Already Paid For.

This avocado is quite a memorable piece of fruit for us. It is the very last one we were able to pick from our own trees. We have already paid for it. ( as part of the purchase price of this property ) ( one of a list of reasons we wanted this property )  We will have to patiently wait till the next crop is ready...we understand that..... we were growing them for export so understand their life cycle and care requirements. We pruned the large  trees so had to sacrifice some of next times crop for the long term good of the trees. Right now in New Zealand any avocados available are selling at a very, very high price. We have to revert to life without avocados for a while. As a child I had never heard of them and they were not a New Zealand crop. So that is a change for the better.

 With the loss of one fruit comes the beginning of another. This is the first lot of satsuma mandarins I've picked. Still a tad  tart but almost there. The tree has hundreds so we better start eating and sharing now.

 We moved to this property 10 months ago and I have been recording what fruit, nuts and produce was ready each month so we get it right next year and from now on. Also so we can fill any gaps . I intend to plant 2 persimmons ( absolute favourites of mine ) just as soon as 2 untidy palms are removed( next week possibly ). ( the persimmon trees are $50 each! yikes. ) 

 On the gardening front I have replanted lots of vege seedlings. I hope the white butterflies are gone for the Winter.  I have reformed the 2 gardens on either side of the front entrance and now will start filling the gaps. A magnolia tree stands in the middle of each garden so roots make planting hard digging but it already looks so much more pleasing to the eye. ( photos when I've completed it ) 

 Spider lilies from my childhood have moved with me and seem happy on the outside table in the sun.

         *******

 I found out my right arm does not like using the  rotary cutter for too long. I am trying to assemble bags of pre cut squares of fabric ( from left overs ) for the Exhibition Sales table, so I must just do that  for a short time each day. I think it's the gripping . It's surprising how many tasks require gripping. It is giving me a sense of achievement however by reducing some of my more than currently required fabric bits and presenting them neatly and ready cut ( charm squares )  so someone else can use them.

BOP Autumn Weather.

During the day BOP Autumn weather continues to be warm. Night temps have dropped but we  expect that in May. 

 Chrysanthemums are Autumn flowers. I picked these for a vase on the kitchen bench. I like their smell and they keep so well picked. They came from a plant, now in the garden I call Cherry #2, which I have just re weeded. The Chrysanthemum was originally a potted plant but has transferred to life in the garden very happily.

I have planted some white mini cyclamen here as it is mostly a shaded garden and white flowers show up best.

 Yesterday I re weeded the asparagus bed and the blueberries and applied a full bag of seaweed and manuka mulch. I hope both crops will thrive behind their netted cages.

 In the old poly house which I also weeded I am still picking some tomatoes and I salvaged some small aubergine when I pulled out the deteriorating plant.

 This pathetic offering made a delicious savoury bake for dinner.

I cooked some pasta then  R  sliced and baked the little aubergines. In an oiled  baking dish I layer slices of eggplant; tomatoes; pasta; grated  cheese and  yeast flakes and poured over tomato puree ( from the freezer ) and sauce and sprinkled oregano and lastly chopped bacon (as R likes that ). It was surprisingly tasty.

 To not waste the produce we have R has been dehydrating apples.

These are Splendour apples and now he is working on Granny Smith which are less sweet but also a yummy snack. Everyone, young and old who has tried the dried apples loves them. They are a way of keeping fruit without any added sugar and they transport well in lunch boxes, even pockets. 

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 When not in the garden I have done about half of a knitted navy vest for elder Grandson and I am making covered padded coat hangers for the sales table at our Exhibition in September.

 ( This shows it partly done ) 

 At P and Q we have all been encouraged to start making items for sale NOW as time has a way of disappearing fast. These hangers which are kind to shoulders of clothes especially knitteds require some machine stitching and some hand finishing.( I have plenty of batting and fabric scraps )  As I was winging it to some extent I have refined my pattern to waste less fabric and have written myself notes on" how to,"  for another time. I am also beginning some felt needle cases. 

