Experience blockhill

This selection includes photos taken over the course of years of development and progress on the land.

Garage improvement - 3 years later

Details  Secret swale at west end of workshop. Planted with bulbs, tagasaste for nitrogen and quick frost canopy over lemon and climbing kiwifruit. Ground cover of oregano and alpine strawberries.
Date  August 24, 2015
Tags    upgrade 
View 4 photos
Early October

Early October

Details  We've been working flat out with our Intern, Zac, and so it's been a while since our last horn tooting photo update. So here it is, bellbirds, blossoms, native nitrogen fixers and food forest progress. Enjoy and then get out there and invite nature into your bit of the world.
Date  October 06, 2017
Tags    2017  October 
View 5 photos

Star tetrahedron

Details  Constructed from two interlocking Tetrahedron to form the star tetrahedron (also known as the merkaba vehicle of light) – represent the innermost law of the physical world: the inseparable relationship between the two complementary halves – the positive and negative, the manifest and the unmanifest – which form a perfect equilibrium. Depending on your vantage point this arrangement will look different as the photos illustrate.
Date  September 05, 2016
Tags    art  sculpture 
View 5 photos
Summer produce

Summer produce

Details  Fresh chilli and capsicum from the plastic house
Date  April 08, 2015
Tags    Capsicum  Vegetable 
Autumn bounty - pears

Autumn bounty - pears

Details  Ripe pears are simply wonderful and one of the easiest fruit for us to grow.
Date  March 02, 2013
Tags    pears 
Grubba the ginger pig

Grubba the ginger pig

Date  October 12, 2014
Tags    pig 
Quooks!

Quooks!

Today the baby quails have hatched and the big clucky chook has become a mother! There are six babies altogether. There were 7 this morning, but that's a sad and rather funny story.....basically the little quail was sitting up in the nest box and was chirping away. It then got excited and jumped giddily out of the nest box, bounced off the ramp, landed on the floor and was promptly picked up in the beak of hungry chook who thought it was a scrap of food. We tried to rescue it, but it was too tiny to survive such a trama. But at least it got to have a near flight experience in it's short little life.
December 05, 2009
  chooks  chickens  quail 
Melisa Sinclair
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Muscovy ducklings

Muscovy ducklings

Details  Young ducklings enjoy exploring the swales with their mother
Date  February 07, 2015
Tags    ducks 
Rota takes a bath in a swale

Rota takes a bath in a swale

Details  We have a number of swales out where the pigs live but this one is their current favourite. Nothing better for the pig than a mud bath on a hot sunny day. It seems that the action of the pigs hooves (feet) and their rolling in the mud actually help seal the swale so it holds water better.
Date  October 31, 2013
Tags    pig  swale 
Video
Plastic house

Plastic house

Details  Well designed plastic house offers plenty of space for growing exostic and out of season crops
Date  July 30, 2013
Tags    garden 
Garden swales

Garden swales

Reconfiguring the garden after some inspiration from Geoff Lawton permaculture DVD.
By laying out the garden beds along the contour we get easy access with improved water infiltration and retention. The width allows for easy reaching to the centre from either side. In the rare instances when we want to irrigate it is simply a matter of flooding the path for a while.
July 31, 2015
  swale  garden  2012  2015 
olmec
View 4 photos
Freshly created swale

Freshly created swale

Details  It's never too late to add another swale, it's just a matter of squeezing it in amongst the existing plantings, fences and other obstacles.
The swales not only do a fantastic job of capturing and infiltrating surface runoff during rainy times but also break up the land in interesting and attractive ways.
Date  December 03, 2014
Tags    Swale  Food forest  Water 
Hot dry summer

Hot dry summer

Details  Early January and things are starting to look and feel dry
Date  January 07, 2015
Tags    summer 
Bumble bee working

Bumble bee working

Details  We love our hard working bumble bees. Here one explores the solomon's seal.
Date  November 06, 2013
Rooster

Rooster

Having a rooster offers a number of benefits, if you can overlook the noisy crowing:
  • Helps encourage the chooks to start laying earlier
  • Provides some level of predator protection
  • Creates fertilised eggs if yo want to hatch baby chickens
October 01, 2014
  Rooster 
Bellbird on red hot poker plant

Bellbird on red hot poker plant

Details  Bellbirds love nectar and can often be seen clinging to these flowers dotted about our garden.
Date  November 08, 2013
Spring in the garden

Spring in the garden

Details  New areas of garden in development. Phase 1 bee plants.
Date  November 05, 2013
Poppies and phacelia

Poppies and phacelia

Details  Flowers growing by the guest house
Date  December 10, 2013
Growing, growing...

Growing, growing...

Date  March 26, 2014
Edible garden

Edible garden

Details  Apples and lots of other (more exotic) edibles
Date  February 22, 2014
Autumn afternoon

Autumn afternoon

Date  May 01, 2014
Little brown frog

Little brown frog

Often heard, never seen, this little creature has been chirping away quite frequently since our wetland has matured.
I was surprised and excited to discover it hiding in the pile of bricks.
March 01, 2013
  frog 
Wood pigeon

Wood pigeon

These birds can be seen in the orchard throughout the year feasting on blossoms and plums.
August 07, 2011
olmec
Parnassus Heights

Parnassus Heights

Looking west from the top of the hills that form the southern edge of our valley. The Waiau river can be seen catching late evening sun.
March 22, 2010
  waiau  view  river 
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Baby Fantail

Baby Fantail

Known for its friendly 'cheet cheet' call and energetic flying antics, the aptly named fantail is one of the most common and widely distributed native birds on the New Zealand mainland.

It is easily recognised by its long tail which opens to a fan.
February 24, 2010
  Fantail  Native  Bird 
Nor'west summer

Nor'west summer

Last light on the first day of the new decade. Nor'west clouds formations are typical of this time of year.
November 20, 2012
olmec
Feeding the chooks

Feeding the chooks

A view of the chook paddock from the hill across the gully.
November 18, 2009
olmec
Lush

Lush

Spring time amongst the clover
November 11, 2009
Rooster and hens

Rooster and hens

The rooster struts his stuff out in the field.
November 07, 2009
Strawberries ripening on the plants

Strawberries ripening on the plants

The strawberries are in blossom and a few have set fruit. They're still green but swelling fast.
November 02, 2009
Blockhill
Front garden

Front garden

The garden emerges from winter.
October 01, 2009