Struan Farm

Let the Deadheading Begin

As I might have mentioned, it's a rather amazing year for roses here at Struan Farm. They're blooming a month or two earlier than usual as well. I'm not sure if some of this is due to the fact that the roses I've planted in the gardens at the new(ish) house are becoming established now or something weather related. Most likely a bit of both.

The first bloom has been spectacular. Now to keep them going on with the show I need to crack into deadheading. And deadheading. And deadheading. I managed to get spent blooms on the plants at the Homestead cut off last week between rain showers. Now it's time to deep dive into the gardens at the house. The "My Mum" bushes in particular are laden, but also "Dublin Bay," "Compassion," "Frilly Jilly," "Platinum," and "Paddy Stevens."

Over the years I have hardened myself to cutting off blooms that still might look lovely but are just on the cusp of being spent. Because the next day they will be, and predictably I won't be around with secaturs in hand but off in another area of the gardens. 

I love looking at the wheelbarrow(s) full of the colourful petals.

An ad hoc "potpourri," n'est-ce pas?"

Saturating the Market

Frequent readers of the Struan Farm will know that I tend to overdo things, in various ways. Often I get carried away by my enthusiasms. This year one might say that has been the case with Italian Parsley "Gigante." 

When I grow veggies and herbs from seed I always plant more than I think we might need as an insurance policy. Sometimes things don't germinate as expected. (We've had this conversation previously about basil, and I always go overboard with heirloom tomatoes, of course.)

This season it seems I have managed to saturate the local Piopio market with Italian Parsley "Gigante." I've been putting surplus seedling plants out every few days, sharing them at the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand. Take up is slowing down now, despite the fact I have about eight trays of potted seedling plants ready for planting. Parsley aficionados appear to have taken what they need/want for the season. (I should tell you that this didn't happen with surplus tomato plants, I still had people clamouring for black cherries in particular, long after the supply I grew had gone.)

So on a recent rainy day I planted rows of parsley plants out in the gardens beside the peas and tomatoes. I've popped more in the trough where I'd already planted some, going for density. 

 

They'll look good as they grow and we use heaps. It won't and can't go to waste. 

 

Pooh-pooh to the Grand Poobah

Are you familiar with phrase "grand poobah?" I remember it from the cartoon series "The Flintstones," but apparently it originated with a haughty character called the "Poo-Bah" in Gilbert & Sullivan's opera "The Mikado."

John has taken on supervising my peas in the veggie gardens, apparently he doesn't have enough to do. He doesn't think I support things properly, at least the dwarf peas, and has interfered. "Interfering" is a bit of a joke between us, since we both do it in various ways and protest when the other does it in our designated realms of responsibility. We can't help ourselves. 

While the taller peas are happily growing up into a wire fence, the dwarf peas weren't particularly cooperating with a string support I'd set up between two wooden stakes, growing in the opposite direction and into the garlic. Otherwise they were flowering and happy so I'd left them to it, intervening every few days to try to coax them up the string.

The "Grand Poobah" assessed the situation, determining that four strings at various heights were required to remedy the situation, also that one of the stakes needed further support. Rather than quibble I let him do his thing. In fact I helped execute his directive. But I don't think dwarf peas really require all that much support and hadn't thought it was the end of the world either way.

A day later I was out in the garden and noticed that the peas had toppled over in the opposite direction, in clear challenge to the Grand Poobah. He rushed to remedy the situation. Now they're starting to grow back towards the garlic, but I bite my tongue.

 

Pooh-pooh to the Grand Poobah! The peas weren't having it. They may try to have the last laugh but the Grand Poobah is watching them.

Weaning, Step One

The pet lambs aren't particularly happy with us at the moment here at Struan Farm. It's been raining, plus we (meaning John) decided to cut out their morning bottles. They'll have one in the evenings still before they are weaned completely around Christmas.

Protests outside the bedroom window at the back gate have been staged by Bambi, Fergie, Camilla and Whiskey, who rally from underneath their lean-to and baa any time they see movement. Jam and Jelly remain close by the gate in their paddock so that they also can baa at our every move.

