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I've found myself running a bit low on strawberry jam, and a bit high on farmstay guests here at Struan Farm. So I've had to crack into making strawberry jam a bit early....I made a quick batch this week for arriving guests.
Just a teaser, but this gets me through the week!
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I have a helper on bottle duty on weekends here at Struan Farm so am able to sleep in just a wee bit:
We also enlisted some farmstay guests to help out:
We're now down to two bottles per day. Weaning happens in December. It will not be a happy time for Cookie, Buster, Curly, Tootsie or Karen.
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I love this man dearly, I truly do. Most people must think I'm the eccentric one in this relationship. And yes, I do have my idiosyncrasies, but I can assure you my husband John and I are well matched on a number of fronts.
Here he is, out mowing the Pet Paddock at Struan Farm in the POURING rain. The Te Kuiti Medical Centre is having their Christmas party here next weekend, and he was concerned he wouldn't have time to finish all the mowing in time for things to look beautiful. So he's out there in the rain. When I suggested he stow the mower in the shed and come inside, I just got a big grin and a crazy cackle!
He's been mowing the Pet Paddock for several years now, and it does look much better, more "parklike" as a result. He's also started mowing down at the river near the BBQ area. And again, it now looks beautiful down there. Lately he's taken to mowing the Bull Paddock and part of the old road. The guy enjoys his meditative time on that mower, clearly.
But I do think this is the Mad Mower's maddest moment. Yet!
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I'm really happy with one of the new little garden beds "we" planted up at the newish house here at Struan Farm. Last year I popped in delphinium and scabiosa, along with other shrubs and flowers. As previously reported, it takes a year or two (or three) for plants to get established and start to flourish.
Right now the delphinium and scabiosa are in flower, and look just lovely, at least to me.
I have to restrain myself from using all the buds in my flower arrangements, where they lend some interesting character, since of course I want the flowers too!
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Last year I had good luck growing basil here at Struan Farm. I started seeds in trays in the warm glasshouse, which worked really well before planting them out. Friends Kris and Bob intervened to help make pesto at the end of the season so the surplus didn't go to waste.
Our local award winning cafe, The Fat Pigeon, has encouraged me to plant heaps again this year for their use. I never know if things are going to grow well or not, so I haven't made any commitments just yet.
But right now things are looking pretty darned good:
I've potted up over 100 seedlings and planted some around the gardens from one seed tray alone, with two more to go. Hopefully they will thrive and grow, fingers crossed. I'm also thinking that I need to keep going with new seed trays to keep the supply at different stages of growth for consistent supply over the summer. Just need more pots!
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Funny to see large groups of the sheep here at Struan Farm lounging under the trees. It starts to get warm and sunny, and they head for the shade to nap!
I won't begrudge these girls their rest and relaxation, this time next year they'll all have lambs to worry about!
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Next weekend our farmstay accommodation is completely booked out here at Struan Farm. Things are definitely ramping up. This includes Jim's Hut down overlooking the river for the first time this season. Access in winter is just too difficult down (and up) the steep track in rainy weather, so practically it's closed to visitors then. We've also decided that access during summer is now only by 4WD vehicle, either ours or the guests, given health and safety concerns about people not knowing how to drive properly on a metal track in a passenger vehicle. (We haven't had any incidents, but simply don't want to take that risk.)
And so John, Clifford and I travelled down a few days ago, armed with cleaning supplies and bed linens.
Everything was emptied out of the Hut for a good sweep, wipe and mop.
I hadn't seen the new and improved privacy screen for the outdoor shower, which looks really good:
And of course the Mad Mower is now mowing the BBQ area and adjacent paddock. He thinks it's not a bad camping spot:
It's another world entirely down at the river!
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John and I were bopping along the farm track by the pond a few days ago here at Struan Farm when I looked over at a cluster of "pongas," native tree ferns, and saw this:
A massive number of unfurling fronds, or "koru." The word means "loop" in Te Reo Maori, but more importantly symbolises new life, growth, strength, and peace.
In these testing times, happy to have so much peace in evidence. Perhaps we are sanctuary?
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Honest. The first time I had this happen was last weekend, when I made up a flower arrangement for visiting friends Elizabeth and Bruce in the Homestead here at Struan Farm. I went out to the gardens, roaming, with scissors and a cutting jar. Normally I cut what catches my eye, then return to the kitchen to fiddle with the flowers and come up with arrangements I like. Sometimes that's an easier process than others. Last weekend after cutting I looked at the jar and was happy with what I saw, as jammed into the cutting jar.
It was entirely impromptu, a riff from the garden. A gift from the garden, really.
This weekend it happened again, as I was getting ready for farmstay guests:
Rather special, eh? Now that I'm aware of it I'm thinking it won't happen again. But perhaps the gardens and I are connecting on some sort of subliminal level. I look after them, they look after me. May this love affair continue, at least through the busy farmstay season!
