Two weeks later

Ok, so it's been a while since I wrote an update, but we've been a little slower around here later...  More rest and planning and less working on the garden

Everything has another two weeks growth on it since I last posted, and we're definitely keen on our lasagna gardening now.  Who would have thought that such a lack of prep would give such a great result?  Sam's seedlings have turned into large, happy, healthy plants that need a minimum of watering and the garden itself needs hardly any weeding.  Even my tamarillo has grown a huge amount

 My most awaited treasure of the garden thus far is starting to show signs of fruiting.  It's a pepino (incredible Ruby variety) which I've potted on the front porch.  I've never eaten pepino before, but it looks like it'll be interesting to try.

The nasturtiums around various plants are just starting to get to a decent size, and the blooms are coming.

My seedlings will be split between our garden and this Friday's school fair.  The greenhouse has been working absolute wonders, even though I keep leaving it open overnight and broke one of the zips that close it (already)

The girls have been and started their garden.  We've decided to give them a spot on the porch to put pots and fill them with colourful flowers and some herbs and fruits.  This is the statice and straw flower seeds they planted a few weeks back, now as nice healthy seedlings

 My potatoes are taking off and now need to be packed higher with another tyre and some straw.  It's something I've never tried for potatoes before, but I understand you can get good results with straw in place of soil

The chooks have been clearing out the wandering jew from under our kiwifruit.  It's finally starting to look really good, and I'm working on some beneficial plants to put under the vine once the area is cleared

As for the kiwifruit vine itself, the branches are heavily laden with flowers, and there's a quiet buzz around the vine continuously, from our friendly neighbourhood bees, pollinating furiously

The first raspberries have started forming on one of our canes

One of my most looked-forward-to flowers has finally produced it's flower heads.  This is the heirloom "Cathy" sweet pea I bought seeds for and planted earlier in the year.   It's taken forever, and unfortunately, it looks like her companion "Heathcliff" hasn't come up at all, but hopefully the next lot I planted will come up.  The fragrance is gorgeous and wafts lightly past your nose when you enter our front door.  Next year, here's hoping I can cover the whole railing with them.

Sam has removed three of the four native trees we had in our front garden.  Lovely as they were, 20 metre tall trees that are messy just wouldn't cut it when they were next to the front door.  The sunlight in this garden has improved massively now, and we're working on filling the area with some brassicas and more herbs.  The kanuka and  two cabbage trees have been transplanted to the back yard, with the manuka to follow soon.  Hopefully they'll survive, but we'll replace them if we need to.

Other than that, we've sat down and planned out our next year worth of changes to the house and garden and are getting excited about the holiday time coming up, where we can put some plans into action!

Until next time, take care and enjoy yourselves,

Mama Fern

First wedding anniversary weekend

This weekend was our first wedding anniversary, so the garden got a little less attention than normal.  But, I got spoilt by Sam, so it was all good...  Not only did he take me out for dinner to my favourite restaurant, but he bought me a lovely pounamu (greenstone) necklace in the shape of a koru, which I haven't taken off yet.  I've always wanted a pounamu necklace, but according to tradition, you cannot buy or acquire pounamu for yourself, you must buy it for someone else or have it given to you.  The koru design is a traditional design based on the unfurled leaf of the fern plant, and represents new growth, new beginnings, renewal and hope for the future.  The iwi which my family originates from, Ngai Tahu, have had long links with pounamu and ownership of all pounamu in its natural state in the South Island of New Zealand lies with them.
Pounamu Information

My pounamu koru necklace

Our strawberries have started to produce more fruit just lately, so Sam and I got a couple of berries this weekend.  Best performers so far have been the smaller Camarosa berries, but we've had a couple of Gaviota as well.  Some of our berries have been planted with garlic nearby, which will apparently affect the taste of the fruit for the worse in time, so I will have some transplanting to do before next season.

Another nearly ready to pick Camarosa

Being my usual stubborn self, when I was told that lavender cuttings can be really difficult to do properly, I had to prove everyone wrong...  And I actually succeeded in getting at least 10-15 plants to root properly.  I took cuttings, dipped them in honey and left them in potting mix for a couple of weeks and now, we have some tiny lavender plants, some of which are already flowering.  10 are out in the tyres round our lasagna garden and the rest in pots, while I see how many of the original 40 actually took root.

Lavender cuttings, just starting into flower

We have had an unwelcome visitor this week.  Or should I say visitors...  So far, we've spied two rats going in and out of the chicken coop, so we went out and bought two massive rat traps and have concocted a safe place of sorts to keep them in...  Here's hoping we get them both!  And maybe more, if there are more rats.

Function over form - modern art or rat trap?

The lasagna garden is filling in faster now.  In the tyres, from left to right are: celery, a tamarillo tree, lavender, 3 tyres of kumara, cape gooseberry, bergamot, more lavender, cos lettuce and globe artichokes.  The centre contains our 3 sisters (zucchini, corn and beans), beetroot, ruby chard, broccoli, sunflowers and hollyhocks.

Lasagna garden

We're hoping for some pumpkins this year, and have planted about 7 plants in different spots, then found a few self-seeded ones.  So there might be one or two or ten dinners of pumpkin soup planned...

