The Girls Are Getting Their Groove On!

It has taken some time... but finally all 3 chickens are now laying!  

Look... 5 eggs in 2 days! 

Obviously one of the girls has been dropping the ball a little, but hey... I'm happy!

I must say the Golden Laced Wyandotte Chickens are very good layers once they get going. Big Momma is a daily layer, only missed a couple days since she started laying. Hopefully her good work ethic has rubbed off onto the two chicks!

Goodness Gracious Grapes...

The "Forbidden Fruits" or the "Fruits of the Gods", two very different descriptions for the delicious grape. Whatever the case, we've just planted 26 grapevines. So does that make us Sinners or Gods... or Sinful Gods? haha.

I think the "Forbidden Fruit's" might have been the variety of grapes that wine is made from, so I think we are ok, as we've planted Table Grape varieties, although, I'm sure if you tried you could make wine no matter what type of grape it is.

Anyway I digress, I was trying to think of an interesting way to start this entry. Long and short of it... we've planted 26 Grapes! It looks amazing! I'm Very Happy. A good start to our orchard.

After some research we decided on the following varieties:

> Candice Grape - A red seedless grape. (x6)

> Himrod - A green seedless grape. (x6)

> Buffalo - A blackish red grape I guess purple but with green flesh. (x6)

> New York Muscat - Similar to the Buffalo but the best tasting grape! (x8)

So it has been a busy couple of weekends...

Firstly we erected the trellis posts creating 4 rows, facing north. Posts are 4 metres apart and rows 2.2 metres apart, with anchor posts on the end. The setup costs, were a little more than I expected.. timber is so pricey!

Once the posts were all in, we marked where the plants were to be planted, and then scrapped off about 5cm of the top soil/grass, removing about 50cm by 50cm squares. We were trying not to take too much top soil off, but remove all the grass. The reason for this was to create less competition for the young vines.  

We then turned over the ground adding to that a wheel barrow of compost and new topsoil and digging that in well creating the little mounds ready to plant in.

Once the soil was prepared, then it was just a matter of stringing the centre wire, and making sure that was tight with wire strainers and then planting the grapes. Easy Peasy Grapes Are Squeezy!

We are yet to attach a T bar on the top of the fence trellis, which we will run two wires down, to create a greater leaf canopy and hopefully creating more fruit.  I'll update this entry once I've done that, hopefully this weekend if the weather is favourable.

But for now... Grow Babies Grow!!

We really don't know what we are doing, so any tips, advice is always appreciated.

Starting Out On Our Orchard

There are many excellent reasons in deciding to move into the country, but one of those was having the space and land to have our very own Orchard supplying our pantry, filling our bellies with our very own fruiting plants. 

There is nothing better than eating fruit straight off the plant. This takes me back to my teenage years working with Nana & Poppa in Orchards during my summer vacations. Many pleasant memories.

We really want to grow and produce more of our own food, and knowing what goes into that, living that more natural lifestyle and getting back to the basics.. it surely has to be a better way.

We've planted a few fruit trees to start with, to see how they went, but we want to step that up a gear in 2015 as it takes time for things to grow. So this Autumn/Winter/Spring we want to get in as many plants as we can into the ground to get them underway.

As we are working essentially with a blank canvas, I've again been searching the internet for ideas, but the best source of information to date, was having a local landscaper come around to look at the property to discuss various ideas with and to find out what grows well up here in Kaipara. Thank you Sharon I love your service :)

One great tip, was to find out how deep the top soil is. Where I had been planning to plant a variety of larger trees had only 30 cm of top soil before hitting limestone.  So with the post hole borer machine, I set off drilling test holes around the paddock looking for deeper top soil... which I found as I moved down the paddock.

A problem that needed to be seen too before we start planting was creating some drainage. We noticed last year during winter, with a lot of rain, the paddock becomes rather wet, and I think due to the limestone the water doesn't seem to drain through that.

So I contacted Mangawhai hire, who delivered a digger to home for a small fee, and then the chap from Mangawhai hire gave me a half hour lesson on how to operate the digger. After a bit of practice I got the hang of it, and spent a day digging some drains and what a lot of fun that was! I must say, I had excellent service from Mangawhai hire, I was very pleased, and highly recommend them.

I believe the digger was a 2.8 tonne digger.

So the main drain, runs along the fence line, and has a downward run to the other end of the paddock which enters a natural water course down the hill. 

You can see I got a little too close to the fence at times, but it should be ok, I hope. The drain is about 40cm below the the top paddock on the left side of the fence, which where I plan to start planting.

