Hi from New Zealand

[mischief]

Hi.
I live in the South Waikato New Zealand.
I have been working on growing my own fruit, herbs and vegies for a number of years and this year an hoping to add some native edible mushrooms to the mix.
I got my first bee hive as a news years present for myself in 2017 and managed to keep it alive by the skin of out teeth. Last month, it needed to be split so now I have 2 and looking at the original, I'm wondering if I need to split it again cos Its still so big.

My main goal is to get a healthy eco system in place that not just feeds me but as many other lifeforms as I can do.
I also decided that if it wasnt a fruit, herb, vegetable or beneficial insect plant, then it had to be a native and have been slowly cycling out things that just dont fit.
My fruit loving dog, Jack, is old enough now that I think I might be able to add chickens this year as well and to be honest, I am looking forward to finding a local farmer who will let me buy fresh from the farm milk so I can start making cheese and yogurt again.

 

[baymule]

Jags, gotta have tough chickens to survive Texas heat! But I did put their coop on deep shade.

So you have volcanic soil that eats organic matter? I get it, we have sugar sand here. I call it living on the beach without the ocean.

Plant clovers, they fix nitrogen in the soil, cut it down after it goes to seed and it makes a nice Matt of organic matter. Even after our Sheep eat it down, there is still enough to put a lot of organic matter in the soil. Then the Sheep walk around making seed deposits wrapped in fertilizer pellets! LOL

 

[mischief]

I have tried so many times to grow peppers-capsicums but havent been all that successful. Chilies on the other hand seem to do okay.

We have another 3 weeks where we can get the last frost for the year. Because it has been such a warm winter, I dont expect it to happen.

As promised, here are some pics of my place. The first one is from the other side of my driveway, looking at two of the trees my nana grew from seed and gave to me in 1996. Apple and Christmas plum
Second one is looking up the driveway as it goes up alonside the house.
This one is from my parking area looking towards the courtyard. The paving is what got done this week because I was fed up with the weeds growing along there.
This is the courtyard, its bit messy at the moment and looks fantastic when the wind anenomes are flowering up against the water tank. I just planted a Banana behind the Oak leaved Papaya. Should have enough shelter there to do okay. Its been in a planter bag a bit too long.


Turning left we come to the paved sloped path I did last summer/autumn. The new bee hive is on the garden at a flat section of the path This one is the back lawn looking towards the original bee hive. I have a shade clothe over the roof cos it upsets me when get stuck on the roof when its raining. The next one is looking from a mound of dirt I asked my neighbour to drop over the hedge when he was excavating for his workshop...supposed to have removed the grass layer first, but

 

[Lazy Gardener]

So nice to have some one here... who's a gardener... from the southern hemisphere! We can all live vicariously while we watch the snow flakes sifting down through the sky... and sipping our hot cocoa!

According to a google search, you are in growing zone 10B! Equivalent to the very southern tip of Florida in USA. So, if it doesn't get too hot in your summer, you could be gardening year round. I'm just a tad envious, though I don't handle heat well. I absolutely wilt when temps get above 23* C.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Welcome from Alabama. I don't remember anyone mentioning that we love pictures!
I'm hoping you'll share more on your beekeeping. We've been planning on adding bees for a while now. Maybe this spring now that my husband will be retiring.
I hope what you're able to plant and grow translates well. It'll be very interesting to see what things are the same, and what's different.

How much land do you have to work with?

 

[mischief]

You know, I always dreamed of living in the middle of a forest clearing...in a Wizards tower....oh well, back to reality.

I've been promising myself one of those fancy weather stations so that i can find out what exactly is going on with our weather, but so far, thats as far as I got.
What I have been doing over the last couple of years is adding as much carbon to the soil, either in it or on top of it, as I possibly can. Its volcanic silt type soil, so very free draining and just gobbles up organic matter.
I have come to the conclusion after years of adding lawn clippings, that my soil need more brown stuff, ie, carbon.

