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Somewhat free range

Somewhat free range

Facing increasing encroachment into our living and garden area by adventurous chooks, we finally snapped and set up a caged are for 'time out'.
By covering the bays along the sheltered side of the old piggery that is their home we have succeed in providing a relatively large space with little hope of escape.
Concentrated chook action combined with food scraps, cut grass and other organic material is a great recipe for rapid composting.
June 20, 2010
What the BLEEP Do We Know!?

What the BLEEP Do We Know!?

An interesting and thought provoking movie documentary that looks at the very nature or reality and our relationship to that reality through our consciousness. From quantum physics to philosophy and religion, this colourful and clearly articulated insight hints at new form of enlightenment.

September 04, 2008
Understanding your location and goals

Understanding your location and goals

  • Initial remote landscape evaluation based on satellite imagery, digital mapping and local climate data
  • Phone conversation to discuss and outline objectives, time line and budget
  • Determine available resources and assets such as water flows, mulch material, nutrient sources, shelter, buildings, machinery
  • Potentially organise a site visit to assess existing plantings and observe local conditions (wind, sun, soil etc.)
Collecting, storing and posting scion wood

Collecting, storing and posting scion wood

Collection
Scion wood is collected during the dormant season from shoots that grew the previous year. In North Canterbury that is June - July. Vigorous growth of at least a 30 centimetres make the best scions. Water sprouts from up in the tree usually make good straight scions. Do not collect scion wood while it is frozen, and avoid wood that has been damaged by cold.

Storage
After cutting, scions should be tied in bundles, labelled, and stored under moist conditions in a temperature range of 4 to 7c. Bundles wrapped with damp paper towelling, sealed in plastic bags, and placed in a refrigerator store well providing it does not contain apples, pears, or other ethylene gas-generating fruit, as this is reputed to ruin the scion wood. However, wood sealed in plastic bags may not be affected?

Grafting time
Choosing when to graft can be tricky. What you want to be doing is performing the graft when the host tree or rootstock is waking up in the spring and the sap is rising and buds starting to swell, prior to blossom or leaf burst. Generally the grafting proceeds in the same order the trees flower and fruit, but earlier. Starting in mid to late august with almond followed by cherry, plum, peach & nectarine, nashi, pear and finally apple in late September.

At grafting time, cut off and discard the tip and base of the scion. Buds near the tip are often flower buds, and those near the base are often weak buds. The remaining portion of the stem is used to make scions each containing three to five buds.

Direct or Green Grafting
Scions of apple and pear (possibly others?) can be collected and grafted immediately in early spring. Mid August to mid October in North Canterbury

Postage
When we send scions they are bundled and labelled, sealed in a resealable bag with a wad of damp paper.
  grafting 
Complexity vs resilience

Complexity vs resilience

Complexity
Modern civilisation is a marvel of complexity. An extensive array of entwined and interdependent systems that, when functioning, deliver something much greater than the parts. Unfortunately, complexity isn’t without its failings and is polar opposite of resilience.

It’s easy, as a member of this complex civilisation, to unconsciously introduce complexity into our own projects. The insidious thing about complexity is that it brings with it ongoing support and maintenance which consumes time and resources and in many cases entices the application of further complexity.

Before embarking on something new it is well worth considering what future commitments are required to ensure its continuance. This can then be weighed against the alternatives of less complex solutions or perhaps the simplest of all, doing nothing.

Resilience
The ability to endure changes in circumstance is highly valuable and often the first casualty of the modern drive for efficiency. The current era is likely to be dominated by change (climactic, social, economic) making resilience an essential component to personal future planning.

From the standpoint of resilience, technology is less of a panacea and a potential millstone.
A day with the bees

A day with the bees

Simply appreciate what you've done for us with warm heart. You and your wife are amazing people who live the nature. We have learnt a lot from you. Hope to see you again one day! With a bunch of thanks
In Suk & 2 friends
October 01, 2013
Packham's Triumph

Packham's Triumph

Details   Australia, 1900s Large, golden, somewhat knobbly, sweet, very juicy, excellent for eating, bottling and puddings. A useful Pollinator
Date   August 30, 2020
Baraka

Baraka

Without words, cameras show us the world, with an emphasis not on "where," but on "what's there." It begins with morning, natural landscapes and people at prayer: volcanoes, water falls, veldts, and forests; several hundred monks do a monkey chant.
I Go Far (FIGARO)

I Go Far (FIGARO)

Check out this cure little car and it's cleaver number plate. Perhaps I should investigate personal plates further. What do they say about their owners in this time of rising fuel prices?
April 30, 2006
Day 38

Day 38

I was happy to leave the seething mass of Auckland behind me. The unexplored north lay ahead of me and I was fuelled and ready for whatever it may bring. A bright day cast harsh shadows on these new lands.
5
Future Shock

Future Shock

Alvin Tofflers book (pub. 1974) tackles what he sees as the emerging social disease of 'future shock'. This is defined as the individuals inability to cope with the increasing rate of change in the world. A very interesting book. Highly recommended.
Alvin Toffler

Kiwirail, Road User Charges and Kyoto

July 02, 2008

What is the connection between the nationalisation of the rail network, the increase in road user charges and the Kyoto protocol.

