On our farm, the trees are hoarding sugar in their roots and letting their leaves decay into gold and crimson husks. Meanwhile the people have squirrelled away fruit in sugar syrup in case war-time rationing breaks out during this Age of Coronavirus.
So it seems like a good time to sit back and review the thirteen years since we became guardians of this land. A photo of the land when we bought it shows a barren pasture. To our joy, the soil was very acidic (a core requirement for growing blueberries), and so we started digging and planting.
During the first few years, we developed a permaculture plan for the property. It amazes me that 10 years on, we have made the plan a reality (the last effort is to dig a lake for the wetland)
Fast forward a baby, 550 olive trees, a few thousand shelter trees and a thousand or so blueberry plants (and a LOT of pruning and weeding) and here is how that view into the driveway looked in 2016
And finally here we are in 2020, with the dream on track, and a few new additions (over the last week we have been painting the real fruit ice-cream shack) and we have been taking great pleasure in wandering around just enjoying the wonder of growing things, and the explosion of bird life – which is less stressful now we have nets over the blueberries!
Waikawa Blueberries 