Welcome to my garden
My name is Kat, and my garden is a place of joy, weird experiments, good food, and the occasional accident.
We're on 15ha of farmland and native bush near Kaeo, in the sunny Far North of Aotearoa-New Zealand.
I've been writing about our life here most Sundays since 2019. Take a look around and make yourself at home.
Latest posts
Surprise cows
We weren’t expecting them, but surprise! We have a new herd of cows.
My mother’s mother’s mothers
How the women who came before me have shaped my life at The Outpost today. The story of my matrilineal line.
Harvesting the kūmara
After ignoring our māra kūmara for several months, we dug it up!
Preparing for a cyclone
A look into what we do to prepare when the warning comes.
Albert (‘Snowie’) Charles Schaeffer (WW1 23/903)
Albert “Snowie” Charles Schaeffer served in World War 1, and returned home, broken.
The price of beef
A frank look at what we do with our cows.
Growing food from kitchen scraps
You don’t need to buy seeds to start growing food. Your weekly grocery shop is full of ways to get your garden pumping.
Poor peanut performance
Turns out, peanuts don’t much love being ignored for the entire growing season.
The dangers of weeding
Gardening isn’t all butterflies and rainbows. And even when it is, that isn’t always a good thing.
Smoking paprika
My paprika crop is maturing and it’s time to get creative with it!
Snapshots
A few things that are happening, or will be happening.
Lifting the spring bulbs
It’s time to refresh and re-plant the spring bulbs.
A real look at the garden
An honest look around my garden beds and how they are doing right now.
Cleaning the water tank with Safe H2O
When we noticed our tap water was acidic, we decided to get the tank cleaned. Here’s how it went.
On grief
A poorly-timed accident sends me spinning.