Daily Archives: 2009-04-30

First it was a trip to Farmlands to talk about pasture re-grassing. I am too late for this autumn, the special mixes Karola and I have found and would like to plant need 5 -6 weeks of warm soil temperatures to get established, otherwise they die. Our best option is to plant some Italian rye grass as soon as possible; it is very fast growing and would give us winter grass. Then, next March, we should recultivate and sow our preferred lucerne-based mix – it includes chicory, plantain, fescue, and brome.

Then it was off to Newport Auto Electrical to leave the car to have its passenger window fixed.

Heather Hawkes, Guardian Trust, arrived as planned around 10:30 am.

Karola and I then spent several hours mending the orchard back fence along the big drainage ditch; in places the ditch wall had eroded and there were gaping holes in the fence. Haywood was passing and stopped to talk; he owns about 60 acres of orchard on McNabb Road and his daughter in Auckland bough Alan Ladbrook’s orchard last year. Karola then decided to clear some eucalypt branches from the drainage ditch – two small trailer loads were carted back to the remains of a fire on the sweet-corn patch. It rained for a while.

We picked up the car with window fixed, $150 or so. Then, some time after 4:00 pm I had lunch. The showers passed and I put another 12 kg grass seed on the gentle slope of the ha-ha and on the site of the bamboo stump fire.

The vehicls pet divider kitset arrived today and is now installed. Bicka isn’t really sure about it yet.

Bicka’s big excitement for the day was just before the rain came down quite heavily. We had lost track of her while getting the car and whistled for her from the back door. She, in an attempt to come home, apparently jumped off the top of the ha-ha onto the gentle slope, only to find that the usual ways off that slope were all barred with electric fence. So she stayed there, shivering and wet and unhappy until I came out to sow the extra grass seed; then we saw her and released her from her ha-ha prison.

Hawkes Bay Weather: 9°C—20°C; 3.1 mm rain [83.2]