Find out why the government spent so much tax payer money to purchase Toll and why there has been a sudden increase in road user charges.

Melting point : New Zealand and the climate change crisis

Melting point : New Zealand and the climate change crisis

The idea of a serious threat from climate change is now becoming more and more accepted. The Al Gores of this world are becoming more vocal, and the cynics are being heard less often. The balance of scientific opinion is now that the evidence is irrefutable: the Earth is getting warmer, and at an unprecedented rate, due to increasing human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases.

Melting Point examines the global warming issue in a specifically New Zealand context. What will be the effect of climate change on New Zealand's natural environment, our coastlines, our agriculture, our industries, our public health, our infrastructure? What are the potential social and psychological implications? How will ordinary people be affected?

And: what can be done about it, both to accommodate the pending changes but, more importantly, to turn back the tide?

March 03, 2009
Eric Dorfman
An Engineered Recession?

An Engineered Recession?

March 05, 2009

What is happening, who saw it coming and who stands to benefit most?

  • High (hyper) inflation
  • Social disorder and anarchy
  • Climate change
  • Martial Law / The Police State
  • FEMA coffins and detention camps
The Last Oil Shock

The Last Oil Shock

A Survival Guide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man

This really interesting book puts a lot of things about oil discovery, production, demand and evental peak into perspective.

Recommended reading for anyone looking to better understand the topic of peak oil and what our options are.

May 29, 2009
David Strahan
Clavulina rugosa - edible fungi

Clavulina rugosa - edible fungi

Details   After several attempts to inoculate and produce edible mushrooms I decided I might be better off educating myself on the local edible varieties that grow themselves. On several occasions we have found and eaten large field mushrooms but these are less common as the land rapidly returns to forest.

One species that I felt comfortable identifying due to lack of poisonous lookalikes is Clavulina rugosa, commonly known as the wrinkled coral fungus. Knowing that it occurs in symbiosis with conifer roots I went looking and was surprised to find some growing less than 100m from the house. Now that I know what I'm looking for I have found them in other locations.
Date   August 05, 2021
Tags     fungi  food 
Granny smith with emerging herb layer

Granny smith with emerging herb layer

Details   This was an early attempt at eradicating the grass beneath an existing tree. The mulch layer was too thin and the grass persisted somewhat. However there are plenty of other things getting a foothold including, mint, chives, broad beans and comrefy.
Reducing gaps and creating the tighter weave

Reducing gaps and creating the tighter weave

Details   Flax is shiny and slippery and has a tendency to shift and loosen as you work. As you go it will be necessary to tighten the strips against one another to reduce the gaps and strengthen the basket.

Start from the base and work out / up the sides closing gaps.

Work in the direction of the red arrows and pull the strips on the right against their opposites on the left in the directions indicated in blue.

Depending on what you want to use the basket for you may want to have some amount of space between the strips. The tighter the weaving the more rigid the basket will be and less likely to deform over time.
Mystery Egg

Mystery Egg

The other day I found this tiny replica of a chook egg out in the paddock.
Either one of our 2 Arakanas (green eggs) laid it prematurely (or something) or it belongs to a different species of bird, I can't think what...
October 17, 2009
Fickle climate gets a book in its honour

Fickle climate gets a book in its honour

The notoriously changeable weather in New Zealand is the subject of a newly published book, the first by local author Melisa Sinclair.

Melisa is no stranger to children's literature, having worked in a children's library as well as writing reviews of children's books.

She has been interested in writing from a young age, but says her main credentials for becoming a children's author are simply that she used to be a child, and remembers clearly what used to appeal to her when being read to by her parents.

Weather or Not has colourful illustrations - also by Melisa - and simple text.
March 20, 2013
  melisa  book  media 
Peaches

Peaches

Our crop of peaches came ready unexpectedly early. Thanks to the wet season they are sensationally juicy.

As with the plums we have more than we know what to do with and so jam making was in order.
February 15, 2010
  Peach  Jam  Preserve  Fruit 

Good News and Bad News...

Well, the bad news is, I found one of the baby chickens dead this morning. Something ate half of it and left the rest. And whatever it was must have gotten into the crib-house which means it is likely a ferret. It is sad. But somewhat expected. We didn't think all three would necessarily make it to full adulthood. I hope the other two will though!
The good news is, a few days ago I found a nest of 13 eggs! One of the bantams has gone clucky again and has hidden her nest right in the middle of the paddock. We've marked it with a white pole so that we won't step on her. So in another few weeks, we will have more babies!
Update: 12 chickens hatch
November 24, 2009
  bantam  clucky 
Converting an existing orchard to food forest

Converting an existing orchard to food forest

When we took over the property it came with an orchard consisting of plums, almonds, cherry, apricot, apples, peaches, nashi and pears. The trees are of varying ages and were planted more or less randomly across what was once an open paddock. Slowly I have been contouring, inter-planting, removing grass, mulching and generally intensifying the productivity of the area.
September 01, 2013
Energy & efficiency

Energy & efficiency

Energy underpins every action and is so fundamental to our modern way of life that we don't even pause to consider how reliant we are on affordable, reliable concentrated flows of energy.
What would you do when fuel becomes more expensive or temporarily unavailable? How will you manage a prolonged power outage during winter?
Having backups and redundancy is one way to mitigate the disruption and discomfort. What does this look like for you? Grow some firewood, store candles, insulate, solar
Working with rhubarb

Working with rhubarb

Melisa made this fantastic rhubarb crumble.
I'm not sure what else went into it but it looks as good as it tastes.