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No more intruding sheep at the Homestead here at Struan Farm, at least that I've been able to see. But the gardens are continuing their seasonal show, I even have some green tomatoes coming in the raised bed down there!
The dogwoods are starting to come out, although the pink dogwood everyone loves to get married under flowers a bit later.
Since we've had a good bit of rain, I've been able to plant Dublin Bay and Crepuscle roses in the new gardens John has engineered, along with some relocated dahlias, nepita, purple sage and scabiosa seedlings. (If I manage them properly, we should have Crepuscles growing up all four posts of the trellis, but John and I have decided that we aren't the best trainers. Stay tuned.)
John and Mike are making yet another brick ring around the cypress tree at the back, so I've got a Dublin Bay rose waiting in the wings for the concreting to be done in the next few days. The lavender planted around the base of the tree will stay, it's a dry place and that works well. I will most likely pop in a nepita depending on the space, since that's also quite hardy. But the guys need to get a move on with this project, it's getting quite late in the season to be planting roses and shrubs.
Last but not least: Maurie's special deutzia is flowering at the front gate. It's rather spectacular, and he always grumbled when John got anywhere near it with his chainsaw or loppers for this reason. That being said, it flowers the best when chopped back every 2-3 years. We're careful!
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I popped down to the Homestead here at Struan Farm one morning this week to run a quick errand. As I walked through the rose garden there was what looked to be sheep poo on the walkway. SHEEP POO in my rose garden. Not anything used on the garden, rather fresh evidence of an intruder.
Hmmm. I found further evidence near the drive. (Don't worry, am keeping photos of this to the minimum, they're rather unappetizing!) But someone had clearly stopped to smell the roses. I walked around the fences and gardens to make sure one of the hoggets wasn't hiding somewhere or trying to get back through the fence. We keep our roadside entrance gate closed unless guests are here for this reason. Don't want any stock getting out onto the road by mistake.
I'm sure hoping it wasn't one of last year's pets, although Pip was pretty adept at waltzing across the cattle stop when she wanted to. Surely not Pip! We'll keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't continue, and I've let Farmer John know too.
p.s. this is the sort of thing that makes me laugh at myself. I wouldn't have recognised sheep poo not so many years ago, let alone known enough to go looking for the wayward ewe, or made sure the roadside gate was closed. I'm learning!
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John and I tried to have a few later sleeps this week here at Struan Farm, especially after our long day on the Forgotten World Rail Trail.
Only one problem:
Guess I should say there were four problems!
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Just wanted to report back on the Piopio Strawberry Sour Cream ice cream. While we sampled the strawberry "soup" along with the Toasted Coconut and Honey Lavender ice creams I made for dinner over the weekend here at Struan Farm, I popped the soup back into the freezer.
And voila! It was amazing fully frozen, and does last longer than advertised.
And the good thing about this recipe is that it doesn't involve custard, so can be made in one day. And it also involves Piopio Berry Orchard strawberries, our favourite! Suspect I'll be making more of this one in particular over the summer.
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Friends Bruce & Elizabeth, John and I got up very early this past Saturday morning and left Struan Farm for nearby Taumarunui. We'd booked a trip with Forgotten World Adventures along the Forgotten World Highway rail trail.
It was quite an adventure indeed! We were taken from the office in Taumarunui by bus to the depot, where the group of 30+ intrepid souls got into golf carts that had been reconfigured to run on the rails. Our group was in a four seater, with John at the helm. There is no steering involved, rather acceleration much like a ride on mower, so the Mad Mower was quite at home. Attention is required to maintain proper distance from other carts, also due to obstacles that might be on the tracks from slips, floods, etc. There is a guide at the front to clear the way if required, and a guide at the back to make sure no one is left behind. Initially we were asked to take the last cart in line to bring up the rear, which actually worked quite well for John to get comfortable with operating the cart on the rails. After morning tea (yep, the trip included morning and afternoon tea stops, lunch, and shuttle back up to Taumarunui) we were moved back up to the front behind the guide.
We signed up for the "20 Tunnel Tour," which had us travelling from Taumarunui to Whangamomona (The Republic thereof), a rather special, remote, little community known for its tongue-in-cheek secession from NZ and formation of a republic, something celebrated annually in the community. Dogs have been elected mayor in some years, but elections are tight contests, rather like Trump vs. Clinton, but with humour and not the hostility.
It was an absolutely amazing journey, and a very long day! The tunnels were built by hand from 1915 through 1945 and made with bricks fired in a village called Matiere. The tour explained the history of many of the various settlements, many of which were large thriving villages historically due to the tunnel constructions and coal mining. Most are now shadows of their former selves, hence the name "Forgotten World." The landscape is spectacular.
Enjoy some photos from the day. There are a number of different options (including pedal bikes that run along the tracks if you're into that), with trips running October-May. Really encourage you to consider this (of course come stay at Struan Farm too!).
