using the tractor) to dig the compost into the ground. It was a lot easier than I expected and only took an hour or so. Then I spread a little bit of grass mulch over the top (but didn't have enough to cover the whole garden).
Mowed the lawn in the lavender field for the first time in months. Must be getting better at handling the tractor as it took less than an hour. Still don't have a ride on mower with a catcher so I do worry about all the clippings blowing into and under the lavender. Still a lot of work to do there. The lavender itself is slowly starting to grow again.
Speaking of grass, it seems everywhere you look around the region the fields are all very green looking.
At the bottom of our property is a very wet, waterlogged area. I'm not sure if we should dig out a culvert/stream, or turn it into a proper wetland with native grasses, or just leave it as it is. I often see pukekos around there. I love pukekos. Occassionally we see ducks too. This week we've seen a mother duck leading her baby ducklings around. It is so cute.
-M
I have the figure "six weeks" in my head as the timeframe for preparing the soil before you plant anything. I don't know where I got that figure from. I may have read it in a book but can't remember which one. Or I may be totally wrong. Anyway, when I last worked on the vege garden at the beginning of winter I spread compost on top of the soil and then lavender clippings on top of that. Today I used the fork and manually turned the soil over (rather than using the tractor) to dig the compost into the ground. It was a lot easier than I expected and only took an hour or so. Then I spread a little bit of grass mulch over the top (but didn't have enough to cover the whole garden).
Mowed the lawn in the lavender field for the first time in months. Must be getting better at handling the tractor as it took less than an hour. Still don't have a ride on mower with a catcher so I do worry about all the clippings blowing into and under the lavender. Still a lot of work to do there. The lavender itself is slowly starting to grow again.
Speaking of grass, it seems everywhere you look around the region the fields are all very green looking.
At the bottom of our property is a very wet, waterlogged area. I'm not sure if we should dig out a culvert/stream, or turn it into a proper wetland with native grasses, or just leave it as it is. I often see pukekos around there. I love pukekos. Occassionally we see ducks too. This week we've seen a mother duck leading her baby ducklings around. It is so cute.
-M
01 September 2009
Week 38
Today is officially the start of spring. The fruit trees are all flowering and looking beautiful. While I didn't particularly like the coldness of winter, I am loving the spring and autumn colours. We never really had deciduous (sp?) trees in Wellington - the wind would have blown the leaves and the flowers right off them so what would have been the point.
But with springtime also comes spring storms. This week has been rather windy but not too much rain, and chilly enough to light the fire a couple of times but definitely not as cold as winter was. One day I was a bit worried the wind would take down some more trees, but it didn't. It's been coming from the west, which I think is different from the big storms we have had. More wind is forecast for the rest of the week as well.
I haven't done a lot of work on the farm. Have trimmed back a couple of hedges, something I've been meaning to do since we moved in.
Got kept awake half the night last night by a cow mooing. Not in our garden this time (although it sounded like it was), and not even in our paddocks or even in our neighbours paddocks. It was mooing till at well after midnight. I wondered if maybe it was calving because it was definitely upset about something. No sound from it tonight thank goodness.
-M
But with springtime also comes spring storms. This week has been rather windy but not too much rain, and chilly enough to light the fire a couple of times but definitely not as cold as winter was. One day I was a bit worried the wind would take down some more trees, but it didn't. It's been coming from the west, which I think is different from the big storms we have had. More wind is forecast for the rest of the week as well.
I haven't done a lot of work on the farm. Have trimmed back a couple of hedges, something I've been meaning to do since we moved in.
Got kept awake half the night last night by a cow mooing. Not in our garden this time (although it sounded like it was), and not even in our paddocks or even in our neighbours paddocks. It was mooing till at well after midnight. I wondered if maybe it was calving because it was definitely upset about something. No sound from it tonight thank goodness.
-M
25 August 2009
Week 37
The weather is starting to get warmer, and with the warmer weather comes The Return of the Flies (sounds like a B-grade horror movie!), and the weeds and grass start growing like crazy again. I'd almost enjoyed not having to worry about it over winter.
I'd hoped to get out and mow the lawn today. First I finished off line-trimming the lavender field. That took all day, so no lawn mowing got done. I took extra care with the line trimmer to try and shift some of the dirt and debris underneath the lavender plants, so it took a lot longer than usual. Of course I also created quite a lot of new debris too.
The cyclical nature of farm life is starting to bug me a bit. Everything seems so futile at times. I spend so much time trying to prevent things from growing, either by mowing lawn, pulling weeds or spraying weeds. It almost seems pointless. I just wish there were an easier way. Mind you, I also get sick of having to eat, toilet and shower regularly too. It just seems like Groundhog Day all over again sometimes.
In keeping with the self sufficient spirit, I made my own breadcrumbs for the first time a couple of weeks ago. When I was a kid my parents used to put the ends of the loaf of bread into the hot water cupboard to dry out and then make breadcrumbs with it. I thought the bread had to be dried out to make breadcrumbs. I've never tried making it myself before, apart from one time, years ago, with my friend. I insisted we needed to use dried bread. She insisted we needed to use fresh bread. I toasted her fresh bread to try and dry it out, and it turned out to be a disaster. Lately I've realised that the only reason they dried it out first was so that it wouldn't go mouldy, not because it needed to be dry. Anyway, I've started following their lead and keeping the ends of the bread loaves in the hot water cupboard and bunging it in the food processor to make breadcrumbs when needed. An excellent use for those odd bread ends that usually don't get eaten anyway.
