Life gets Busy

This time of year is manic and at times a little overwhelming plans all scrapped and new ones made.

7 irrigation systems  installed or repaired, reworking of the 14 veg beds they are 6m x 6m (20 foot sqr) each and trying to keep up with the 150 tomatoes we have planted is fun.  Oh run a half marathon without training (not to be advised at 49) but run with my youngest son which was very cool. Chickens have decided its the time of year that they need to start laying and lots of eggs all of a sudden.  Hillbilly hot tub still in bits as Jane just has had an operation so little point setting it up, 6 weeks R & R the back to work for her and straight up to the university in Auckland funny after 6 weeks at home the house seems empty.

Lost a couple of hives this winter so am in the process of creating 2 new ones and breeding new queens to replace the old ones  ( only helping nature along the bees will do the procreation).

This is our first year we have proper Asparagus from an established bed its taken 5 plus years as it has been move a couple of times as the chickens kept digging it up so everytime they do that its like time to start again.

Feel lots more has happen but time to get on with some work garden is calling.

 

Jon running the Marathon me running the half

Our house plaque that a friend made for us some years back

 

Garden and green houses

Hillbilly Hot tub

Have been playing around with this for some time now we call it our “Hillbilly Hot tub” 

There is no doubt we have had loads of fun with it and we no wish to own a conventional hot tub as we are just not wired that way, so my brief was, spend as little money as possible, and recycle or upcycle where possible. As we decided to move it to make way for the pizza oven, it’s time to improve the design and make it look neater and worker more efficiently. I have been playing around with Rocket mass heaters over the last few months so that may well feature and some secondhand plastic solar panels from a sons old pool so there is an idea forming in my mind. 

Again I have my eye on some nice free bits, but am willing to spend a little on insulation as the basic design works well but will be better after some little changes. Environmentally all the water is untreated and is then used to water our veg garden so it is by no means poisoned  and wasted 🙂