Found a flaw in my bike training

I was feeling a bit fed up about Sunday rides when I realised what I needed was a bit of a change. This year I had been picking an area and then doing several weeks riding in that area. So I went back to an old route that I had done early in the summer along Puhetiri RD towards Rissington (a school, a few houses and farms), the bit I knew had a few hills but nothing too hard. This was going very well until I reached Rissington and then had another 10miles before turning round and coming back. I prefer doing out and back on my own and it is easier if Teresa ever has to come rescue me.

I had planned to 47miles and it was taken forever to get to 23miles, it was pretty much uphill into a small headwind all the way. The conversation in my head was going along the lines of I'll cut it short and say that the hills made it longer,etc This argument was backed up by the fact for the last 2 months I had been riding mostly flat. The only thing to be said for continuing was the benefit from not quitting and smug satisfaction of finishing my longest and hilliest for a long time. And that is exactly how I felt when I got back home after completing it. In fact I realised that it had taken less out of me than some of the flatter rides riding into a headwind on the way home for 20miles, but I have always preferred the variety hills provide.

After a quick shower, watched Emily and Cameron perform a dance (I had to pay 20cents for the pleasure) and then went and get on with building the raised veggie bed. Went swimming in the pond and would have set a pb(pr) if some idiots had stolen the club's bouys.

Next post garden photos and the new raised veggie bed built with my two helpers.

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Grapes

This picture is one bunch of my first ever homegrown edible buch of grapes.

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Front garden hedge in progress & greenhouse

Nine new feijoa trees

Coninue cutting down trees, they've been gradually reduced over the last few years. I am finishing them off with the chainsaw and I was going to dig them out but Teresa told me to hire a man with a stump grinder to hurry up the process. I said I didn't mind the exercise but I think she wants it done quicker than I can do it.



Greenhouse

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Garden news:Greenhouse & new fruit trees

We've been wanting to buy a greenhouse for the past 12months but the ones we found were really to expensive right now. Then a few weeks ago we went to Palmers garden centre in Napier(they have coffee shop and a great children's playground) and we found this greenhouse approx 1900mm by 1200mm for NZ$249 about a quarter the price of other similar sized ones. I have already got tomatoes going. I also planted pepper and aubergines. I am using my bucket method and plan to put in some more. I'll try and get a photo soon.

In addition we got another apple tree reduced from NZ$30 to 15 and another feijoa variety for $10. I have been clearing the front of all its old trees and ivy (which is a killer). I was slowed down when the electric chainsaw I had for 12months died the second time I used it and it took about 5weeks for repairs / I was actually given a new one. I plan to plant the new feijoa at the weekend as part of the plan to replace the old trees with a hedge of all different feijoa varieties. In addition I am going to move an exsisting feijoa tree from the middle of the garden to also be part of the the hedge because if I don't it will bug the symmetrical part of me that will feel annoyed that its not with the rest.
It's funny I don't feel that away about all the others trees, although I didn't feel our exsisting apple tree needed company.

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Garden update

Couldn't resist the other variety of Pepino.

When we went for the Pepino we came across a solitary blackberry. We didn't hesitate it brings back childhood memories of blackberrying with family. We thought we couldn't get them in New Zealand.


We have also been eating home grown courgettes(zuchinni), cucumber, tomatoes,lots of basil, mint, oregano,thyme, beans and lettuce,the first 2 blueberries, and peppers (we're trying to leave them alone to turn red)

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Garden update

I'm getting impatient at the moment, everything is going really well but not ready to eat. The contents of the garden is peppers(capsicums), aubergine(eggplant), tomatoes, courgettes, cucumber, rock melon, snap peas and lots of beans. The tomatoes are the most advanced but they take absolutely ages to ripen especially when I want to eat them with my home grown garlic and basil. We are growing lettuce and herbs also. These are on the side deck in trays because lettuce grows poorly in our free draining soil so they get special treatment and lots of water ant I pick leaves when needed. Peppers are also almost ready to eat but the aubergines take forever and I have never grown these before and never grown peppers in any quantity.

