Perfect Carrot Thinning Weather

We have just returned home from our honeymoon in India!  while we were away it was stonkingly hot, and dry and there were all sorts of water related issues at this house.

But, we must have brought cooler India Winter with us, because it has been mild and not at all stifling.  Then, yesterday, RAIN.  Buckets, bathtubs and oceans of rain poured out of the sky and all over our grass, lawn, vege garden and animals.  In fact, there was no dearth of water, it was swimmingly soggy everywhere.  Perfect for carrot thinning...I thought today when the sun came out.  The soil was warm, damp and the seedlings came out easily.

Carrots don't like being moved.  As you eat the root, it has to be sown into rows where it will mature.  So the usual method is to sprinkle the seed in straight drills.  When the  carrots have reached a decent height you thin them out.  I usually try to aim for about 1 carrot per inch or so.  Then later in the year I will thin again if necessary, though in the meantime I do start thinning carrots for putting in the pot.

Thinning is a painstakingly slow task, but very necessary.  If you don't thin, the carrots won't have enough room in the soil each to make a good sized root.

Here's what I thinned out today, and we will eat them quickly heated in butter for tea.  My sister calls these "micro vegetables", but I just think they are baby carrots!

Summer Berries - the Sun must be coming

After a spate of cold, dreary, wet weather (what the Scots  would call "dreek") finally today, the sun has come out.  And my strawberries have started to come out too! We have picked the odd one or two, but today, this is what I was able to gather :-)

Also harvested, 2 x artichokes and a lettuce.

Problems with free motion quilting

I try to quilt, I don't really have a lot of time at the moment - what with the house, the wedding and more!

My sister told me all about "Quilters Gloves" which have grippy bits on the palms and fingers, so that you can  manipulate your quilt easily under the walking foot, or when free motion quilting.  These gloves go for about $16NZ....and you can buy the same thing in Mitre 10 in the Gardening section, for about $2.99!

Well, at my local quilters shop in Rangiora they advised that I buy some tacky placemat stuff, which we would use in our campervan to stop cups rattling about etc, and to cut it into rounds and use those.  The benefit being you don't have to take off gloves etc to change threads, thread needles...

Wow, what a great piece of advice! works brilliantly

An Eggbound Chook

For the past year or so we have had 7 chooks (one of our 8 having died from unknown causes).  Happily they have scratched in the garden, and chased the dog for her bones, and followed me round as I tend our veges.  And, every day they have given us a bounty of beautiful eggs.

Until....a few days ago one sat at the bottom of their house, feathers all fluffed up and looking sickly.

I checked her over, very compliant when I handled her, very (ahem) large distended rear end. Pulsing rear end.  UH OH! eggbound was my diagnosis.

The internet gave lots of advice, some of which I was loathe to follow.  Do I really want to risk breaking the egg and all the ones backed up behind it?  No...so any physical work on her was out of the question.

Eggs are produced in a real "factory line"!  there are about 5 or so in production within the chook at any one time, from the one ready to be laid, all covered in shell, back to ones without shell, smaller and smaller up inside the chook.  When one gets stuck, all the others then exacerbate the problem.

The method I ended up trying was the "warm bath".  The idea being that the muscles of the chook relax and release the egg, hopefully.

I filled up a large bucket with warm water, popped in my chook, where she promptly hunkered down, and put a cardboard lid on top with a small stone to keep it in place.  I left her for 20 mins as instructed by the internet.   Then took her out.  She just flopped on the deck and lay there for some time.

Eventually Mark took pity on her and dispatched her with a carving knife.

A sad, sad, day for a lovely hen.

It's a big secret

Mark has given me strict instructions!  no photos, news or otherwise of our new house, currently being built north of Amberley.

At our wedding there will be a big reveal, so you will all just have to wait *smiley face*

In the meantime, I have been busy laying out a vege bed, planting an orchard, madly putting in flower beds that will hopefully look good at the wedding, and watering madly!

We have worked on the garden every weekend for the past 3 months or so, which is why you have not heard much from me since July.  Gee, is it that long!  Looking back at when I last posted, it was, yes, July.

Wheeww....

A pinny full

In that pinny pocket, about 1.5dozen eggs, and a dozen Feijoa!  what a great saunter round the land this afternoon :-)

Insulating/Double Glazing windows "on the cheap"

I just read this really interesting article (link below) on how to provide a short term double glazing to your windows.  If, like me,you live in one of NZ's older style houses, with single glazed windows this could be the answer to condensing windows, and cold rooms!

Buy a large 1m wide roll of bubble wrap.  The bigger the bubble the better (for seeing out of).  I got mine from OfficeMax, 60 metre long roll for about $40.00.  Just make sure you dont get 30cm wide or something like that, as you want the wrap to be wide enough to fit across your window without joins.

step 1: Cut a piece of bubble wrap the size of your window.
step 2: Spray the window lightly with water, or brush with a wet pastry brush
step 3: Stick the bubble wrap, bubbles towards the window, starting at the top and smoothing with your hand as you go.
step 4: relax !

This is only a temporary solution, but as we are renting, and I dont think I am allowed to use the shrinkwrap stuff which needs double sided tape stuck to the frames, this is probably the best way for us to go.

Only downside is on the windows where you want a clear view of some lovely mountain or garden.  So its ideal for laundries, bathrooms, toilets, hallways etc.

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/bubblewrap.htm