I feel for the little darlings, I really do. But they're eating grass now full stop. Plus their teeth are ripping the rubber bottle teats, they're forgetting how to suck properly as they mature. As much as I enjoy their antics, I'm also now needing to organise my summer work day around actual work rather than lambs. Hard to believe, I know.

This is the transitional time when I test if I can get anyone converted to eating apple treats. Camilla had been a reasonable candidate the last time I tried, along with Jam and possibly Fergie. Bambi and Jelly wouldn't have anything to do with them.

As a ram lamb Whiskey will go off farm to Farmer John's place in the new year, so I don't make all that much effort to tempt ram lambs with treats. I also try to keep myself as detached emotionally as I can from the rams. This is easier said than done, since often they are smarter and have nicer personalities, at least until they get too rough and start to knock you over! Spud, Buster and Alfie all come to mind. I still think of Spud swimming across the pond, and of me sobbing at the dinner table after being told he'd been taken away. I also think of Alfie looking after Trixie with her bad leg, not leaving her side, he was an absolute "gentleram."

With Diva's recent death from unknown causes, we don't seem to have any star pets from this class to rival Rosie for the top spot. Things can change as the lambs mature, but I'd be surprised to see any radical personality transformations this year.

So let the weaning continue. It's a process for both them and me.

 

A Thanksgiving Pav

Last week I decided to make a special pavlova here at Struan Farm to celebrate Thanksgiving in a kiwi way.

While we used to host more traditional Thanksgiving dinners with roast turkey, sweet potato/kumara and pumpkin pie when I moved to NZ many years ago now, we don't any more. Turkeys here are free range, hard/impossible to find fresh even in good butcher shops, and quality varies widely. So I've given up. But the holiday remains special in my heart.

I'd seen a recipe for a Christmas pavlova in the latest issue of Dish magazine and decided that would be fun to make to celebrate Thanksgiving.

This pav is made in two layers, and has a bit of cocoa, cinnamon and cloves marbled through the whipped egg whites before baking. Cream and mascarpone are whipped with vanilla paste. Half of the cream is then mixed with smashed raspberries, which is spread between the two layers. The rest of the plain, whipped mixture is smeared on top, after which various elements are added. It's meant to be rustic and over the top. They suggest little meringues dipped in dark chocolate and brushed with edible gold paint (I did those, since I hadn't used edible paint before!), edible flowers, edible gold stars and fruit. I used a mix of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, pomegranate arils and strawberries for colour and taste. And to finish warm "dulce de leche" drizzled on top.

Yes, it was rather special. Will definitely make this one again, even if it did take all day!  

The Danger of "Othering," Subtly and Less So

Okay, be forewarned, this is a slightly grumpy Karen post.

This past week I came across a new initiative by Tourism NZ called "The Tiaki Pledge," being reported (where else but) on Facebook by CNN. I was disturbed by it for a few reasons, particularly as I looked into it further.

At first blush it seems innocent enough: asking visitors to New Zealand to promise to look after the environment while visiting.

But when you think about it there are problems with that. The website explains that here in NZ "we have a deep and symbiotic relationship with our environment," and admonishes visitors that they should be mindful of the importance of our "special place."  

Yes, we do have a special place, but that sounds exceedingly arrogant to me when there are other special places around the world too. And only visitors to NZ are being asked to commit to "The Tiaki Pledge," not those who live here! Some of those visitors will also be coming from "special places," or at least places they consider as such.

As someone who picks up roadside rubbish weekly, I'm bothered by this different form of rubbish. The implication is that it's just the visitors who are creating the environmental problems here, not the locals. Whether it's traffic accidents, freedom camping, or other damage to the environment, it's "others" who are creating the problem, not us. Tourists are being made the scapegoats du jour in certain circles despite their importance overall to the NZ economy. 

This sounds like what's going on in a few other countries around the world doesn't it? Blaming immigrants, refugees, people of other religions for social and economic problems. Blaming the "other" rather than taking responsibility to address problems ourselves. There's actually a word for it now: "othering." It means "the process of perceiving or portraying someone or something as fundamentally different or alien." It is used by politicians or the media to manipulate.

