Insights and Obstacles - seeing beyond the wall

When you use chicken manure to grow cabbages 😂😂😂😂.

Friends of mine with an awesome website and Ferns, check it out . . .

Home - Waipu Fernery Barb and Wes Bycroft are passionate about New Zealand native ferns and have been propagating, growing and selling them for more than 25 years from a large nativ

Bread and Butter Pudding . . . a delicious, old, easy winter Pudd
I make this for myself often. There are many ways to adapt to your own preference. Any type of bread can be used. Mine is a Freyas.
I take 2 slices, butter them, cut into triangles and arrange in my dish, sometimes a loaf tin, sometimes a round dish. I like to place the triangles so the tops will sit up and become crispy when baked.
Mix 1 egg, a sprinkle of sugar, vanilla essence and around a good cup of milk whisked together and pour over. Can also sprinkle some nuts or sugar over the top. Bake till the custard is set and the bread tops are crispy.
I often will sprinkle mixed fruit over the bread.
You can spread with lemon curd, grated lemon rind over the top.
Spread with Jam.
Add apple, sprinkle with cinnamon.
Jam and sliced peaches.
This amount is great for 2.

Serve with cream, ice cream, custard, all three, or just as it is!

a Mother's Day Basket, but for my daughter who was working today, 3 of my 4 were in other cities so I decided to turn it around and take a basket to my daughter. I know mine love me, have respect, we all, also laugh together for the times I have messed up! ❤️
Date and cheese scones, last of my Dahlias, and I took butter and strawberry jam, cream was available . . .

Rainy days ruin w-a-l-k-s but are a great excuse to take yourself and your dog to The Roaming Giant for a drink!
We have just stocked them up with a fresh batch of Crazy Wolf Dog Beer including the new Quacken Berry Cider 👀🍻🐕

Loving these Fiddle Flags that arrived, (not my photos) they share two of my passions, Celtic music played on my Fiddle and photography . . .
www.grace-notez.com

take time to enjoy what you have created. . .
Scones and strawberries . . . . hibiscus and cinnamon tea

Struggling, losing the joy, feel forgotten?
Use yours to brighten, make a difference to someone else . . . .
No matter how little you have, how dark it seems, you have much to give . . .
Visit someone with some hot muffins/scones for a cuppa and chat. If they are not up to face to face, leave them at the door.
There were times when I felt lost, invisible, forgotten. I realised that their were others feeling the same as me and I knew them.
I began with occasions like birthdays, valentines days. I would create a card that focused on the strengths of that person and how they contribute to others. Often these might be unsigned and popped into their letterbox. Easter it might be accompanied by small red chocolate hearts. Just knowing someone had taken the time to think of them and make a card meant a lot.
One very favourite thing that gave me so much joy and I did several times, was to buy roses, fill a bucket and leave outside their door. Back then I had found a small shop that sold rose seconds. Small blooms that had not opened yet and they were 10 for $5. Imagine opening your door to a bucket of 50 roses! Something I would love!
Another act that I often would do when I was feeling down or knew of someone who was, was to fill one of my baskets and visit them.
This might be fresh scones, with jam and cream, flowers. Or a picnic lunch. Cheese, wine, fruit and flowers.
I have packed a box for a friend going through a rough patch and starting again with a mini Christmas. I included everything needed for a Christmas dinner and delivered it. That was well received.
Now that I have the time to grow so much in my garden I will often fill a basket with produce from the garden, some jars of marmalade made from my tangerine tree, pickles and chutneys and flowers from the garden, muffins and gift the contents.
It is difficult not to have a smile or flicker of joy inside knowing you made a difference for someone else!

Freezing, Bottling, Pickling the Summer Harvest
This year I froze beans, cut into preferred length in sandwich zip bags. They have proven to be delicious and I will do more next season.
The tomato harvest was disappointing due to the weather, however I did manage to preserve a few jars and freeze some bags of Basic Tomato. I removed the core, chopped, adding chopped onion and garlic, placed in a pot and cooked. I then pureed with a stick. One lot went into preserving jars with the 'overflow' method and the other into sandwich zip bags. I preserve in this simple way as I prefer to season according to which recipe I am using later.
Last season with a better harvest I made tomato soup and bottled it and a tomato chutney.

