Foxglove

Foxgloves have their own runways all lit up to show bees the way.

Water

The cabin has water!!

Was going to take a photo of my legs after working with a pick and shovel all day in clay. But hey the cabin is great -and look at the tap. Beautiful clear spring water.

Next part of the design will be getting the water hooked up inside and to the shower.

Small Hover Fly

These small hoverflies are not only pollinators their maggots eat aphids, thrips and scale insects.

I always make sure I have food for the adults in early spring (lots of simple open flowers like Mustard and Allysum) and as my brassicas start seeding there are usually aphids for the pupae. If you have got the right balance your aphids will kick in and a week or so later you will start to see Hover Fly maggots. These guys pupate in the ground so I always make sure I ave food sources I can leave in place for a while.

Silverbeet flower

To watch a plant go to seed gives you a whole new appreciation of our living world. How could you pull out something so beautiful?

I love the way the flower heads of silverbeet whorl out. They then provide food for our all important insect gardeners and seed for next years beet -which will germinate in perfect timing. This will be easier if the plant is left to end its cycle in situ and drop the required mulch onto the ground around seeds.

It provides a great service to the soil and its many residents by keeping it shaded during the hot summer.

Although I must admit I do sometimes rogue out weaker plants, collect some seed just in case and tie up plants that cross paths.

Edible weeds

 

What a great day.

I hosted another Permaculture design course field trip organised by the amazing Catherine and Neville Dunton-McLeod of  Plenty Permaculture.

I always learn soo much from everyone and get to show off all of my latest developments and bounce my ideas of a great enthusiastic bunch of people. Ahhh!!!

One inspirational person was Julia Suck from Julia's Edible Weeds. She has given me a whole new lense to look at my property -and food.

Baby worm and egg

I love Tiger Worms.

I have been emptying a worm farm to make potting mix.

Here is a worm egg (the yellow ball) and a baby worm just hatched. There can be up to 8 worms in a single egg. Amazing.

All working for me if I look after them right.

Tramp

A fly fishing tramp. Just one night but enough time for a good getaway.

On the lake

My old stomping ground. I love Lake Rotoma.

A fun paddle.

Bamboo shoots

Lots of Bamboo species are edible. This one (Pseudosasa japonica) is considered a weed in New Zealand.

Bamboo only has a short growing season (similar to asparagus).

When in season we;
-snap off the shoots under 30cm long.
-slice in half with a sharp knife.
-peel off sheathes.
-simmer gently for 20 minutes to get rid of acidity.
Use in stir-fry or melt butter over and eat.
If shoots taste acidic you have not cooked for long enough. Change water and bring to boil for longer.

Finishing tee pee

Last job -to fasten the smoke flaps.
The tee pee is now ready for our 100 year party.

We are both turning 40 and have been together for 20 years.

We have been busy making cheese, salami, fruit juice, beer, ginger beer, and growing pork and salads. Should be a fun weekend.

Forging

Now we get to fire up the forge.

Bamboo

Moso. We have this Bamboo growing but it will not reach this size for a while yet.

For now we barter with the neighbors.

Native Sundew

New Zealand has some beautiful carnivorous plants if you know where to look. This is one of the special ones growing on our farm.

Charcoal

Charcoal to make resin glue, fire the kiln and for my crayon  making experiment.

Charcoal kiln

Keeping the charcoal kiln stoked is a very important job. A lot of the fire is coming from the downdraft of gasses.

Walnut cracker

My favorite Walnut cracker.

Two bits of wood and an old hinge.

Charcoal pencils

Charcoal off gassing in my charcoal tin. I love watching the gasses as they burn.

When the flame goes out I remove the tin from the fire and turn the tin upside down to cool and stop any further combustion.

Spider

Spiders come in all shapes and sizes. This one has made its home on our winter lupin crop.

Sausages

Pig weekend. Time to make sausages, bacon, pate, braun, hams and salami. A few extra hands always make the weekend fun.

Flatworms

These are an important predator of the insect world. Flat worms eat snails slugs earthworms and other small animals and their eggs.

There are native and introduced species in New Zealand. You can provide habitat for them by putting bits of wood or stone on the ground.

Cheese press

Our simple cheese press. It makes beautiful Gouda type rounds from 10 liters of raw milk.

Skink

These Copper Skinks are under most of our firewood and brush piles.  I have been making special piles for them so that when we take our firewood they still have a place to live.

Sheep fodder

Late summer when a lot of the nutrients have dropped out of the grass and the worm population is peaking we feed out from our shelter belts.

Kinuyangi a Japanese fodder willow is perfect. It coppice's, has lower tannin's than other willow and the sheep love it.

After they have had their fill we let it dry and use it for rocket stove fuel, bow making and whittling projects.

Solar

Solar is go!!!

What a mission. Trenches, wiring, circuits...more trenches. Most of what we have done is hidden.

But we have freezers at our house and can use power tools in the shed.

The house is still on its old 12 volt system with two pannels. I think we will keep it 12 volt when we get around to wiring it up.

Orbweb

Spiders weave the most beautiful webs in the garden.
This one happened to have about 10 aphids in it.

Taller open plants provide great web building habitat.

Tomatillo

Tomatellos are a great addition to summer salads and salsas.
They give a great sharp taste and crunch texture.

Gourd flowers

Gourd flowers are white. You see a few pollinators visiting them during the day.

At night they are busy though. This is when they release their scent and their white petals show up well on a  moonlit night.

If you have a red torch go and have a look at the nocturnal pollinators.

Native Bee in hole

Ground nesting native bees like bare soil to make their tunnels.

Some varieties prefer banks and others flat ground. A colony can be very busy and do a great service to your garden and orchard.

Exploring

Out exploring again. Riverstones