Builders

Lucky we had Toby and Finn around to lift the bathroom beam into place.

Things are getting exciting.

This weekend we got both beams up and most of the rafters.

All that thanks to a steady stream of visitors, WOOFers, music and great food.

Harakeke

The colours in our old flax leaves are beautiful. These guys are growing beside the drive so we get to see them every day.

This plant is my one soft weaving flax. The others have a much higher muka content and the bushes are a lot more upright.

Abundance

A quick gathering session around the farm to show off some of the abundance.

This is the photo used for our first Crop Swap advertising. Thought I would make it authentic by using crops grown in this bio-region in this season.

Kumara harvest

During the growing season Kumara vines should be lifted or they put down roots where they touch the soil. These roots turn into small Kumara and stop the main Kumara from fattening up. The more roots the smaller the Kumara.

I did not do a good job of lifting the vines that were on the beds. I think next year I will put down a thick layer of newspaper in the middle of the beds to discourage these small roots and save the time untangling and lifting vines.

They were put to good use and have made a great addition to our meals.





This year I used a small Broadfork from Crafty Gatherer to dig my Kumara. It made a beautiful job and the beds were then scattered with green manure seeds raked and DONE for winter.

The Kumara were placed in a nest of Kumara vines, covered and left to cure for three days before being individually wrapped and stored in my cob food shed.

Weekend away means music

Packing for a weekend away means making sure the Cajon's, Ukulalie's, guitar's, flutes and of course poi are all packed.

Sausage time

This year we all we made were fresh sausages and bacon.

My favorite flavoring was Kaffir lime leaves, Lemon grass, garlic toasted coconut thread and coconut milk.