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And the winner of Piopio's Next Top Model for 2019 is: PEACHES!
Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and good holiday break with family and friends from Struan Farm. The farmstay continues to be busy, with January almost fully booked out. Blogs will return sporadically as/when.
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Here I've been blaming the mynas and sparrows nesting in the rain gutters of our house, when the winds are to blame!
Last week when I was cleaning up the orchard area here at Struan Farm I found hundreds of fallen green apples and peaches on the ground. I blamed the birds, they are the usual suspects for this sort of criminal activity.
But I hadn't considered the high winds we've been having. They blew through again late yesterday. And today there are more fallen apples under Monty and Peasgood, fallen peaches under Golden Queen, and even fallen plums under Satsuma. While the amount of fruit on the trees looks okay, our harvest will be reduced, oh dear!
It seems I've falsely accused the birds for a crime they didn't commit. Just yet.
And yes, I know there are products out there to keep birds out of rain gutters. On our end it's a matter of priorities, and we just haven't gotten around to it. Since we seem to have quite a few permanent residents now established in the gutters I'm encouraging John to move this up the list. The chirping and poop are annoying. I have been known to take matters into my own hands on this sort of "maintenance" oriented job from time to time, but given our division of labour the situation must be extreme before I dare cross any lines.
And yes, I know there are also products out there to discourage birds from attacking fruit trees. Scare tape doesn't really work, nor do dangling CDs. Netting is a blight on the landscape, and must be removed at a certain point. I have covered some laden branches with pieces of netting (plums and peaches in particular), and may resort to that again to protect fruit.
I know those birds, they're just biding their time.
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I can't in good conscience title this post "Bubbles Comes Home to Struan Farm." While I rescued abandoned triplet lamb "Bubbles" along with her brothers Ajax and Elvis over a year ago now, John forced me to "whanau out" Bubbles and Ajax to his sister in New Plymouth when pet lamb numbers last year reached the arbitrary pet lamb threshold in John's mind (Elvis didn't survive his first night by the fire).
It was with a heavy heart that I transported Bubbles and Ajax south to their new home. Ajax died of some mysterious illness months later, but Bubbles thrived at her new home in Taranaki. She greeted guests coming to the Fringe Garden Festival, got used to lots of rubs and pats.
This week John's sister got in touch and asked if we would consider having Bubbles come back to the farm. They are building a new house and moving and a pet hogget wasn't going to be easy to manage with all that going on. Of course we said yes. So Bubbles made the journey back up the road to Piopio.
I can report she wasn't happy about it.
Her mum led her through the garden out to the paddock below our house, where she joined pet lambs Sugar and Spice. Peaches, Fig, Chalk and Pickle are also wandering around this paddock somewhere.
Everyone is adjusting to a new situation. There was quite a bit of baaing yesterday afternoon, and we did our best to reassure her with pats and calls. I tried apple treats, which were a non-starter. At one point I stopped weeding to remind her that I was actually the one who saved her life originally. But we all know the mum that matters to Bubbles is down south. Even me.
She's hanging with Sugar and Spice at the back gate currently. Eventually we'll have her join Jam, Jelly, Bambi, Camilla and Fergie, 2018 pet lambs (now hoggets). Maybe she'll remember them.
Rosie may need to have a chat with her to convince her to get with the programme. We all know who the Diva of the paddocks is at Struan Farm, don't we? Bubbles can't go getting any fancy ideas in her head about that or sparks will fly!
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It looks like it's going to be a good feijoa crop here at Struan Farm this year, at least based on what's flowering on our two mature trees at the back gate right now. I've got two more young trees planted up in our orchard area at the house, but it's early days for those. We have two varieties planted, "Kaiteriteri," which has large fruit, and a smaller, later variety called "I forgot to save the tag." You know how that goes?
Feijoa flowers look very much like pohutukawa to me, they're just lovely!
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The two heirloom apple trees I grafted this winter using Peter the Hermit's Golden Delicious apple scion wood from Hester in Mahoenui have both grown, much to my great surprise and joy.