Cherry and small tomatoes went straight into zip bags. These are excellent to add to recipes as you go. I pop them in my scrambled eggs giving lovely pops of flavour as they burst in your mouth. Adding to pasta dishes, quiche, casseroles etc as they mostly hold their shape is desired. Also small tomatoes great for that full breakfast, which I cook in my bench oven. These hold their shape.
I grew red, yellow and black Cherry tomatoes which look great in the freezer!
I froze the chilies that were supposed to be capsicums in snack bags for future use.
Zucchini can take over in a good season. They can be grated, patted dry and frozen in sandwich bags. These are great for popping in soups, stews, omelettes, pasta dishes, muffins etc. I also have an amazing recipe for a Zuchinni pickle.

Come say hi at Auckland Pet & Animal Expo 2023 this weekend! We will have our full range of dog beer available as well as our new Quacken Berry Cider and dog friendly pizza made by The Barkuterie Box 🍻🍹🍕🐕

Very excited to promote our new product ! QUACKEN BERRY CIDER
🦆 Real Duck
🫐 Real Blueberries
🐶 Real Mother Puppen Good

Peek season in those Raised Gardens,
I planted in
Garden 1/ Dwarf beans, Snow peas
2/ Beef stake tomatoes, and a Black Cherry tomato
3/ Runner beans, Cherry tomatoes
4/ Lettuce and existing Cabbage and Kale
5/ Spinach
6/ In the corners, Raspberry, Blackberry, Boysenberry, between them 2 pink Dahlia bulbs, around the edge Russian tomatoes and in the middle a mixture of capsicums. It resulted in this garden being overcrowded as the Dahlias took over.

WoW what a weekend of Transformation
Creating and setting up raised gardens

Wow What a Weekend of Transformation! This weekend was a three day one.  My younger brother came down to visit.  It was a well organised visit.  We had been planning for some time but the weather was of utmost importance…

DOGGO DAY IS HERE AGAIN! Come on down and hang out with your best bud! Or borrow Porter for cuddles 🤣 we stock Crazy Wolf Dog Beer so no one goes thirsty! 😀

Another Garden Feature utilizing a very large stump. . . .
Into a bird area
I recently added the solar fountain, also a fungus has creatively captured the small cherubs and added a solar light . . .
The shrub beside the stump has grown since it was first created and it is now taking on a delightful area . . . the photos show how this area is developing in time

Tree stumps or Garden Feature?
An annoying palm that spewed wiry leaves that caught mower and w**d eater, time consuming to clear and then what to do with them? Leaving stumps that are not easy to remove and creating them into a feature.
It was topped in January and was then to be cut further as it was very tall. During this time it sprouted new leaves and gave the appearance of a head, with my imagination large craft eyes glued below would definitely look like a head!
However this is how we 'staged' it over the last long weekend, I still have the urge to glue on those eyes. This is an ongoing creation . .
I am also picking off the leaf clumps and using them as greenery with my flowers . . . .

Growing Lettuce update . . . .
The story in pictures in small pots and in a container in the green house . . . .

although difficult to see I have now entwined Fairy lights in the rose frame, these ones are power so I can have them 'twinkling' during the day and they look amazing at night

When your Rose Bush 'hints' is needs support!
I have this amazing pink Rose that just keeps growing. It has a perfume and I had noticed it was growing outwards over the path. I considered and arch for it but on looking into what was available, and the limited life I decided another option.
I have Japanese Cedar trees that are always and issue. Previously I cut a large number and recycled them as stakes for my garden. These worked well. Other pieces we cut to use in my small fire pit.

Today they needed another trimming down and this is what they suggested and what my Brother created to support the Rose.

I absolutely love it and the Rose is going to be a show stopper when it flowers in Spring.

