Blog
Weekly tales from The Outpost.
The lost fence post
The post was abandoned, but the fencing project was not.
Pruning fruit trees
Everything you need to know about pruning stone and pip fruit trees: equipment, technique, tree shapes, and the golden rules.
Green banana flour
An experiment in making a prodigious banana harvest last longer. More useful than expected, with some caveats
Surprise cows
We weren’t expecting them, but surprise! We have a new herd of cows.
Doin’ it with stile
I built something on the farm and now I don’t have to roll in cow poop!
What do we do with a broken shadehouse?
After a big storm recently, we’ve had to re-evaluate what we do with our shadehouse.
The bush cam
I got a new toy for my birthday and it’s absolutely revolutionised the pest and weed management of our native bush.
The dreaded garlic rust
One of the worst things that could happen to a garlic grower has struck us this year: rust. So, what will I do?
Planting potatoes
Potatoes can be planted as soon as the last frosts pass. Find out what to do now to great crop next season!
Clearing the clearing
This week we cut down a bunch of gorse and cleared out a nice spot for a picnic in the bush.
Rainfall
We’ve got two full years of weather data now. What does it say?
Manual of the New Zealand Flora
How do you learn to see the trees for the forest? You look closer. And then you look closer again. And again.
Cloche hoops
We use a few different cloche hoops are an invaluable tool in the garden. A look at what we use and how it holds up.
Everything I know about looking after garlic
Setting the garlic up for good bulb growth.
Square foot gardening
Low rainfall in summer each year means my garden always suffers. This year, I’m planning to share our water with one bed that really pumps… and grows everything.
How to grow ginger (Zingibar officiale)
A surprisingly simple and satisfying little crop to grow. Find out how to take a small piece from the supermarket and turn it into a year’s supply of ginger!
Down the garden path
Paths are a perhaps overlooked, at yet very important part of the garden. Here’s a look at my trials (and errors).
The eggless chickens
If you usually just purchase them, you might not know that in the darkest days of winter, the chickens take a break.
Garden time
A bed-by-bed tour of the winter vege garden.
Garlic growing 2021: the experiments
Each year I experiment with new garlic varieties to see if they’re worth adding to my “garlic collection”. This year I’m trying 3: Russian Red, Spanish Red, and Kakanui.
Garden of smiles
I’m slowly learning plants don’t have to be “useful” to be worthwhile. So this week, I planted a flower garden just to put a smile on my face.
The roosters
A couple of months ago, we welcomed some new chickens, and now the roosters are crowing.