It seems rhubarb just grows. All I did when we got here was divide up the one plant into 3 or 4 pieces, replant and cover with straw. Now it's ready to harvest.
Cloudy with chance of....dust?

Cloudy with chance of....dust?

Yesterday it looked cloudy and misty like it might rain. It was a bit mysterious though, because when I went outside the air felt dry, and I realised that the murky haze wasn't misty but more like smoke or dust.
Well, turns out that it was dust, covering all of North Canterbury. It 'baffled experts' yesterday and they couldn't figure out what it was. But Olmec said it smelled like dust, and he was right. It was dust that had blown over from a dry lake bed in Australia. It rained red drops of the stuff in Tasmania before the remaining dust made it to New Zealand. Strange...

September 15, 2009

Stubborn

We have a very stubborn black hen who keeps getting past the gate. We have seen her fly over a couple of times, so we tried clipping her wing. She didn't come in for a couple of days after that, and we thought it had worked. But then she was in again yesterday, so obviously she can still fly over.
I tried hanging old CDs up along the fence because the flickering in the sunlight can help be a deterrent. But that didn't work either.
Not too sure what the next move will be...
October 27, 2009
Blackberries

Blackberries

Wild blackberries are a bit of a curse round here, growing rampantly wherever they can. However at this time of year they redeem themselves somewhat by offering up sweet berries.
In addition to the thorny wild plants, we have a thornless variety in the garden that produces larger, more accessible berries.
February 16, 2010
Black Turtle Beans

Black Turtle Beans

Four months ago I planted a small handful of beans in an area of about six square meters.

Now they are ready to pick and I have gathered in at least 30 - 40 times what I planted.

This has got to be one of the best and easy to measure returns on effort expended.
March 20, 2011
Wasp

Wasp

A paper wasp nest. Looks like it still has some lave in there.
Not sure what these insects look like but I found this hanging from the rafter in the chook shed.
November 12, 2009
roast & blend

roast & blend

We have an over-abundance of tomatoes at the moment and it's hard to think of what to do with all of them. A fantastic way to preserve tomatoes is to roast them and then blend them... and then put them into freezing containers or bags and into the freezer.
March 06, 2011
Wasps for insect control?

Wasps for insect control?

During late summer and autumn there are a fair number of wasps around the garden, orchard and sometimes even the house.

Originally I saw them as a pest, just another thing to watch out for so as not to get stung.

However, on closer observation I noticed that these little guys are actually helping out by preying on other insect populations. I have seen wasps catch and kill large flies, butterflies and other winged creatures and having witnessed them crawling over formed cabbage heads I suspect they also target things that live on there (caterpillars, earwigs, butterfly eggs...?)

I'm not sure what sort of grief they cause for local bee hives.
Flea buster

Flea buster

Details   It's hard to see what positive role fleas play in the great biosphere. Summer is coming and the warm dry is ideal breeding conditions in the chicken house. Melisa has declared war and has resorted to chemical weapons (natural neem oil).
Date   October 26, 2016
Tags     2016  Melisa  October 
Garden working-bee

Garden working-bee

A group of us gathered to help install a new vegetable garden for Heidi and Nuk out at Gore Bay. Many hands made things progress quite quickly and we were able to create and plant an area directly beside the house for easy access as well as a new contour garden mound in what was lawn.
August 14, 2016
  garden  community 
Native pigeon - kereru

Native pigeon - kereru

There are a number of these attractive and clumsy birds that frequent our orchard. They seem to enjoy feasting on the buds and blossoms of the plum trees in particular. In this case he perched in the top of a young almond tree.
It's clear that (like humans) the native birds are happy to eat whatever is available and tastes good. We find the kereru love tagasaste flower buds and cherry plums. As our forest garden matures and the amount of flowers and fruit increases, so does the bird population. Who would have thought.
August 24, 2013
Radium weed transplant and use feedback

Radium weed transplant and use feedback

The re-planting of the weeds was quite successful, as shown in the attached photo. The one in the green pot is the one from your garden, and is doing the best. The others are from your orchard area. The two at front left and in the brown pot are looking as if they are growing well. Three or four others in the background aren’t looking so good and will probably not make it. Interestingly, on my return home I found several plants growing around our house (now that I have seen what they look like), mainly small, but all looking healthy. When I was re-planting them some were slightly damaged, so I broke the stems and applied the milk to a red dis-coloured area of sun damaged skin on my cheek. Within a couple of hours it was stinging, and the next day it was quite inflamed and raw. It settled to a scab which was gone in about a week, with the redness considerably reduced, so I regard that as successful. The following week, I applied some of the milk to a couple of spots on my nose, probably a bit too liberally, as the next day it was very inflamed, and even bleeding, but again it healed within about a week with a noticeable improvement in the spots. So my conclusion is that the milk is very effective, but quite aggressive, so care is needed not to overdo the application, as the result is quite disfiguring in the short term. I will continue to use it, and would recommend it, subject to the cautions noted.
December 12, 2018
Living on contour - working with water flow