Hanging on the double doors is my wall hanging .......I need to finish that too. It  has to happen before September.

 Maybe I'll stay in and sew more when the weather gets colder.

 At the weekend my neighbour took me around another walking track nearby we are allowed to use. That will give me more variety when I walk. 

( We have been here 10 months now and I didn't get to hear about this till now! )

What are We Producing ?

If you have been reading this blog in years gone by you will know we used to have feijoas and walnuts in large quantities. Here we have 2 feijoa tress. One has no fruit as it's too shaded,the other has been a big surprise. Earlier on when I did a little pruning on it I thought after a quick count there might be 50 fruit if we were lucky. BUT we have had over 200 already. Its a mystery where they are all hiding....but a very pleasant one. We all love them. The walnut we knew would never come close to the amazing tree (s) we had on the orchard. Picking up walnuts there was hard work (on a slope )  for me. 

 The picking up here is easy on mown lawn. The crop is small but with a bit of fert can probably be improved.( not sure what variety it is ? Maybe English paper shell)

This is it so far drying in the sun. 

Today we picked these tomatoes from the old plastic poly house ( on its last legs ). They are sweet 100 and we think because of the extra warmth and putting no water on the leaves this plant has been able to go on producing a crop long after the ones in the garden have been pulled out. It was the first plant to have ripe tomatoes and still has more to ripen now. Really quite amazing.😋

 We are now down to our last half dozen avocados for this year so R has been up the biggest tree pruning a big clearance hole to let the sun stream in. Sure we loose quite a few small next time fruit but its for the future good of the tree.( it is very tall ) 

 We have had Arbor Barber back to take out 2 more large trees - a banksia and a puriri. Also to let sun it and improve the view for the next door neighbours.

  *****

 Over Easter I was able to give this now finished wool vest to little 8 month old grandson. I didn't get a pic of him wearing it ( a bit warm here yet ), so here is Big Ted modelling it. 

I also completely finished the set of Fish place mats I was making( for ages )so will have to find another hand sewing project for P and Q tomorrow.

What a time waster this 1000 piece puzzle proved to be. The most time consuming one we have tackled yet. Son did 75 % me only 25%. I wish we hadn't started it. ( it was one I got at the used book sale a month ago )  The sky was bad news, especially with deteriorating eyesight like mine.

 I have said no more .....I wonder if I will stick to that.

These red Nerines I transported with me from the orchard are very happy in there bucket /

 pot and are blooming brightly. All the ones I put in the garden are getting leaves not flowers so I may have to wait till next year for them to be properly established. ( at least I have them ). 

 Its a brilliant Autumn day here in BOP, very warm and pleasant in the garden .

Property Improvements.

Using the truck ( to get the rocks ) and the Hustler with trailer to transport them down to the jetty area this job is finally done.

 The rocks to stop any further erosion have  taken R quite a lot of time to fill right along. This is our waterfront to the estuary at the bottom of our garden property. The rope fence is the boundary on one side. I took the photo standing on the jetty. On the other side of the jetty it is sloping grass that doesn't seem to get eroded and is good for launching the kayak.

Down in this same area we put the bigger garden rubbish into a pile for a bonfire.

 With fire permit of course, this morning R lit the fire. It burnt away quickly as the palm fronds I had added were quite dry.

Behind the fire the other project to drain a very wet area is taking place.

 In the garden at the moment the Queen Protea is coming into flower. It has numerous buds.

 Down amongst the fruit trees this hibiscus had been cut down by the previous owners. I let it grow up again and am pleased with its colour and look.

 Lots of gardening jobs including boring things like edges and hedges have been dealt with. Lots of weeds are springing up after the rain, so there is plenty for me to do.

 No sewing and only a little knitting has been done.

 ( next rainy day ) .

Gardening and Knitting.

