Struan Farm

Weekend Flowers

Apparently it's an amazing year for roses according to NZ Gardener Magazine. I thought it might be the rose food recipe they posted on their FB page a few months ago, one that I tested out for the first time here at Struan Farm. That may have helped, but it's also a great season all over New Zealand.

Struan Farm's roses are the biggest I've ever seen them:

 

I've been deadheading daily so they keep blooming for a wedding being held in the Homestead gardens in two weeks. These were pretty much past it, I just couldn't bear to throw them onto the burn pile just yet!

 

Photo Shoot with the Gang

I'm wanting to do a Christmas card for Struan Farm this year, and thought it would be fun to use a photo of one or all of the pet lambs. So I gathered them together and had a chat. Everyone cooperated, except of course Pepper, who said "Bah Humbug" to the whole affair:

You know what they say about working with kids and animals! I'm deciding between the milk spattered Pip and Ruby for our card based on the facial expressions. Had hoped Rosie would have looked cuter, but oh well. Watch this space.

Flaxes in Flower

Two of the coppery flaxes we planted around the new(ish) house at Struan Farm have decided to flower this year. Thought I'd share some of the flowers:

There may be another instalment if they open further and I can capture them with my camera before the tuis feast upon them.

More on Roma's Rose

We discover more about "Roma's Rose" when we least expect it.

John and I spent some time over the weekend wandering around the Auckland Botanic Gardens. We were up to see Fleetwood Mac at Mt. Smart Stadium and had time to kill. Of course I dragged him to the rose and veggie gardens, and we nosed around the trees.

In the rose garden guess what we came across?

This is Roma's Rose! I'd been calling it "Souvenir de Madame Leonie" based on information from friend Christine Nelson, but recently came across a note in my mother-in-law's handwriting in one of her gardening books referring to it "Madame Leonie Viennot." So both were partially right: the correct name is "Souvenir de Madame Leonie Viennot." 

It was amusing to read that this rose was commonly planted as camouflage over "dunnies," or "long drop toilets."  Unclear if this was because it grows so quickly and could cover up a visual eyesore, or because the scent masked any odours. But either way interesting to know!

 

 

 

Blossoms in the Veggie Garden

We've had some good rain interspersed with warm, sunny weather, and the veggie garden at Struan Farm is happy as a result.

My first zucchini has blossomed, along with several black cherry tomato plants, while Mr. V's "dali" beans are just about ready to pop. It's interesting to see what changes day by day.

Yes, okay, you probably think I like watching the grass grow and paint dry too!

 

Maintaining Traditions

There's a bit of an historical link here at Struan Farm with delphiniums (or is it more properly delphinia?). Apparently there used to be a huge bed of them by the garage, a structure we now call the "mower shed" even though it's without a mower. 

The family loves this old photo of their grandmother "MaeMae" with John's sister Louise amidst the delphiniums. They are a Victorian symbol of levity, which seems fitting since MaeMae had a wicked sense of humour by all accounts.

And so I'm trying to grow them around the place. Haven't been able to find those huge varieties pictured above, but I'll keep looking. I've bought what look to be modern hybrids, much smaller, and I've grown some from seed in the glasshouse. I'm doing battle with the snails and slugs, who also love them.

 

This is one of those trial and error, longer term projects, but we'll get there.

 

 

 

First Roses for the Guests

It's that time of the year when it's really fun to walk the gardens at Struan Farm putting together flower arrangements, either for our table or for our farmstay guests. There's so much to choose from, I love wandering and playing (and having the time to do so). It keeps me grounded, also lets me stay on top of what is happening in the gardens, what might need attention, etc.

Recent guests from Munich, Germany got the first arrangement full of roses for this year. I couldn't resist putting some of the orange "L'Oreal Trophy" in, along with pink "Compassion" and our white rose. Decided not to include red "Dublin Bay" to muddle up the colour combo too much!

 

 

 

 

 

The Latest in the Gardens

All of a sudden, it's summer in the gardens. Hydrangeas, roses and the dogwoods are all happening. It's interesting, last year we didn't have any hydrangea blooming before Christmas, this year they are blooming in November. We take things as they come here at Struan Farm.

