About me …
Enjoying the winter sun at Muriwai beach
I live on a lifestyle block with my hubby Andrew in Waimauku, West Auckland. We have lived here since 2005 when we decided it was time to escape city life.
Loving my garden, I studied horticulture for 4 years and practice much of what I learnt in our garden including organics.
Working from home is a bonus too, you just can’t beat the view from the office window. Did I say that my favourite boots are my gummies? You bet!
Hope you enjoy my blog rantings … send me a comment I’m very happy to help.
Hi Julie, love your blog. I would like to invite you to join a garden blog hop I host once a month – http://www.strayedtable.com/grow/garden-share/. Its about sharing our veggie patches, keeping each other motivated to growing clean food.
Hi Julie, I love your blog 🙂 Whist i’m only young (22) I have a huge vegetable garden and try to eat and use only organic products . Far better way of life 🙂 Keep up the wonderful job.
Hi Latisha .. Great to hear from you. Thanks for you great comments .. Really appreciated. It certainly is a great way of life! Happy gardening 🙂
Hi Julie, I really am liking what I am seeing! Love your photos! They look fun and carefree and very much depict your lifestyle. By the way what kind of boots are gummies?
Hey Roberta … nice to see you. Your blog by the way is superb! I’m like you, I love my camera. Ha ha Gumboots .. or I call them gummies.
Hi Julie. I was recently posted a copy of “The Ponsonby News” and noticed your article. So great to see you have immersed yourself in “the good life”. I hope things are going well for you and Andrew and look forward to reading more. Take care. Martha-Louise
P.S. In case you forgot me, I looked after your mom and dad’s funerals.
Hello lovely how nice to hear from you. Has been such a long time. I think it must be time for a coffee! I’ll be in touch 🙂
Julie, I’m really looking forward to following your blog because I’m a huge gardening fan myself.
Hey Shane .. That’s good! Hope my garden rankings are interesting. Love your photos!
I don’t know a thing about gardening, but I really enjoy gardens. You have a great lifestyle and a wonderful blog
Thank you! Love your pics and prose …
Great picture of you and yours on an unbelievably black beach. Great move IMHO and hope you are still loving the view. Oh, you get an extra point for the loving dog. Is the name of your place actually “Frog Pond Farm”, as I just think that is fantastic and quirky. Haven’t even seen the rest of your site but getting a good vibe already. Can I also say thanks for all your many comments on my own wee blog, greatly appreciated, as is the follow. MM 🍀
Hi so glad you dropped by and yes it is a super black beach! Frog Pond Farm it is and we love living here. So enjoy your blog .. Loads more comments to come. By the way, I make a super good Tiramisu! Lol
Just a pity Harry the Hound couldn’t come too 😮
🙂
Sent from my iPad
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Greetings Julie. Stumbled across your blog via a post of yours somewhere in the Land of Blog (sorry — lost the thread…) Anyway, love the photography and blog layout. Stunning, actually. I’m new to blogging and quite interested in seeing what others are doing. Your blog is quite inspirational! I’m following you now and looking forward to reading more!
Hi so nice to hear from you. And thank you for your lovely comments. It is so interesting seeing what others do. Thanks for the follow, one back at you 🙂
Hi Julie, Loved your blog this week, as usual 🙂 I’ve brought my mini greenhouse inside (hubby was unimpressed!) because I was impatient for my seeds to germinate. Yours are looking impressive – I have a bit to catch up! I recall reading a while back in one of your blogs that you have done some horticultural study. I’m interested in doing the same (some of the plant science courses at Lincoln look amazing). Would you mind sharing what you studied?
Hi Shay .. Thanks for stopping by! Ha another person who loves their seedlings 🙂 I studied via Northtec, Horticulture levels 2 & 3. Plus Sustained rural development levels 2 & 3. Wonderful courses .. I learnt so much 🙂
Hello,very nice Blog , Regards from Poland ,EM
Thank you .. Your photos are amazing! Wow
i am glad You like, Take care Julie and visit me again 😀
I will 🙂
Came across your blog through Max And his photos. Intrigued by the different seasons. Am just setting up an organic veg plot and the rest for wild flowers and others. Hopefully a conservation plot and small nature reserve here in Southern Spain. Love your photos but also good info. We have rather old neglected olives, some were pruned back but has caused more under tree growth. We are now ready to harvest the sweet chestnuts in October. Good luck with your project.
Hey .. great to hear from you. Good luck with that garden – organics is the way too go 🙂 Glad you like my pics and info. Hope that I can be of help 🙂 Good luck with your chestnuts – oh and olive trees adore a good prune!