Tomatoes along fence covered in bird netting.
Courgette, cucumbers, peppers and the very slow growing rock melons.

Looking down on Courgette
Pepper(capsicum)
Aubergine plants and more pepper plants in background
Also the time of year to buy wood for winter - 3cords just delivered. Needs putting away
Beans and peas
Apple tree laden with fruit. Had to put in a stake to support the weight of the fruit.
Close up of tomatoes. I have experimented restricting its growth in an effort to speed up ripening. Doesn't work. Now I'm kicking myself for losing some tomatoes. Ripen damn you, ripen.
More tomatoes grown in buckets. Another sort of experiment. The buckets hold in the water and I wanted compare these to those in the free draining soil. The tallest thing in the middle is not a tomato plant it is Emily's Sunflower she started growing in class.
Boysenberry vine is being trained to grow along the fence above the tomatoes. It grows to 7metres so this was the perfect place and it is under birdnetting. Alas no fruit.

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New fruit alert

Teresa asked if I could buy a berry plant for Cameron to give her for Christmas. I had seen these in the garden centre and I thought it was a bit different plus it said that it was good in pots on the deck which is exactly what Teresa wanted. It is a Pepino incredible Ruby. They also had another version which is has a skin sort of the colour of the inside of this purple one.

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Fruit update

This is the latest fruit tree in the garden.

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Garden update

Gardens going well black raspberries are really amazing and we have had some red. I've had a battle with some birds that have nested in one of the trees, I have to seal the raspbeirries in a bird netting cocoon. Strawberries are providing 2- 4 fruit a day. Feijoa tree almost died through a lack of water, I honestly thought it was drought resistant. We have started buying a different variety of feijoa (it has a beautiful red flower) to grow into a hedge at out front fence to replace the trees I have been slowly cutting down. I just don't see the point of keeping trees pruned if they don't provide yummy treats.
Harvested the second half of the garlic crop 23 bulbs of proper garlic. We have planted two types of runner beans (one is purple until it is cooked) and after the success of the broadbeans I insisted on another so we found some butter bean seedlings. We also planted courgettes and cucumbers as seedling as the hens had messed with our seeds before I hen proofed the veggie beds.

Garlic (second batch)


The best garlic bulb from first batch


Cameron wearing my beaten up sunhat (its the hat or skin cancer) the hole in the ozone layer is directly above New Zealand


Winning the raspberry battle

Final note..

New Bertha is broody, my friend Shelly who gave us new Bertha asked the other day did we want chicks and if so let them know when we have a broody hen. We're undecided, Ill probably see Shelly at her stall at the farmers' market on Sunday and ask her for a fertilised egg.

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Weekly update

weekly training

Took an easy week this week- just listening to my body.
just 2 swims total 2300m, bike 1x8mile run and 1 bike 30miles. Legs felt sore and tired after the one run much worse than after a full week of training.

Produce from the garden

Still learning to take photos of things close up

Optimist yachting

I had the opportunity to help Teresa take her year sixes yachting on one of their sessions. Teresa is in charge and is trained but she has been sick and the children would have missed out so I took her class and she came in for the yachting afternoon while I did the policing and organise the putting away of the yachts - a job that requires a loud voice, bossiness and muscle. There were parent helpers but they don't know how to organise a large group of children, don't know how to be get them to do things and the children know they don't have any authority over them. The picture is of Teresa doing preliminary training in the school pool.

and finally..

As I mentioned Teresa has been sick so I took her class for three days. On Monday I had the pleasure of meeting New Zealand olympic triathlete Andrea Hewitt - former world under23 world champion and top 10 in the Beijing olympics. She was in as a prize for the school because the school had entered the most children for the children's weetbix kids triathlon in the local area. The school's entries and encouragement was arranged by Teresa. Did I ever mention that Teresa is the ultimate teacher - the school doesn't know lucky they are. She is also jointly in charge of ICT and runs a school orchestra. This is why I hate her teaching because she is exhausted all the time but she loves it. I get concerned because when I taught full time I was the same and I burnt out really quickly.
I have too say Andrea was a delight, very humble and I am convinced she will be a world or olymic champion. And don't tell Teresa but quite attractive in real life.

