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A bespoke rain gauge

A bespoke rain gauge

Our high tech, digital rain gauge device finally failed and rather than replace it with another complex 'solution' I decided to construct a more basic, traditional instrument, only on a larger scale. Essentially this is just a funnel that intercepts and collects a given area of rainfall and concentrates it in a narrow tube, magnifying the results for easy measuring.

I purchased a cheap stainless steel funnel with a diameter of 52mm connected to 2 meters of clear plastic tubing with a diameter of 12.5mm.
The ratio of cross-sectional area between the two diameters is 17 so each 1mm of rainfall gathered by the funnel displays as 17mm in the tubing.

The tap at the bottom is required to drain the gauge after each measuring period.
August 25, 2019
  rain  technology  zone1 
Olmec Sinclair
A plague of rats

A plague of rats

What with an abundance of edibles and great places to hide at blockhill there has been something of an epidemic of rats. While we are generally happy to share with all the creatures it gets a little concerning when they can be heard chewing on things in the ceiling. Fearing our water pipes and electric cabling might be damaged we decided to push back. With a little help from Victor we were soon dispatching rats (also named Victor) daily.
August 15, 2019
  rat  pest  zone1 

Garage improvement - 3 years later

Details   Secret swale at west end of workshop. Planted with bulbs, tagasaste for nitrogen and quick frost canopy over lemon and climbing kiwifruit. Ground cover of oregano and alpine strawberries.
Date   August 24, 2015
Tags     upgrade  zone1 
View 4 photos
Planting shelves

Planting shelves

I grow a lot of plants and trees from seeds. One space saving way that I have come up with is to use the vertical wall space at the back of the house where my nursery is located. Adding these metal 'gutters' as plant growing shelves has given plenty more growing area situated at perfect working height.
March 23, 2019
  tree  seedling  planting  zone1 
Olmec Sinclair
Bracken fern for black birds

Bracken fern for black birds

October 10, 2014
Every spring we get an influx of black birds and thrush. The birds make the garden their home while they build nests and rear their young. It sounds nice but they cause quite a bit of destruction considering their small size. Mulch and young seedlings get tossed about as they explore and scratch for things to eat.
One technique we have devised works rather well. After planting seeds or small plants we protect the area with a covering of bracken fern, sticking the rigid cut end into the ground and sort of weaving and layering the pieces together to create a wiry but biodegradable cover.
  zone1  zone2 
Arbour Construction

Arbour Construction

After hand milling macrocarpa tree with electric chainsaw I was looking for a project to utilise the rugged timber and decided to create a rugged arbour behind the house to improve the look and feel while usefully supporting some deciduous fruiting vines, the hardy kiwi berry.

This area had never really been well used, despite being so close to the house and easily accessible via the concrete pathway. Part of this project involves improving the productivity of garden.

After coming up with a suitable plan there was a decent amount of work clearing the existing plants and attempting to eradicate the twitch grass. I imagine this is going to take several passes. At this stage it has been sown in a cover crop for winter.

Concrete footings were cast with galvanized metal brackets to create a sturdy base, elevate the posts to keep them dry and make any future repairs reasonably easy.

Melisa helped assemble the heavy timber framework and metal piping.

Final phase is the planting of the vines (waiting patiently in pots) and training them up and over the arbour frame.
May 18, 2020
  construction  zone1 
Olmec Sinclair
View 4 photos