People who care and look after the environment do so wherever they are. They don't need to sign a silly pledge riffing on the sacred importance of guardianship/stewardship of the land to Maori. And those that don't won't, even if they pledge to do so. Rather like some of those people caught out on "Border Patrol," with illegal goods and incorrect customs forms. Those are enforceable, legal documents. 

I'm sure the marketing wizards at Tourism NZ thought this was a great idea, but I beg to differ. In fact I think it's just plain wrong to ask visitors to do something you aren't asking everyone else in New Zealand to do too. They've even got Air NZ on the band wagon, so look out for the "Tiaki Pledge" on inflight screens. Just don't pay attention unless you're a visitor!

Snowflakes in the Bush

The other day John and I came across a small native tree at the edge of the QEII bush reserve beside the Cottage at Struan Farm that neither of us recognised:

The leaves look almost like snowflakes, don't they? A bit of research revealed something much more mundane: the juvenile form of "Pate," or Schefflera digitata, a native tree found growing in damp parts of bush, along stream sides or shady roadsides here in NZ. The tree eventually grows up to 8m high. The mature leaves look decidedly less interesting, which is probably why we hadn't noticed them before.

Laterals, Fast & Furious

I've been pretty circumspect on the heirloom tomato front so far this season here at Struan Farm.

Not intentionally so, it's just that we've been busy on other things. But to get you up to speed, twenty or so tomato plants were planted out Labour Weekend and are now flowering. This year I've planted Oxheart, Black Oxheart, Tula Black, Black Cherry, Big Red Heirloom (seeds saved from last year), Cherokee Purple, Mr. V's Purple, and Marmande. Several plants (Oxheart and Tula Black) already have green fruit, something I haven't experienced before. We usually don't have ripe tomatoes until January/February. It's an early year this year on many fronts.

So it should be a good tomato season as a result. I'm re-tying plants on their stakes to support them as they grow and pinching off laterals daily. They grow fast and are somewhat sneaky. For those who haven't been initiated into the tomato secret society just yet, "laterals" are the little branches that crop up in the crooks of branches. Pinching or snipping them off helps the plant focus more on producing fruit and less on growing foliage.

Like most things, there are those tomato aficionados out there who are fundamentalist, even evangelical, on this score. I'm middle of the road, having read that one sacrifices quantity for fewer, larger fruit by getting too carried away excising laterals. Our tomatoes are always reasonably large anyway, at least big enough for what I use them more. Peak lateral pinching time also usually coincides with Christmas, at which point I'm busy on other things.

This year looks like it could be different on the timing, but I suspect I'll adopt the same approach.

Happy Thanksgiving From The Free Range Turkeys

Frequent readers of the Struan Farm blog will know we're not big fans of feral turkeys. For a few reasons. They've almost killed our dog Clifford twice now, he blew out a ligament in his back leg chasing them that requires monthly anti-inflammatories for the rest of his life. He'd pretty much healed from the first incident (or rather had stopped limping) when it happened again. So now we keep turkeys away from Clifford's line of sight.

But since November 22 is Thanksgiving in the US I figured a story about turkeys today wasn't out of line, it would in fact be timely.

A few days ago John saw a female turkey (they're called "hens") walking around the Pet Paddock with eight chicks (or "poults"). When he saw them again he came to get me with my camera. And so I started stalking.

If anyone had seen me creeping and crouching along in the Old Orchard, Pet, and Cottage Paddocks they would have laughed out loud. In my defence I will say this is yet another reason why the weeding isn't getting done. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Looking Through & Beyond

Yes, things have been happening with the macrocarpa trees below our house here at Struan Farm. The work continues, weather permitting. This is the view at present.

A huge amount of timber has been milled, but there are still quite a number of macrocarpas to be taken down to the left of this picture above. Also the two Lombardy poplars (which are diseased and will fall down eventually anyway), and the ragged looking poplar in the middle. Once those are down we will assess.  John is already thinking about a pond in the ravine below and feature trees.

While it doesn't look like it a certain of degree of clean up has been ongoing.

