Struan Farm

The Calm After the Storm(s)

Sunny day in Piopio, finally! And you know what that means, right? Hopping to it outside in the gardens and yard at Struan Farm, at least for me.

I started with our main entrance gate near the Homestead. Here's before:

 

And here's after:

At least it looks like an entrance again.

The only problem here is that there are still loads of leaves on the trees that have yet to fall. So I'm not kidding myself, this will get done several more times over the next few months, and I'm not washing the concrete off with "Wet & Forget" until spring!

A "Posh" Affair

John and I were walking around Struan Farm over the weekend when we came across a wee orphaned wild goat. As you will know, feral goats are serious pests in this neck of the woods, they damage native bush and of course, gardens. Neither of us are particularly keen on them.

However, I melted as soon as I saw this adorable little creature, and John isn't about to leave an animal to die either. We scooped her up, not knowing at the time what we would actually do with her. She was christened "Posh" as we dug out a pet lamb bottle and the powdered milk to feed her up. The neighbours had had a round up of feral goats on their property a week or so ago, shipping them off to the works. This little girl had apparently been overlooked or had just been born.

She spent the night in the garage after an initial feed or two. The next morning she drank the full 150 mls., getting the hang of the bottle and me.

I did give some brief thought to keeping her (John will need some help with weed control in his "Next Big Thing" area). But I am going to be away at times over the next month or so, and the feeding schedule would pose a problem for nephew Mike, who holds down the fort while I'm away. Luckily, friends of ours in Piopio with two little boys were happy to adopt her. 

A very happy ending for Posh. I'm just a wee bit sad to see her go, you know me!
 

The Verdict: BBC Tomato Soup

We've started to crack into provisions I made over the summer with veggies from the garden here at Struan Farm. These include the first of several frozen batches of "BBC Tomato Soup." As you might expect, we're into soup season now, especially when the rain has been blowing sideways.

 

The soup was seriously delicious, this recipe is a keeper! It's the best tomato soup we've ever eaten, no exaggeration. Most likely because of those beautiful heirloom tomatoes. Freshly made wholemeal bread, still warm from the oven, completes the picture.

Fingers crossed for next season!

Regeneration

Two-three years ago we fenced in the large tawa grove behind the new(ish) house at Struan Farm. Essentially this enlarged one of our existing native bush reserves on the property. We did so because the tawas are rather special, very old native trees, and we wanted to keep the sheep out to allow the extended bush to regenerate.

A few days ago I walked through the tawa grove enroute to some large kowhai trees on the edge of the bush in my quest for kowhai seeds.

And while yes, there are some weeds, it's interesting to see little native trees/shrubs and ferns starting to come back, self seeding. (There's a technical term for this, perhaps "understory," but the process itself is called "succession.") We have planted the odd kowhai, but we're wanting to see what will come back naturally, with the bush's own ability to regenerate and Mother Nature's help.

Last year we also fenced a second tawa grove further out from this one. This one has younger, smaller trees. Here's hoping the same thing starts to happen there!

Well Loved

There's been quite a lot of sitting around, having cups of tea, baking, needlepoint, naps, etc. recently here at Struan Farm given the endless rainy weather! At one point I looked over at John's feet, and saw this:

 

His much loved, well worn felted wool slippers. I inquired as to when they were going to be retired, and it seems that will happen once one of the soles comes off! 

Yet Another Healthy, Seasonal Salad

You will surmise I've had too much time on my hands with all this rainy weather? Desperate times call for testing out new recipes, it's not like I'm going to clean house all day here at Struan Farm!

And so I made a "roast beetroot and brazil nut salad" from the latest issue of Donna Hay's Fresh & Light. Baby beetroot (yes, from the veggie garden) is roasted, kale (yes, from the veggie garden) shredded, and brazil nuts (no, not from Struan Farm) toasted and chopped, then all tossed in a bowl. A dressing is made from soaked brazil nuts, malt vinegar, olive oil and water, pureed in the food processor and drizzled on top. As I was making this I was thinking that it was either going to be amazing or taste like dirt given the earthy kale and beetroot combination...

Well guess what? It was really good. John gave it a strong thumbs up. The crunch and flavour of the toasted nuts was great with the beetroot and kale, this salad really works.