-M
I'd hoped to get out and mow the lawn today. First I finished off line-trimming the lavender field. That took all day, so no lawn mowing got done. I took extra care with the line trimmer to try and shift some of the dirt and debris underneath the lavender plants, so it took a lot longer than usual. Of course I also created quite a lot of new debris too.
The cyclical nature of farm life is starting to bug me a bit. Everything seems so futile at times. I spend so much time trying to prevent things from growing, either by mowing lawn, pulling weeds or spraying weeds. It almost seems pointless. I just wish there were an easier way. Mind you, I also get sick of having to eat, toilet and shower regularly too. It just seems like Groundhog Day all over again sometimes.
In keeping with the self sufficient spirit, I made my own breadcrumbs for the first time a couple of weeks ago. When I was a kid my parents used to put the ends of the loaf of bread into the hot water cupboard to dry out and then make breadcrumbs with it. I thought the bread had to be dried out to make breadcrumbs. I've never tried making it myself before, apart from one time, years ago, with my friend. I insisted we needed to use dried bread. She insisted we needed to use fresh bread. I toasted her fresh bread to try and dry it out, and it turned out to be a disaster. Lately I've realised that the only reason they dried it out first was so that it wouldn't go mouldy, not because it needed to be dry. Anyway, I've started following their lead and keeping the ends of the bread loaves in the hot water cupboard and bunging it in the food processor to make breadcrumbs when needed. An excellent use for those odd bread ends that usually don't get eaten anyway.
-M
18 August 2009
Week 36
Spring is definitely here. Bulbs are popping up all over the place. Things are starting to grow again. And by that I mean weeds. The mulch I put on the vegetable garden to suppress weeds hasn't really worked and the weeds are all poking up through it. I guess I didn't layer enough on. But now I'm not sure what to do. Put more on? Or dig the mulch in? Probably the latter, although as well as weeds there are also potato plants growing too and I don't really want to disturb them.
With Spring I also need to start thinking about what to plant in the garden. There are a couple of things putting me off planting anything. First is not knowing quite what to do. Second and most important is the concern that the dog will dig up and destroy anything I plant. Third is that anything the dog doesn't get, the rabbits probably will (unless the dog chases them away).
P and I have had a couple of productive days on the property recently. On Sunday he got out and went round the fields tidying up overhanging trees and ripped out an old fence that had come down long ago and been grown over with grass.
Today I got down to the lavender field again. It had rained a lot overnight and everything was wet so I couldn't continue on with the line trimming I was doing last week. Instead I started removing the debris from underneath the plants - lavender trimmings, grass clippings, leaves and general debris had all accumulated on top of the weedmat to form a nice layer of dirt, on which the weeds were growing. Completely negating the point of the weedmat. It was long, slow, hard work to clean it up. It took about 45 minutes to go down one side of a row, and 45 minutes to come back up the other side. Which means that in the three hours I spent today, I only got two full rows cleared out. It was a lot tougher than I expected. My arm muscles are killing me now. But hopefully it is worth it and will mean less weeding over the summer.
With each full row taking an hour and a half, I'm not sure how I'm going to find time to do the rest of the field. Maybe this will have to be an ongoing project. What I'm not sure about is how much of the debris I cleared away today has built up in the last 9 months, and how much is older than that. If it's going to be this much work every year then I'm not sure what to do. With only one day a week available to me, I can't really get very much done very quickly.
-M
With Spring I also need to start thinking about what to plant in the garden. There are a couple of things putting me off planting anything. First is not knowing quite what to do. Second and most important is the concern that the dog will dig up and destroy anything I plant. Third is that anything the dog doesn't get, the rabbits probably will (unless the dog chases them away).
P and I have had a couple of productive days on the property recently. On Sunday he got out and went round the fields tidying up overhanging trees and ripped out an old fence that had come down long ago and been grown over with grass.
Today I got down to the lavender field again. It had rained a lot overnight and everything was wet so I couldn't continue on with the line trimming I was doing last week. Instead I started removing the debris from underneath the plants - lavender trimmings, grass clippings, leaves and general debris had all accumulated on top of the weedmat to form a nice layer of dirt, on which the weeds were growing. Completely negating the point of the weedmat. It was long, slow, hard work to clean it up. It took about 45 minutes to go down one side of a row, and 45 minutes to come back up the other side. Which means that in the three hours I spent today, I only got two full rows cleared out. It was a lot tougher than I expected. My arm muscles are killing me now. But hopefully it is worth it and will mean less weeding over the summer.
With each full row taking an hour and a half, I'm not sure how I'm going to find time to do the rest of the field. Maybe this will have to be an ongoing project. What I'm not sure about is how much of the debris I cleared away today has built up in the last 9 months, and how much is older than that. If it's going to be this much work every year then I'm not sure what to do. With only one day a week available to me, I can't really get very much done very quickly.
-M
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