Its been a Record breaking  summer.. Longest, hottest, driest..and so on .... Towards the end a "drought' was declared and then the total water bans... The garden wilted but survived and not long after the rains came....And now its wet wet wet ......

Pictures using my very very old Iphone so a little blurry and poor quality ..... :O/




The tomatoes despite being continually having their roots dug around and exposed by a hungry blackbird family that dug through mulch and soil for the wriggly worms  produced a bumper crop....All heritage tomatoes ...Some, have been  Our gardens record breakers at 683 grams being the largest and a whole heap (small mountain) tomatoes over the 500gram weight...



The yellow one suffered the drought effects.....

Of course a small mountain of Tomatoes means we have had some work to do ... McD made Chutneys of varying types..She's done very well and the Jars we've shared have been much praised.....


Of Course that didn't make a particularly big dent in the mountain ...So we've been stewing them and making sauces and Ratatouille and the like for freezing.... McD took bags of them into her work and they were gone as soon as they arrived along with yellow courgettes and rapicante.... Homegrown heirlooms just taste better...Just look a little ugly at times :O)

This year we grew a decent crop of Egg Plants ....Wish I'd looked after them a bit more now ....  

   
 








The Spagetti melon was a self sown plant from the compost ...They are such rampant growers and even now nearing May (November northern hemisphere) its growing strong and not a hint of mildew on it .........













       
 






 Picked after the rains - It sucked up water so quickly its skin ripped....







Ugly but tasty :O)





Wellington Airport

Broken Back Gardening

Hope you have all had a good Christmas holiday time no matter what your beliefs :O) and Best wishes for 2013 or 2012 V2.0 if you are a bit suspicious ... personally 13 has been a lucky number for me so I'm hoping 2013 will be good to us.. 2012 was a crappy year mostly and I've no wish for a repeat ....




McD has just handed me a plate of cream scones so lifes already improved immeasurably :O)




We've just come from the garden exhausted tired .... Too warm and after a few days of effort its time for an afternoon to our selves .....  The garden has been a mess.. yards, vegie garden, flower gardens all weed covered and embarrassing .... thats not to say our edible things haven't grown and we have had some good successes along the way...




Our Planned Xmas day dinner was to be a full roast as we had M-in-L with us as well as McD's daughter S... All good and with quail, rabbit, pheasant, duck etc bought the plan was for the big meal and then anything left over game pies were to be made for Boxing day ... trouble was we hit a heat wave right on Xmas day ! reached low 30s C ...Such a shock to the system and poor McD stuck in a hot kitchen .... The meal was awesome with homegrown potatoes, broad beans, cabbage to accompany the meats... Also McD had made an old fashioned Xmas pudding to the request of her mum... !!!! Now I have to say it was a complete surprise as to how good it was ... For no other reason than it was a steamed Xmas pud which brought back mixed feeling from all of us ...>We used a recipe from on of my English cookery books  and it was steamed for 6 odd hours then another 3 prior to eating .... But when we had it it was perfect ...... I've put an order in for the middle of the next  kiwi winter :O)

It was that good :O)

We finally decided to get some Chickens !! Well bantams .. and rescued a bantam hen and a chick a friend of Jills that was no longer wanted. They are now called Henrietta and Penelope (for Henny Penny). We then went and picked up a black(blue) Pekin bantam hen, now called Bluey. The chick didn’t stop growing though and is near to a full sized chicken … and then started crowing really badly. We are not allowed cockerels where we live (council regulations) and so it was becoming a bit of a problem… With the crowing becoming more frequent it was decided Penny would have to face the chop !!! But that very weekend Jill discovered a green shelled egg in the nest box and Penny was spared… The crowing stopped as well so all was good… The three of them laid daily and much money was spent on them in terms of two chicken huts with runs and another run as an extension as we’ve given them more and more room… The eggs we have had from them while nice are some of the most expensive in the country :O)  Jills loved having them though and its been great seeing her look after them …They squat down in readiness for Jill to pick them up ! Which she does and then brings them to the house for a bit of bread or when I’m gardening for some worms …

Anyway more recently all three went broody ….And so back to some strange (eccentric)  chicken people in the area for eggs.. Two different colours of Pekin bantams and some Orpingtons.. Some even hatched Xmas day which was nice..

