Blog
Weekly tales from The Outpost.
Kat’s Nip Fluffy Balls
A new product has joined the Kat’s Nip range.
Gran Shirley’s Cauliflower and Pineapple Pickle
It’s taken me years to grow the cauliflower I needed to make this one…
July in the garden
Winter might be upon us, but there’s still plenty to do in the garden.
Canning lemonade syrup
The lemon tree is heaving and I need to do something about all these lemons!
The three wives of John William Lewis
In attempting to work out where he came from, I uncovered the life story of my great great grandfather, John William Lewis.
Citrus meringue pie
A light and deceptively simple dessert that can be made in a range of flavour combinations depending on what’s available and what sounds yum!
What’s in a name?
A guide to, and explanation of, the names we have given to places around our property.
Citrus update
A round-up of how our little collection of citrus is growing.
Serendipity
I know we all joke we’re two-degrees of separation from anyone else in New Zealand. But Richard and I have closer links to the land we live on than we could have imagined.
Coffee fruit!
The coffee trees have started fruiting!
Finding the ‘family stuff’
A sudden whim leads to an impressive collection of family history – and some new leads on the Smith sisters.
The banana plantation
An update on the patch of bananas we planted back in December 2019.
Resetting the worm farm
The worm farm is full and ready for a re-set! This week I emptied our worm farm all out, then filled it back up again.
Harvesting and storing potatoes
We eat a lot of potatoes, so we grow a lot of potatoes. Here’s how we harvest and store them to feed us through winter.
The death of Sarah Elizabeth Smith
After locating the graves of my spinster great-great grand aunts, I ordered the first death record to see what I can learn about their lives.
End of season update on the Square Foot Garden
A round up of what went right (and too right!) in the Square Foot Garden this season.
Finding the flower bed
My gardening mojo is coming back after the scorching summer and I rediscovered my flowerbed.
Autumn in the vege garden
I haven’t been very attentive to my garden lately, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be eating out of it in the coming months.
The spinster Smiths
Lately I’ve been working on my family history. This week I found my long-lost spinster aunts buried in Karori.
The hill I’ll die upon
Richard managed to snag the free use of a digger for an hour, and we did something I’ve wanted to do for YEARS.
Fencing folly
Simultaneously the most boring, difficult, and utterly necessary bit of owning a farm.
Samurai’s stitches
Our big cat Sam had a whoopsie, leaving us to make a trip to the vet this week.