We've been having quite a bit of rain in Piopio and here at Struan Farm over the past 2-3 weeks. So much so that I haven't been able to get out and work on the seasonal clean up of the gardens at all. If the sun was shining briefly it's been simply too mucky to weed or rake leaves.
It is about time to start trays of tomato seeds in the glasshouse, however. But before I can do that I need to pot up some of the hundreds of flax seedings I started for John and get those out to his native nursery, freeing up room in the glasshouse.
In the interest of getting the show on the road I've set up the potting table in the garage. I can ferry both trays of the seedlings and soil in buckets in and work away protected from the rain. We've got heaps of recycled pots in the "Pot Palace" that have been collected from the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand and our local dump to use for this purpose.
John gathered seeds from four different types of large flax varieties growing around the farm. Big green, green and white striped, and bronze flaxes growing beside the pond, also a green one growing along the Mangaotaki River that looks quite different to the others. This will allow for a good mix. I think when grown these are destined for the ponds down by the river, also along the stream we have fenced off from stock. John is still threatening to make a new pond below the house, near where we took out the macrocarpas. He has yet to get his landscaping sorted for that area, although he did plant out Beth's white oak and purchased a golden elm for the outlook. I'm not generally allowed to meddle into tree territory unless they are fruit trees, where I have a special, negotiated exemption. Just a few balls in the air around the place, as always!
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