NEWSLETTER 2017 / 2018
Hello All , Welcome to our first newsletter.
Last season was very favourable with a warm spring and a hot summer with rain showers in between.
Lambing begins on the farm in mid-August with the Cheviots followed by the Merinos.
The peony season started as the last of the lambs were being born. So more early mornings ahead! This year mother nature in her wisdom decided the peony season will be two weeks early…….
2017 saw us having help from all around the globe with young travellers from Hong Kong, Singapore, USA, France, Finland, Germany, Canada, England and Mexico. Also our usual and very much appreciated local contractors were on hand to help with the harvest.
De latering Henry Sass
So, it began with our reds.
The colour red often described as ‘BLOOD’ ‘RUBIES’ and ‘FIRE. High Country peonies can offer blood reds, ruby reds, burgundy reds and fire reds.
Peonies are still a living thing even when picked, they need gentle handling and care as they must travel many miles around the globe until they reach their destination. High Country Peonies travel in cardboard boxes lined and wrapped in plain paper.
With chill packs to keep them fresh and asleep till they arrive to some lucky recipients.
High Country Peonies are grown outside in totally natural conditions. Therefore, we have perfect imperfections………. As created by nature every flower is unique.
Perfect Imperfections
…meaning a ‘perfect flaw’.
We live in a world today of everything seemingly needing to be perfect from assumed body shapes, to perfect potato shapes and most of the food we eat.
Carrots are a perfect example of colour originally formed in shades of white to purple. Then politics and fashion saw them become orange in the 17th century.
Now everyone wants perfectly shaped food from bananas to apples and potatoes.
This of course applies to flowers especially ones grown inside or within an artificial environment. Almost too perfect as they all look the same … processed and perfect comes to mind but also synthetic…… This is not nature at work.
We take a pride in the fact our flowers since root have adapted to the seasons here in New Zealand. They have grown stronger stems to tolerate the strong North westerly winds, they can be under attack from ‘Four seasons in one day’ that can happen in NZ, and therefore their immune system is tougher.
Our leaves are healthy although may show the odd blemish created by nature herself.
Each bloom will be full and vibrant in colour due to the brilliant sunshine and unpolluted skies of NZ.
Some blooms may not form from a perfect bud, yet they still open into amazing flowers. I love digging up new potatoes and carrots out of the garden that are different shapes and sizes…. we love our flowers to also have individual qualities.
Created outside in totally natural conditions all our flowers are perfect, but a few remain perfect imperfections…. Each one is unique and created by Mother Nature and her surroundings!
Angel cheeks and Henry Sass an example of imperfections Would you say no to these, or yes to their uniqueness.
This little fella is impartial too ! The bees have been plentiful this season, its lovely to work alongside these busy creatures. In the 2017 season we seemed to have as many honey bees as we had Bumble Bees!
Redundancy
Our dogs go into semi -hibernation as we get busy into the peony picking season. With six working dogs, they must take turns coming up to the peony paddock and may get a swim in the river if we get our day’s work finished early enough!
We were so busy our local mobile hairdresser came to visit an unusual change on the farm to sheep shearing!
Our last week of picking and we had a little fun. Our flowers that are surplus to requirments rather than just waste are picked and given to people who we think deserve a little something extra. This is done in conjunction with ‘The Flower Garden’ who distribute donated flowers.
Their motto is ‘Random acts of kindness’ they do a sterling job ,giving up their time and last year our flowers were gratefully delivered to residential homes, hospitals for both patients and staff, the local Westpac helicopter rescue and paramedics. ‘
"There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a face light up with something they have recieved freely and given with genuine honesty and appreciation”
For a bit of fun we decided to cover our daughters old car and run a facebook competition to guess the make of car, and total flowers used.
So the season finally ends and mother nature tells us its time to cut back the flowers in preperation for winter hibernation.
Once again we have some helpers returning for a second visit after sightseeing around the South Island.
2018
New Years Day
We are busy planting our new peonies, it is very hot, and we have dead dogs lying around!
It never ceases to amaze, that something so alien can transform into such beauty…..
Peony roots
Winter has been relatively mild, I say this with tongue in cheek as New Zealand on the South Island has in the past had dumps of snow as late as September.
We have still had a few good frosts which the peonies love!
The weeds have all gone and the paddocks look bare and almost dead.
Underneath however there is a hive of activity going on. The worms are busy aerating the soil by their movement. Worms ingest organic and mineral constituents then their digestive system concentrates both. Worm casts are richer in available nutrients than the soil around them. Nitrogen that has formed in the casts is readily made available to the peony roots. Healthy soil =Healthy plants.
September and it’s the first day of spring!
The camelias, rhododendrons, snowdrops and daffodils in the garden remind us spring is a bit early for us here, those in bloom are looking beautiful but some have succumbed to late frosts.
Our lambing season is underway, this is always a special time of the year to witness the new born, incredible that they are up and suckling mum within a few minutes of birth and running around within an hour. Cheviot sheep are renowned for their strong genetic traits one main being that of survivability and the lambs are often literally born ‘running’.
It goes without saying the ewes when needing to be caught can be the same!!
The dogs are happy to have more work. They are an important part of the team and we can not function without their assistance.
Spring Peonies 2018