Living on contour - working with water flow

Water is the essence of life and as such we need to be thinking about how to make best use of what we have. The most important work we do is to implement solutions for capturing, storing, diverting and infiltrating rainwater and runoff. This helps build soil, nourish crops, prevent erosion, minimise drought and reduce or eliminate irrigation needs.
Learn about the art of land shaping for natural rainfall catchment, a practical guide to water harvesting and management.
Make the most of the water available, direct surplus water away from wet areas towards dry areas.
Use swales and terraces to halt the flow of water and nutrient off the land and allow it infiltrate and hydrate the soil.
August 21, 2014
  water  swale  contour 
A plague of rats

A plague of rats

What with an abundance of edibles and great places to hide at blockhill there has been something of an epidemic of rats. While we are generally happy to share with all the creatures it gets a little concerning when they can be heard chewing on things in the ceiling. Fearing our water pipes and electric cabling might be damaged we decided to push back. With a little help from Victor we were soon dispatching rats (also named Victor) daily.
August 15, 2019
  rat  pest 
Olmec

Olmec

Having grown up on a small organic farm in North Canterbury, I have a lifelong connection to land, gardening and ecological awareness.

In 2005, seeking adventure, I left my Wellington life and software engineering job behind and went backpacking through Australia and into South-East Asia. For 8 months I worked and travelled, gaining a new perspective, first hand, on other ways to live, different value systems and the nature of our expectations. Poor, remote villagers always seemed so happy in their simple lives and displayed an evident commitment to family, community and place.

Over the next 4 years I began looking into the consequences of human settlement and our impact on our surroundings as a result of our attempts to globalise a techno-industrial capitalist system. What I discovered alarmed me and galvanised my direction to begin preparing my life for the future I saw coming.

In 2009, My wife and I transitioned from city dwelling office workers to rural, self employed lifestyle entrepreneurs.
Since then I have been researching and implementing more sustainable ways of inhabiting the land and extracting a yield.
I still work with computers to solve problems and have taken that way of thinking about multiple, interacting, complex systems and applied it to everyday life. When I'm not running about in bare feet, I'm in front of the computer building websites. (Someone's got to pay the bills)

Gradually I am developing my understanding of natural systems and how they can support human needs while organising the assorted solutions to share with the rest of my species. I see this as the great work of our time, to reinvent ourselves and our culture for the better.

Day 13

I awoke to the silence and golden glow of dawn. Here I was, in the middle of an adventure, in new lands. This is exactly what I had dreamed of (if there is such a thing).

Day 17

I awoke to a slightly more hospitable day and headed back into town. I got my bearings and then headed off to Tauranga to do the email thing and see what else I could entertain myself with. First of all I needed a wash so located a public toilet with HOT

Day 20 - Coromandel

I think I've lost count of the days. I certainly don't know what day of the week it is. I do know that I have been waiting here in Tauranga to receive mail form Barry relating to his new publication, The Mutton Bird.
Intergen Greens Up

Intergen Greens Up

Three posters to inform clients and help encourage staff to recycle what we can. Our main output is paper, cardboard, bottles and cans.
October 05, 2007
Dead man

Dead man

Dead Man is an undeniably strange movie, and sometimes it's hard to figure out what to make of it. A quirky chronicle of one man's physical and spiritual search for a place of belonging.
Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered

Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered

I was told about this book by a friendly bus driver with whom I chat some mornings. Published in 1973 this book is somewhat dated but does provide some interesting theories on our current assumptions that growth is the only way forward and that economics and efficiency are essential.

January 20, 2009
Cornelian Cherry

Cornelian Cherry

Botanical name   Cornus mas
Family   Cornaceae
Details   Fruit - raw, dried or used in preserves. Juicy, with a nice acid flavour. The fully ripe fruit has a somewhat plum-like flavour and texture and is very nice eating, but the unripe fruit is rather astringent.
Woodland Garden Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; Hedge;
Diameter   4.00
Height (m)   5
Flowers   Yellow
Edible  
Fruit / berries  
Perennial  
Shade / Sun   Sun to part shade
Soil type   Most types, prefers moist site
Wind tolerance   Strong winds

Energy efficiency with hot water

Currently most of out hot water heating is done by electricity although we are are working on a number of strategies to reduce this component. One part of the approach is to keep the thermostat set so that the water is just hot enough.

I was having a conversation with someone about energy efficiency and hot water heating and what was the best temperature setting for the hot water cylinder.