Off the beaten track to say the least!
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Friends in the Homestead here this weekend at Struan Farm, plus a dinner or two. So flowers, of course!
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No, not about the US election (okay, maybe that too). But rather ice cream, of course! We've had friends from Auckland come to visit Struan Farm this weekend so we could all go on the Forgotten World Adventures rail trail trip. More on that in the next day or so.
Friend Bruce is a major fan of ice cream. So when I suggested that I make homemade ice cream for dessert, John gave me an enthusiastic thumbs up. In fact, he directed me to make a "trio" of different ice creams. He and Bruce flatted together in Wellington while they were members of the NZ Parliament many years ago. They frequented a local Italian restaurant that served up three gelatos in the colours of the Italian flag. Memories do funny things to people, don't they?
I graciously declined the request for red, white and green ice cream, but did agree to the "trio" concept. So I've spent most of the past week perfecting and making ice creams from this wonderful book, The Perfect Scoop. Toasted Coconut, Honey Lavender (had a stash of Kenmore Farm culinary lavender I was keen to experiment with), and last but not least, Strawberry Sour Cream, made with (what else but) Piopio Berry Orchard strawberries! Note to visitors: no wonder there are weeds in my gardens?
I dusted off the ice cream maker and cracked into it. The first two recipes really require more than 24 hours each, since once made the custard is meant to chill overnight before churning and freezing. Both also require infusing warm milk, cream, and the sweetener (sugar or honey) with either toasted coconut or culinary lavender. Once the egg yolks were mixed in, what took the most practice on my part was the very fine line between cooking the custard enough vs. too much. At one point I turned out sweet scrambled eggs, another a very fluid custard that really didn't look the consistency of ice cream when churned. (After a stint in the freezer it was absolutely delicious when sampled, but by that time I'd made a second batch!)
The Strawberry Sour Cream ice cream was meant to be served soon after churning, so I decided to churn that while preparing dinner. It ended up being way too soupy, but great flavour, so I would make and freeze this a bit in advance next time.
They were all amazing, if I do say so myself. John has decided I should devote more time to making ice cream, while I don't think that either our waist lines or cholesterol levels would enjoy that. Special occasions only!
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Haven't written much about the little darlings recently, have I? Pet lambs Cookie, Buster, Curly and Tootsie continue to grow and amuse (mostly) here at Struan Farm. A few days ago they didn't show up at the back gate for breakfast, or respond to my calls, so I went off to find them. Turns out they were down near the Cottage, and came barreling up to another gate near the gardens at our house after I located them.
I thought it was going to be easiest to herd them across the front lawn to get them back to their home base. Lesson learnt-- I was just about bowled as they kept jumping up on me. Buster is biggest, but they're all quite strong and rowdy. Bottles were involved. My pants got trashed and ankle scraped.
So the deal now is if they don't show up, they don't get fed. I will call out for them, of course. But I'm not going to get myself mauled again. And I've made sure everyone has read the memo.
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Last year special girls Ella, Livvy and Emma chose flower seeds to plant in the glasshouse here at Struan Farm. Ella had Nigella, Livvy chose Lobelia and Emma opted for Echinacea. The seedling flowers were eventually all planted out in the gardens and flourished to varying degrees.
This spring it's fun to see Ella's Nigella growing all over. It has reincarnated in the garden, self seeding in a major way. I like to use the whispery fronds in flower arrangements along with the buds and delicate blue and white flowers.
They're not a problem at this stage. But I'll keep a watch on them so they don't become yet another good thing running wild, trying to achieve world dominance here at Struan Farm!
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We're a bit late for Halloween, but I've had one of the Musquee de Provence pumpkins I grew last season ripening in the glasshouse here at Struan Farm. I was forced to pick it green before frosts, and decided to see if it would mature inside. Good news: it didn't rot and is ready for prime time.
This variety of pumpkin is so sculptural that it's almost a shame to eat it, don't you think? I'd just like to keep it around, looking beautiful, but it's destined for soup for the freezer. Once it's cut it needs to be used. I've enlisted my helper John to get out his machete to chop it up. It will be soup for Africa, to coin a kiwi term.
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We have some creepy crawlies here in New Zealand for sure. A few days ago I found a dead bug on the front deck here at Struan Farm. I thought it was a "huhu bug," which it is. This prompted me to do a bit of research.
What's missing in this photo is something to provide you an idea of scale, but these are BIG bugs. In fact, the Huhu (Prionoplus reticularis) is New Zealand largest endemic beetle. This guy was almost three inches long. The adults only live for two weeks to mate, and are most active at night. They are drawn to the lights of dwellings, which is what must have happened here.
Their big white larvae feed on rotting wood and are considered a wild food delicacy. Word is that they taste like buttery chicken, but suffice it to say I'm not testing that out as part of my research...One can only go so far!
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