 

 

Farmstay guests arriving from Munich, Germany will get the first arrangement in the Cottage this season with ROSES, hooray!

Happy Spuds

The "Rocket" and "Jersey Benne" seed potatoes I planted Labour weekend have come up and are growing away in the backyard at Struan Farm. Both are early varieties. The plan is to have new potatoes for Christmas dinner and Boxing Day, I may well have a shot at it.

Stay tuned.

Mystery in the Bush, Solved

Found these beautiful objects on the bush floor beside our smaller tawa grove at Struan Farm recently:

A quick check with our native tree guide revealed they are "Rewarewa" flowers, also called New Zealand Honeysuckle or Knightia excelsa. The nectar is food for bellbird, silvereye, tui and bees, used to be collected by Maori to eat. Bees produce an unusually dark and rich flavoured honey from it.

Think they look rather like anemones or "kina," don't they? 

 

Partial Privacy

John has managed to get one side of the privacy trellis for the outside shower at Jim's Hut installed.

The other side involves more elaborate construction with poles, will be done shortly. This side looks out to the river; so it's less of a concern in the meantime since only the sheep, geese and ducks will be peeking, and they're likely to pay no attention whatsoever!

Kaihua, Discovered

John and I continue to discover things around Struan Farm that we hadn't noticed or didn't know about. A few days ago a small group of people from DOC (the NZ Dept. of Conservation) came through. They pointed out to John that we have quite a bit of "Kaihua," native jasmine, flowering in one of our QEII bush areas. WOW!

According to our native plant guide, the vines are often draped too high over tree tops in the bush to be spotted easily, and were used by early Maori to secure fences and the framework for houses. And while we do have some way up in the trees of our QEII bush, there are also some right by the track past the pond to the river, which is why they noticed them. Now we know what to look for.

Inspired Cooking

New dishes on the table at Struan Farm this past weekend. Thanks to inspiration from the December issue of Dish magazine, along with Donna Hay's latest cookbook "Life in Balance."

On Friday morning for breakfast I made Donna Hay's "baked spinach and parmesan eggwhite souffles." They were delicious if light, reminiscent of breakfast at the wellness spa (or "fat farm" as we used to call it!). The recipes makes four servings, and John and I had two each, thinking about the day's work ahead. (One with a piece of toast would probably work fine too.)

What was fun was that I used my mother-in-law's old egg beater to whip the whites, much easier than the whisk called for! It could be time for these to make a resurgence.

For lunch I made the "Chicken & Avocado Mayonnaise Sandwiches" from Dish. Roast chicken and finely sliced spring onions are combined with a mayonnaise made with mayo (as you may expect!), dijon mustard, lime zest and juice, garlic, avocado, coriander, green Tabasco sauce, salt & pepper.  Crustless wholegrain bread is buttered, then the filled sandwich is rolled diagonally and cut in half. Voila!

A perfect savoury high tea dish, could be jazzed up tied with chives, although the filling is great in a normal sandwich too. 

Saturday night after a hard day working outside my mother-in-law's egg beater came out again, and I made Donna's "kale and spinach omelette." It was easy and tasty. (Note: all her recipes titles are lower case, oh how trendy....?) The omelette is filled with a mixture of goat cheese, ricotta and chives, topped with crushed peas and parmesan.

Sunday night Donna and Dish joined forces. I made Donna's "seeded crackers" and "kale and cashew dip" for nibbles, followed by "Roast Lamb with Lemon Crust and Damson (substituted red currant) Jus, Pan-Fried Grapes and Almonds and Peas with Pancetta.

Yes, living the good life here at Struan Farm! And p.s. those seeded crackers are AMAZING. Gluten free, made with spelt flour, sunflower and sesame seeds, chia and linseed. Need to track down Damson jelly to make the lamb again, but red currant jelly worked fine.
 

Improvised Lamb Bottle, Oops

I dropped one of the empty pet lamb bottles on our concrete driveway after the evening feed at the back fence, oops. Juggling five bottles, not that I'm making excuses. It cracked. And the farm store was closed, wouldn't be open in time for the morning feed.

What's a mum to do? 