The friend was operating under the incorrect assumption that it was better to have the cylinder as hot as possible so that when water was taken out, for a shower say, there was less cold water entering that required heating. There is a certain surface logic to this but it seemed to me that it doesn't matter what temperature the water is, when you have a shower or do the dishes you are extracting the same amount of energy (in the form of hot water) from the tank and so the energy needing to be replaced is the same.

The issue with keeping water extra hot then, is more to do with the extra energy that is required to maintain a greater temperature  differential between the temperature inside and outside the hot water tank.

According to one website:
"The ideal setting is 60°C. It is important that the water in the cylinder is this hot to kill bacteria such as legionella but higher temperature settings only increase your power bill."
June 17, 2011
Starting from scratch

Starting from scratch

In 2009, when we first moved to the property, there was very little in the way of productive, edible trees besides the few plums, pears and apples in the existing, conventional orchard. At this point we didn't know we would create a food forest.
Seen here, looking north(ish) the paddock to the left of what will become the chook house is still bare.
May 07, 2009
Plum with heavy mulch

Plum with heavy mulch

Working with what little I had at hand I decided to try and see what I could get away with. Here I have used old cardboard boxes covered with dry and rotten willow logs, cut broom and grass.
A little bit of wind

A little bit of wind

We had a very windy night with some impressive lightning and thunder. At one point it sounded like the thunder exploded directly above us.... an unfriendly way to be woken up.
Power went out for 36 hours and cellphone / internet for 48.
The tunnel house was somewhat damaged, mostly due to the door coming open or disintegrating.
September 13, 2013
  wind  storm  weather 
Bio fuel (turning food into energy)

Bio fuel (turning food into energy)

Ok, so this isn't what most people mean when they say bio fuels but turning lunch into energy certainly can reduce dependence on fossil fuel.

Our push mower is cheap to run, quiet, doesn't smell bad, easy to service and takes up hardly any room in the shed. Oh, and it keeps you fit! What's not to love.
October 22, 2009
Pomegranates

Pomegranates

We have a small pomegranate tree down the back of the garden. Last year it had 1 small, hard, dry fruit.
This season, after a vigorous pruning, we got 2 plump fruit bursting with pink seeds.
The inside is somewhat like a passionfruit, although not as sweet and tasty unfortunately.
May 28, 2011

2022 Scion Wood Orders Completed!

It's the big event for midwinter, the fulfilment of scion wood orders. This year we sent off 41 packages containing a total of almost 400 fruit tree cuttings consisting of 28 varieties.

We wish the recipients all the best with their grafting this spring and welcome any feedback our updates. It's exciting to think that these little twigs will go on to provide fruitful bounty to their carers in distant locations up and down the country.

So that's all for this year folks, check our scion wood page for a list of what we can supply and signup to watch the page and be notified when ordering commences again in 2023. Catch you then!
July 05, 2022
Setting of expectations

Setting of expectations

The expectations we have about what we should be eating and when determines what options are open to us in terms of where and how we obtain our sustenance. By adjusting our requirements and evaluations of what makes something desirable food we open up new sources and types of fruit and vegetables. This is a prerequisite of low input forest gardening.
November 22, 2015
Goji berry

Goji berry

Details   One of the so called super fruits because of all the good minerals and vitamins it contains.
Common name   Goji, Box Thorn, Matrimony vine
Botanical name   Lycium barbarum
Family   Solanaceae
Height (m)   2.5
Diameter   4.00
Edible  
Fruit / berries  
Perennial  
Wind tolerance   Tolerate maritime exposure
Shade / Sun   Full sun - part shade
Soil type   Moist free draining
Reforestation idea

Reforestation idea

A brief article that explores the benefits of prohibiting the use of herbicides in New Zealand. I realise this is a radical and unrealistic proposition since most people are ignorant, or refuse to believe that there is anything wrong with these chemicals or that the need to restore woody vegetation is an imperative to tackling rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
July 15, 2014
Male Bamboo

Male Bamboo

Details   A tropical to subtropical clumping species native to Southeast Asia. This bamboo is extensively used as a raw material in paper mills and has edible shoots.
Common name   Male Bamboo, Solid Bamboo or Calcutta Bamboo
Botanical name   Dendrocalamus strictus
Height (m)   8-20
Edible  
Perennial  
Drought tolerance  
Small Leaved Lime, Littleleaf linden

Small Leaved Lime, Littleleaf linden

Details   Young leaves make an excellent salad or sandwich filling. Coppice or pollard trees to maintain a manageable size
Botanical name   Tilia cordata
Height (m)   30
Diameter   12.00
Edible  
Perennial  
Wind tolerance   Tolerate exposure
Carbon Equivalent   1.00
Siberian Pea Shrub

