Tree of Knowledge
A record of our journey as we explore our relationship with the intricate bio-communities we live along side. Each blog entry represents the unfurling of a single leaf.
Earthlore Bug Fest HUGE success
see bud 10.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN: Three and a half years ago we were sitting, relaxing with a glass of wine and a copy of Country Living magazine [on the cover of which was a photo of a Gypsy caravan]. When the bottle was empty, we had a brain wave - why don't we build a few bow tops and set up a camping ground offering "back to nature holidays"? Miraculously, the next day the idea was still a good one and so we put the house on the market and started looking for a suitable location. After six months or so of traipsing around the countryside looking for the perfect place, we found our home on Settlement Hill and began to build the first caravan.
Unfortunately, a visit to the council put paid to our plans. The caravans we were told, had to have wheelchair access unless we could offer alternative accommodation for people in wheelchairs. To our minds this defeated the purpose and so the idea was shelved, however we were still determined to build a van - and did so.
The wagon was completed over the winter months and is now ready to be moved into the "Camp Fire Garden" where we will utilize it as a shop, selling Janine's patchwork and cloth dolls, and will offer a photo postcard service for people who wish to send a photo of themselves, dressed as gypsies, to loved ones at home.
Bud 1/ May 2007
THE SEED IS PLANTED: At the same time as building the caravan, we formulated plans for the rest of the property.
Our initial intention was to offer carbon offset as a means to create a diverse conservation reserve, whilst at the same time improving the soil by creating Terra Preta, but with a change in government came a law change which meant having to have independent certification of our carbon sequestration. On two and a half hectares this just isn't viable and so we switched our focus to concentrate fully on insect conservation.
Being uncomfortable with the whole "emissions trading" idea, we are happier now we have changed direction AND are finding insect conservation is generating a lot more interest from people wishing to become involved.
Bud 2/ June 2010
INSECT CONSERVATION HABITAT: We have begun planting an insect conservation habitat in order to create a reserve for native insects. We are currently planting from the entrance by the driveway, over to the kiln on the left bank, filling the area (approx. a quarter of a hectare) with sponsored plantings of Olearia hectori, Kowhai, Muehlenbeckia species and southland tussock to create habitat for Copper butterfly, Blue butterfly and Ringlet butterfly.
With the growth in dairy farming, more and more bush is being cut out to allow for the expansion of dairy herds and so creating a reserve which will be used for research and educational purposes to benefit insect life, we believe, is now a necessity.
It is estimated that less than half of New Zealand's native insects have been classified and therefore it is highly likely that a large number of native insects are becoming extinct before they have even been discovered!
Bud 3/ August 2007
FOOD FOREST: The back half of the property is on a north facing slope and has good soil fertility and soil structure and so we are planting a food forest, growing heirloom fruit and nut trees, along with berry bushes and an understory of various edible and medicinal herbs.
As well as the production of food, the food forest will become a research area where we will conduct experiments in biological control, looking for insect and plant combinations to control pests and diseases.
Bud 4/ August 2010
MOWING THE LAWNS: Each year, coming into spring I move the geese onto the back lawn to graze it down. This means I can leave the mower in the shed for another month or two, whilst saving the lush grass in the plum orchard for when the girls go to nest and therefore need to be nice and plump, as the eggs take between twenty eight and thirty two days to hatch. During this time the girls sit tight, only getting up for five or so minutes at a time to eat and drink. They lose a lot of condition during the nesting period but soon recover once the goslings have hatched.
Hopefully there won't be a thunder storm this year, like there was last spring, as it caused all the chicks to die in the eggs - very sad.
During the winter months of last year, the geese were grazed on the grass between the fruit trees in the food forest. They did a fantastic job of eating the grass while leaving the trees and MOST of the underlying herbal lay undisturbed. They did however eat the tops off the potatoes and also dug up some of the spuds close to the surface but this is a small price to pay for the otherwise fine service they provided. After they were moved, all I had to do was weed-eat the tufts that they left, which took about half an hour, where as last season it took two hours to cut the same area.
A GOOSEY STORY: In our first year at Earthlore we purchased a breeding pair of Chinese geese. Much to our surprise, half way through the breeding season, the gander laid an egg. To be fair to the breeder, China are very difficult to sex until they are about a year old. Then you can tell by the honk (the male has a higher pitched honk) but they still look similar. It's only with age that the knob on the male's beak grows bigger.
We now have a gander fron another breeder and last year had eight goslings. These little guys are escape artists. Although they don't fly, they can find a hole in just about any fence. They are big eaters too, eating about the same amount of grass as a sheep when fully grown.
Bud 5/ March 2010
SUCH A HELPFUL DONKEY: Meet Marama. Our resident manure maker, Marama - A.K.A. Mars-Bars, Big Ears, Baby Doll - is rather curious. She loves people and is always keen to say hello. Here, she is "helping" Gordon to put in a Taranaki gate, which incidentially, she managed to get open within about five minutes of the gate being shut. In fact she had it open and was herding the sheep in the top paddock before the tools were even put back in the shed.