Enjoying your Garden
Easter weekend here in New Zealand and my wonderful brother is visiting. A while back he sent me a flag pole. It has waited for him to arrive. Quite delighted to find it is a genuine Flag Pole. So together it went and we secured a place for it.
Today was the last T20 cricket game for the Black Caps so up went the NZ flag. A Black Caps one is on order for the next season!
It looks awesome and was difficult to capture photo as it fluttered proudly on the wind.
And yes I am a keen Cricket Fan!

Are you Battling with the white 'butterfly'?
Here are my battle strategies . . . .
With my smaller Grow Bags I have used large food covers.
With the raised gardens I purchased large Hula hoops and cut them in half. These can be found in the $2 shops for around $2.50. I then inserted stakes into the ends so I can adjust to the height I need. Fine mesh over the top of that and secure. Will also double for holding Frost cloth if needed.
Another action has been my Butterfly net. Slow downward action has proven the most successful!
Good Luck out there!

Winter Vegetables - Planting Spinach - Silverbeet
Now is the time to have them established as the weather is turning, seems to be early to me, but where was summer?
As we saw last winter certain vegetables were expensive and as a result of the recent flooding and cyclone it is certain they will remain so and even more. A good time to begin your adventure in growing your own.
Good ones to start with are Spinach and Silverbeet. They grow easily and are robust even in frosts. Will give you confidence to grow others.
You don't need a huge backyard or garden. (although these are great lol) There are several options. raised gardens, grow bags, containers, and bags are a few. These can be placed in a sunny place and will do fine.
I prefer to plant mine in the early evening, if the day is overcast or especially if rain is on the way to give them a boost start.
There are several varieties. Also for adding to salads are the smaller leaf ones.
Snails and slugs may challenge you for the right to eat, so keep an eye out for them 😡
I have attached photos of the different containers and ideas for growing in. As much sun as possible and make sure they are watered.

Winter Vegetables - Spinach, Silverbeet - preparation
To have a green vegetable to pick fresh and cook is a wonderful feeling and they sure taste better.
I will often pick a good bunch, wash them, spin the water out and then into a bag. Will last a good while in the fridge and ready to pop into the pot

Winter Vegetables - Spinach, Silverbeet - cooking

Just pick the outside leaves and it will continue to replenish.
I prefer to steam mine. This way is not water logged, but light and melts in the mouth. I like to finish it with ground pepper and a touch of butter. I do not add salt to any vegetables when cooking them. Another option for me is to add crushed garlic when cooking or sliced cabbage. I use all the stems as they are tender and added fiber.

Growing tomatoes from a tomato slice.
I decided to try this out last year as I was hoping to have tomatoes through the winter by growing them in my plastic green house. At this point in the season no tomato plants were available. I sliced a supermarket tomato and place two slices between thin layers of potting mix into a plastic container and placed in on my window sill.
I was stunned when dozens of tomato plants popped up through the soil. When they got bigger I planted them in pots in my green house. They thrived in there, developed flowers and small tomatoes appeared. Sadly I had left it a little late for them to be ready over winter and were instead early season ones.
Points to note that the late severe frosts in the Waikato struck into my greenhouse where they were touching the sides and to start the plants earlier.
This year I have already various tomato plants in the green house.

I love flowers and couldn't afford to buy them. I also wanted pink flowers. I purchased a bag of Dahlia bulbs on special and planted them. How delightful the first season was with these gorgeous flowers. Two varieties and 5 bulbs. I left these in the ground till late last year (about 3 years) when I needed to move them and I had a very full banana box of bulbs. I learned from a Youtube tutorial on how to divide them and then planted them along a side fence.
I also planted 3 new varieties. So many flowers, my home is full.

It is a wonderful, peaceful and uplifting experience to sit in this corner of my garden. By day surrounded by the sunflowers, marigolds and beds of vegetables under the peach tree. This photo shows the shade sail. I was gifted this, a perfect gift as it contains solar lights that twinkle at night and is just off from my gazebo.

This corner was created around the end of October with the six gardens, from a corner that was a dump site for garden waste almost as high as the fence and two falling apart gardens.