To be honest I wasn't too sure what I was doing, but in my head I was thinking if the water in water sodden soil has an exit, which would have to be at a lower point, then the excess water trapped in soil should hopefully drain out and away freely by having an open drain/culvert.

But I will see how it works this winter, I might have to get the digger back.

A New Garage - DIY Style

Our little 3m x 3m garden shed is bursting at the seams, you have to climb over the ride on mower to get to the fire wood, climb over the bags of compost & quick set cement to get to the hand tools... its a bit of a nightmare situation and not to mention perhaps an ACC claim waiting to happen.

So... it's time to build a garage... a few years earlier than what I had planned.

We've spent hours searching the internet for ideas, obtained a few quotes for complete builds which were coming in around $25K to $30K for a simple double garage.... so in the end we've decided to go down the DIY road again.

Essentially it is just 4 walls, a door and a roof... how hard can that be...? 

We've decided that we will build the biggest double garage that $15K can buy. Granted $15K doesn't buy much to be honest, and we will be stretching that, which is why we decided to give the DIY a go.  

Hopefully it doesn't turn into one of those DIY building nightmares you see on TV, but in reality it should be easy, you get a contractor in to do the foundation work, and then you just put it together like kitset furniture. Easy!

After researching a few kitset options, we decided that Versatile Garages was the best way to go. For $10K we were able to secure a 6m x 8m double garage but we changed the cladding, as we wanted to be able to paint the garage the same colour as the house... so it all matches. Versatile has been easy to deal with, quick on email replies etc and very good to date on the many questions I've sent their way.

So a quick run down on the figures:

Kitset:  $10,000

Paint:   $200 - (we have paint left over from the house, so will be minimal)

Concrete Foundation: $5000-$6000 (contractors estimate)

Council Fees: $1300

Water Tank & Fittings $1000

On paying the deposit to Versatile, you are sent full building plans which you send to the council, with the building consent application, and they have sent out a 45 page instruction manual on how to build the garage. Looks all very simple, but I intend to study that in great depth over the next few weeks. 

It might seem daunting, but submitting the building consent application on Kaipara Council's website was much easier than I thought.  In fact I thought I had missed something as it was so easy, and sent a message saying that to the council.  The very next day I received a call from the Council, just confirming that I had done everything correctly. Pheww! So not just a 20 business day wait to get the consent.

Once the consent is received, I will get the contractors in to start the foundations, and Versatile will start building the kitset.  Once the kitset is completed, I pay the balance payment to Versatile and then it is trucked out from their factory. Easy Peasy! 

Below is what we are planning to build... 

Update.... the contractor has been busy preparing the concrete pad:

Site Preparation

Ready For Council Pre Concrete Pour Inspection

Due to the slope, we've put in another small retaining wall on the lower side of the garage.  We will put in some good stop soil and make a garden bed out of it, which will be handy, and we will not have to bend over to weed this garden bed. Bonus!

I will add posts once we start building... should be interesting. :)

Don't Follow A Path, Make Your Own

We've had a bit of a dilemma as to how are we going to get the fire wood from the pine trees at the bottom of the hill, up to the house at the top of the hill. 

Summer 2013/14 we carried some logs up the hill and it just about killed me and I'm not wanting to do that every year, especially as I'm getting older and not younger.

The distance from the bottom of the hill to the top isn't great, but the hill is just steep enough to make it too difficult for any vehicle to safely drive down, and then get back up with a load of fire wood.

So, with a spade in one hand, plenty of stamina, perhaps a little blinded enthusiasm, I started cutting a trail into the side of the hill. Just wide enough for the ride on lawn mower or a quad bike with a trailer to get up an down. 

I started half way up the hill, where it was the steepest. In the background of the above photo, you can see some of the firewood stacks waiting to be moved up the hill.

Above, working my way up... then below, working my way back down...

Even the cows have enjoyed using the track up the hill...

So I've made the track about 1m wide, and I've allowed for a little culvert on the inside of the track to collect any water that comes down the hill, hopefully keeping the track reasonably dry. I just need to purchase a couple drain pipes that will cross under the track to drain away the excess water.

It still needs some finishing touches, as I now need to purchase some gravel to go on the top of the track to provide some grip.

Firstly we're going to try the ride on lawnmower, to see if it can get up and down the track. Getting down, I don't expect any issues, I'm just not sure if it will have the power to get back up the hill with a load. If it can get up easily enough, then we will buy a little ride on lawn mower trailer and use that to get the firewood up the hill.  If that doesn't work, then we will get a quad bike & trailer.

I will post some update pictures, when we have them... of the gravel laid, and of the first drive down & back up.

Gotta Love The Long Weekends...

