NZ Resilient

Early spring is my traditional time of optimism and hope on the homestead as the wet days start winding down.  This is the time of preparing, planting and prioritising those ideas which came to mind over winter. Major goals for me are to build up both my productive land and prepping for any potential drought or sprinkler ban. An assessment of the expected spring weather helps with that forward-planning.  Mine is based upon the seasonal outlook produced by NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research).  My assessment is divided into 'NIWA Forecast' and 'Implications' sections, to distinguish between mine and NIWAs work. I share it here just for the 'fun' of it, with no particular intention.  NIWA Forecast for The Auckland Region This section contains both the actual commentary and the confidence estimates. These are  sourced from the regional section of the outlook concerned.  Note that NIWA's commentary refers to various averages. These are lo...

Hi. With spring approaching, and now being between contracts, it's time to re-assess the risks I'm both dealing with and prepping for.  Below are the risks/issues that I am working on at the moment – this generates my priorities. 1.     Unemployment Actual – priority task to find next my role. Opportunity to assess value of my preparations to date: e.g. garden, power, rainwater. 2.     Cost of living/ Inflation Buy the essentials required to get through unemployment now.  Park other buying for now. Make a list of future purchases for after I’ve found my next role. 3.   Spring Is forecast to be slightly drier than usual Source Weatherwatch update https://youtu.be/OQnqBclr6g0?feature=shared Specific general advice to stock up on water - assumption this is for high volume users like farmers etc. Auckland will probably be wet enough for my immediate needs anyway. Maintain watch. 4.     Petrol to increase by 15 – 20 cents per litre...

I've been a home gardener for about 10 years now. I can't say that I love it, but I appreciate what it does for me, enough to recommend other people try it. As a homesteader, growing some of my own food addresses both the cost of living and prepping for a civil defence disaster.     Saying that, growing-your-own can be intimidating  to start with and time-consuming to keep up - so this post is about 'why' rather than 'how'.  To keep things direct and practical, this article is about my ongoing success with lettuce and spinach, and the lessons I've gotten from that.  The topics I'll cover are Why I Grow Some of My Own Food What I'm Growing Savings Made Other Benefits Lessons Learned Why I Grow My Own Food At All F ood is an unavoidable cost, which only seems to increase faster than the pay-cheque. I find that growing some of my own food increases my sense of security by Saving me money now Protecting me against food inflation Reduces the impact of any...