Picture Post
I’ve subjected you to a few rather longwinded blog posts recently. So here, by way of a palate cleanser, is a pictorial essay I’m calling ‘The Farmlet in Winter’. Well that was winter. I have a couple more muddy tales… Continue Reading
vegetable garden
Green Ambition
It all started with Deborah and I talking about what fun it would be to have a greenhouse. Imagine being able to grow basil all year round! How about early tomatoes? Frangipani? And, since my cunning plan to use the… Continue Reading
It’s a Riot
There’s a riot of green in the veggie patch just now, plants are falling all over each other as they jostle for space. Even though I expanded the food garden last year, right now it’s more crowded than an Auckland… Continue Reading
Pesto Presto
Ah well, here I am picking the last of the basil. The plants might stagger on for another few weeks yet, but as the nights get cooler their leaves are dropping and turning brown. It’s only a matter of time… Continue Reading
Looking Hairy
Here we are in autumn again. The nights are getting nippier and the ponies are getting fluffier. Summer grows a coat that is plush like a teddy bear. Bonnie just goes all Hairy Maclary on us. In the garden our summer veggie and fruit… Continue Reading
Vampire Harvest
It’s that time. Time to harvest the farmlet vampire deterrent crop. From the original 22 cloves, I harvested 17 bulbs. What happened to the other five is a mystery. Should I be looking for a crucifix wielding hedgehog nicknamed Buffy? Or just a… Continue Reading
Snail Patrol
I like to think I’m a believer in the permaculture ethic of fair share, but really, enough is enough. Since my autumn planting of kale, the humans in this ecosystem have managed to scrounge only two meals from 12 plants. The rest was gobbled by gastropods. Northland snails… Continue Reading
Oma Rapiti!
Look what we found in the study this morning. How it got into the house is a complete mystery (surely not the cat door?), but its presence certainly explains why Maisie was so restless at 3am. I think it’s just… Continue Reading
Bee Happy
Yesterday was so warm and sunny here that it felt like spring. I was out working in the veggie garden, and so were the bees. It’s the first time I’ve seen them this far from the bee tree since the… Continue Reading
Keep Calm and Carry Garlic
Well dear Readers, having talked about our zombie defense prep, we now turn our attention to growing an effective vampire deterrent. You can never be too careful when you’re living out in the wilds of Northland, you know. All this to… Continue Reading