Today, I cleared the next couple of paths, levelled them and laid weed mat down so nothing can grow over them while I get to my next priority= pave the path in front of the courtyard gate and sow the next lot of seeds.

My sweet corn is coming along nicely, but I managed to cook my cauliflower and broccolli seedlings yesterday, so I am going to have to resow them. I forgot to take off the cover and we had a scorchingly hot day so they all fried and died.
The upside is that the eggplant seedlings just love it and sprung up wonderfully.

 

[mischief]

So nice to have some one here... who's a gardener... from the southern hemisphere! We can all live vicariously while we watch the snow flakes sifting down through the sky... and sipping our hot cocoa!

According to a google search, you are in growing zone 10B! Equivalent to the very southern tip of Florida in USA. So, if it doesn't get too hot in your summer, you could be gardening year round. I'm just a tad envious, though I don't handle heat well. I absolutely wilt when temps get above 23* C.

Err, I have been to Tampa bay, Florida, trust me, Soooo hot and humid you melt, ours are slightly kinder.
Having said that, if I get my act together again, I will be gardening all year round again....just no tomatoes, etc in winter.

Funny you should say..get too hot in summer.. cos a couple of years ago I measured 55c in the back yard. I dont actually know how hot it got cos my thermometer only went to 55c..
I had it a foot off the ground where I was going to set up my chicken forage yards and wanted to see what temps they would be experiencing there. Needless to say, I grew trees and shrubs for them so they didnt fry.

 

[baymule]

Jags! That was supposed to be Haha!

 

[flowerbug]

with really sandy or mineral soils i always recommend a bit of clay to go along with that organic matter as it will help hold moisture and nutrients but also keeps other OM benefits around longer (worm pellets with a bit of clay in them will clump and stay together longer as compared to just sand - this means if you have very fine sand or silt that will help hold it in place longer so it doesn't blow or wash away). if you mix a little in with the sheep food they can do the distributing of clay for you through time. a little minerals won't hurt 'em. it doesn't take much to make a difference in any garden.

 

[mischief]

Welcome from Alabama. I don't remember anyone mentioning that we love pictures!
I'm hoping you'll share more on your beekeeping. We've been planning on adding bees for a while now. Maybe this spring now that my husband will be retiring.
I hope what you're able to plant and grow translates well. It'll be very interesting to see what things are the same, and what's different.

How much land do you have to work with?

Thank you!
I recently, accidentally, learnt to upload pics onto a forum, hopefully it will work here too. I'm more low tech, but at least I dont have to keep asking my kids how to copy and paste anymore.

I have a 1/4 acre property, with most of the land in the back yard. I also 'have' to look after about 8m's wide stretch of council land but half of that is taken up with my driveway. Thats an odd shape compared to most, curving up from the road in front of the house and going up the sun side (north) side of the house to the back yard. Still enough room there for trees though.
I like trees.

Up until recently, I have been concentrating on planting trees, mainly fruit, but also natives. Havent had much time for much else so its been Guerilla gardening in my own back yard type thing. I'm running out of room for trees now, just the odd spot to fill. Last year though, I didnt have to buy any fruit for the first time.

My head hangs down now, I feel like my green thumbs have turned a little black. I managed to fry a lot of my seedlings on Sunday.

Looking forward to sharing about my bees, I spend way too much time watching them cos they are just so fascinating.

I think we all pretty much grow, or try to, the same sorts of things. At the moment, I have my bed of shallots- does have the odd spring onion that were bought from the supermarket, when I realised they had roots on them, I chopped the bottom part of and planted them. These are now flowering which the bees and bumble bees visit,

I have one bed so far properly laid out and edged that so far has 6 beefsteak tomatoes, there were 6 cherry toms, but my dog decided to lie ontop of one. Thats half the bed, the other side has my sweet corn which is only about an inch high at the moment.

I have various things tucked away here and there while I get more organised.