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Labour and Hawkes Bay anniversary weekend

This will be mostly in pictures. We weeded, planted , mowed lots of grass and strimmed. Thr chilean guavas, blueberriess, raspberries (all 3 varities), strawberries and red currants are all showing fruit. Apple tree is in full swing as are all 6 citrus trees are flowering. But we know that from experience that it doesn't matter about flowers it only counts when you can actually eat the fruit, sometimes the wind blows the fruit off, birds can get at it.

Teresa has planted lots of seeds:- peas, rock melon, which in the photos are under upturned buckets and plant pots to protect them from marauding chickens - I was putting our amazing compost on the veg garden and I forgot the chickens love it because it so full of juicy worms and other creepy crawlies. They scratch in it and we didn't want them scratching up the seeds. We've planted radishes, beetroot and carrots and the same beans as last year.

I planted out some bought tomato plants, eggplants because ours grown from seed aren't ready yet. We also have some capsicum plants to be planted also because ours aren't ready. We are hoping to learn from last years mistakes and get more for efforts.

On top of all this we have lots of herbs and lettuce growing in planters especially our favourites rocket and basil.

I also repaired the Kindergarten's toy digger that Cameron is modelling.

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Tired today and We have beans

I felt very tired all over this morning so I decided that after taking Cameron to kindergarten instead of cycling to the pool I would come home. Swimming is usually my only session on a Monday.

Also I made an exciting discovery in the garden this morning, the bean plants have loads of beans on them. This may seem like common sense but they are a new variety of green beans and the plants have been growing very well, plenty of flowers but when they withered away no beans. No beans that is until now there seems to be a delay which is different from the beans we grew last summer.

It is labour weekend combined with Hawkes Bay anniverary so a four day weekend this coming weekend, traditionally the time to plant summer crops (last of the frosts). So I am planning a garden post this weekend.

Now I'm off to shell walnuts.

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Spring is exciting

All the fruit trees are starting to flower, seeds in trays are sprouting. We are doing tomatoes(yellow and red cherries,beefsteakand heritage all started from seeds collected last summer) lettuces, herbs (rocket and basil are favourites), we have started peppers(I usually remember these too late) and aubergines. Strawberries in hanging baskets are going well, raspberries are really going well even the black ones that have never fruited before. I realised I pruned them in their first year when I wasn't supposed to. The red ones were being eaten but spraying with gatlic spray and checking daily seemed to have sorted that out. We just hope that the wind doesn't blow off lots of young fruit like it did last year.

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Boysenberries

Raspberry Ivory

We have had this one for 2 summers and the we have had only a few rather small berries so far.

Raspberry Ebony

I must come clean on this one. We have had this in the ground for 2 summers now and we have yet to see any sign of fruit. But we live in hope.

Raspberry Aspiring

Feijoa

Fowl mood!

I've been in a foul(fowl) mood lately or to be more precise the last two days. I don't know what it is I just get fed up with everything and everybody, I get bored, irritable, etc, etc. Partly caused by needing a break from the family. It doesn't take much a couple of trips out to the organic food shop the DIY shop on my own usually does it.

The chicken house is on schedule for completion by the end of tomorrow. Picture will be posted when finished as will more gratuitous pictures of the fruit we have in the garden. Why? I hear you ask. Because I can or in my son's words 'want to'.

Tomorrow, Sunday I will be making a greater effort to publish my training details (this blog is supposed to be triathlon related) and share the details of a rare purchase that I hope will make me go faster for no extra effort... and no it's not illegal.

Be safe, never trust a motorist who isn't a cyclist.

Chilean Guavas