Hokkaido Adventures: Trip One

Flying from Tokyo to Hokkaido, I noticed that many mountains below me were still covered in snow. This last winter was especially cold in Hokkaido, and since Hokkaido is the Japanese island that is furthest North, that means really cold and lots of snow. Its been a late spring, too, and most places we traveled had snow melting in  a shady crevasse. Quite a change from Australia, let me say.
 Of course, there are lots of other differences in the landscape as well. The sea, for one, is more blue grey than green, and the coast has more rocks and grey sand than sparkling white sand like the Sunshine Coast. The water is harder to get to, as well; the Japanese attitude towards the ocean seems to be respect tinged by fear, understandable for a country prone to tsunami. As a result, though, much of the coastline is covered in concrete and lined with breakwaters, a far cry from the naturalistic coastlines of New Zealand, Australia or even California.
 On our first trip we saw a lot of the coast. We started our trip with a train out of Tomakomai, the port city in Hokkaido where my friend Tessa lives. As we left the city industry gave way to progressively smaller towns, spreading inland from their own small ports on the coast. The train followed the coastline, and as we traveled east the sun set behind us over the ocean, turning the coast gold and lighting up the clouds gathered at the horizon. We were planning on camping that night, and the weather had looked fine heading out from Tomakomai, but as the sky darkened the first rain drops started to fall. The train line ended at Samani, and as we pulled into the station it was undeniably raining. Unsure of whether we would be able to reach the campsite, we came out of the station to discover a bus heading up the coast in the right direction (its times like those when having a Japanese speaker really makes traveling easier). Ten minutes up the coast, the bus driver let us off at the base of a hill, gazing up a road into darkness. With the help of flashlights we managed to climb the hill in the rain, but failed to find the campsite - locked bathrooms were the only sign, and a wooden viewing platform looking out towards the sea. With increasingly heavy rain, we made the decision to sleep in the only logical place available; the viewing platform. It had a roof, dry floor and some promise of a dry night. So we set up the tent three stories off the ground, attached the rain fly as best we could, ate dinner and turned in for the night.
 At 5am the sun rose. It woke us up from an uncomfortable night, sleeping on wood with wind trying to tear its way into the tent.  The view, though, was perfect. Straight ahead the sea stretched out, with coast curling in both directions.
(to be continued)

Some Japan Impressions

There are a lot of vending machines. Pretty much everywhere, and sometimes where you least expect them, like when a blue glowing machine appears out of the fog on a deserted suburban street late at night.

 Many things are packaged in a lot of plastic, but sometimes ingeniously so, like the Onegiri (rice balls) where plastic separates the dried seaweed from the rice and keeps it crisp.

 Japanese people are exceptionally kind and hospitable, for example buying you snacks when you are hitchhiking in their car (as if the ride isn`t enough!)

 The landscape is beautiful - mountains falling to the sea. Of course, there is a lot more wilderness in Hokkaido than when I will be going farther south. The sea, being the pacific, looks quite a bit like it does in California.

 Bamboo forms a low-lying ground cover - from a distance it looks like grass but its not.

 Bread is either very white or sweet. Tessa think that the Japanese got it right - bread should be sweet, not a thing you eat all the time.

 I`ve been eating A LOT of fish. And just generally lots of yummy, yummy food.

 That`s all for now - we`re off to Hakodate and hopefully will get to see some cherry blossoms!

Ania`s Guide to Brisbane

I`ve been in Japan for just over a week now, but somehow this blog is still stuck in Brisbane. I would like to blame this on only intermittent internet access, and will attempt to remedy some of this today. Before moving on to Japan, however, its time to finish up on Brisbane, with this handy guide of highlights of the city from my point of view. I`ve never written one before, so let me know if I leave anything out. Here goes!

 Ania`s Guide to Brisbane
A short, hopefully informative and helpful, guide to one of Australia`s coolest cities*

What to See: Lots of museums and free art all over the place! The Queensland Art Center is fantastic for Australian art; the Gallery had an exhibit of contemporary Australian women artists while I was visiting that was just fantastic. The Brisbane Powerhouse is also excellent, and doubles as a venue and movie theater. The Brisbane Botanical Gardens are honestly amazing - I spent about three hours wandering around in them. Check out the Australian Flora area and the Aboriginal Food Trail to be blown away by how many plants the Aborigines knew how to use. If you like history, the Parlaiment House, Old Governor`s House and probably the Museum of Brisbane (didn`t make it to that last one) are worth a visit. If you like more ecclesiastical matters, St. John`s Cathedral and the convent of the Sisters of Mercy both offer free and very informative tours. If you visit the former, look out for the organ decorated with possums and pew pillows hand-embroidered with Australian flora and fauna.

Look Out For: Crazy birds, tropical flora, public art, the fake beach on South Bank, and travelators. Travelators are like escalators but with a ramp instead of stairs; they facilitate moving things with wheels, like trolleys or bags. I first saw them at the airport, but they also exist in malls. Also look out for Queenslander houses - a distinctive architectural look that usually involves amazing porches and woodwork decoration. Creep hint: if you walk around at night you can look into the houses and see really cool interior touches, but try not to lurk.