Seeing Spring bulbs flourishing in her Edinburgh garden on Pam's blog I knew I had to get more bulbs planted here. I brought pots of  red nerines with me from my last garden and there are quite a lot of daffodils here but not other Spring bulbs. I planted these yesterday and realised as always I could have easily made room for 10 times this many. Never mind they will multiply and I can get more. I am very aware that I must not put in more patches of garden then I can easily maintain. ( I know this from experience. ) .

R has repainted the 6 outside plastic chairs. They had faded to a powdery pink shade.( They don't normally stand in a rigid row like this ) Bright? Yes! ( at the moment .)

 Yesterday I did some digital pest control. It was much needed.  6 new shoots on my yellow rose all looked like this.....my fingers turned a strange greeny  squashed aphid colour.

I have been appraising the crops we have grown here so far. The successful ones have been:my strawberries. They haven't stopped since early summer. Scarlet runner and other green beans have been very productive. Silver beet grows like crazy. The tomatoes ( too many ) potatoes and spring onions ( still being used ) and corn  -  all good. The herbs all flourished. Courgettes were good. 

With the tree crops, the 2 varieties of avocados are still feeding us. The citrus except for one tree  ( it's coming out ) were amazing. ( lemons grapefruit and oranges and mandarins )  2 of the apple trees are good. - The Granny Smith and Splendour .The Royal Gala had too much black spot ( we will prune it right back as it is huge and hard to reach  ). The 2 pears trees produced amazing crops. I had never seen bees eating fruit before. Wasps yes.  Bees no - they were falling on the ground drunk.

 On the other hand the grapes disappointed. Far far too many vines  and not very sweet ( 5 big ones ) Just one green grape  vine is being kept. The birds and wasps just ruined the rest as I didn't net them. We have plans for their site.  Also coming out is the loquat tree.  Peas didn't do so well. It may have been the seed.  We love them and won't give up on them - a different site next year.

 ******

 I have also started knitting another little vest. It looks skinny here but as it is 2 by 2 rib it stretches right out. It is my tried and true pattern. Easy to knit and really easy to pop over a small boy's head. It has no back or front or inside out. I finally got myself a good standard lamp to stand beside the couch so I can see to knit or sew at night or on dull days.

Lots to Read.

I finished all these quilted alphabet

letters. All I'm doing for now anyway. 36 here.
 I have the upper case and lower case letters to be able to write both Grandsons'  names.

                                          ******
 Last weekend we went to the Rotary Used Book Sale and stocked up on reading. These I selected for myself.Quite a variety there.  R got 18 too.

 I also found 2 jigsaws and a couple of books for Grandson.1.

*****

I'm quite proud of this capsicum I grew in the poly house. Not many on the plant so I guess that helps with the size.

 I hope the weather keeps warm for a while as there are all these naked ladies  ( Belladonnas ) flowering in the garden.

From Land and Water.

Over the last weekend some new activities happened here. As we grew far more sweetcorn than we could eat when it was at its succulent best, we let the excess dry on the cobs in the garden. R and Grandson picked and unwrapped the cobs. R then scrapped all the kernels from the cobs and winnowed the debris out. 

 Using this old hand grinder R ground the corn into cornmeal.

It left it still rather coarse so he put it through a small  electric grinder. It was slightly darker in colour than commercial cornmeal.

 He then made his usual polenta.

The recipe he uses is:-

 300 grams of cornmeal

700 mls of chicken stock ( or similar )( or water )

300 mls of milk 

 1 finely chopped onion

 50 grams of butter

 1 tsp salt

120 grams of finely grated parmasan

 Sauté the onions in the butter in a large saucepan.

 Add the liquids, stir  and bring to near boil. Add salt. 

Slowly add the cornmeal while stirring, stirring stirring. 

 Pour into a buttered dish and let set. Refrigerate.

 It can then be cut into squares and fried ( makes the edges crispy ) or chips and baked with rosemary.

 It is quite rich but very tasty.

*******

 Meanwhile son was setting his net in the estuary.