Some of the pumpkin plants

We're getting a new footpath in front of our house at the moment, and I might have convinced the digger guy to scrape all the grass away in front of the fence at the same time...  Either way, I have big plans for the front berm, starting with dichondra repens (mercury bay weed) for a metre or two each end of the fence, in place of grass, then filling the centre with lupins to prepare the soil for being inundated with flowers...  So watch this space, because I've laid down two seedling trays in preparation for the lupins starting to shelter the new seedlings.  Master 7 has already planted scarlet runner bean seeds at the base of the fence some weeks back, which are already popping their heads up, so there will hopefully be a riot of colour out there any day soon.

My next proposed garden space being nicely prepped by the council

Baby scarlet runners coming through

Sam spent a few hours lugging tyres, mulch and soil around, and has completed and planted out the rest of the front yard tyre wall.  In addition to what was already there, he's added bergamot, lemon grass, rosemary, Southland snow peas, and ruby chard.

The last part of the tyre wall, completed and planted

The greenhouse is proving to be useful, but we've had a few problems with the zips on it, so my next project is to fix them, perhaps using some velcro instead.  In the meantime, it's still filling up with future plantings...  There's a few larger plants to go out to the garden soon, including the feverfew and horseradish, which will be going into tyres on top of concrete, to try and stop them becoming too invasive.

seeds and plants waiting to go out to the garden

and yes, there's more

And that was pretty much our weekend...  Will update you all again soon...


Take care,
Mama Fern

Full steam ahead!

So, another weekend and we're all pretty tuckered out afterward...  Finally finished the coop for Sam 1 and Sam 2 to come back home.  Sam 1 trotted around the yard like she owned the place, which has had Myrtle crowing all afternoon (she's not too happy about the intrusion).  Eventually, the girls should come up with a new pecking order and we can have a little peace again...  But for now, it's crow, crow, crow.

Sam 1 & 2's new home

Sam 1 (aka Sammy)

Sam 2 (aka Fluffyfeet)

 

Myrtle complaining about her new enclosure mates

 Along with the new girls in the enclosure, Sam has put in a couple of trees.  We now have another Monty's Surprise apple on the section, and an Olive tree.  Pol wasn't much help while he was digging the hole for the tree, but eventually, it's all in place, along with some nasturtium at the bottom (good companion plant)

Monty's Surprise apple tree

Olive tree

 

Sam driving in stake for the olive tree surroun

Sam and masters 5 & 9 planted out some of the "3 sisters" in our front yard, and the lasagna garden.  This is where you plant corn, beans and zucchini or squash together.  The zucchini covers the soil and keeps away pests, the corn grows up high so the beans can grow up them, and when the beans die, they return nitrogen to the soil which the corn has taken.

They also relocated my poor sick gardenia and orange jasmine...  I'm hoping they'll survive the transplant, but they were dying anyway

3 sisters

My gardenias and orange jasmine.  To the right, in the 4 high stack of tires is evening primrose and wildflowers

 And as for the guinea pigs, no I haven't forgotten them...  Today, I finally made their hutch open at the top as well, so that I can get them out...  And just for my mum, I took a photo of Ed as well

The newly modified hutch

Ed the guinea pig

And...  Last but not least, we bought a greenhouse.  So finally, all those sad little seedlings have a new home...  Although, we're still using the barbecue for a shelf at the moment

The greenhouse

Gardening galore

Ok, so the pics probably look like our garden is a bit of a shambles, but I promise, there’s method to the madness!  So far, in the front yard, we’ve planted lemon, lime and guava trees, 2 feijoas, 3 passionfruit vines, a whole bunch of herbs and flowers and we’re working on the rest (Sam has been raising seedlings like mad)

As for the back yard, we’ve planted another guava, two raspberry canes and a few more flower seeds...  We also created a lasagna garden (layers of grass clippings and straw) which we're hoping to have a bit of luck with growing stuff in

The herb and flower garden

Miss 10's apple tree she bought herself

The lasagna garden

seedlings, seedlings, seedlings

The first new arrivals

Well, I was getting super clucky and just a little bit lonely being at home all day, so rather than adding to our human brood, we built an enclosure, chicken coop and guinea pig hutch, and we now have a bunch of extra mouths to feed.  Myrtle, Attilla the Hen and Aunty Pol (try) are our new brown shavers, who have so far given us 9 eggs.  They’re still just young and we’ve already had a few fun things to learn along the way...  Then we have our boys, Andre (entree), Lance (lunch) and Ed (as in “I ‘ed it”).  Yes, Sam wanted to give the guinea pigs food names, so I compromised.  So every time I walk outside now, I get a plaintive mweep mweep mweep from three little boys wanting more grass...  And the kids are having tonnes of fun holding, feeding and caring for them.  I still need to create a movable hutch so that the boys can help turn over the soil, but good things take time

We are also finally retrieving our long-forgotten chooks from next door at some point, so Sam1 and Sam2 will be home as soon as I have finished building their "broody girl coop"

Andre - the first of our guinea pigs

Chicken coop and enclosure

Our new guinea pig home

Aunt Pol(try) and Attilla

Myrtle

Lance