How to Get Around: Find/rent/procure a bike! Biking along the riverbank gives you one of the best ways to explore the city. Public transportation is also good, and definitely make sure you take a ride on the ferries! At night the river looks even more fantastic, so if you can take a cruise at night.


Accommodation: Find a friend to stay with! People who live in the city will have the best insider tips and, since they often don`t live in the city center, you`ll see more of the city just getting to and from their place. That failing, I recommend Couchsurfing or an apartment to rent for a short period (try a website like, say, www.homeaway.com). Try looking for places in New Farm or Tenerife, suburbs that nestle close to the city but are full of parks and feel open and isolated from all the bustle. Alternately, I`m sure that there are very nice hotels in the city, and there`s a whole colony of backpackers and hostels on a hill north of the city center.

Where to Eat: I didn`t eat out much, although one place I really, really enjoyed was Fundies Wholefood Cafe in Paddington. Generally, Brisbane has a fantastic range of food on offer, from Japanese to Greek, cafes to haute couture, and everything in between.  . I recommend the select-your-own sushi option for a quick lunch, and there`s a really great selection of casual eateries in South Bank. What you do have to do is go to the farmers` markets around the city! The one on Wednesday in the City Centre has fabulous prepared food in addition to fresh fruit and vegetables, so go and grab lunch. Options include apparently-famous falafel (apparently the line is worth it), juicy cooked mushrooms, Turkish sandwiches, grilled sausages, fresh juices and the most colorful and delightful macaroons. Whichever market you go to, take time to enjoy and marvel at the incredible  range of produce. Tropical Queensland grows peanuts, macadamias and a range of colorful fruit that I had never tried before. As far as tropical fruit goes, I can recommend custard apples (they taste pretty much like they sound, although maybe more pear than apple), local bananas, and passionfruit. Dragonfruit is pretty tasteless in my opinion, although filled with lots of tiny seeds that give it an interesting texture. I didn`t try the red version, only the white, so maybe the red one is better.

Where to Drink: Archive Bar has amazing interior design (a bar made out of books!) and a lovely selection of beers on draft. I was told that the Regatta in Toowong was the first bar where women drank, and that they had to chain themselves to the bar (!). Even if that`s not true, they`ve recently reopened the downstairs after it got flooded last year, and its a lovely place to sip a beer on the porch. Three Monkeys is a really cute coffee place with amazing Chai (both in South Bank). Brew Bar & Cafe downtown has great coffee; try their single origin. Coffee generally is pretty good, as is local beer. Actually, all the beer that I tried was really good; I especially enjoyed White Rabbit. Remember that Australia is known for its reds, if you like wine!

Other Notes: Take time to smell the tropical flowers, especially the Frangipane. There are lots of beautiful beaches along the Sunshine Coast, so if you have a day (or even half a day) it might be worth taking a trip. Note: the surf is rough, so you are only allowed to swim between the flags, in sight of lifeguards. Most importantly, enjoy!

*This subtitle is a little bit of a stretch, given that the only other Australian city that I`ve visited was Sydney, for about 6 hours on a layover, but I`m willing to make the claim anyway.

Brisbane 1: Public Transportation and Public Art

I think I have a little crush on Brisbane.

Where to start? Well, Ferries. Not only does a river run through it (the city, that is), but the public transportation system includes ferries that run up and down the river! The ferry is pretty cool during the day, but even more amazing at night, when you get to cruise under the cities (seven?) bridges with a light wind in your face and lights sparkling up at you off the water. They light up some of the buildings along the riverbank, too - last night the old Treasury building was a deep cobalt, to which the orange pedestrian bridge acted as a visual foil.

Of course, the ferries addition to buses and trains (trains!). How cool is that? To get from A to B you can think to yourself, "hmm, do I feel like taking the bus, train or ferry?"

Although not technically a part of public transportation, there are also amazing bike paths up the river banks. Separated at most points from both car traffic and pedestrians, they line the river for all of the downtown area and in great swathes radiating out towards the suburbs. I spent most of the past few days negotiating these bike paths, biking partly just for the joy of having a warm breeze in your face and sunshine around you. Its a great way to explore the river bank, where public art and parks abound.

Thought Brisbane was bike-friendly? There's more! Not only are the bike paths throughout the city as well as on the river bank, but part of Brisbane bike-friendly initiatives include a city-run bike lending program as well. Similar to those found in cities like Barcelona, you sign up for a year and then can check bikes in and out of bike stations whenever you want. It only costs 45 AUD a year (plus usage charges) and they even give you a helmet! This might help combat the fact that I saw mostly lycra-clad men on fancy, fancy bikes using the bike paths - from the looks of it commuter cycling isn't exactly de riguer yet.

Oh, and then there's the public art. Its everywhere. I mean really, everywhere. Lining the river, on corners, on electrical boxes (apparently 900 have been painted), at random intersections, on the ground... its an amazing display of creativity, and seems to be a key aspect of the city's identity. Now, I'm not sure if it was always this way, but there sure is a heck of a lot of art around now, and its absolutely lovely (I'll put some photos up when I get them off my computer, promise). In addition to art outside, there is also a huge amount of art available to the public in museums and galleries. And they're free! Many, many free places to go and enjoy some art, like the lovely Queensland Art Gallery with its range of Australian art from colonial days through the present. I was particularly stunned by the palette of colors used by the Australian Impressionists - no doubt taken from the Australian landscape.

