At Kaitiaki Farm we believe having in fun – lots and lots of fun. And one of us is obsessed with driftwood.

Hope, All Ye Who Enter

It all started innocently enough with a seesaw when we lived down by the beach. It was easy enough to bring that with us when we shifted two years ago.

Teetering…Tottering

I raised the bar for Verti’s third birthday by building this swing set out of native hardwood. Details on construction here: https://ecothriftylife.com/2016/04/16/driftwood-dream-playground/

Teamwork

The next project was easy in comparison.

For Verti’s fourth birthday I made a playhouse out of driftwood and hundred year-old totara fence battens for the deck.

Taking a short break

For Summer Solstice last month I made this slide. Details on the process can be found here: https://ecothriftylife.com/2016/12/09/high-quality-low-cost/

Beep Beep

In order to protect the kids from the strong midday sun, I have trained plum trees to form a canopy over most of the backyard. As an added bonus, seasonal snacks are readily at hand.

“Let’s play!”

Safety is extremely important when building with non-traditional materials. I use only sound native hardwood timber along with stainless steel or galvanised oversized fasteners. It’s also important to brace all features against racking, and to add extra hardware for redundancy at times.

As with most playground equipment, adult supervision is also recommended. But that’s not a burden with these two!

Peace, Estwing