Siberian Pea Shrub

Common name   Siberian Pea Shrub
Botanical name   Caragana arborescens
Family   Leguminosae/Fabaceae
Details   A genus of shrubs mostly native to Central Asia, some inhabiting dry, half-desert regions with hot summers and bitterly cold winters. They include some of the toughest and most accommodating of all plants, some able to survive temperatures down to -40°C. (A diversion for quiz addicts: this is the one point in the Centigrade and Fahrenheit scales of temperature where they are numerically the same.) As with many plants of such origin, they are often armed with an interesting variety of spines, some making useful impenetrable barriers. One of the toughest of all plants with clusters of yellow pea-flowers in May.
Flowers   Yellow
Diameter   1.00
Date   July 07, 2013
Height (m)   4
Drought tolerance  
Edible  
Evergreen  
Nitrogen fixer  
Perennial  
Seeds / nuts / tubers  
Shade / Sun   Full sun
Soil type   Most
Wind tolerance   High
Elderberry

Elderberry

Details   Fast growing multi stemmed small tree with flat clusters of small white flowers in late spring.
Common name   Elderberry - European Elder
Botanical name   Sambucus nigra
Family   Caprifoliaceae
Height (m)   6
Diameter   6.00
Edible  
Fruit / berries  
Wind tolerance   Low
Shade / Sun   Full sun - Shade
Soil type   Most
Flowers   White
Weather or Not

Weather or Not

Weather or Not is a little book about changeable weather, changing your mind, and changing your clothes!

This story covers terms and concepts of New Zealand weather.

It will appeal to preschool and primary school aged children, and is perfect for young readers with its simple rhyming text.
  • Paperback
  • 32 pages
  • Colour illustrations
  • Perfect bound
  • Width: 190mm
  • Height: 148mm
Click the pdf link below to see the first few pages.
$16.00
Butterfly weed

Butterfly weed

Details   A species of milkweed native to eastern North America. It is a perennial plant growing to 0.3–1 metre tall, with clustered orange or yellow flowers from early summer to early autumn.
Common name   Pleurisy Root, Butterfly milkweed, Rolfs' milkweed, Indian Paintbrush
Botanical name   Asclepias tuberosa
Family   Asclepiadaceae
Height (m)   0.3–1
Diameter   0.50
Perennial  
Shade / Sun   Full sun - part shade
Flowers   Orange
Tags     butterfly 
Buying a property with 80% deposit

Buying a property with 80% deposit

Modern society is built on debt and many of us accept it as inevitable. Our consumer culture encourages spending (not saving) with easy credit and a notion that instant gratification will lead to happiness.

With a little self control and planning it is possible to save a large deposit and avoid the shackles of long term debt.

July 11, 2009
New Year 2004-05

New Year 2004-05

A 10 day road trip round the North Island with my Danish flatmate Signe. Costal camping, rainy days, new year concert, lakes and snowy mountains.
December 27, 2004
Wednesday

Wednesday

Photos on display, a letter to thailand, fish curry, exploring the dwellings of cuba street and a late night beer.
February 22, 2006

Dynamically Include JQuery Plugins

I develop and maintain complex websites that often make use of JQuery technology for improved usability.
There are so many useful plugins but not every page requires them all. Rather than slow down the site by loading all the script libraries every time it is possible to dynamically include those that are required for the current page.
For example, only include the lightbox plugin for pages where there are images that will make use of it.
Sounds simple right... well it should have been.
November 10, 2009

Tasman Street - Wellington

I moved to Wellington to pursue work in the IT industry. When I left Christchurch I packed my possessions into a little blue car and drove north. It was summer and very hot.
October 20, 1999
Turning 26

Turning 26

When I find myself contemplating birthdays, the numbers involved and their relevance, I usually come to the conclusion that the whole concept is meaningless due to the arbitrary nature of counting and the artificial, human imposed significance...
January 24, 2007
The battle for subdivision

The battle for subdivision

It wasn't as if our original application for subdivision was written on a dirty napkin or something but I guess the council is used to dealing with legal and surveying firms who charge their clients tens of thousands of dollars to produce flashy folders of technical sounding details.
October 01, 2007
Ontrack to dictate terms (via deed of grant) for level crossings

Ontrack to dictate terms (via deed of grant) for level crossings

Ontrack has as its intent *nationwide*, to close down as many private rail crossings as possible. Farmers are being offered the chance to enter a "Deed of Grant" for the continued use of some of these many crossings..... for a a fee. This fee and the attendant conditions of the proposed Deed of Grant have not been spelled out. It is impossible to say how many of the nations crossings currently used by farmers will survive to enter this new arrangement, with the revised status they will possess. Each and every crossing will undergo review.
November 14, 2007
Clearing and planting

Clearing and planting

It's an ongoing effort, a battle with the environment to tame and control nature for our own ends.
October 13, 2007
Citrus

Citrus

Details   A family of tropical to subtropical fruiting trees and shrubs
Flowers   White
Diameter   1.00
Edible  
Evergreen  
Frost sensitive  
Perennial  
Shade / Sun   Part sun - full shade
Soil type   Light to heavy well drained
Plum Wine

Plum Wine

With an excess of plums and apparently to much spare time, I decided to try and make wine. The process is reasonably simple, so I have high hopes.
No doubt as other fruit come ready I'll be experimenting with other flavours.
January 30, 2010

Conquering Clucky Chooks

For the past several weeks, our chooks had been clucky....sitting on either one egg, or sometimes no eggs at all. They just sat in the nest boxes and stubbornly wouldn't leave the nest. We tried putting them in a clucky box for a few days, but this did not work. As soon as they came out, they would go straight back on the nest.