Stay tuned for more museum reports! I'm not nearly done.

A Glimpse of Wellington

I wrote the following based on an interview I did in Wellington - just to give you an idea of what I was up to!

"Soon the rooftop of the City Gallery will be bursting with edibles as Nikau Gallery Cafe takes local food to the next level - literally. The six planters come from the Pop Up Gardens that bloomed in Civic Square over the summer, and have found a new home on the City Gallery's roof. The venture is the latest step in Nikau Cafe's pursuit of local and organic food.

Leading the campaign is chef Kelda Hains, who has been at Nikau for over 12 years. For Kelda, getting interested in local food started as "I noticed more and more that when I bought food from local, organic growers the quality was much better... I did some reading and got really inspired and started looking around for local ingredients". As a chef, she agrees that food tastes better picked fresh and local. "Sometimes my growers turn up at 10:30am with food they picked that morning and it's just phenomenal". There are other reasons to go local as well, she says, including lessening environmental costs and supporting the local food system. Kelda has her own patch up in Brooklyn, where she's been able to do some growing of her own. Drawing a comparison between her work in the kitchen and her work in the garden, "I think gardening is a bit like cooking," she explained, "where you observe results and then decide what's worked - [it's about] repetition and observation".

The rooftop planters are the second step in Nikau's agricultural adventures, coming after success of the outdoor planter boxes in their courtyard. Kelda's experiences helping found the Brooklyn Community Orchard led her to think about how to utilise spare space at Nikau, starting with the courtyard planters. Built from macrocarpa, the stylish planters have moveable sections that combine seating with growing boxes. Since they're in a public space, Kelda says that texture and colour have played an important role in what is planted; "that's part of urban agriculture, it has to look beautiful". Interestingly, "many people don't know what plants look like, so its been quite educational". (More about them can be read on Nikau's blog at http://nikaugallerycafe.blogspot.co.nz/2012/01/courtyard-garden.html).

Since the staff are already busy with running the cafe and "when we get busy in the kitchen is when you need to be in the garden", they will likely hire a gardener to be in charge of the planters on the roof. While Nikau will hardly be able to supply all of its own food from their planters, "its all about filling the gaps and keeping it interesting", says Kelda. For example, "maybe we'll grow carrots but they'll be purple carrots". Whatever they grow its bound to be delicious, so keep an eye out for homegrown additions to the menu!"

Autumnal Weeks on the Farm

Before I leave New Zealand for exciting travels overseas (I'll be away for six weeks!), its about time I got around to describing what the farm has been like lately. While my sister was around we spent a lot of time swimming and exploring; besides the few days in Kaihoka, we spent Easter Weekend at our friend Debbie's bach at Tata Beach in Golden Bay. It was a picture perfect weekend - golden sand, clear water, portions of native bush, a visit to Takaka with a browse around its market and art offerings. Since Golden Bay is also exttremely shallow, at low tide we shellfish from the flats, digging in the sand for pipis and cockles and pulling mussels off the rocks. Pipis, in case you don't know - we didn't - are a small shellfish that look sort of like a cross between mussels and cockles, but smaller than either. Our family had never tried them before, although Debbie assured us that they are a Kiwi classic, especially in sandwiches with white bread and butter. Never a family to miss a culinary experience, we drove to the nearby dairy to buy properly white bread to experience this - and it was worth it. The taste is sort of like a creamier, gentler mussel, and are actually quite divine. If sunny, crisp weather and fresh sea food wasn't enough, our stay at Tata beach also aligned with the full moon, which rose and set at just about the opposite time as the sun - one evening I watched the moon rise just as the sunset was fading, and two mornings later the moon was setting as the sun just started to peep above the hills. Stunning. Not to brag, but did I mention that we drank wine on the beach?

Unfortunately, Kim had to depart back to the United States, leaving us alone on the hilltop. Luckily, she didn't take the beautiful autumn weather with her! We've had light breezes, crisp nights and clear days to spend outside. There's something distinct about autumn in the country, as if it brings out the visual poetry in the scenery. The trees that adorn fence lines stand out more sharply, while some blaze out their show of leaves. Fruit is ripe, apples falling on the sides of the roads and hawthorne berries create clusters of red. There's mist, too, which certainly adds to the effect - this morning it was so thick that we couldn't see the valley floor, but some days its just a few wisps. At sunrise the light is apricot colored, and sunset its like golden quince syrup (the bountiful fruit is obviously influencing my prose!). Maybe its just because the days are shorter so everything feels somewhat condensed and thus precious, but in short its been stunningly gorgeous. I love autumn!

Of course, autumn also means lots of work in the garden and kitchen. Everything comes ripe just before it all decays, so harvesting and preserving is key. We've been picking apples, quinces, peaches, rosehips, walnuts, and all sorts of vegetables and herbs. We've made rhubarb jam, peach jam, quince paste, tomato sauce, assorted other condiments. In the garden its time to start preping the garden to be put to bed for the winter which has involved shovelling lots of shells into paths and sheep shit onto beds (ah, living in the country - so many free resources, as long as you're willing to pick them up!). Fabulous autumn meals are, of course, part of it as well. What a beautiful time of year!

