Was that a crow I heard this morning? Was it?
Today is nothing short of a ‘stunner’ of a day. Gorgeous and with a bit of luck, I’m going to close the office early and flee outdoors. My garden is calling!
We have had some rain lately as you do, leaving the ground in different parts of the property soggy, while other parts are just darned slippery. I even went for a bit of a skate the other day while checking on the bananas.
Speaking of the latter, bananas are a giant herbaceous plant and not a tree as some may think. Each stem will only fruit once and after it has done so, it needs to be chopped down at ground level. The stem in the pic above, is due to hit the ground. It can’t bear the weight of the hand that is trying to grow. Looks like we will have another bunch to ripen in the garage!
And in no particular order, some winter pics of Frog Pond Farm.
I love this shot of self seeded garlic which is growing very happily in our orchard next to a Luisa plum.
Who said turkeys can’t fly? Well done Dan (our border collie).
Our wonderful duck pond – we are so very lucky to have this which is feed by a natural spring – love the reflection.
Some of our olive trees – easy to see which ones have been pruned? And yes, I did two last weekend! Big pat on the back.
A view up the valley. The orchard is immediately in front with rose geranium growing at the base of our apple trees – it’s meant to scare off the codlin moth. There are cabbage trees, canna lilies, yucca and flax dotted along the creek. Let’s call it garden madness! There is a massive totara to the right with a denuded poplar in front and a weeping willow busting to get into the shot. Our olive grove is sprawled on the hillside looking rather unkempt. And yes, those are pines in our chook paddock.
Lichen happily growing on our liquidambar.
Lambs playing in the sunshine.
Seaweed mania! I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I saw this seaweed. Except … it was so big I couldn’t bundle it into my bag. I had to leave it on the beach. Quick where are my tissues!
And to finish off .. a pooch having some fun on our local beach!
Happy gardening!
Ok – do you mean like a crow of a rooster- Like a rooster named Colin? This caught my eye because we have a rooster just coming up on 17 weeks old and I’m thinking yesterday about 5am I heard an attempted cock- a- dooooo. They never get the whole thing in the beginning.
But maybe you actually meant a bird that’s a crow:)
I giggle when we pass our Crescent bay and there is loads of seaweed. It takes some motivation to bag and take home but I always dream of it and once in a while it actually happens.
Great farm pics- and that beach. Wow.
Hi Wendy, I laughed when I read your comment. I hadn’t thought about a ‘crow’ as in bird! LOL. No we have a rooster named Colin (gorgeous lad)! I’m not 100% sure, but like yours I think I heard a garbled cock-a-doddle this am. Loved reading about your seaweed excursions .. I can never get too much of it! ha ha. Glad you stopped by 🙂
That seaweed looks amazing – I’m not sure we get anything that impressive over here. I particularly like the photo of the lichen, which I find fascinating.
Hey Anne .. Yes the seaweed really did look amazing! I was so excited .. But it was way too big. Don’t you get lichen in the UK? We have loads of it growing at our place .. 🙂
We do have lichen but not as dramatic as NZ – I remember seeing gates and fences dripping with lichen.
This is such a happy post Julie! I enjoyed your words and photos very much!
Sarah x
Thank you Sarah! 🙂
Lovely photo’s, Julie – all your work is there to see – just beautiful!
Thank you lovely! 🙂 I can’t take all the credit though!
Beautiful! I love the duck pond, it seems to me like a dreamlike hideaway.
Hey Josephine, thank you! It is pretty special. We are very lucky 🙂
so green and so much space. i would get out of the office too.
LOL … yes I did! Any excuse is good. 🙂
Love the photo labeled: Lichen happily growing on our liquidambar. Nice interplay of two of my favorite color combinations — purple and sage. The colors of my kitchen!
Nice! I love purple!!
Gorgeous, Julie! Thanks for sharing some wider views, I always love that. The turkey in the tree is so funny. We never met any turkeys in NZ. What kind of animals do you keep in the fenced pine forest? How wonderful to have a spring-fed pond and all those rolling lawns and hills. Quite overwhelming really! Do you look after the garden on your own or do you have help?
We only have 2 plump sheep, our chooks and Colin. The property can get very overwhelming, there is always so much to do. Wish we had more help .. Love it when my brother comes to stay, he has amazing green fingers 🙂
A stunner of a day – I call that the finest weather on Earth. Glad you are getting it. We have been positively bathed in it for weeks here. Unbelievable. Also, the pic of the olive trees is A1 gorgeous. Quite a place you have there. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hey Jim .. So good of you to stop by. Glad you like that pic of the olives .. The oil is pretty good too! 🙂
Hi Julie… Somehow I missed this gorgeous post.
Always so much to see. We’re getting loads of rain presently… Man we need it!
I knew bananas were herbaceous but didnt know the stems only fruited once.
So interesting! If I could Id have a lady finger banana, but too cold where we are now.
Loved wandering the property with you and gorgeous photos as always.
A very enjoyable post! Is Colin crowing yet? 😉
Hey lovely .. So pleased you stopped by. 🙂 yes he is crowing plus a host of other things. Fancies himself a bit now. Ha ha .. Happy Sunday Robyn
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Ha ha… They get ‘cocky’ don’t they?
He is a beautiful boy though 🙂
Enjoy your week Julie.