This was my first attempt at grafting, and to be honest I thought I botched it badly. I'm not great with sharp knives, and John was too busy at the time to supervise (maybe that was a good thing?!).
I grafted the wood taken in July in September, kept everything wrapped in plastic bags and damp paper towels in the fridge. I used a proper grafting knife and grafting tape, and grafted them onto Northern Spy rootstock I've had growing at the back gate for the past year. Maybe having the right gear helped. The scion wood was meant to be as thick as a pencil or your finger, and the rootstock basically that same diameter. I researched, read, and did my best, which seems to have been enough.
I'm trying to keep them watered well in our growing bed at the back gate, and hope the apple gods keep smiling. This is a very special crisp heirloom apple, it would be wonderful to have a tree or two growing in our orchard from which we could then propagate more for others in the community. Normally I'm not a fan of Golden Delicious, I find them too mealy. But I've tasted this apple, and it seems this early cultivar was quite different from today's Golden Delicious.
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This year I'm experimenting a bit with some different types of squash after coming across them at the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand. In addition to Black Coral Zucchini, Musquee de Provence pumpkin and Chieftain Butternut, I'm growing two "pattypan" type squashes, one yellow and one green. Thinking they might be good stuffed with cheese mixed with grains like rice, quinoa, freekah, or farro.
Right now they just look beautiful growing away in the veggie gardens here at Struan Farm!
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Apologies for the late post, but the garlic crop got harvested today here at Struan Farm, amongst other things. While the garage is just a little pungent while it hangs to dry, at least I'm confident Dracula won't be visiting us any time soon!
Once it dries a bit I'll trim the ends and then leave them to dry fully spread out on newspaper before cutting the heads off for storage. I've pulled 38, three different varieties. While conventional wisdom is to plant garlic on the shortest day of the year in June and harvest on the longest in December, I learnt this year that it is actually ready for harvesting when the 7th leaf from the bottom starts to die.
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This week everyone got shorn ahead of Christmas here at Struan Farm. The weather has been warm and wet, optimal conditions for sheep to get "fly blown," so it was time for seasonal haircuts to minimise those potential problems.
Sugar and Spice came running back up to the back gate, their home base, to show me their new looks.
I know they feel better because they keep rubbing against the fence!
Buzz, my only ram/wether pet lamb this year, has gone off to Farmer John's to spend some time on his farm with the other lambs from the mob, who are about to be weaned from their mums.
After seeing Sugar and Spice I decided to wander off in search of Peaches, Fig, Chalk and Pickle, since they'll also stay here at Struan Farm with the ewes. Rosie had been in the yard with them before they were shorn, and I'm sure helped to calm everybody down. I found them at the front gate, their home base. It's amazing to me how the lambs know where "home" is, even after they've been out wandering around the farm.
I've now put the six pets together in the house paddock. After having a big hello and pats all around I escorted Peaches, Fig, Chalk and Pickle over to join Sugar and Spice. We'll see if they mix or stay in their existing groups. Based on previous experience I'd say the latter, but maybe they'll surprise me.
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This past weekend Piopio Berry Orchard unveiled its first crop of blackberries. This season they're introducing both blackberries and boysenberries to extend their range. As if their exceptional strawberries, blueberries and raspberries weren't already enough! But we're happy with whatever they decide to do since they do everything so well.
I decided to improvise here at Struan Farm and make a blackberry frangipane galette. Galettes are fun because they're rustic, free-form, quick and easy. First the pâte brisée/pastry is made in the food processor, it needs to chill for at least an hour before it can be rolled out. For the frangipane I adapted a Martha Stewart recipe from her "Pies and Tarts" book, one of my baking bibles. The original recipe uses poached pears set atop the frangipane. To make the frangipane butter and sugar are creamed until fluffy, to which eggs, ground almonds, almond extract, a wee bit of flour and amaretto are added. I substituted amaretto for the rum called for with pears, sticking with almond flavouring.
The frangipane is spread in a circle on the rolled out pastry, topped with blackberries, a few sliced almonds and a sprinkle of sugar. The pastry edge is rolled and brushed with egg and milk, after which the galette is put onto a baking tray and baked for 50-60 minutes at 200C until it's golden brown. I just keep an eye on things after about 45 minutes. Every oven is different.