Now I'm off the to Japan by way of Australia, with a last stop in Shanghai. Its going to be very different, and hopefully very exciting. Posts might be far apart, but they'll be much more interesting. For now, wish me luck and sayonara for now!

Moore's Cottage, Kaihoka

Kaihoka is like a place from an alternate universe. Its too perfect, too huge and green and pastoral. The farm pours down a valley to the sea, with the romantic Lunar cliffs on one side and sand dunes on the other. The beach is massive, especially at low tide when you can walk and walk and feel like you're never getting anywhere. There's patches of native bush full of birds and hardy, wind tolerant trees.

Kaihoka is unlike any place I've been, although its almost like the perfect combination of all the things rural New Zealand is supposed to be. Its magical.

In its present state Kaihoka was formed from the amalgamation of multiple small farms that failed during the Depression. Currently owned and run by the Wyllie family, its a working farm with delightfully sparse accommodation that includes access to most areas on the farm. Of the two houses available we chose Moore's Cottage, a wooden building with sparse insulation or sunlight but plenty of backwoods charm. We stayed there years ago, and it was the memory of that visit that inspired Kim to ask that we return this year, with phenomenal results. We always had the beach to ourselves. We spent the days wandering, swimming, relaxing. Kim and I fought our way through bush to a hidden beach, then walked along the cliffs scaring sheep along the way. We splashed in the surf, saw four fighter planes (the entire NZ airforce?) jet by, played in the dunes.

At night we lit fires, making s'mores with dark chocolate to accompany tea as we warmed up the cottage and filled it with the delightful smell of wood smoke. It was, overall, delightful.

In line with our family interest in food, I think its only fair to share what was an amazingly satisfying meal at Kaihoka. Its adapted from this recipe, but pared down to make transportation to a remote location easy.

Kaihoka Shakshuka

1 large jar Mom's Tomato Sauce (or own equivalent) with Basil

olive oil (about 2 Tbs)

eggs (we had two each, so 8)

salt and pepper to taste

bread to have on the side

You could add: goat cheese, onions, garlic, chillies, other spices

Heat a medium sized heavy bottomed pot. Add oil. When hot, add tomato sauce. Fill jar about half full with water, and swirl around to get out any remains of tomato sauce. Add to pot. Bring to a simmer, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes. Carefully break eggs into tomato sauce and cook until poached, about 8 minutes (I think); it sometimes helps to ladle sauce over the eggs and put a cover on the pot. Serve with bread! Consider drinking some red wine, too.

Back in Nelson...

Things have been growing like mad. But before we get to that, let's wrap up Wellington.

I saw some really great theater. It included Wild Bride, one of the best overall productions I have ever seen, that was seamless and magical and just generally beautiful. Plus, all the cast were multi-talented, like the actor/dancer or the actor/amazing violinist and more. Fantastic. The really great theater also included some local theater, a Maori version of the Shakespearean tragedy Troilus and Cressida and a fair amount of circus. Even if all the theater I saw wasn't great it was all pretty good, and my gosh there was a lot in a small time. That's what you get when the NZ International Arts Festival rides in on the tail of the local Fringe Festival and Wellington goes arts-mad for weeks. It was wonderful.

I biked a lot. That shouldn't surprise anyone, really. I also learned how unpleasant high winds can be while biking. At one point I even got off my bike and walked, which is the ultimate humbling experience for a cyclist. I also volunteered at Mechanical Tempest helping people fix their bikes! I seem to have become the go-to person for truing wheels, go figure. Overall, bikes are great.

I did lots of gardening, but actually more organizing for gardening than gardening itself, which I suppose is always the catch with community gardening. I'm helping get other people to do it, but with less time with my hands in the soil myself, which is odd. I will work to change this in the future! A lot of good stuff got done, though, including applying for grants, workshop coordinating and making some exciting plans for the year ahead. You know, after I come back from Japan and get back into it, of course...

The pop-up garden, my original reason for going to Wellington, finished three weeks later than scheduled. The soil, bags and plants all got delivered to the garden I have been working with. I did some interviews for the Council on the Kilbirnie Pop-Up Garden, which was interesting. I've realized that I just love talking to people about their gardens. Gardeners really love talking about what they do, and you can learn heaps, like how to grow tomato plants from the laterals of old tomato plants! (sorry, nerdy gardener moment)

I also made some friends, hung out with my flatmates alot, connected to some old friends, and generally had a good time. I had an even better time once my sister arrived, so the last four days I spent with her in Wellington were great! The weather decided to turn lovely just for her, so we walked, biked, hung out and swam in the iciest sea water I have ever decided that it was a good idea to enter. You know when your chest gets so cold you feel like you can't breathe? Yep, it was like that.

So now we're down in Nelson, all four family members together and having a great time (including swimming in not quite as cold but still distinctly chilly water)! But more on that later!

Bees, Kids, and other Garden Things

Bees: The bees discovered the pop up garden! It took them a few weeks (after all, the garden did appear out of nowhere in a place where no garden had been before), but luckily bees are very smart. At first I noticed just one bee taking incredible dives into nasturtiums and cucumber flowers, but it brought its friends and now there are heaps of bees. Hurrah!

