Blog
Weekly tales from The Outpost.
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.
Growing peanuts in New Zealand
What I’ve learned about growing peanuts over the last three seasons.
Home-grown peanut butter
After 3 years and many, many hours of work, I finally get to sit down to my own home-grown, home-made peanut butter.
Weekly diary
A look at a random winter’s week in my life.
The garden in winter 2025
A wander around the garden highlights in winter 2025.
Upgrading the garden paths
There’s a secret under your feet when you walk through my garden.
Tidying up the catnip
A peek behind-the-scenes at how I grow wickedly-strong catnip.
Going back to growing garlic
And so it begins again.
Things I’ve been liking
As the world gets a bit dark and awful, here are some of the things that have brought me joy.
May in the garden
As the weather turns cooler, there’s still a few jobs to keep you busy in the garden.
65 Hours Without Power
Cyclone Tam roared through the country last week, and the fallout took a while to settle.
Boiled peanuts
Our third peanut harvest is our biggest so far; so I had the chance to try boiled peanuts for the first time. I am a fan.
April in the garden
Now autumn is in full swing, it’s time to start preparing your winter gardens and putting some care into your fruit trees.
The Vespex sting
Vespula wasp numbers have exploded at our place this year, so it was time to run a poison operation with Vespex.
Growing paprika
Paprika is made from specific varieties of capsicum, and this summer, I grew and processed my own.
Animal tales, part 4
Our lives are made richer by the creatures we share this place with. Sometimes I write short stories about them. This is the fourth post in that series.
March in the garden
Not sure what needs doing in your garden this month? I’ve got you covered.
Gran Shirley’s quick pickle
An easy-to-prepare vegetable accompaniment for summer meals.
Citrus care guide
A guide to citrus care and common citrus problems in Aotearoa New Zealand.