Late planting corn as a test

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Planting at end of Jan to see if it matures before winter arrives.



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Piccalilli 2019

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I learnt a lot making the practice run of piccalilli las t year ( read here ).  This year it's full steam ahead, with much more output. Mostly veg I've grown my self and local apple cider vinegar. I'm beginning to experiment a bit with  the recipe. Adding more veg, trying different things with the mustard.
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Friday work day

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Using a variety of Arbortech tools, I’ve used a slab of pohutukawa as a practise piece. Click here if you don't see the video above This slab is going to be a sculpture next to the driveway, down by the gate. I’ve started to remove the bark and clean it up. Click here if you don't see the video above
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STIHL Electric chipper (in depth)

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In the past I’ve accumulated material, then hired a chipper and spent a day reducing the pile to mulch ( click here to view ) This is a hassle because of the room the accumulating pile takes up and the potential fire risk. And there is the time wasted driving to another town to pick up the hire. The Stihl 355 is really light weight so it can be rolled most places in the garden. Nice big wheels. As I detailed in the previous blog entry ( click here ), this chipper has some quirks. The shredded material is deposited inside a shroud where it sits, and builds up until it blocks off the exit chute. Most of the blade clearance issues I have are when this backed up material jams the blades. Last week I did some more mulching into one of the raised gardens. First lot I had to mulch was a softwood tree. Softer than willow. When the shroud fills up, I drag the chipper back a bit clearing the exit chute and creating a trail of shredded material. I swapped between the ‘leaf’ and ‘branch’ settings,...
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The caterpillars were out of control!

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