Kids: Every Friday morning kids from Newtown School visit the Innermost community garden in Newtown (the garden I might be helping to run next year!), and so for the past few weeks I've been heading over there to help out. Because as we all know, I love gardening, and adding children to the equation is pretty sweet. Its not precisely like the teaching that I did in Austin; they are only there for about forty-five minutes, and the teachers usually bring something to do. Plus, they rotate through four different groups, so I haven't had the same group twice yet. Activities have included planting peas, identifying edible plants, digging up a few potatoes, checking out the plants, poking at the worms in the worm farm, playing gardening games, picking some beans (I thought the worms were the best part). Gardening with kids is always inspiring, but my best experience happened last week, as we were leaving the garden and one girl turned around and told me that 'this was the best gardening lesson ever!'. I don't think I've ever been so flattered.
Really, though, gardening with kids gives me a real sense of adding something of value to their education and their quality of life; a chance to get out of the classroom and make connections about food and the natural world that otherwise they might miss out on. It also gives them a chance to eat at least something small from the garden, and as I recently found out, some of these kids don't eat lunch. How insane is that! I know that there are families that are too poor to feed their children properly, but I was very, very surprised to learn that the New Zealand government doesn't have some sort of school lunch program. I mean, even the U.S. provides lunch (and sometimes breakfast, and often post-lunch snack) in schools. By and large, the NZ government is more progressive and social-minded (although its not like they're Sweden or anything) than the U.S., and yet no food in schools! I think this is a huge oversight. Kids don't think well on empty stomachs. So now I have to figure out a way to get produce from the garden into the school regularly... we'll see what I can come up with.

Other Garden Things: On a happier note, the surveys that I did at the pop-up gardens came to a successful conclusion last week! Pretty much everyone I talked to was quite enthusiastic, some people were felt encouraged to start their own gardens, and I think it made people think seriously about urban agriculture. Plus, I had some great conversations about gardening. Gardeners love to talk about gardening. I do, they do, we had some great times. One woman that stood out told me that she was growing her own potatoes for the first time in a really long time; her and her daughter were amazed at the flavor. 'I'd forgotten what potatoes tasted like!' is how she described the taste. The culinary delights of growing your own; when a potato can really shine!

Wellington Doings

Today I have been in Wellington for three weeks. It certainly doesn't seem that long, somehow; although between volunteering at the Pop Up garden, volunteering at Mechanical Tempest, getting involved with Innermost Gardens (more about that later), working on various gardens and now surveying for the Council (not to mention a little bit of volunteering for the Fringe festival), I've been running around like mad getting things done. Or rather, biking around like mad, which is getting me back in Austin-like bike shape, albeit with more steep hills but less overall biking (Wellington is pretty small). Its hard to realize how much time is going by when you're running around.

So, in more detail; The Fringe festival (theater festival) in Wellington kicked off over the weekend, which is very exciting and I've already had a chance to see the 'Fringe Lounge', where different performers do short sets, get interviewed, and attempt to get the audience to come see their shows. There's more on the way, and some of it looks really good (as well as sometimes free)! Also, two of my flatmates and I went to a Chinese New Year celebration - cum - fashion show, which had better dancers than models, but it was still very cool. Apparently Wellington was the last place in the world to celebrate Chinese New Year, although technically the first place to experience it (being ahead of the rest of the world, you know).

Also, volunteering at the Pop Up garden has gone well, watering and talking to passers-by. Feedback is still very positive, and the gardens have suffered absolutely no vandalism, putting paid to the concerns expressed by some citizens about their vulnerability in the City Center. Charmingly, the bees have now discovered the gardens! It took them about a week and a half (I saw the first one last week), but now there are multiple bees buzzing around and diving headfirst into the blossoms. Bees are great! I'm just sad that after their great discovery, the garden beds are being moved again this coming Monday. Too bad they're not permanent, although they are hopefully going to become part of a rooftop garden for a nearby cafe.

Also at the Pop Up gardens I have been surveying for the Council (and they're paying me!). This means asking the same questions about the Pop Up gardens and community gardens in Wellington to lots of people for three hours straight. Luckily, I like talking about gardens, and the information that some people share can really be quite charming. For example, the older woman yesterday who has just started growing potatoes, and now she 'really knows what potatoes taste like' after eating them from the garden rather than the supermarket. Mostly everyone supports community gardens, and I hope that the Pop Up ones will encourage those who don't garden to grow their own. So its a good job, and it makes me hopeful about the future of urban gardening in Wellington.

Which brings us to Innermost Gardens. This group runs two community gardens in Wellington, one in the Mt. Victoria suburb and one in the Newtown suburb. I ran into their coordinator, Sarah, at the Children's Gardening workshop at the Pop Up Gardens, and from there have gotten involved not only in Innermost, but also in the recently formed Urban Agriculture Steering Committee for Wellington. The Committee is attempting to bring together different groups that do urban agriculture in Wellington, and to promote it within the city. So, as happens, one thing led to another, and I am now on the Committee (probably going to help update/blog on the website), I'm the Innermost Secretary (lots of writing and volunteer organizing!) and possibly going to be one of the coordinators for the Newtown gardens since Sarah wants to exclusively manage Mt. Victoria.
In other words, I'm moving back to Wellington on a semi-permanent basis.
Which is kind of scary, but also very exciting. Urban Agriculture, here I come!

