Spring 2015 Has Arrived

You know it's coming, it arrives every year, but after a long wet, windy and muddy winter, spring has finally arrived. I'm sure winter seems longer when living on a lifestyle block.  

When we hit the shortest day back around the 20th June, I was looking daily at the sun rise and sun set times, counting each minute of daylight that we gained.  Then a week ago we reached that magic number of 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of night time, and now that daylight savings has started, its practicably summer! Hooray!

I love everything about spring, the warmer weather, longer days, sheep with their lambs, ducks with their ducklings, buds bursting open with their new flowers and the honey bees are back doing their thing! It's just a great time to be back out in the garden.

I was a little worried about not having any bees to pollinate my fruit trees, with the varroa mite having destroyed the wild bee populations. However, fortunately, someone nearby must have a hive, as the bees have arrived.  I've been planning for their arrival, as I have planted a variety of flowering plants, along with a wildflower bee mix too attract them. Now the visiting bees have plenty of food sources to tell their friends about, and they will keep coming back to my garden to pollinate my flowers.

Above the bee's seem to love the Lavender.

Below the wild flower mix.. it's a bit weedy.. but I enjoy the wild look of it.

Below the grapevines have sprung into life.

Below are the nectarine trees and their flowers!

A spectacular display... when the trees are bigger they are going to be amazing, as I have them planted along the driveway!

But... as suitable as spring is for my plants, it's also perfect grass and weed growing weather... I spent about 4 hours mowing lawns today, and that was only about 75% of the lawn.  So it's busy as always down here at Wattle Lane.. but I'm loving it. 

Our Little Wall

While the contractor has been busy preparing the concrete pad for the garage, we've been busy building a small retaining wall near the drive.  I've added some updated pics in the "A New Garage - DIY Style" post.

Our little retaining wall, is more just to tidy it the parking area up a little, and also to control some of the water that comes rushing down the drive and lawn when we get heavy bursts of rain.

By putting in a bigger drain, and the wall, and deeper culvert, we hope to stop the gravel washing away whenever we get a half decent downpour.... and ultimately stop Max trekking 4 paws of mud into the house.

Step 1, Dig...

Step 2, Get your supplies & dig post holes

Step 3, Cement in posts

Step 4, Put up wall, backfill with drainage material, & bring back top soil

Step 5... still working on it... 

But, we are going to cement the culvert along the bottom of the wall down to the drain sump, and we need to put capping on the top of our wall and then finally and get more gravel to level and tidy up parking area. 

The contractor who is putting in the concrete pad for the garage, is also going to concrete the footpath from the drive up to the house.

The above pic shows the slope that we are working with, it is not a huge gradient, but the amount of water that comes down is quiet a lot, so hopefully now a good amount of that is redirected to the pond.

Orchard Update - Goal: 300 Fruit Plants In The Ground This Year... 2015!

For someone who is a little impatient and prefers an instant result, growing plants can be a little testing at times. They take forever to grow, and some plants take 3-5 years before they start fruiting. So this year I've set a goal... get 300 plants in the ground... so they can start growing.

So for the last few weekends, we've been busy planting.. which has involved a lot of digging, moving soil/compost about the place.

So far we have in the ground:

Year 2015

26 Grapes (4 varieties)

80 Raspberry Plants

10 Blackberry Plants

16 Mandarin Trees (2 varieties)

16 Orange Trees (2 varieties)

8 Villa Franca Lemon Tress

80 Cranberry

16 Blueberry (2 varieties)

So that is about 252 plants so far.

So another 50 to go!

Next on my shopping list is Heritage Apples, more Passionfruit if my seeds don't sprout... and another variety of Raspberry... and I would like to add some more Plums.

Since purchasing the property... we had already planted about 40 plants... a mix of Nectarines, Meyer Lemons, Feijoa, Plums, Pear, Apples, Mandarin, Orange.

So we are getting quiet a bit of variety...

Below are some progress pics... my apologies on the quality.

I'm Loving The Passion Fruit

One of the many packets of seeds that I've purchased were for passionfruit. A very yummy fruit but very expensive to buy at the shops... $30KG. So I've been very keen to give them a go.

I managed to grow 4 plants from seeds:

Most Beautiful Flower!

We have only had 2 fruit in their first year... but hopefully if they survive winter we should have plenty next year.

I'm growing them along the pond fence, and I'm very impressed at how well they have done, so I'm going to increase the plant numbers... we have 4 plants on one side of the fence, so I will add another 8 plants in to cover another 2 sides of the fence. The fence is possibly a little on the low side, but I will see how they go before I think about raising it.  

My attempt at raising a second lot of seedlings from seeds has not been that successful so far. Fingers crossed they sprout soon.

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.