NZ Resilient

Overall Progress Another week, another win - ”soooooooo much winning” etc etc Morning dews are common now, and rather than a loss of ‘good’ weather, it feels like a transition as the kale, silver beet and salad greens are being resurrected. Looking out the window at the last cherry tomatoes, I appreciate how well these plants have fed me this summer (Mind you, so has their price in the supermarket!). Storing the surplus is well underway, with the freeze-drier back in action. I briefly thought about getting the pressure canner out… but then I remembered how much I hate canning. Also, in the last three weeks or so, I’ve effectively halved the water, time and labour involved in watering and basic feeding of my southern garden. This will be a template for the other gardens. Irrigation Improvements Extending the irrigation worked out better than expected: The ad hoc irrigation layouts are effective enough, so I won’t buy additional components. Using the hose pressurises the tank supply en...

  Things are going well.  Recently the focus has been on producing food and reducing the effort needed to grow well at scale. In both cases, immediate benefits are starting to flow and that I am building up to growing a full years supply.  The dry weather is forecast to continue for a couple more weeks at least, so let's see how long we can keep summer crops going. Regarding the food, e verything is hitting their stride and attention is turning to harvesting and preserving. The main challenge I'm experiencing is balancing my time. The 'product' comes through in variable amounts, and my goal is to use or preserve it  - While still fresh i.e. as soon as possible - In time-efficient batches i.e. when there is enough product to justify the effort of each batch - In a way that fits in with the rest of my routine to keep good habits going.          Mind you, it's a good problem to have.  T he seasonals are coming through in strength.  Che...

 While it's been another week for working on infrastructure as the dry weather persists, the small-wins come through daily with fresh tomatoes, celery, capsicums and salad greens in particular drip-feeding through daily. I have mixed feelings about this as I would prefer it all to arrive on an defined schedule, but then there is something highly satisfying about picking what I need when it is ready.   Weather-proofing the house has continued, with the damaged lintel above the front stairs now painted again, leaving the front and back stairs as the next priorities for action. Both of these involve repairs I don't know how to do - so it will be .... interesting.   In particular, I'm come to appreciate having my own rainwater collection system and solar system.  This summer has been dry with intermittent rainfall, yet I've kept gardens going off my tanks so far. It's gotten close with multiple last-minute saves, so another month of capacity seems my optimum ba...

This week is more of a general reflection- while there's always something to work on, I didn't have any specific development goals. Saying that, there are some good lessons and opportunity around the irrigation work.  This week has been about T he impact of easy irrigation Expanding the blue barrel irrigation to supply an adjacent vegepod, and Painting necessary part of the house to weatherproof for winter.   The Impact of Easy Irrigation Below are the ‘before’ and ‘after’ for the peanut experiment. I’ve tried to equalise the scale so size can be accurately compared. A)                                                                Plants Before                                              ...