John's rather ambitious project to extend the native bush reserve at Struan Farm along the stream to the Mangaotaki River, the one I've christened "The Next Big Thing," continues to progress. Mike is doing the hard yards on the fencing, while the lambs have been put in the paddock to eat the grass down before we begin planting trees this winter. Once we start to plant this area the sheep will be closed out entirely, since they would eat everything otherwise (the alternative, fencing thousands of trees individually, is simply too much work). But this also means that we need to get things planted and growing quickly.
Meanwhile, the native tree nursery under the tawa grove in our backyard grows.
And the flax seeds I planted in seed trays and little pots have germinated:
The kahikateas are still too small to see in a photograph, but they're also germinating. At first I thought I was seeing things, but now there are quite a few green sprouts (six!) breaking through the soil of the seed trays.
We would like to to grow as many native plants and trees as we are can for this project-- that will be my main contribution, and I'm learning and finding my way. I'll try tea tree next, and maybe kowhai when they flower in spring. Stay tuned!
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