 This time he caught a very large Kahawai.

 A smoker has been bought so the fillets got smoked and looked like this.

 From this he made very tasty fish cakes 

( which had mashed kumara and potato in them ).

 ******

Some of us took a trip to the closest beach  ( Omokoroa ) as Sunday was such a clear warm day. ( Mt Maunganui / Mauao in background)

The tide was well out and there were lots of mud crabs.

 The mornings now feel like Autumn but the days are still very warm.  30 degrees C  here yesterday.

High Tide and Full Moon.

Last evening I walked down to the jetty at sunset to see how high the tide was in.

 Touching the boards on the jetty.

 There was a lot of plopping going on as fish leapt to catch insects. 2 circles where the fish have plopped back in. Smaller ones were jumping right close in. I think the very full moon may have had something to do with the amount of activity I was seeing and hearing.

This pied Stilt or Poaka was circling and growling at me to go away. At last exhausted he landed and kept up the warning calls. See the red legs. I wonder where the nest is?

As I walked back up the hill to the house the very full moon was rising.It's the closest it ever comes ( perigee ). It certainly looked large and impressive.

 This morning I went back in daylight to see how high the tide was.

This show the current as the tide comes in.

Slightly higher than I saw last evening.

 Up on the bottom flat grass just a bit. A 2.1 metre high tide.

Finished by 5.30.

All the plants and bulbs I bought were in the ground by late yesterday. As always I maybe could have fitted in a couple more punnets of blue lobelia but they can still be added. Not visible cause they are underground are some lemon scented Freesia bulbs and some white dutch iris bulbs.
 The larger plants include a lemon gerbera, a  white dahlia, a rust coloured chrysanthemum  and 2 salmon / apricot  coloured Echinacea ( mooodz sympathy )( heat loving compact varieties )  Between I have put either lemon Guems ( perennials ) or blue or blue and white Lobelia ( annuals. )  or lemon marigolds.

 From the other end.

Although it looks pink here this is the pale orange echinacea  (2) I put of in. ( quite expensive but worth it if they thrive. I have had them in my last garden. Butterflies love them.

 I did bring from my last garden a container of my precious Burtonii Freesias but that wont be enough for picking. I love to pick great bunches of freesias in the Spring and only plant the scented ones.

 I am pleased with my efforts and like the result. When I walk out the laundry door to go to the clothes line I can see this and think that looks so much nicer.

 ******

 I also planted white freesias under a cherry tree and a dark navy ajuga under a magnolia ( which if it does well I will add to. ) 

 My garden tasks over the next little while will be just watering and weed maintenance.

Weekend Project.

The only thing written on the calendar for this weekend was Friday evening dinner at friend's place. 9 of us ate, drank and were very talkative and loud. We had a thoroughly good time as we always do in each other's company.

 I allowed myself to spend as much time as I wished during the weekend on a new garden project....hampered only by the extreme heat we are experiencing. 31 Degrees  C yesterday.

 This is the area I am working on. Having already hand weeded it 3 times in the 7 months we have been here I decided it will become  garden & hence worth weeding and watering and caring for. A long narrow strip. Dotted along it are some small box plants - not my favourites but they can stay for now to give a bit of height. Overhanging it at this end is a very nice queen protea which was in flower when we arrived last July.

 I measured out 20" from the wall all the way along , then put in marker sticks and dotted a line with paint aerosol to make sure I spaded it out straight and even.

 I made an excursion to the Garden centre to buy plants as an incentive to get stuck in.

 This annoying little weed ( in front of the blue pot ) that I didn't have in my last garden is the main offender that has to come out. Anyone know it's name? Grows flat on the ground and has pink stems.

 Progress . I was alright till the shade seen here disappeared...I got overheated and am taking a spell.

 I will show the finished garden and new plants tomorrow or when it's done.

 I am happy in my garden, I find it a contemplative time , but do sometimes have a tendency to overdo it...especially in the heat.