Three day long weekends are a blessing when living on a lifestyle block. There is always so much to do, and when a 3 day weekend does come around, such as the recent Auckland Anniversary, it gives you another day to tinker about the place, or as we choose this recent long weekend, 2 days working around the block, and then the final day was allocated for rest and relaxation with a beach walk & picnic.

Saturday was allocated to clearing out the garden shed. I could barely get in there anymore, tripping over things as I tried to get the chicken feed out every day. However my hoarding gene kicked in, and very little was thrown away in the end. But after a couple hours I could see some of the floor after a bit of reorganisation. 

While clearing out the shed, I did find a new overhead type kitchen cabinet that we didn't use on one of our previous renovations. A perfect find, as that is now firmly attached to the wall above the laundry tub to store the detergents and cleaners. I still have quiet a few boxes to go through and to sort out... but you can't rush these things.

Sunday was dedicated to pruning some of the pine tree's, cutting off dead branches... well those branches that I could safely reach from top of the ladder, which was about up to 4 metres up. There were also a lot of trees that have had their tops snapped off during past storms, and as a result the trees had died. So I've been cutting down some of those trees with my little chainsaw.  Not to boast, but I'm getting rather good at... in most case the trees are falling in the right direction! We are getting rid of the dead trees first, and using them for firewood. So like last year, we created some new stacks of 1-2 metre lengths of firewood, waiting to be carried up the hill. Volunteers are most welcome to apply! 

Ultimately, we want to thin out the pine forest, and then plant some native trees in and amongst the pines, but this will take time, there are a lot of pines to thin out. But in the middle of the pine forest over the creek there is a clearing... would be nice place to have a picnic area or something along those lines.  Oh... and there are little fish in the creek too! I'm not sure what they are, but good to see.

Monday... was our day of rest! We planned a trip to Mangawhai Heads, we had heard about the Clifftop Walkway and thought it would be a nice day trip out at the beach. The night before we had prepared the bread maker so we would have some fresh bread in the morning to make some sandwiches to take for a picnic lunch. I absolutely love our Panasonic Bread Maker! Thank you Gary! The best present ever, it is a fantastic little machine! With our fresh bread we made bacon & egg sandwiches with eggs from our chickens. I also added a little pickle and cucumber from the garden. Very Yummy! 

What a fantastic day for a walk along the beach! The sun was shinning,clear blue sky with white puffy clouds, it was a beautifully warm day, even ocean was warm, just a stunning day, you couldn't have asked for a better day. 

The Mangawhai Clifftop Walk starts from the Mangawhai Heads carpark and you walk north along the beach.  To do the complete walk, you do need to go when the tide is low. I didn't realise this so and the tide was high when we went, so we did half of the walk, the cliff top half, which was amazing, the views are amazing. The return trip will be about 3 hours.

TIP: While walking along the beach, take your shoes off and get your feet a little wet as the waves come rushing up the beach! Just Magic! I'm sure my toes were squealing in delight with each wave!

This walkway has to be one of the best walks we've done to date and we will be going back when the tide is low so we can do the complete walk.

Thank goodness, another 3 day long weekend is just around the corner, Waitangi Day falls on a Friday this year, so come early February we have another 3 day weekend, we might just find ourselves back there if the weather and tides are right.

"Summer Loving..."

"... Had Me A Blast... Summer Loving Happened So Fast"

Mangawhai on a beautiful summers day!

I can't believe how quickly summer is passing me by. Christmas is over, New Year is past...but I guess as they say... time flies when you are having fun.

I've had to work at the office over the summer holidays, but on the days off,  I've spent most of my time outside in the garden, enjoying the exercise and the sun.

A lot of my time has been weeding and cutting the grass, as it has been growing so quickly and smothering the natives I had planted. I've also been spending some time, trying to make the pond look better with new plantings... mulching... etc. 

The vegetable garden has had mixed success... I was too late in planting due to moving house and starting the new job... and then the rabbits had a good munch of everything when I did get the plants in, and now the birds are eating my tomatoes before I even get to them.

However... I've had some good success in potatoes and the spring onions are growing really well. Which.. make an excellent baked potato with a little cheese.

     

from the garden to the table...

  

OK perhaps a little undersized... but still very yummy!

Bake your largest potatoes (prick with fork) for about 1 hour in the oven at 180degrees, until inside is soft but outside is crispy... open the top and scoop out the potato, mash that with a little butter, thinly sliced spring onion, add a little cheese, salt & pepper, scoop it back into the potato, adding a little cheese on the top and bake for another 15 or so minutes until golden... then enjoy!  I'm told you can add bacon... but well I was doing the vegetarian thing as I didn't have any bacon.

