Struan Farm

Visitors

The three little girls visiting Struan Farm this past week were seriously cute. They won over the waitress at the local Piopio Cosmopolitan Club at dinner one night. She offered up two pet lambs to babysit and bottle feed. The next day Katrina arrived with lambs, bottles, dried milk powder and instructions.  (John and I decided it was best if we watched this arrangement from afar, only intervening if required or requested.)

Chubbchubb wore a collar with little bells. He looks so much like Woolly Joe that I inquired about his parentage:

Sparkle-Katrina-Flower was only three days old, so was much smaller and quite delicate. (Three little girls=no consensus=tripartite name.)

 

It seems a good time was had by all. Nothing like pet lambs to make for a memorable visit to Struan Farm.

 

 

Infrastructure Happening

It was all on this past week at Struan Farm. Our Papakura neighbor Rene came down with his wife Rachel, three little daughters, and a digger.  Rene worked while the rest of his entourage played, pet lambs were involved (see next post).

He was able to grade and metal the Homestead driveway from the main entrance gate out to the back gate, connecting with the Cottage driveway. Woo, woo!

Mad Hatters in Piopio

Continuing efforts to promote Piopio. We now have official caps:

 

I know a few people who will be getting these for Christmas!

Spring By Arrangement

This past weekend's flower arrangement from the garden at Struan Farm is below, including our first calla lily of the season and a somewhat hidden but lovely pale yellow tulip:

What a Difference a Week Makes

It's amazing to see the changes in the garden at Struan Farm from week to week, especially this time of the year.

The first calla lily has appeared:

My favorite rhodo, Lemon Lodge, has started to flower:

 
The hostas have started to reappear:

(Reminds me I need to pick up some animal friendly snail bait?)

The native clematis is in full bloom atop one of our dogwood trees:

And the bees are abuzz:

It's all pretty exciting!

 

UFOs Return to the Scene

We've been so busy at Struan Farm with our landscaping projects lately that my knitting has fallen by the wayside. John and I get so tired from our respective physical work that when we come in it's pretty much shower, eat, bed. (Okay, truth be told there has been a bit of world cup rugby on television as well, while eating dinner.)

But I can only not knit for so long. I start getting twitchy. And I want to finish (or at least come to terms with) my two remaining UFOs before I start a new project. UFO number one is the Sublime Grace Kelly Cardi, number two is Carrick's hand dyed possum merino socks. I'm back at Grace Kelly now:

Back and sides are finished. I looked at what I'd done with the sleeves and decided I'd screwed up, so have ripped out what I had knitted previously and am starting those over. Then it's just the button bands and collars left to do. I love the yarn and the color, so really want to get this finished.

Carrick's socks are a different story:

He is living in the tropics for two years so I've bought myself some time even if it's embarrassing that these are overdue by two Christmases. But the problem is larger than that: I've decided I hate the color, and that's why I shudder when thinking about picking this project up again. The orange mixed with brown and burgundy just doesn't work for me.  Plus socks are a bit of a momentum thing, at least for me.

So once I finish Grace Kelly I'm going to start Carrick's Socks over with a different color yarn. I've got a few in my stash of this same Touch Possum Merino, I just love it:

 

That's my story and I'm (currently) sticking to it.

The Domino Effect

One problem with renovating is that once you start you need to keep going. We're seeing that with the trellises in the garden at Struan Farm. You paint one, you really need to paint them all:

And then there are the roofs (or rooves as the case may be). The Homestead got a new green roof awhile ago, and we're just re-painting the exteriors of John's Hut and Maurie's Workshop. Consequently Jim's Hut and the sheds next to John's Hut are now standing out in sharp contrast and are in need of attention.

 

John needs a good project to sink his teeth into over the Christmas break, dare I say this could be it?

This post prompted me to check the correct plural of "roof," since "rooves" was looking odd. Growing up we used "rooves," and apparently here in NZ they continue to do so. But the more common usage is "roofs," even according to the Oxford Dictionary. I guess this means both are correct.

But whether the remaining roofs/rooves need a coat of paint is a separate issue and they're bugging us both. Over to you, John!

 

The Secret Clubhouse

I finally managed to get the garden bank at Struan Farm cleaned out the past few weeks. It's finished but for planting ferns to fill in the gaps under the pongas, camelia and magnolia trees.

There's an old shade house up in the back beyond the fence surrounding the garden. John's family used it to grow cuttings. Despite a somewhat shaky appearance the structure is still quite sound.

 
During my clean out I uncovered these steps leading up to it:

 
Hmm. Thinking perhaps that I need to extend my clean out beyond the garden to the shade house and surrounds so that we could make a "Secret Clubhouse" for our younger visitors. Don't know about you, but we always had either a clubhouse/hideout or a fort in the woods growing up. I feel another project coming on..............we'd need a sign, and a table and chairs.......Maurie's old pith helmut as decoration perhaps?

A Dilemma

John and I were up at our new house site recently transplanting fig trees to our orchard. I looked over the fence and saw this:

 
 
Three nesting wild turkeys. Oh dear. After all of the problems we had with the wandering mob of almost 30 last year, we thought they'd moved on. Seems they like Struan Farm. Not sure what to do about this, but we left them alone and kept Clifford away.