And the verdict is that this was really delicious.
We're now going to need to take a pause on the desserts ahead of Christmas. That or do daily walks down to and back up from the river, which we probably should be doing anyway. There's a huge Christmas cake seasoning in the pantry, although I know I won't be able to stop myself from making a pavlova wreath too.
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John gifted me a beautiful piece of rusted steel sculpture for Christmas, created by Clevedon sculptor James Wright. The disc has various native birds. It's designed to be hung from a tree, but I thought it might look interesting set in a weathered totara post in our garden here at Struan Farm.
And guess what? It does. It looks amazing. Merry Christmas to me!
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John and nephew Mike both have December birthdays, so with sister-in-law Anna here for a flying visit I decided a casual birthday dinner was in order. For dessert I pulled a recipe for "Strawberry Tiramisu" out of the NZ Herald's "Viva" supplement this past week, it looked sufficiently celebratory for the occasion.
It was really good, definitely give it a try!
Lady/sponge fingers are soaked in strong coffee and marsala, then layered on an alternating basis with a custard made of egg yolk, sugar, and mascarpone, and sliced strawberries. The tiramisu is chilled, so can be made the night or morning before. It's dusted with coco powder before serving, I added a dark chocolate curl and fresh strawberry to dress it up. An elegant alternative to birthday cake.
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The first jam making of the season happened a few days ago here at Struan Farm!
I've been debating over how much strawberry jam to make for farmstay guests this year, vs. blueberry, blackcurrant and damson. Our strawberry jam is simply too sweet for me, and quite a few people are cutting down on sugar. But guests profess to love it, especially kids. And it's easy and quick to make, another bonus.
I've decided to take a middle ground approach this year with strawberry jam and make a few batches when I have windows of time. Strawberries are in abundance right now, they taste amazing, and are well priced at Piopio Berry Orchard.
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The shallots I've planted out in "Veggie World" here at Struan Farm are putting on a bit of a show at the moment. They're starting to flower, stretching around and creating these beautiful curved shapes, "curlicues." Do you know this word? It means a decorative curl or twist in the design of an object, but sounds rather old-fashioned to me.
I suspect these curlicues are telling me it's time to harvest, and I need to listen to them. I do.
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Baking has been happening. Even though John made the executive decision to cancel Struan Farm's annual family Boxing Day celebrations this year to give us a wee break, I'm finding the need for Christmas baking. You know how that goes, it isn't Christmas without the baking, at least in my house.
I've kicked off with a proper Christmas cake, found the recipe in the British version of Country Living magazine, "Spiced Port and Orange Christmas Cake." Sultanas, raisins, dried figs, cranberries and apricots are mixed with orange zest and juice and port then soaked overnight. The next day the cake batter is made and mixed with the fruit, after which everything is baked wrapped in copious amounts of baking paper for FOUR HOURS.
Once cooled the cake is rewrapped in baking paper, cling wrap and foil. In two weeks it will get a wee douse of port and rewrapped. I won't have time before icing to do more than that. Decorations are rather elaborate, with marzipan/almond pine cones and crystallised rosemary, I'm definitely looking forward to that part of the process. Stay tuned!
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I exaggerate, slightly. But I have potted up over 300 basil seedlings and about the same amount of zinnias in the glasshouse here at Struan Farm over the past week. I've ended up donating "slabs" of surplus basil seedlings from a second seed tray to the Piopio Community Fruit & Veg Stand rather than pot more up or let them go to waste.
The zinnias I'll grown on a bit before planting out in the gardens at the house and the Homestead. The basil is for our use (yes, pesto and Caprese Salads once the tomatoes are ripe), plus some for our friends at The Fat Pigeon in exchange for coffee vouchers, also the Community Fruit & Veg Stand (plants and fresh cut herbs). Growing basil outside in our climate is a hit or miss proposition, so I've stopped doing that and just grow it in the glasshouse over summer. It loves the heat.
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