It's also that time of year when the neighbour organises a contractor to come in to make hay while the sun shines, it's actually exciting to watch, as the process takes about a week. Day 1, tractor comes in to cut the grass, day 3 another tractor comes in to "fluff" up the grass to help it dry out. day 5 another tractor comes to "fluff" the grass into tidy lines so the tractor with the bailing machine makes the hay bales.

So the paddock is now nicely cut, and I'm hoping that will be the end the hay fever season for me. I'm discovering grass is a a bit of an enemy... even just when walking though the long grass in shorts and jandals, my legs will come out in a small red rash.

That aside... I'm just absolutely loving Summer! 2014/2015 has been superb!

2015 is the year we really need to seriously decide what we want to do with the land, something to make some dollars for the block to pay it's way. 10 acres of grass... any ideas?

Big Momma's First Egg!

I'm very pleased to announce Big Momma has laid her very first egg this morning! 

It's So Exciting... Pop Open The Bubbly I Reckon! You Go Girl! HAHA.

Every morning I have the same routine, bright and early I head out to feed the chickens, top up their water and move their cage so they have some fresh grass to scratch through, throughout the day. I do the same routine in the evening too.

Today I was out to greet the chickens just before 7am, the girls are always waiting for me in the morning, they must get up at the crack of dawn. 

As it was such a beautiful sunny summers morning I was up early today.  So I had some time to have a little chat to the girls while I prepared their breakfast.  Today however I noticed Big Momma was up in the house and not outside to greet me. 

Big Momma is the oldest of the 3 chickens, bigger than the other two, and a little bossy towards them, but she has the best feather colours, and I think she knows it... so I have given her the title of Big Momma, as she's bit of a Diva.

Big Momma did come down to say hello, but went back up shortly after I had finished preparing breakfast for them.

I had a quick peek in the house and Big Momma was sitting on her perch, so I thought perhaps, today is they day that she might lay her first egg.  

For the last two months the chickens have just been eating.. pooping... eating...pooping... and pulling the straw out of the house, which I think is a little game they like to play.

However today things felt a little different from the standard morning routine, so I put some new fresh straw in the nesting box and let her be.

Fortunately Thursdays I have the day off work... so I popped back down to the chickens several times, eagerly awaiting our first egg. I was like a kid. Big Momma had been busy making her nest in the straw, and by 10 am... we had our first egg! So Awesome!! I'm so proud of her.

Now... I just need to work out what I am going to cook with one... rather small egg?

You're Not A Lifestyle Blocker Unless You Have Chickens!

We Have Chickens! 

Three Beautiful Gold Lace Wyandotte Pullets!

I choose the Gold Lace Wyandotte not just based on how pretty they are, a little thought went into my decision.  Online articles mentioned that they are a good hardy breed, good natured hens which can lay up to 200 eggs per year per hen and people also commented that they are a good chicken for a first timers, perfect for the back yard. The pretty feathers are just a bonus!

But firstly... we needed a new home for our brood of hens. I think that is what you call it when you have a group of hens? I'm sure the 3 young ladies just qualifies for that.

Using left over timber from the various projects, fence, house and the garden shed we've built a nice little dwelling for our hens.  

Also I fitted some wheels so we can move the cage about to new patches of grass. The wheels are from an old lawnmower which I had saved thinking they might useful someday. So I didn't need to purchase too much in the way of materials which is good, as these 3 hens where not cheap.

I purchased the hens from a couple different breeders, and I won't say what I paid for them (to avoid getting into trouble)... but let's just say there is great demand for the Gold Lace Wyandotte.  Here's hoping they start to lay some Golden Eggs to recover my investment, although I think I need a goose for that.

I digress... the chook house pictures are below, basically I just worked from ground up, with no real set plans.

My only concern is getting the hens to walk up the steps into the house, some training might be required for that. Any tips would be much appreciated.

One Happy Hen... I hope she is happy... there are two more little ones, I will upload some pictures when I have them, at the moment I'm just letting them to get to know each other, so have them in separate cages before putting them together. 

Ohh... and it seems the Turkey's have been busy too... showing off 5 little ones this spring.

 

 

Gate

For the last couple weekends we have been replacing the old fence at the top of the driveway. Taking out the old fence... which wasn't two difficult as there wasn't much holding it together, and replacing it with our two rail/post fence, and finally today, I've attached the gate. Job completed!

Before:

 After:

How far we have come over the last year... it gave me a great feeling of satisfaction attaching the gate, which I must say is rather cool!

Even Max is adjusting to the country life... 

Mr Cow meet Max... Max meet Mr Cow