Thanks and am off to an ecological seed fair this weekend bit all helpful hints will be in Spanish!
Now that sounds perfect! Hope you have fun … 🙂 Good luck with the Spanish!
Julie,
Your blog is beautiful, really beautiful. Of course the fact that you are away from the city helps with the perspective. I grew up on a farm in the Panhandle of Texas and have many memories tucked in my brain, but sometimes those get crowded out by city life.
Hi Beth … oh that is so nice of you. I’m so pleased that you like my blog. It is a passion of mine as is our garden. I just love living away from the city – I lived in it for years and years – time for a breather. You take care 🙂
Hi Julie,
I’ve had a nice time clicking around your blog. Thankyou for sharing your lovely photos and stories. Good luck with those new chicks – not long now!
Hi Jen … thank you so much. Love being able to share our garden … Those chicks are nearly 2 weeks old now 🙂
Your flower photographs are a treat to the eyes, Julie. And your passion for gardening shows through these images 🙂 Happy clicking!
Gosh thank you so much! Yes I am passionate … adore my garden. It is controlled mayhem LOL. Happy clicking back at you 🙂 Love love your work … you are very clever!
Hi Julie. Thank you for visiting and following HoB. Much appreciated!
Loving your blog and Mr Bowie 🙂
Dear Julie,
your garden is amazing 🙂
Oh thank you 🙂 so nice to be able to share it with you!
Hi, congratulations on nice blog and beeing on the close side to the nature! I am looking forward to reading more and looking at a nice photos of nature!
All the best,
Sapy
Thanks for the follow, Julie. Looking forward to your posts.
Hey Angeline .. Had a look at your site last night, your photography is amazing! 😊
Thanks so much, Julie.
Hi Julie,
I wasnt sure where you leave you a message – you have won the duck finger finger puppets on my giveaway! Please contact me with your address and I can rush them over to you!
regards,
Gillian (Africanaussie)
Hey Gillian … wow thank you so much. How exciting! My email address is bonnerinnz@xtra.co.nz … 😀
Hello from Türkiye… just wanted to say “thank you” Julie (and Andrew), I appreciate your recent ‘follow’, knowing how many interesting and entertaining blogs there are out there.
Blogging since June 2013, my little corner of the world tries to offer an eclectic smattering of posts, from basic amateur photography, to sharing my travel adventures over the decades, as well as day-to-day happenings here on our fruit farm in southern Turkey. I also throw in a few of my observations on life and lighter-hearted stuff for good measure.
You are more than welcome to have a look around, stay a while and have a trawl through my collection. There are plenty of categories within the drop-down menus to help in said digging process.
Hope you have a great day…
SPIKE
uncle.spikes.adventures1@gmail.com
Hi Spike .. what a great comment. Thanks for all the info. I did have a nosy around the other day 🙂 I saw you on Rajiv’s blog and popped on over. It’s wonderful the way the blogging sphere works! Your fruit farm sounds wonderful
It’s actually quite a small community I’ve found. There many be thousands of blogs, but you see the same faces all the time 🙂
I like your blog, Julie! I’ m living on the other side of the world and it is really fine to follow your pictures and posts!! Nice gardening! Sabine
Hey Sabine … oh thank you! Lovely comment. So pleased you like the pics and prose. Love my garden 😀
Have a nice day!
Small world. I bought a carton of toi toi wine a few months ago.
LOL it is such a small world! Was it Sauv blanc or Pinot Noir? I hope you enjoyed 😀
Sauv blanc, but NZ is known for its pint noir, so that will be next.
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Hi there,
I saw in Ponsonby News that you are looking for a rooster that needs a good home. Have you thought to contact the SPCA? They often have roosters who have been abandoned who are looking for a good home – see link here with some currently available for adoption: http://www.spcaauckland.org.nz/adopt/farm-animals/
Thank you 😃
Hi – I saw in Ponsonby News that you are looking for a rooster. Have you tried the SPCA? They often are looking to re-home roosters that have been abandoned. See link here for some that are currently available for adoption: http://www.spcaauckland.org.nz/adopt/farm-animals/
Thank you 😊 I have just been given an Australorp that needed a home ..
You are living our dream- Toi Toi wine included! A beautiful blog!
So good to see you here .. Lucky me! The wine is a bonus ..😄
What a lovely blog, and I love growing veg and cooking with them over here in Scotland. Your images are really lovely, you have your own style which is delightful 🙂
Oh thank you! What a lovely thing to say … I’m blushing 😀
Good to meet you. I write poetry at mine so feel free to have a look when you can. 🙂
Good to meet you .. I shall pop over to your blog 😄
Wonderful and thank you. 🙂
The name of your blog caught my eye Julie look forward to reading more about you.
