We are into a spectacular spring with the entire farm thriving: goats, pigs, garlic beds, vege gardens, the orchards, olives, avocados, native plantings, etc. A combination of rain in October and sun in November has set photosynthesis to full throttle. Below are some images of the thriving kai and landscapes here on Kaitiaki Farm.

We can hardly keep up with the milking and cheese-making.

Amazing how working with nature instead of against it give such amazing results!

Peace, Estwing

A ‘secret admirer’ has commenced trolling us, our organisation and our farm. Like most Trolls, simple facts and accuracy don’t seem to matter. (For some people they never have and never will.) One favourite attack line they use over and over is the farm is a dump and unsafe for children.

On second thought, they might be right.

For example, here is where we dump lots and lots of food scraps, manure and saw dust.

We dump the resulting compost in garden beds to grow healthy kai, such as garlic, which is very dangerous to the local vampire population.

After harvesting the garlic we dump it in a shed to dry.

In fact there are dangerous piles of kai all over our farm.

Here is where we dump our fire wood before dumping the dangerous CO2 emissions into the pristine atmosphere.

Branches and sticks too small for firewood get dumped in piles and covered with earth to build Hugel Mounds, on top of which we dump fruit trees such as peaches, apples, pomegranate, oranges, grape fruit, lemons tangelos, mandarines, feijoas and persimmons.

Note this fresh, organic, healthy kai is very dangerous to children.

More dangerous kai dumped on the farm.

Here is where our rat bag children dump their bikes. Obvious tripping hazard!

For the last six years we have dumped thousands of trees all over our farm.

We usually dump the trees on slip-prone hillsides and eroding stream banks.

Here is another big dump of trees we tend to call our nursery.

Warning: Avocados!

Oh, you should see our sheds! Talk about a dump!

With most of the materials we divert from landfill we build useful items such as milking stands, solar dehydrators, chicken tractors and other animal shelters.

Some people don’t believe in providing their goats and pigs with shelters but we do.

Made from scraps, the outdoor kitchen is also a complete dump that emits harmful fumes.

In fact our farm is such a dump that it was recently featured in a popular national magazine.

Definitely a DUMP!

Peace, Estwing

Kia ora friends, this is an update primarily for our past interns to show some of the infrastructure improvements we’ve made recently.

In order to comply with our resource consent we’ve added car parks at the top of the drive betwee n the market garden and the orchards. After doing that we decided to shift a shed up there to serve as a farm stand and tool storage closer to the market garden.

Coming down the drive at the bottom of the market garden is the homemade caravan that we built during Lock-Down last year.

Next is my favourite – the ‘Redneck BBQ’ – also building during Lock-Down.

The BBQ is located next to the outdoor dining space beside the house.

Topher is modeling the steps down to the pines that we also built during Lock-Down.

Recently we shifted the fence and gate along the upper farm track so that they are along the property boundary.

Just last week we put up deer netting next to the milking shed we built during Lock-Down so we can more easily manage the goats during milking or for other reasons.

We also shifted another fence line to allow easier access down the lower farm track.

Also last week we extended the wind netting for the avocado orchard in the valley.

Here are Topher and Baby and Luigi on the farm track below the manuka, flax, poplars and tree lucerne we planted five years ago.

Probably a few other things I’ve forgotten but that’ll do for an update. I’ll write a blog about the farm stand once it’s completed.

Addendum: I knew I would forget something(s). Below are the strawberry bed we built for Manu’s Lock-Down Birthday 5th April, 2020, as well as a tree fort I started during Lock-Down but finished last month with Manu’s help.

Peace, Estwing