It's been such a long hot summer that I've delayed putting the vege garden to bed for winter.

Planted out some Kale a couple of months ago, and just put in some more (Russian Red's).

l-r, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, remnant lettuce...

l-r Kale seedlings, leeks, celery, silver beet, bantam corn (as frost protection)...

Kamokamo, saved for seed (my size 10 1/2  $10  converse imitations from warewhare)...

Kai on the Marae, by Aunty's Garden

Check this out...

Mushrooms on Lincoln's cricket field

A bonus a couple of weeks ago when the heavy rains brought out a number of fairy rings on Lincoln's cricket field...

I plucked a bag, gave some to mum and dad (who've moved in to a small house on our backyard), and had four good meals myself.

First kamo kamo, and other harvestings...

Last week I saw the first kamokamo appearing under the layer of leaves...

Production is in full swing now, cucumbers (a little bitter) and tomatoes, as well as ongoing rhubarb (which I freeze, raw and chopped up), silverbeet, bok choi, spring onions, lettuce and cauliflower. .

The cauli's all came on right at the same time, so I pickled a fair bit...

The boys have been working well lately (saving for the latest XBox!). Bruno's discovered a taste for axe work...

Mulching

I should've mulched before we went away for New Years (whanau hui at Waikaremoana). Found bales of hay going for $5 each in Rolleston so picked one up.

Took the boys fishing off Brighton Pier last weekend. Bruno is right into it, Whiti wandered into the library first!

It was cold, the nor-easter nobody's friend. Most of our confreres   are Pasifika or Asian, crabbing with small hooped nets weighed down with some cheap offal.

We caught six herring, Bruno taking five of them. Wee ones all, and two foul hooked! But I thought they'd be good for the cat, and Billy (who was Milly) did scoff one...

Purple beans, all through my brain...

Our purple beans are now cropping, perhaps not quite as heavy as the standard Scarlet Runners. When cooked, they turn a dark green.

I've trained ours up a small tree I whacked the guts out of last year...

Rhubarb now producing big heavy stalks. I take it on me weetbix( just 2 or 3), microwaved for 1 minute ten with soy milk, maybe some yoghurt. Oh I cook it with a local brew by Golden Eagle Brewery, South Island Pale Ale...

The garden really looking good at the moment but needing a lot of water.

Ragged tomatoes top left, Bruno's strawberries in front, then (l-r) cauliflower, tutaekuri...

...Swift potatoes, rhubarb in the back, new celery and capsicum, marigolds, silverbeet, bantam corn. Sunflowers in the background with grapes from the neighbours

The sunflowers - seeds sourced from a grower at Kaiwhaiki - have struggled but have big happy faces to the world.

Prostrate kowhai

... just a lovely combination of words...

At Prebbleton's Nature Park.

Carpet lawn

We've had a lot of construction on the Rez in the past three, four months as the old people move into a new dwelling beside the garage. This left the lawn in a state but I came home yesterday and found new lawn already to roll out!

Planting spuds for Xmas...

Got two thirds of the tamafreakies in the mara this evening (No.1 son was doing the dishes - great results alround).

We got in three rows of Swift potatoes, will be cropping new potatoes before Xmas.

Garden starting to look quite respectable now. I've left it later this season as I always seem to lose seedlings to frost being too impatient.

Oh, Bruno took this Leeston Gothic shot.

Spring planting

Spring planting well underway, though the unsettled weather continues with with a passing hail strom at the end of a cold rainy day after a beautiful 21 degree day yesterday. Transplanted some mange tout/snow peas after sprouting them inside, sourced from Koanga heritage seeds via Piko (relocated to Stanmore Rd after their lovely old premises on the corner of Barbadoes/Milmore Streets was earthquake damaged; check out the Greening the Rubble project there).


Southland Sno seedlings transplanted



Also working on the new tunnel house, using wood left over from dismantling one of the leanto's. It was a chance to work koro's old posthole digger. Trouble is, you go down two feet in this soilk and you hit the old Rakaia River bed (it might be the Waimakariri bed actually, which use to flow south of Banks Peninsula).

Kaiwhaiki hui

Another great Tahuri Whenua hui-a-rohe, hosted at Kaiwhaiki, ten minutes drive out of Whanganui on the south bank of the river.

I took my first born, Whitiaua, on our first roadie (Bruno and I went on a field trip to Waiheke several months ago).

Uncle Ake thanking the tangata whenua for their hospitality. Alby Marsh of Plant and Food is digesting.

Sigfried Bauer and Whiti. Sigfried, a retired (he says 'cured') ultramarathoner was laying into sports journos. He's holding a two crowns of some exotic root crop that Richard Hunter had gifted him. Sigfried ran the length of Aotearoa in 18 days, 5 hours.

Maori Green Vegetables book launch...

Just back from meeting with fellow committee members and supporters of Tahuri Whenua at Parewahawaha, Bulls. As well as catching up on admin chores, we launched Nick Roskruge's latest book, Korare: Maori Green Vegetables: Their history and tips on their use

Really interesting collection of crops - some might call them weeds but hey, as we know in Christchurch, ya never know when ya gonna have to dig a hole in your backyard and fend for yourself. best you know what puha looks like and how to prepare it...



Some of Nick's postgrads came along, representing Chile and Malawi. We have quite a collection of research projects compelted alongside our community of growers, and with our crops of taewa and kamokamo.

That's Uncle Hemi blessing the book - Nick is on the left there. The book can be ordered from Tahuri Whenua PO Box 1458, Palmerston North.

A number of displays showed the variety of work coalescing around our mara. Moko of Otaki brought along some Te Waka Kai Ora publications, including one on bee keeping their first apiarist has just achieved Hua Parekore certification).

Took a shot of this snack from Peru, made from purple spuds like our (ha, our...it's theirs!) tutaekuri. Plenty of options out there for Maori growers.

Pumpkins, Broccoflower, Red Brussel Sprout and Dalmation

First frost hit Leeston on Tuesday, just minus 2 but it'll be the first of many. So the pumpkins were pulled - leave a bit stalk on, evidently stops them from rotting (another tip from one of my koro).

Nice shot of Lila (Our daughter is Willa, our dog, Lila, and the cat, Milly. I get confused daily on who I'm growling...often it's Lila who digs up selected spots of my vege patch).









Two new crops for me. Broccoflower - a cross between cauliflower and broccoli (obviously :). The other is a red brussel sprout.

Autumn beds in

 Shorter days, early evenings, a fire to take off the chill.


And crops....





Karaka potatoes

Last of the spring onions, and plenty of tomatoes

Pepper Tree, pretty spicy wee things too.