Struan Farm

Vampire Free Zone

The garlic harvest has happened here at Struan Farm. It was so wet before Christmas, when one is meant to harvest it on the longest day of the year, that I decided to hold off on pulling it up. Things have now dried up considerably, in fact we're almost needing to water the flower gardens given the lack of rain.

It's a mixed crop, but better than I expected given the amount of rain we had in November and December. Garlic likes dry, hot weather. I've trimmed off the roots and left everything to dry out on newspaper in the garage. I've also got my shallots on another table doing the same.

Yes, there's a certain aroma in the garage at the moment. But at least we won't have any vampires coming up the drive!

 

A Day Off

It seems we need to go away from Struan Farm in order to "allow" ourselves to rest and relax. At least this is the case for John, who is relatively new to being at the farm on a full time basis. I learned to pace myself about two years ago, not that I'm wanting to sound superior in this regard. I collapsed from exhaustion one two many times, so learned the hard way that one can't work full tilt every day or one pays the consequences in one way or another. The challenge is that there's an endless amount of work to do around this place that keeps calling out to us. Much of which we created. It's our fault and we know this.

So John declared a "holiday" this past Saturday before we both fell over. Also before the scheduled tsunami of farmstay guests lands at the front gate. I'd just rather call it "A Day Off," since "holidays" mean something far more extended to me. This didn't even qualify as a "long weekend."

We travelled over to Kinloch to see John's sister Anna and two of her daughters and their families for lunch. Her place is a short walk to the shores of Lake Taupo, and in summer when the place is busy with holiday makers it has the feeling of the lakeside resort it is. We tried to bring the leftover ham from Boxing Day as a hostess gift, but when that was graciously declined went bearing Piopio strawberries and blueberries instead.

It was good to get away. On the drive over we encountered this rather amusing "road hog." He or she was being watched by a motley mob of sheep and goats, who weren't too sure what he/she was up to.

It was also good to get home to Struan Farm, feed Clifford and water the veggie gardens. Bring on the tsunami!

Blueberry Jamming at Struan Farm

Yes, it's that time of the year here at Struan Farm! Piopio Berry Orchard is into peak blueberries, and has just started offering their "two for" pricing. As soon I see that I pounce, and start sterilising jars and stockpiling lemons and apples.

Batch #1, fresh from the pot. I've heard one pop so far!

Edible Flower Show

The old stock troughs that I planted out with edible flower seeds (cornflowers, borage, nasturtium, calendula and viola) here in the backyard veggie gardens at Struan Farm have definitely worked well this season. They provide beautiful pops of colour, plus the bees love them.

I've also let some of the earlier Italian parsley plants go to seed to see what those flowers look like, and to experiment with seed saving. Same for the coriander. I'm enjoying the fragile coriander flowers especially, and when the temperatures get too hot it's impossible to grow coriander without it going to seed or bolting anyway. The bees also seem to enjoy them, a win/win!

 

Zen and the Art of Gathering Black Currants

The black currant bushes in the veggie garden and orchard areas here at Struan Farm are delivering beautiful fruit this year, progressively, each day. I go out in the late afternoons to pick them, bringing along my beginner's mind. You see they hide. They are quite shy, and to gather them properly one needs to stoop and peer underneath leaves, gently move branches, and come at them from various directions. I always start picking them a bit earlier than I should, I can see that when I pour my darker, subsequent pickings into the freezer container. I need to hold myself back until they are entirely dark rather than simply purple. And often one side is ripe when the other isn't quite yet. And because they're harvested in "dribs and drabs," it's best to pop them into the freezer after picking and use them frozen for jam or baking.

Black currants are an exercise in patience, but worth it. At least to me. They are considered a "super food." There are those of the English persuasion (including noted cookbook author Nigel Slater) who spell them "blackcurrants." I just saw that Edmonds does too, while Google is all over the place. So I go back and forth too, I can't decide. But I'm happy we're able to grow them here at Struan Farm.

To Catch A Thief

I went out to water the veggie gardens here at Struan Farm the night before last and discovered this:

One of my beautiful, ripening Oxheart tomatoes attacked and eaten by something. A range of suspects entered my mind, several of which (dog, bird) I discounted immediately, since the tomato was low to the ground and still on the vine. But two others (possum or rat) were the most likely. We can't have this happening, just as the tomatoes are coming on. The thief must be caught. There will be consequences.

And so I got out the possum and rat traps with baits for John to set (note the high end Pic's Peanut Butter, this is clearly an emergency!):

And so we wait. It might have been someone just passing through, who hasn't gotten the memo not to mess with Karen!

Tomato Time

Just reporting that we've had the early tomato varieties start to deliver here at Struan Farm! "Oxheart" and "Black of Tula" have been the first to ripen. No more store bought tomatoes for the foreseeable future. There's simply no comparison with homegrown.

Scarecrow Zack is keeping an eye on the front bed for me. I stopped pinching laterals right before Christmas, and predictably now everything is starting to run wild.