There is a huge quantity of untreated sawdust sitting by the site of the mobile mill in the Bull Paddock to deploy somewhere, for some use. (While we use some for our composting toilet at the river, this is far greater than the toilet would ever require.) John remembers his father putting sawdust on the gardens, but I've read that it leaches nitrogen from the soil, so am hesitant. Everything I've read indicates that sawdust must be mixed with nitrogen or trees and plants will suffer and possibly die. So we'll see what happens with the sawdust. It will be used in some way, somewhere.

This is where we are at the moment. I'm looking through and beyond, for obvious reasons!

 

Conkers in the Pet Paddock

John and I went out a few days ago to look at the horse chestnut tree in flower in the Pet Paddock here at Struan Farm. Previously I've thought these trees weren't terribly interesting, and somewhat a waste of space, but I've reconsidered. This tree is quite pretty, and looks almost like a tuning fork, doesn't it?

In learning a bit more about the tree I've read that it is threatened with extinction in the UK due to a leaf miner. Also that the nuts, which are inedible, are called "conkers," and are used for a game. There are even "World Conker Championships!"  Learn how to play here.

Hmmm, do you think we could bring those to Piopio? Just an idea..... John isn't the only one with ideas around here!

On Track, With a Place to Pause

Nephew Mike and John have been working away to make a walking track that runs through the QEII Trust native bush reserves near the Cottage at Struan Farm and down to the river. It's that second part of the track that has been a challenge given the steep grade and uneven territory, but they've been making major progress when time permits.

The idea is to provide an option for visitors who might want to walk a loop track. So now they can walk one direction on the metal track to the river and the other on this track. Previously it's only been our more intrepid visitors and experienced walkers who would venture into the bush and down what was a rugged sheep track to the river.

John has been planting kauri and other native trees alongside the track after it comes out of the bush reserve, while Mike has done serious digging, steps, and made a rustic bench out of weathered totara boards as a "place to pause." It looks out upon a stand of very old native trees, rimu and miro amongst others. Often these majestic trees aren't seen by anyone, they just "are."

Work remains to be done to make the rest of the track even and tidy, but we're getting there. Yesterday grass seed was spread before forecasted rain. There are arrows to be put up and signs to be made so people can find their way. Beautiful corrugated limestone rocks need to be weeded and exposed (I suspect it will be Karen doing this whenever it gets done.)

John seems to think people can follow tracks that aren't quite as obvious as I think they need to be. He just knows where the track goes, thinking people should be able to follow their noses and find their way. So collaboration between us is key to make sure the track is easy enough for most visitors to feel comfortable using. He is also of the view that people will want to walk down the metal river track and back up through the paddock and the bush, while predictably I think the opposite!

But either way, the views of the Mangaotaki River and those hills from the top are rather special.

A Wealth of Things To Do

John sometimes accuses me of being a "glass half empty" kinda girl. I don't really see myself that way, think I'm a relatively upbeat, positive person. But compared to John that might be a fair comparison. He does always look on the bright side of things as a dreamer, while I can be the resident skeptic/realist bringing everything back down to Planet Earth. 

So we were both surprised when I came in from working outside for lunch the other day to proclaim that golly gee, there's an absolute WEALTH of jobs to do here at Struan Farm at the moment. We're spoiled for choice there's just so much to do! This was after we'd been outside washing and re-staining decks and baseboards around the house, cleaning out rain gutters, and weeding. 

I'm smiling as I write this, because what John doesn't know if that I often am quite overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that confronts us in the gardens and around the property. I keep seeing things that need doing and hyperventilate. I trim edges and weed and then find the same job needs re-doing a week later. I feel like I'm barely treading water at this time of the year. Much of this is self-inflicted, we know that. And most relates to maintenance and upkeep, without any of the grand infrastructure projects John may decide to get himself into with heavy equipment and contractors, like those macrocarpa trees. Right now we're also working on the design of a Christmas parade float for the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand, wait 'til you see that.

One simply has to do the jobs that need doing the most first, or the jobs one wants to do most, and then move along. It's called doing your best and trying to have fun at the same time.