At Struan Farm we live to improvise. Found that this malt vinegar bottle fit the screw-on teat, so decanted the vinegar and gave the bottle a good clean. Fortunately Spanky didn't complain about any tang, so it must have been okay! p.s. Think vinegar added to milk equals buttermilk.

It's Grow Time

Here in New Zealand on FoodTV there was a long running show called "The Next Great Baker," in which contestants vied for a job with Cake Boss Buddy Velastro and cash prizes. When it was time for the next challenge to begin, Buddy would shout "GO TIME!"

Well, at Struan Farm we have "GROW TIME." Our raised veggie beds are now planted with lettuces, beets, purple carrots, spring onions, beans (including edamame, Dali beans from Mr. V. and dwarf yellow beans), purple snow peas thanks to Country Trading, zucchini, kale, red chiles and various herbs. Oh, almost forgot quinoa from Running Brook Seeds at Clevedon Market.  Last year I tried cucumbers and fennel, but since neither was a raging success I've decided to bag those for this year.

I'm finishing up the crop of broad beans and the garlic will be harvested on the longest day of the year, after which I'll plant something else in this space. The tomatoes (okay, yes, too many tomatoes), pumpkins, corn, potatoes and watermelon are planted in the ground in several improvised patches. I've rotated what I plant in particular troughs to help the soil, which is loaded up with heaps of compost, manure, blood and bone, mulched leaves, etc.

 I will be watering and weeding, with a little seaweed spray from time to time, but from here on out it's in Mother Nature's hands.

Identity Crisis Resolved

The exterior painting is done, so the sign at the Garden Cottage at Struan Farm (finally) got hung:

Now we just need to stop calling it Maurie's Workshop. Old habits die hard!

Roses are Red (and Orange)(and Pink...)

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you!

Trust everyone remembers this little ditty. "Roma's Roses" have been blooming for about two weeks now at Struan Farm. I grew the plant from a cutting, and it's now growing as hoped over the Perfect Pergola. While they look fantastic, they are droopy and aren't really a cut flower (although I've used them in desperation as one from time to time).

 

The big news is that the red Dublin Bay roses have started to bloom, as well as our heirloom orange rose, "L'Oreal Trophy." 

They make for much more interesting flower arrangements for farmstay guests and us alike!

Christmas is Coming...

Shhhh, you need to be able to keep this TOP SECRET!

The needlepoint Christmas stocking I made for Livvy arrived back from finishing at The Needle Nook of La Jolla. They have outdone themselves, adding tassles and jingle bells to the twisted cord edge and loop. While she did see the project in transition, I don't want her to see it until she unwraps it on Boxing Day.

Two down, (only) five to go! 

Weekend Flowers

There were flowers for the farmstay guests this weekend as well as flowers for our table at Struan Farm. It's a funny time of the year, lots of flowering shrubs bursting forth in the gardens, but things to pick for arrangements are a bit scarce. Fortunately the early white hydrangeas saved the day, along with bright pink clusters of rhodos and "Roma's rose."

Plus my new (improvised) flower vase carrier is working really well:

I'd been wanting John to make me something to put my flower arrangements in for farmstay guests, so they wouldn't tip over in the car during transport from our house to the Homestead and Cottage. I'd visualised a wooden box with a removable top with round holes. Needless to say, John hadn't gotten around to it, and I stumbled across this in a vintage collectible shop in New Plymouth, with glass vases. While I'm sure it is meant to be a decorative rather than utilitarian item, it serves my purpose and pretty close to what I'd had in mind.

Yep, it was a very pink weekend! 

 

 

Progress: Poppies Popping

We've been working hard over the past year or so to get new lawns and gardens established at the new(ish) house at Struan Farm. Previously it was paddock, so as you might imagine we've still got a way to go. I keep telling myself (or is that John's voice in my head?) that this will take several years, several seasons, testing what will do well up here, etc. 

In addition to new plantings of flowering shrubs, replicating many of the varieties we've got down at the Homestead gardens, I've tried to bring up bits and pieces from there that self seed every year. Including poppy seed heads last summer. And guess what? I looked out a few days ago and saw two brilliant pink flowers, with more on the way!

The flowers are short-lived and fragile, but I love using the seed heads in arrangements with roses and hydrangea all summer. Progress with poppies, tick!