Kath.
I just popped on over to your blog .. lovely images 😀
Thanks Julie I have been away and now need to write my xmas message for the year. Thanks for checking it out, have a lovely day.
it doesn’t appear one can comment on any single blog post. I scrolled thru’ “gannet” and like yourself, it was WOW. stunning. i’d say mind-blowing but it’s easy to do that to me nowadaze ~
Thank you 😃
I just reblogged your latest post, Julie. We here in the frozen north especially need some warming scenes to remind us that the current deep-freeze won’t last.
Thanks so much! Nice to share some warmth with you 😃😃
Hi, Julie, your blog is so interesting and colourful! Have enjoyed reading some of your wonderful posts. Thanks for sharing… shall be following you. 🙂 Regards, Iris
Hey Iris .. Thank you! I hope you enjoy my ramblings 😃
I’m sure I will, Julie! Have a wonderful day… and great week ahead. 🙂
Hi Julie! Just strolling around the blogosphere looking for some interesting blogs to follow; I enjoyed reading your blog, come visit mine when you get a chance at http://www.thatssojacob.wordpress.com and if you like it, follow me back! I’m hoping to reach a wider audience. Thanks and have a good one!
Hi Julie,
beautiful blog full of memories of our fav country. We have been in NZ twice. 2007 and 2012. We had 4 weeks time each trip to visit all the awesome places, to meet most friendly people and to enjoy every second of our trips. I am looking forward to search and read through your archives. Greetings from the North of Germany. Smiles. Reinhold
Hello .. So good to see you here! 😃 nice to know that NZ is a favourite place for you! I bet you took lots of beautiful photos while you were here. Your photography is stunning .. Best wishes from the West coast of NZ 😃
I took some pictures! No, actually around 5000 (both trips). I posted some. If you search for “New Zealand” you will find them. We used the photos primarily for my wife’s book. Alex wrote a book about NZ and bakery products. The German title translates to “Sweet companions through New Zealand – a backpack, 5 weeks, 5 senses, 5 t-shirts”. All about our destinations in both islands and all about muffins and cakes. I am still thinking about a special category “NZ” in my blog. But most important are the pictures in our heads. We still have flashbacks sometimes.
I just popped over to your blog and looked at the photos .. Marvellous! Mt Cook, lake Tekapo, Fox glacier .. So many. I bet you have many fond memories. You have been to places I am yet to visit .. Love the picture of the fern 😃
I thought I recognised the Beach. Small world…. I was there only last January. A few months ago. I stayed five mins walk from the Beach. Its divine and I shall be back there in December. What a wonderful place to live and salve the soul
Nice to meet you dear Julie 🙂 How beautiful your blog, you took me there… I loved your dog too… Thank you, Blessing and Happiness, Love, nia
Thank you .. Nice to meet you too! 😃
Hi Julie, We would like to use one of your photos in a textbook for Biology in Holland. For children on highschool aged 15 years. I hope you will grant us permission and that you can supply us with a high resolution version of the image:
juliesgardenblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/potato-fruit-1120769.jpg
Ik hope hearing from you.
Best regards, Stans
Hi Stans .. so nice to hear from you. I have searched high and lo and can’t find that image anywhere. The only size I have is low res which you are more than welcome to have. If you see any others .. let me know. Thank you Julie
Hi Julie, I will try to use the lowres since it is a very special image with the potato flowers and the berries in one shot. Thank you so much!
Stans you are very welcome! Can you grab it from the net, or would you like me to email it to you? So pleased you liked that shot ..
Hi Julie. thanks for stopping by. You have a lovely beautiful blog. I love plants & gardens too. Looking forward to seeing more of your posts
Hi, Julie. We’ve made it to Franz Josef and will go hiking to look at the glacier this morning.
Do you have any recommendations for places to visit in this southern part of the country?
~ Steve and Eve
That sounds like living a dream!! Good to hear all the amazing things about your life. Hope to see your ‘office window’ through this blog. 😀
so beautiful…appreciate your posts of such peaceful and beautiful experiences ~ smiles hedy <3
Thanks so much Hedy .. .smiles to you 😀
☺️💫😀
congratulations to ypur photo!
have a nice day.
If you like, come to visit my blog 🙂
* your
Bill Bonner- your uk marketing manager and my friend and TV colleague for 30 + years- always forwarded your blog to me. He will be sorely missed by us all. He was a huge figure in our lives and my children (now 29 and 26) still secretly believe he is Santa as we never saw him in December- he was with you usually!
Our heartfelt condolences to you and Andrew.
Happy travels indeed, business class all the way!