 

Poppy Provenance

By chance we learned that one of the two heirloom poppies we have growing in the gardens at Struan Farm came from to Piopio via a friend of one of John's sisters. She lived in the Wairarapa, had an old villa surrounded by wisteria and poppies. This sister gave some seeds to her mum Rosemary many years ago now. They continued to self seed in the gardens for years and now I save some seed heads each year to make sure they continue to bloom around the place.

It's the poppy I refer to as the "pompom" or "french poodle." Technically it may be called a double poppy. Not the one I prefer but we grow it nonetheless.  The bumblebees love them.

At least now we know how they got to Piopio!

Early Jamming at Struan Farm

Wow! Early strawberries, rainy day, what's a girl to do at Struan Farm but kick into making the first batches of strawberry jam for this season? Normally I crack into jam making in December, but everything it seems is happening early this year. Hopefully not the case for Christmas, since I'm definitely not ready for that just yet...

I'm liking the retro looking Agee Special jars, on sale at Stevens and easy to order online. Just hope all those tops pop....Three batches done!

A Bee in One's Poppies

Interesting to see the honey bees enjoying the poppies amongst the various flowers in our gardens here at Struan Farm. I hadn't expected that these would be flowers that would attract them, and have been proved wrong!

La Vie en Rose

It's an unusual season here in the flower gardens at Struan Farm. Normally we don't have roses in bloom until after Christmas. Except perhaps for Madame Leonie, who makes a habit of arriving early, just like me. But this year all of the roses are in full, glorious bloom in early November. 

I suspect this means they'll be asking for more food and care during the longer season, so I'll alert the gardener to add this to her extensive "to do" list.

First Wreath of the Season!

Forgot to tell you that our friends at Piopio Berry Orchard are open and have strawberries available! It's the earliest they've ever had them, and they're wonderfully sweet. John is always a bit dubious about early strawberries, being quite sensitive to anything sour. But even he agrees these are quite good.

So with that endorsement I made my first strawberry wreath of the season for dessert a few nights ago here at Struan Farm:

A very easy but elegant looking dessert. Whipped cream, with or without some coconut yogurt, sliced strawberries, little meringues, pomegranate arils, and whatever other embellishments you might have on hand. Here I've used edible cornflowers, some edible gold stars for a bit of bling, and a sprig or two of mint.

The pavlova wreath comes next.

Interviewing for a Scarecrow

Having a wee bit of an issue with birds in the backyard at "veggie world" here at Struan Farm at the moment. I realised that they'd pulled out some cornflower seedlings in my edible flower troughs, also a bit of spinach and one bean seedling.

Normally I protect the rows of veggie seedlings with handy chicken wire covers, but I hadn't thought to do that for the flowers. And once veggies get to a certain size I typically remove the chicken wire. Now it seems I might need a plan B.

For the beans I've tied "scare tape" around the trough, also dangled a few ribbons of the tape near the corn and peas.

But it may be time for a scarecrow!
 

Basil, Lessons Learned

You may remember that two seasons ago we had a glasshouse full of basil plants here at Struan Farm. I went a bit over the top, as I'm wont to do, growing basil for Piopio's Fat Pigeon Cafe and Night Owl Restaurant. I hadn't realised quite the number of plants one gets from a packet of seeds, and probably overestimated customer demand. (They'd just said "lots," and I'm of American origin.) Friends Kris and Bob visiting from California cracked into the surplus and made pesto for the freezer, a kitchen campaign that was much appreciated. 

After learning my lesson about too much, last year I couldn't get basil seeds to germinate and had absolutely none. Last year I learned a lesson about too little. So this year I planted two trays of seeds. You will guess what happened. Yep, they both germinated and I now have heaps of seedling plants.

As a result of this journey I have learned that with basil it's all or nothing. And I'll take all over nothing any day. Especially with the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand now open and able to take the surplus. I've potted up the seedlings in recycled pots to put out at the stand, plus larger pots for The Fat Pigeon, Night Owl, and our personal use. I've also learned that basil needs heat to grow well; I have almost given up on trying to grow it outside in the gardens, rather keep growing it in pots in the glasshouse over summer.