But a bit by accident, we discovered a technique that worked really well to take the cluckiness out of the chook!
March 02, 2010

A wild storm

Today it was calm and mild and not very cold at all. But then around midday, I heard a strange rumbling sound that didn't quite sound like traffic on the road. It was a bit deeper and had more of a rumble to it....almost like thunder.
March 12, 2010
Ubuntu 8.10 Upgrade Saga

Ubuntu 8.10 Upgrade Saga

November 10, 2008

A recent upgrade left my machine with a bad case of noisy fan and inaccurately reported / excessive processor usage.

A fresh install of the operating system rectified the issue and all is well.

Portable Electric Chainsaw

Portable Electric Chainsaw

Configuring an electric chainsaw for mobile firewood collection.

Electric chainsaws are light, with no fumes, less noise and fewer complex parts to cause issues.

The problem is they require a fair amount of power, thus limiting their portability.

Check out how to set up a useful system for mobile sawing...
April 27, 2010

Linux Programming with RealBasic

May 03, 2008

Issues and concerns of working with RealBasic development environment under Ubuntu 7.10 and 8.04. A cross platform programming language with potential, just make it work.

Reinventing the parking structure

Reinventing the parking structure

A look at possible urban farming in the post petroleum future, making the most of the situation and thinking about survival.

The voices in the peak oil conversation have made it clear to me that problems with the production and transportation of vegetables will demand more food to be grown closer to the point of consumption - back yards, roof tops, window sills and so on.
Kunstler believes that cities will contract, and those on the coast (exposed to sea level rise) are certainly likely to, as are those that require air conditioning or heating to make the climate bearable.

June 21, 2010
  Urban  Future  Farming 
Olmec, indigenous peoples of central America

Olmec, indigenous peoples of central America

People make all sorts of wild guesses about the origin of my name. I can count on one hand the number who have known correctly.

For those of you who are not sure, the Olmecs were a culture of ancient peoples inhabiting the East Mexico lowlands around 800 BC. They are often regarded as the Mother Culture of later Middle American civilizations and are famous for their colossal carved heads.

In a strange twist of fate, it turns out my wife, whose grandmother is Salvadorian, may have a trace of Olmec ancestry.
Faster websites with image sprites and css

Faster websites with image sprites and css

Introducing a clever way of optimizing a website for speed is to make use of the image 'sprite' technique.

This works by combining multiple images together to reduce the number of server requests and image size.

Learn more about how this technique works and the issues involved.

 

April 20, 2009

Install and setup VPN in Ubuntu 9.04

A step-by-step guide for creating a connection to a Microsoft VPN. I use this for connecting to resources at the office when working from home.

I compiled this information because I couldn't find a single online resource that brought all the different elements into one article.

May 11, 2009

Google Map - Resize InfoWindow

I have worked with Google Maps on a number of challenging projects, each a little more complex than the previous. The most recent project needed to resize an open infoWindow (speech bubble) based on its content. Sounds easy enough right. Well, it turned out to be less straight forward than you might think.

June 24, 2009
Concrete bench top - faux granite

Concrete bench top - faux granite

If you spend a lot of time in the kitchen as we do you will appreciate the value of a quality bench and sink configuration.
The one we had was a single tub with a wooden bench top constructed of poor quality materials and it wasn't living up to our requirements.
In typical style I decided I needed a challenging new project and launched into building a complete replacement with a concrete bench top and double tubs. This is the story.
August 01, 2012
  concrete  kitchen  bench  tub  sink 
Chinese haw

Chinese haw

Common name   Chinese haw
Botanical name   Crataegus pinnatifida
Family   Rosaceae
Details   Broadly spreading, deciduous. Thorns not numerous. Leaves glossy and yellow in the autumn. Grown widely in China for its edible red fruits.
Height (m)   5.0
Date   August 07, 2013
Edible  
Fruit / berries  
Perennial  
Shade / Sun   Semi shade, Full sun
Soil type   Moist, Wet
Babaco cutting

Babaco cutting

Common name   Mountain papaya
Botanical name   Vasconcellea × heilbornii or Carica pentagona
Details  

Stem cuttings from mature plants growing under cover in North Canterbury

Propagate and grow your own babaco plants quick and easy with stem cuttings. Simply place the cutting 1 third into the soil (right way up) and keep damp in a sunny, sheltered, warm location. Roots will form around the bottom cut surface.

Plants are self fertile, so only one plant is required to set fruit.

High success rate and should produce fruit in 12 – 18 months.

Wind tolerance   poor due to big leaves
Flowers   white
Frost sensitive  
Edible  
Fruit / berries  
Perennial  
Tags     subtropical  fruit  cuttings  propagation 
Price   $3.90  15cm stem cutting
Watch MORE Only 7 in stock   Order
Got 'matos precious?

Got 'matos precious?

Our tomatoes are out of control, a huge improvement over last year.

