Blog
Weekly tales from The Outpost.
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.
The hypothetical house cow
Dairy prices are rising again, so I’m beginning to wonder if I should bring production in-house…
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.
It’s raining, it’s pouring
I love rain, but I’m running out of clothes and I need to mow the lawns.
Garlic and rosemary salt
I’m always looking for ways to use and store my garlic. Garlic salt is one of my favourites. The addition of rosemary really makes it pop!
New, new cows
Meet the new herd of cows that arrived at The Outpost this week.
It’shallot of shallots
Shallots are one of the easiest things I grow in my garden, with an excellent rate of return.
Five things I did this summer
A catch-up looking at the things I’ve been up to over the summer break.
The Little Free Mobile Garden Centre
This year I had a a quiet moment of inspiration that spun into something really quite special at Christmas.
Our classic kiwi caravan
I need a non-gardening hobby, so I’m looking to do some restoration work on our 1965 classic kiwi caravan. Come take a peek at her.

