Signs for Struan Farm

I've been working with our graphic designer Sheena Smith on signage for our Struan Farm farmstay. We're a little ahead of ourselves, but have decided it's good to get all of this done. We will have signs at each end of the property and then one at the entrance gate. This week we received a prototype from the printer to be able to check that the colors will be visible to passersby. This landscape version will be used at either end of the property:

 
The design is subtle but I think should be okay. These signs will be the same size and structure as the Piopio signs, with a rough wooden frame:

 
The sign at the entrance will be in portrait format and smaller. I'm excited! What do you think? Next we're onto the website.

 

Major Progress

John arrived at Struan Farm last Friday to find the concrete truck had arrived to pour cement for the walkways and garden/renovated pool area. Yippee, major progress!

 
 
Next comes construction of a low brick wall along both sides of the walkway through the former pool using our recycled bricks, then the soil for the gardens. I've got rose cuttings growing away for the main beds and will plant box hedge plants along the inside walls. After that comes the pergola overhead; we were deciding between wisteria and grapes to plant over that, but someone has suggested espaliered crab apples so we're going to try those.

Jean Transfere les Figuiers

John is off to Paris for business this week so we've been practicing our French. The translated title of this post is "John moves the Fig Trees."

The fig trees we've grown from cuttings from the heirloom at the farm next door(circa early 1900's) have been growing away in our main garden area. (At least the ones that John hadn't moved. The ones he'd moved but didn't fence got eaten by sheep.) They have needed to be relocated up to our orchard, but properly fenced this time to deter the sheep. A bit of a project and not something necessarily a top priority for my helper given his infrastructure and major landscaping work. But I've kept pestering. The move was accomplished this week before it was too late in the season to do so.

 

 
We moved two, kept one in the garden, and Anna took the other. Merci Jean!

Bonus Citrus

I've been able to score a great stash of lovely, juicy, organic lemons from friends. What to do with them?

First, take some pics:

 

 
Second, make some lemon curd:

 
Lemon curd is really easy to make. Put the juice of six lemons (about 1 1/4 cups), with zest of one lemon, 1 1/2 cups caster sugar, and 220 grams of butter into a double boiler over medium heat. (Note to chef: do not let the mixture boil at any point. If you're using a bowl over a pot of water, don't let the water touch the bottom of the bowl, it will get too hot.) Once butter is melted, add six beaten eggs and stir for 3-5 minutes until thickened.

This is a basic recipe, they vary with respect to using whole eggs or a combination of egg yolks and whole eggs. Once ready, pour the mixture into sterilized jars, seal, and refridgerate when cool. It will keep in the fridge for several weeks, even when opened. Use for lemon tarts, mix with yogurt, or make Lemon Curd Cake, which is what I plan to do this weekend. Enjoy!

Spring Update from Struan Farm

In the past week the leaves of the deciduous trees have opened or have started to open:

 
 
 
 
The blues and purples are vivid in the woodsy garden area:

 
And, best of all, the flatto peach is flowering!

 

Pumpkins: It's Early Days

I'm trying a different tactic this year with both my Musquee de Provence and Marina di Chioggia pumpkins. I started seeds in trays in my makeshift greenhouse, then transitioned them to pots, and have just planted the seedlings in the ground at Struan Farm.

 

 
 

Two different warm and sunny spots. Fingers crossed!

Lamb Duty

Anna was away this past Sunday, so John and I were charged with bottle feeding Woolly Joe and Curly Sue. We got out of the car to a symphony of "baa, baa, baa," nonstop cries until after we'd mixed up the bottles of warm milk from the dried powder and headed out to the paddock.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
We're all long lost friends. And yes, they're dribbling!

 

 

Journey Into the Wool Shed

The title of this post was meant to be "In Quest of Poo," but I decided that was too indelicate. "S--t Happens" also comes to mind, but I digress.

The "royal we" needed some manure to get the veggie garden underway this past weekend, so my trusty helper and I trundled down to the Wool Shed at Struan Farm. This rather rustic structure is where the sheep get shorn. We repainted the exterior the stock standard shed color "Karaka Green" a few years ago, but the project stalled in its final stages and we never got around to painting the door in the back. (I actually like the look, so don't think it's going to change any time soon.)

 
The sheep enter this room from fenced pens outside (an area that is called "the yards"), where they wait to go one by one through a gate into the shearing room. Since they tend to poop while standing in this area, the ground below the slatted wooden floor is quite rich in manure. When we need a stash for the garden, it's simply a case of taking a shovel and wheel barrow down to dig some out. Sustainability.

 
Sections of the floor have been built to lift up for this purpose (thanks to my helper).

 
 
 
 
Off to the veggie garden with this lot. And people wonder what John and I do with our weekends...

 

Projects: Reconstruction Work

One project on my rather long "To Do" list is now underway: the garden trellises are getting a good rehab in advance of guests in early November. John came up with the idea of making the side panels removable so that they can be stored in winter and repainted more easily. Everything is now undercoated, the gingerbread corners/cornices for the tops repaired as well.

 
 

Now just to find my paint brush and time on a sunny weekend between now and then?