We have a bunch of different varieties but the most prolific by far are the roma. Last year a lot of these ended up in the compost and subsequently sprung up all over the garden. Unable to bring myself to pull them out we are now drowning in tomatoes.
February 19, 2011
  tomato  preserve  stew 
Scything like it's 1809

Scything like it's 1809

Trying out some rustic scythe techniques in the orchard. No noise, no smell, just good old fashion manual labour.
The scythe is best known as the weapon of choice of the grim reaper, basically a long, curved metal blade on a wooden pole with handles. Traditionally used for mowing grass and harvesting cereal crops, the scythe has a long history in agrarian (and revolutionary) societies.
December 25, 2009
  scythe  grass  tools 
Extra long chicken run

Extra long chicken run

The idea behind this chicken run is to provide the inhabitants with a reasonably large area (21 square meters) while being easy to move and providing adequate protection.

Using odds and ends I was able to construct something that looks like it will do the trick. Read more about materials and construction process.
January 30, 2011
Bee swarm

Bee swarm

It started with a few bees buzzing around the corner of the house and quickly turned into several thousand.
Hoping to prevent their entry into the roof cavity I blocked up the small hole they had discovered and tried to forget about it. They wouldn't give up.
November 19, 2010
  bees  swarm  insects 
Harvesting rain

Harvesting rain

It's raining today (as they said it would) and it's bloody marvellous. As a free resource, rain should be collected or focussed for use in the right spots at the right time.
One of my processes includes home made guttering, a bath, and an overflow pipe
March 05, 2011
  rain  water 
Eating Meat

Eating Meat

We decided to cook our young rooster since he was eating plenty and not making any eggs.
He was about 6 months old, one of our first set of baby chickens.
Follow my easy steps for killing, plucking, gutting and cooking.
April 06, 2010

Grafting calendar

There are 2 main activities related to grafting that are season and weather specific.
  1. Collecting desired varieties of scion wood from healthy trees while they are dormant. For deciduous fruit and nut trees this is mid winter or late June to July in New Zealand
  2. Grafting the stored scions onto the appropriate rootstocks in early to mid spring when growth is commencing. Here in North Canterbury this is from early August to to mid October.

Correct timing is only part of the grafting process. Make sure you familiarise yourself with the technique, compatibility and after care for the best results.

Fruit Tree Pruning Service

Details   Most fruit trees benefit from occasional pruning to ensure good airflow, sun penetration, tree health and crop production.
You may have additional requirements such as maintaining access and ease of reach, reducing shade from large trees etc.

Pruning is best done early summer prior to fruit formation, after harvest and after leaf fall. Pruning at these different times prompts different responses from the tree and so it is useful to know your objectives before choosing the pruning time.

Because cutting a tree opens it up to possible infection it is important to perform the operation during a period of dry and sunny weather.

Performing a quality surgery takes time and care. The operation shown in this photo took and hour and a half.
Price   $50.00  per hour + travel
Options   Leave prunings, remove prunings
Large fruited thornless hawthorn seeds

Large fruited thornless hawthorn seeds

Common name   Chinese Hawthorn
Botanical name   Crataegus pinnatifida
Details   A deciduous tree or shrub that can grow to heights of 5-10meters. Grown widely in China for its edible red fruits, these seed come from a tree planted in 2013. This specimen is thornless and produces large quantities of big dark red fruit after white flowers. This is the only type of hawthorn we grow and there are no wild ones in close proximity (that I am aware of) so seed should be pure.
Tags     berries  deciduous  edible  fruit  perennial 
Price   $4.20  20 seeds
Watch Learn More Out of stock
Red cherry guava seeds

Red cherry guava seeds

Common name   Strawberry guava
Botanical name   Psidium cattleianum
Details   Small evergreen tree or shrub slowly growing to 6 meters. Native to Brazil. Red fruit, up to 3cm in diameter, with numerous hard small seeds. Rich in vitamin C
Edible  
Evergreen  
Frost sensitive  
Fruit / berries  
Perennial  
Tags     edible  evergreen  fruit  perennial  red  tender  tree 
Price   $3.90  20 seeds
Watch Learn More Only 9 in stock   Order
Siberian Pea Shrub seeds

Siberian Pea Shrub seeds

Botanical name   Caragana arborescens
Details   A genus of shrubs mostly native to Central Asia, some inhabiting dry, half-desert regions with hot summers and bitterly cold winters. They include some of the toughest and most accommodating of all plants, some able to survive temperatures down to -40°C
Nitrogen fixer  
Perennial  
Tags     perennial  shrub  legume 
Price   $5.90  20 seeds
Watch Learn More Out of stock
Pear - Louise Bonne of Jersey scion / bud wood

Pear - Louise Bonne of Jersey scion / bud wood

Details   Smaller pears with thin skin and soft flesh. Red blush on the skin.Louise Bonne of Jersey is not self-fertile and needs a pollination partner of a different variety nearby. Pollination partners - Packham's Triumph, Conference
Price   $3.90  each
Price for 2 or more   $3.50  each if you buy 2 or more
Tags     pear  scion 
Related info Out of stock