Wellington Week 1

Perhaps this is belated, but I did in fact get me and my bike to Wellington, after many trips to the bikeshop, lots of near-breakdowns, and the last minute decision to delay for a day to make sure the bike was really ready and take a bus from Nelson to Picton instead of biking. Yes, I know, this is probably a cop out, but it may have prevented bodily harm, or at the very least tears and a desire to never again see a bike in my life. Now the bike is in working order, and I even got a two-hour bike ride from Orinoco to Nelson, so I wasn't entirely lazy. And I made it to Wellington! Which was the objective anyway.

Now, as to Wellington. I've now been here for almost two weeks, and I'm already famous! Well, not really; but I'm in a picture in this article (http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/6325178/Vege-patch-sprouts-in-Civic-Square), where my name has magically become Anita, and another in this one (http://www.capitaltimes.co.nz/Everyones-eating-the-peas). I've been out at the Pop Up Gardens every day watering (well, except the two days that it rained, making watering unnecessary) and talking to people, and so far the reactions have been really, really positive. People love the idea of growing food in the city, especially as a learning experience for children, although I did have to explain to one woman that no, kids don't all know where food comes from, that no, not everyone comes in contact with gardens the way people of her and yes, there is something to be learned from gardening (at first she 'just didn't get it').

Other than my involvement with the pop-up garden, I have been biking all over the place, volunteering at the Mechanical Tempest (its a place where people can bring their bikes and get help fixing them up) and working on various gardens. Basically, my life is 1) gardens 2) bikes and, well, actually pretty much that. I've also been to see some free art, the Wellington Fringe Festival (meaning theater) is coming up this week and I'm going to do some volunteering for that as well! So, a lot of volunteering. I should probably get a medal. Really, I should probably get a job, but I'm not here for quite long enough for that. Besides, people love volunteers!

Its sunny outside, which is rare for Wellington, so I'm going to go enjoy it (and, no surprise, do some gardening). Hurrah, Summer!

The Farm in Pictures

I recently promised pictures, and then never delivered. Here, then, is a pictoral exploration of what has been going on at the farm. Conveniently, it also saves me from sitting inside and typing, since the weather has just turned beautiful and summery - right before I leave for Wellington, of course. Anyway, enjoy!



Scarlet runner beans, more squash than we know what to do with, raspberries and a garden salad (broccoli, greens, peas, nasturtium blossoms, new carrots, and beet from a neighbor!)



Here we have sunflowers, cardoon blossoms, our first egg from the retrieved chooks, and rhubarb leaves; they are as big as my hat!

In Which We Encounter a Wandering Texan

Sometimes adventures fall right into your lap.

This Tuesday, we went over to Aamon and Wendy's for a barbeque (these are the people that had their 11th wedding anniversary party on 11/11/11 and roasted an entire sheep). Their three kids were keen for a swim when we arrived, so off we piled onto and into their truck, and went down to the river before dinner. On the way back, after a refreshing (a.k.a cold, a.k.a. freezing) dip in the recently rain-fed river, we encountered a backpacker crossing their drive. He had a huge pack, music blaring tinnily from headphones and was that a Texas A&M shirt?

It was. "Did you go to Texas A&M?" I called out. Looking a little taken aback, he applied in the affirmative. "I went to UT," I offered. His face expressed disapproval, and he made an upside down 'Hook-Em' sign. I replied with the correct 'Hook-Em' handsign as we pulled up the drive, leaving him on the road. Weird, I thought. Strangely enough, I managed to run into an Aggie in the middle of rural New Zealand. But it didn't end there. Just ten minutes and a lot of toweling later, Aamon looked out the window and remarked that a friend of mine seemed to be coming by. And indeed, I turned around to see the stranger hesitating by the front gate. Taking pity on him, I went out to make his acquaintance. His name, I now found out, was Trey, and he was wondering if he could pitch his tent on Aamon and Wendy's land. They did him one better and invited him over for tea, and so we found ourselves eating barbeque with a slightly shy but friendly and very grateful Texan. Oh, the coincidences.

Trey had some family in Hamilton, so he'd been mostly on the North Island, but had been hitchhiking around, eventually heading to Queenstown and sky-diving before heading back up. He was heading up to do some hiking on Mt. Arthur, but before we left I gave him our number in case he wanted to go to the pub after getting back. He lit out early the next morning from Aamon and Wendy's treehouse (where they had let him stay; they are very very nice people), and two days later I got a phonecall. So last night Mom and I hosted a fellow* Texan and fed him his first ever vegetarian meal. Well, the boy did grow up in Ft.Worth, and then move to College Station, and he did talk about how much he loves to barbeque. He is obviously a much better Texan than I am; he evens uses the greeting 'Howdy'! Anyway, despite slight cultural differences and despite the long-held animosity between our two alma maters, we managed to be very civil to one another. In fact, we got along splendidly. Honestly, it was nice seeing someone who was not only my age, but familiar with Texas. He understood my desire for warmer weather! He drank the same beer that I had! We talked about missing Mexican (well, Tex-Mexican) food! It was delightful.

