Green banana flour
An experiment in making a prodigious banana harvest last longer. More useful than expected, with some caveats
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.
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.
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.
More things I’ve been liking
Some things that have made 2025 bearable.
Garlic harvest 2025
Results from my much-smaller 2025 garlic crop.
Māra kūmara
This year I’ve re-introduced kūmara into my garden.
About Kat
Kat is a gardener and purrveyor of Kat's Nip. Most Sundays she writes about her life on her lifestyle block in Te Hiku (Far North), New Zealand.