A DONKEY STORY: Not long after we got Marama we were working her in the back paddock, rubbing her with a plastic shopping bag to get her used to the noise and walking her over an obstacle course. Janine was leading her when Gordon dropped a log on the ground, making a loud noise. Not expecting such a loud bang, Marama startled and took off. She ran with Janine still holding her lead rope. Mars-Bars dragged Janine along the ground for a full length of the paddock. Thankfully neither Janine nor Marama were hurt and so we joke about it now, saying that if Janine had been wearing winkle-pickers, she could have plough the paddock.
If you are wondering about Marama being lonely, you may like to know that she has a paddock mate called Casper. He is a rather regal, pure white Alpaca. But watch out - he spits!
We will post of photo of him on the Bud - which will be unfurling in September.
Bud 6/ September 2010
HERE HE IS: Meet Casper. I had fun taking this photograph. I had the perfect picture of Casper lined up but just as I pushed the button, a donkeys nose was pushed in front of the camera, taking up the entire frame. I had to wipe the lens and try again - several times.
Eventually I got this pic of the laid back Casper. A mature lad of fourteen years, he doesn't take any nonsense from his paddock mate, spitting on her whenever she gets too pushy. Despite this smelly defence mechanism, the two of them have developed a strong bond and Casper follows Marama everywhere. This makes it very easy to move the two of them to fresh pasture as all we have to do is lead Mars-Bars and Casper will follow, right at her heels.
It may seem strange to have a donkey and an Alpaca as paddock mates but there is a reason. Donkeys are prone to internal parasites and by having another ruminant in the paddock with her, enables us to keep the worm burden down. The two species aren't susceptible to the same strains of parasite and so the lifecycle of the worms are interrupted as they pass through the digestive track of each animal.
Our long term plan is to get another donkey, possibly a Jack and breed but as Marama is young yet, we will wait until Casper comes towards the end of his days. He will live until he is about twenty five but Mars-Bars will live until she is forty or fifty and so she will need another paddock mate in a few years.
An interesting fact: Donkeys and Alpacas each make toilet spots, which makes cleaning out their paddock a lot easier.
Bud 8/ October 2010
CRIME DOESN'T PAY: Recently we installed a self feeder in the henhouse so the hens have access to layer pellets but wild birds and rats can't get at them. One of our bantam chicks must have gotten wind of this all you can eat buffet and decided to break into the henhouse for a feed. Unfortunately the young fellow got himself stuck. Hearing a loud ruckus coming from the back wall of the henhouse, we went to investigate and found a young bantam chick caught between the bottom of the wall and the ground. After a long period of scrapping we managed to dig him out without him being harmed, but he never did get his layer pellets and had to be content with his usual meals of wheat, barley and green.
Bud 9/ November 2010
MEET JOKER LAMB: This little fellow was born on the Saturday of Labour Weekend. He was completely black when he was born but over the last month or so he has developed a "smiley face". The white markings around his mouth have extended up to just below his eyes, making him look like a wooly clown. His personality suits his markings too. The little fellow is a bouncy clown jumping around the paddock like you'd imagine Tigger might after drinking ten cups of coffee.
Just on dusk last Wednesday I saw Joker Lamb bounce up to the fence and head butt a ram lamb in the neighbour's paddock through the fence. He then ran away before the poor fellow next door knew what had happened. He has done the same thing to his dad too and has, on several occasions been repromanded for his boisterous behaviour. I wonder, will he still perform slapstick when he grows up?
Bud 10/ February 2011
THE INAUGURAL EARTHLORE BUG FEST: We are thrilled with the success of our very first Bug Fest, held to celebrate our certification with the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust who recognized our work as an "outstanding example of habitat creation for butterflies and moths".
The day dawned overcast but without rain. A strong north-west wind developed in the morning and continued throughout the day but thankfully, the area laid out for the celebration is sheltered from wind blowing in from this direction. The celebrations began with a welcome speech which was followed by a walk and talk by Brian Patrick - the entomologist who made the presentation. Brian had a captive audience of between 20 and 30 people who followed him around the insect conservation habitat as he explained what insects were found where and presented fascinating facts on his finds.
Next the music began. We had buskers perform against the back drop of the Gypsy caravan, with solo acts and groups playing all through the day. 4-Play, a ukelele troupe from Dunedin played mid afternoon, getting the crowd cheering and dancing with delight.
For the children we arranged a slater race. There was much speculation as to which slater would cross the finish line first, with many of the kids pondering their choice of runner at length. In case, like them, you are wondering who were the quickest three slaters to race down the track the race was won by Later Slater, Scallywag coming in second and Tree Hugger a close third.
After lunch Brian Patrick presented us with a beautiful plaque on behalf of the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust and gave a short speech in which he surprised us by saying:"this is the first time I have ever been invited to an event celebrating insects". We feel proud that Earthlore is playing a part in changing people's attitude towards the wonderous world of insects.
After the presentation came the highlight of the day. We released two boxes full of Monarch Butterflies. The little guys didn't want to venture out into the big, wide world straight away which turned out to be fortuitous because we were able to coax a large number of them onto buddleia flowers so poeople could hold the flowers and see the butterflies up close.
The day concluded with people wandering around, spotting bargains on the many craft, environmental and plant stalls on the top lawn. Everyone had a great time and so we are encouraged to organize another 'Bigger, Better Bug Fest' next year. We hope to see you there.