So there you go. Two Texans met in the middle of New Zealand, drank a little beer, had some good talk, then went their separate ways. It can be refreshing talking to someone from your own area; you have to explain so much less, jokes are so much easier. When traveling, it can be exhausting to constantly feel like an outsider. It can be a little tiring in day to day life, too, I've found. Its the feeling of being instantly identified as 'not from here'. I think its stranger for my parents than for me, since they've lived here for so long but people instantly pidgeon hole them as tourists as soon as they speak.

Actually, for some weird reason we watched The Big Lebowski last week and it made me homesick. I think it was the little Americanisms in the film; they eat at In&Out, they use a Folgers tin. And its just so Californian. So it was good to see a Texan, and feel a little bit closer to that version of home.

*I hope I don't need to remind anyone that I am, in fact, a Texas resident. Making me a Texan. Okay? Okay.

My People are Back!

So, no longer am I alone on the homestead. My parents have returned, as has the cat (he kept leaving mysteriously and then re-appearing at 4am, once bringing a dead bird as a present). They had a fabulous time away, but are happy to be home, and I've been happy to have them. People to feed! And talk to! Its pretty amazing, let me tell you. Plus, they can admire all the hard work I've done in the garden. Well, the small changes, anyway. Actually, in terms of failed garden projects (oops!) I think I killed the water lily while trying to transplant it. Still, in the larger scheme of things I think I've nurtured more plants than I've killed, so that's something!

Unfortunately, while my parents brought the rain back with them. From an area that has a bit of drought no less; now that's impressive (or maybe my parents just attract rain... Can I blame them for the recent flooding in the Nelson area?). The past two days were full of constant intermittent rain; in other words, it would rain for a bit, then get sunny, then just when you thought it might clear up it would rain again. I decided to revolt against the changeable weather and spend most of my time inside, which I did. Of course, then I got a little stir crazy... it was a no-win situation, except that I have almost finished all my grad school applications, made a dress, read a bit and caught up with my parents. Rain is a good excuse to spend some time inside.

Today, luckily, the weather actually did clear up the way its been threatening to do, and some gardening actually got done. So did some listening to and dancing to ukulele music, since its that time of year when the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra visit Nelson! More precisely, they come and play their annual gig at Neudorf vineyards, where everyone brings food, drinks wine and its all quite merry. I biked there and back from our place while the five other group members piled in the car; I think my elbows were more comfortable, but it took them less than 45 minutes to get home. It was a lovely time out; the strumming of ukuleles filled the air, charming small attention-loving children danced for the crowd, and we enjoyed wine and a range of picnic foods. Still, the event has gotten bigger, and this year they moved it to 6pm from around 3 (in an attempt to sell more wine, I'm guessing), and the crowd didn't seem quite so happy-go-lucky or interactive. When I saw the ukulele orchestra a few years ago, I ended up climbing a tree and remember a much more relaxed feel to the whole afternoon. Don't get me wrong, it was fun, I enjoyed it, I got to dance with some kids, but it wasn't as much something to write home about as in the past(and yet here I am...). Still, an enjoyable outing from the farm!

I was planning on putting some pictures up, mainly of the delightful garden produce coming in, but the camera's dead. I'll get around to it soon, though! And now that the rain's been and gone the garden's productivity will probably get even more crazy, so watch this space!

Lessons from Living Alone

There's a few things you realize about yourself (or maybe about humanity) when living alone. First, I'm not sure there's much point in growing and preparing gorgeous food when there's no-one to share it with. Who is going to admire the crispness of the sugar snap peas with me? Or the way that the beets and carrots are perfectly complemented by dill and walnuts? To whom can I modestly gloat about the New Mexican-style squash soup I semi-invented? Also, does anyone else want to do the dishes, because I'm sort of sick of having to do them all.

Its a little hard to get really into gardening when you're the only one eating from a garden for numerous reasons. There's too much food for one thing, at least in ours. I was struggling to keep the fridge under control, so eating everything ripe in the garden? Puh-lease. Also, sharing is a great way of both showing off (modestly) and showing that you care about other peoples' well-being. Living alone makes this hard, especially since most of my social life is, in fact, my parents' social life (yes, I am the saddest excuse for a 23 year old that I know, but I actually like it that way most of the time). There is the additional problem that not only can I not eat all of the food, but in fact when I cook I then have to eat the same things for multiple meals over the course of a day or two in order to eat it all. Food becomes less exciting when this is the case. Also, its boring.

Luckily, my parents come back tomorrow (mom) and thursday (dad) to save me from myself. Hurrah! Also, the cat came back, but has now disappeared again. He seems to leave every time that I don't pay attention to him for more than a few hours, or when I leave the property. Apparently my occasional pets and feedings aren't enough for him. Well, soon enough I won't be counting on him to be the nearest living creature, so ha!

Finally, adventures. Well, I've mostly been working on getting mom's road bike back in working order so that I can use it, and doing other gardening/chore type stuff around the farm. So my life isn't terribly exciting. It did finally get hot enough yesterday for me to go to the river - we've gotten so much rain and only occasional sunny days that it hardly feels like summer. So I biked the long way to the bridge and had a luxurious swim in water that, finally, both wasn't completely freezing and had dropped to its normal level so swimming was fun again. It was so clear that it was almost like swimming through crystal. Finally, some summer in New Zealand!