Jo and Sallee (wet one)


Henny and Penny have a single brood of chicks that seem happy to be kept warm by either mum.. Bluey, we separated as the other two never really accepted her ..She has a couple of chicks who are well behaved and always do as she tells them ..the other 8 are an undisciplined rabble running around like miscreant kids on sugar highs :O)  

Jo and Sallee (in front)









Bertie





Bertie front and Agnes 




Scully the grey one ...The small one is named Fry..Poor fry got trodden on and now has a gammy leg ..... 










Plans are now already afoot to convert and extend an old dog run that was here when we moved in and had never been used. We’re also talking with people in case we do have to move …  fun fun fun….

We had a great garlic harvest this year again with some very large bulbs ... However the one back right is elephant garlic which we've tried for the first time this year ... 
  




Even the self sown tomatoes from the home compost are growing like champions..Hope they friut like champs as well ...... 






Last sunset of 2012 

An Autumn Garden Design project

More woes in the Vegetable garden - More changeable weather .. .Stinking hot for a few days then wet and humid for a few days .. .then it'll probably be cold and wet ........ Tomatoes now under attack from moulds and mildews ..... Not much more I can do to protect them .... 





This is the next large project..... Turning this into a garden of interest ... It only gets some morning sun ... So thinking of an interesting green garden with the only flowers being whites or subdued reds ....and lots of NZ  natives .



   



As you can see it's in a bit of a mess - the last part of the garden we haven't touched ...Previous owners had dog kennels here as well as the front of the garden ... 











I think it could look quite good with little effort... There is quite a slope to it though ... I would like to get a level area at the back for a small table and chairs ...It's a nice cool spot in the summer ......















Just need the time, Money and inclination :O)

A year in My garden September (3)A year in My garden September (3)

 

 

I just realised the clocks go forward tonight... So now it's after 2am and I've started this ......Better not ramble on too much then :O) 



I've had Job interviews last week  !!!! ....

 

 

 

So here's the rub ...Within the same 1/2 hr I was offered a job and turned down for another job ....Turned down for being too senior and too experienced for the role..they Thought I wouldn't enjoy the operational focus of the role (??)

 

So I've a certain company who have offered me something - The role isn't as 'chunky' or as senior as I'm used too... but looks an interesting role and probably has good potential (seeing the state they are currently in)....Not only same company but same department as where McD works !! (expected that to go against my being hired...) The money really isn't great which bothers me ........The job market here even in IT isn't boyant..I have another possible opportunity coming up but no guarentees of getting it...Then the possibility of nothing else Or something else more suitable ...who knows when though ...... what to do - what to do ...

 

 

 

Work on  the raised borders continues albeit slowly. Spring is a time when every day you witness the miracle of life....Seeds little more than dust are bursting out with new life. And sprouting at an incredibly rapid rate....I've Planted far too many seeds of some …whoops … Interesting how other seeds  take that much longer to sprout…. But one thing you have to have in this gardening game is patience …

 

 

I’ve also potatoes and Maori purple potatoes and yams to plant out – maybe … I’m starting to run out of space – even for dustbins etc … we’ll see… Meanwhile we have harvested some of the broccolini we planted over winter which was very nice. We also have a couple of squares of bright-lights beet and some squares of kale that provide a regular and abundant supply of green vegetables …

 

 



Don't mention the fence - it's on the list "o) 

 

We never plant things at the right time – always something that gets in the way …Broad beans that we bought from the garden centre have grown, but not grown particularly tall and judging by the seed sown ones next to them are probably quite spindly as well …. But they are flowering profusely  …. We bought some lavender bushes in pots and flowering. We’ve put those around the broad beans in the hope to bring in the bees … The early flowers haven’t set …. True to form the bumble bees are working the lavender but I’ve not seen them on the broad bean flowers yet ….

 

 

 

I’ve also had to start on the flower borders …Too overgrown and full of weed and grass (above picture)… I’ve pruned the silver ferns as well that are at the end of the border …as well as the small almost bracken like ferns that are in front of them… they are already shooting up new fronds and looking good …..



Much to McDs horror I cut down some 'scrub' bush at the back edge of the border. It’s changed the look completely as you can now see down into the forest that surrounds the garden.

 

 



The 'after' picture but see how there is now a pleasing depth to what is a very narrow border - comments please :O) do you agree or is the 1st picture preferable?? 

 I think she is happy with the result though. 

















From the edge of the garden there is a 6-12 foot drop down onto the lower hillside. Our patch of the forest continues then down to a small trickle of a stream. The whole area is a mix of the giant and very prehistoric looking Black Tree Fern and our native beech trees … It’s nice to be able to see into the forest and indeed further across to the next hill that starts up from the stream ……..