Speaking of places that are not New Zealand, I realized today that I missed corn tortillas. I don't often dwell on things that I miss about Texas (friends, warm weather, not having to worry about getting fried in the ozone hole-intense sun), but a good corn tortilla would have raised the squash soup I made to the level of sublime. Sigh. Well, guess I'll just have to go eat some of the raspberry ice cream I made from our own raspberries to console myself. Its a tough life.

Housesitting, Biking and All That Jazz

This week my parents have gone off to have adventures, so I'm all by myself on the homestead. I'm not sure it counts as housesitting if it happens to be at the place where you actually live, but its certainly interesting. It causes one to ask all sorts of questions, like 'how can the fridge still appear completely full when I've been eating from it for the past three days?' or 'how long before I go completely insane and start talking to myself out loud?' or 'if I rearrange all of the furniture, will my parents care?'. I thought that the cat and I were going to become best friends, but unfortunately he has disappeared - probably miffed that I went away for a good portion of the day yesterday. Hopefully he'll come back soon; I like it when he gardens with me.

As you might have inferred from my mentioning being away yesterday, I haven't entirely been sitting at home forlornly while my parents have been away. This week was the Nelson Jazz and Blues festival, and I do love me some jazz and blues. Plus, I have a mountain bike loaned to me from one of dad's mountain biking friends. The sum of these two facts meant that I biked to two of the festival events, and learned that biking places when you like the country takes ages. I have gained a certain understanding of the prevailing car culture, I think. On friday, biking to the Woollaston Vineyard took me an hour and a half (including one misdirection), and the bikeride I took to Richmond yesterday took over two hours. Two hours! Worse yet, much of those two hours were on a highway, which admittedly is only two lanes but people drive fast. I won't be going on that route again soon. In fact, I was quite fortunate that I could get a ride back from both events; its one thing spending two hours biking somewhere; its quite another having to turn around and bike back again, although it is lovely to be biking places again.
And the jazz! And the blues! By talented NZ artists! Live music is fabulous, and it doesn't hurt when you can bring a summer picnic and share with friends at the same time. Did I mention that two of these events was at a vineyard, and the third was in a park? Location, location, location. So even if the weather hasn't been completely summery, and my parents have abandoned me at home, I got to wear big hats and skirts and swan around listening to live music and eating finger food. Life is good.

Speaking of life being good, the garden is taking on a life of goodness all its own. Its really a shame that there is still so much food in the fridge, because we're just getting the first peas, beans, carrots, beets and escarole, and we're bursting at the seams with broccoli and zucchini, among other things. Why are there only so many meals in a day? How am I supposed to keep up? Good thing my parents are coming home in a just a few days. And now that the festivals over, I'm back in the garden doing useful things. Like building yet more trellises. And pulling still more weeds!

Flax!

In the big news of today, I have woven my first item from flax! Flax is native to New Zealand and its fibre has been used for centuries by the Maori for various things, from rope to baskets to everything in between. Its presence across New Zealand is fairly ubiquitous - we have some on the farm, even - making it a useful resource. I've been interested in weaving it for a while, but didn't exactly want to attempt it on my own. Luckily, a few of my parents' friends, knowing of my interest in weaving and having taken classes themselves, invited me to join them for a flax-weaving session. I accepted gladly. After biking over this morning, I found them preparing the flax (which, to be honest, I didn't even know you had to do). As it turns out, the preparation is the difficult part of flax weaving. Only a portion of the plant is usable, so that section needs to be selected for and cut into strips. Next, the flax needs to be softened, in our case by pulling a knife along its length, similar to how one would curl a ribbon. Finally, the beginning end is split to allow for weaving. Even after I got the hang of all the steps it was pretty slow going, and the preparation time went through a tea break and lunch to the early afternoon. Then we were finally ready to weave. Which, after a false start or two, turned out to be the easier part. I was planning on making a bag, but it turned into more of a baguette holder/quiver/ pencil holder for giants/...... its quite odd, really - it will probably end up full of flowers and hung up on the wall, declared 'interesting' by guests. Yet unpredictable outcome aside, it was marvelous to take a plant and turn it into something else entirely. At the moment the flax we used is a lovely motley of shades, including some almost rose hues and a number of greens. Unfortunately, as it dries all that will fade to unexciting beige. I'm keen to try again (maybe even to actually make a bag! Who knows!), but I am not so keen to spend a lot of time preparing the flax. Maybe on our next rainy day....

Speaking of rain, a few (more) days of rain right before New Years Eve troubled (even more) holidays makers and added to the sense of relaxation up here; mom and I even made it to Nelson to see some art since it was far too wet to be out in the garden. Of course, post-rain the weeds are racing ahead again, in the battle that never ends. The plants are loving it too, luckily, and its easy to see how soon we will be struggling to deal with all the produce from the garden.
In fact, now is the time of year when planting and maintenance happen simultaneous to harvesting and storage. Most of the radishes have been pulled out to make way for lettuce (tucked in behind the beans to avoid the hot summer sun), but have been turned into a variety of successful or not-so-successful preserved foods (kimchi delicious, radish 'chips' weird). So while we're reeling under the weight of our seeming acres of zucchini, I'm also cutting herbs and hanging them from the rafters to store for the winter, and watching seeds carefully for when they will be ready to save. It just reminds me how dynamic gardens are, making gardeners so aware of their antics. And forcing them to be creative with radishes and cardoons, among other things!