These fronds are huge ...So impressive



One year that will be my project – to renew the paths through there and extend them properly down to the stream …If we stay here … Some debate on that

Composting and Compost Bins ..And Sparrows !

I've been building another compost bin ... Bin #1 was filled up to the top and left a while to compost down ...Bin #2 now built and put in place, is for turning bin # 1 into ... This ensures and even composting as the top of Bin#1 is now at the bottom of bin#2 ... It also aerates the compost pile ensuring a good bacterial attack :O)



We built both compost bins using a interlocking thingy-majig... You buy them as per the picture and nail them to the ends of the wood ... Very versatile as you can then build different sizies and shapes for all sorts of uses....And you can also deconstruct the bins as you empty them rather than bending into the bin to get spadefulls at the bottom.....







The bins are a little over a metre cubed in size which seems a good size to have in a small garden .... Certainly by we got to move the bin#1 contents it had dropped about a quarter down into the bin and was already looking like good compost should ...





I'm contemplating building a compost bin#3 as a staging bin for the final result compost.. Come September onwards, through spring and summer, the compost making rate can and will be pretty fast. .





excuse the mess in the background...One of my projects while unemployed



I'm adding much more than the usual food scraps. While perfect composting material, it would take a 'yaks age' to fill a bin up ..So we're buying bags of pea straw, and untreated sawdust and plenty of manure from the local 'lifestylers' plots..And, for this year only as I'm only doing the paths, I'm raking up mainly NZ native beech leaves from the piece of bush we own.. Only from the paths as I have no wish to interfere with the forest structure beyond that...I've not done this for about 5 years, or never further into the forest so quite a bit there to use. I have to say that with the smallness of the leaves (about a 10cent piece in size) they are the perfect composting leaf mould.....



So a rich compost to add to the veggie plots and around the garden really ... I'll also get a kit to test for acidity and add lime if necessary as compost tends to be very acid.



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



We've not seen many sparrows around the house in recent years ..About 10 years ago they suffered a viral attack that was named by the press as 'bird aids' ..Anyway this year they are back in force .. It's been a good couple of years for them ...Good for all birds in the area actually as they did a poison drop on the forests and killed off the possums ...



We now have an abundence of native and introduced birdlife around the garden. A few I've never seen before and had to go to the reference books for identification .... I know many people are against the poison they use (1080) but the results really are dramatic and beneficial in the long run .....







McD started to feed the sparrows much to Pepsi Dogs' annoyance ... Bread drops are being taken away by her and dug into the garden borders ... A good composting dog is Pepsi :O) But not so good if you come across a rotting lump of it when gardening ....







Talking of which, McD and I were rescuing a tray of iceland poppy seedlings that had been knocked over in the yard (amongst the other trays and rubbish ).. Me in bare hands rummaging through the soil to get the partially burried pants .... I grabbed a pile of what I thought was soil !!! It was a dead and bloated RAT !!!!!



"EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK" I commented in a very low and manly voice ...



Not ....



Still after about 8hrs of hand washing in dettol and other cleansing substances I think I'm safe to use the old left hand again ....



errrr - maybe just another wash to get the very thought of it away again .....





:O)_

Oooh The Names I've Called Them !!!!!!

I found out Monday morning that the IT review at my place of work has made my position, along with all the senior IT managers positions, 'disestablished' ..(My boss as well). I've been made redundent ...or will be on the 8th June ..







I cannot believe the stupidity of it ...The new proposed structure is a complete backward step. But that's what you get when you take the wrong political side in these things ... The internal fightings and squabling has gone on for some 3+ years ....







I wanted out anyway ... But of course would have rather done it on my terms .... Still with the redundency and a months paid notice, which I will tell them I want paying out and leave immediately, we're OK for a few months .... even til the end of the year ..







So Gardening leave for me :O) Ideally I would like a month or two off from work completely ...In 31 years of working, the most time I've taken is about 5 weeks .... So it's probably a good opportunity to take time out ... In the middle of damned winter.... sheesh!







Having said that I'll grab any job offered when it's offered ...In this economic environment I can't afford not to ....







And on that, I've been at a conference Tue/Wed and have started to tell people I know whats happening .. One senior manager from a vendor made a number of phone calls on my behalf within two hours of me telling him - with a couple of leads of possibilities over the next couple of months ........







Humbling really that people are so willing to help...







McD as well has come up with a couple of contacts that might be fruitful ...









So - who knows where this will lead ..:O)