Preserving, Planting

For those of you who follow our Facebook page, you will already have seen the photo's of the finished Cob Cottage, and know just how thrilled we are with the results. For those who have not caught up, here are the most recent photo's of the cosy little cottage to share with you.







The solar panels and wood burner ensure the underfloor heating delivers toasty warm floors, and inviting atmosphere.

The bottles in the wall have turned out to be an amazing feature, letting in subtle light in a very interesting way. It was a messy exacting job installing the bottles, as you can see, but it has certainly paid off.






The gardens are coming along, and planting continues around the cottage, and over the property. We've realised we need more fruit trees if we are going to be truly sustainable, early and late citrus will go in over the next few weeks, with others to follow.


Wwoofer Nicole worked hard to establish the garden near the new car parking area.









Wwoofer Tash and Dave with the cows during the summer months, when we had plenty of grass!




Tash from the UK made some very tasty apple jelly from our neighbours Golden Delicious apples.





The finished jelly not only looks wonderful, it tastes like nothing on earth!

Continuing on with the Cob Cottage

We have continued work on the Cob Cottage, and are getting closer to finishing. Everything takes longer than you think, and we feel a bit despondent at times, but slowly but surely, we are getting there.
Here's what has been happening over the past month at Earthstead.
Wwoofer Marc has been assisting Dave with the earth plastering of the walls. Marc worked hard to get into all the cracks and hard to reach areas around the doors.












Wwoofers Jeff and James were also great helpers with the ceiling, painting on the finishing slurry of kaolin.
















With the ceilings done, next we set to work on the walls. The dynamic female duo, Wwoofers Tash and Nicole were Dave's new sidekicks, and they certainly kept him on his toes.











They worked hard, and finished the job, and then celebrated by spraying Dave with water. The resulting wall finish is amazing, we love the rustic, warm look of the walls, beautiful but practical.









Barry, the joiner has been working all hours to get the cupboards and fittings in place. He has used Australian hardwood cross-members from old telephone poles to make the bench top, table and cupboard fronts, along with our own maccrocarpa.Stunning results.






















On the outside of the Cob Cottage Dave and Ali have been hard at work finishing the fencing. The gardens are growing well now with all the rain. The plants we have put in are either native or edible, making for an amazingly rich plant environment.
















We also took delivery of two new calves this month. Our neighbour, Willy helped out with his trailer and bike. These little fellows came from Dave's father in North-land, and were so amazingly quiet they were totally unfazed by the big trip from up north, even when the trailer came unhitched during the quick ride from Willy's next door.









Little Bristol and his mummy made the pizzas for our Sunday night dinner. He loves to see what is happening, and is enjoying the baby rocker his cousin Lachlan gave him.









We've also done some work on our road frontage, wwoofers Anna and Jeff raked and levelled the topsoil ready for the native planting which will follow in the weeks to come.









It's also apple season, and Tash and Nicole have picked the first of the delicious fruit ready to peel, poach and bottle for winter crumbles and pies.













Picking apples is not the only thing these two amazing girls can do. Just look at what they get up to in their spare time!



























Over the past weeks we have been given many litres of organic milk by a friend who's cow lost her calf. The Jersey milk is very rich and creamy, and here Tash helps me siphon the milk from under the cream layer.

Summer Harvest

We've had an amazing growing year here at Earthstead, so I thought we should show some of our produce, and what we've been doing with it. This summer we have been really privileged to host some amazing wwoofers who have not only helped to tend the gardens, they have also helped to preserve it's bounty for the coming winter.

Megan from the US kicked things off back in January at the beginning of the basil harvest, making mountains of marvellous pesto to freeze for the long winter months.... (to check out the recipe, click here)







She also helped bring in the garlic and onions and string them up to dry.











Then Angie and Geoff lent a hand with the giant red cabbages. Angie even chose a dress to match the colour to the cabbage.















Next Wwoofer Rachel from North Carolina, harvested the new wave of basil and turned it into more delicious green pesto. (Recipe)















She also chopped heaps of tomatoes, beans, zucchinis, onions and basil ready for boiling and bottling for amazing pasta sauce.(Recipe) This is a great quick meal on a cold winter day.












Wwoofer Joe from Germany gathered the every ripening tomatoes each day for use in salads or for preserving.












Dave was the honey gatherer, harvesting bottles of the yummy stuff from our three bee hives. We are now replacing sugar with honey in all the recipes we can, with delicious results.












We used our plums to make the amazing Sleeping Plums. (recipe) I think it is called sleeping because of all the brandy in it. A wonderful night cap as well as a great dessert.













Although we only had a few apples from our young trees, they were delicious, and we look forward to bigger harvests in the years to come.















Returning Wwoofer Jenn shows off our first melon for the season.......














and a delicious melon it was, served with lots of homemade icecream. (recipe)















Sunday night is pizza night, and during the summer we are totally spoiled for choice as far as toppings go.













Grandbaby Bristol was not too sure about the giant zucchinis curing around him.....















but Jenn just loves her new green companions, and carries them around like babies!

















And here is Ali with the biggest melons we have ever seen at Earthstead!
















Last but not least, our first egg plant of the season made us proud. In the basket is more basil for yet more pesto, the perfect end to the harvest story.

Preparations for Peachie, and an update on the Cob Cottage.

As the time for Peachie's birth approaches, Jess has been really busy with lots and lots of washing, but she still takes time out for a rest each afternoon.










All things small are continually appearing on the clothes line.










But Peachies arrival isn't the only deadline facing this household. We've been working so hard on the Cob Cottage that I've not kept you all up to date with the exciting progress we've made over the past weeks. So, here is a quick photo story of how things have gone.









Richard and Jarred have put up the Macrocapa wood panelling above the interior cob walls. We think it looks stunning.














Next Dave prepared for the earth plastering by putting up protective sheeting and plastic.













Jess found a few sheets of her own to put up, but once again, the sheets Jess is interested in are of the very small variety, and they were hung on the clothes line.













And always little piles of little clothes being washed and folded. A never ending washing day, and the baby has not been born yet!










.....but now back to the Cob Cottage......

Then to prepare the gyb ceiling and wall boards for the earth plaster, a key coat of paint and river sand is rolled on.















Then the clay and sand are sieved....






























and mixed, ready for Ali's brother Leighton, who is an expert plasterer.

















We had some real problems getting the mix right at first, and lots of the earthy mix ended up in Leighton's eyes, or on the floor. With lots of trial and error from our alchemist, Dave, we found that by adding small amounts of milk product and some olive oil, we were able to achieve the creamy mixture Leighton was looking for.












Once the ceiling had it's first coat of earth plaster in place we were able to get on with preparing the walls for plastering. The first job was to fill the gaps and cracks in the cob walls where the cob mix has shrunk as it dried. (Our cob shrank about 3%, which is within suggested limits). Here Wwoofer Jesse ( from Washington State) stuffs wool insulation into the gaps ahead of the mud mix. The springy wool fibres will stay expanded to stop any draughts.













Wwoofers Kiley (from Canada) and Michael (from Germany) prepared the mud and sand mix.............













for Jesse to pack in the gap, on top of the insulation. The result is a smooth wall which is ready for the final finishing coat of plaster.














The same gap filling procedure was followed on the outside walls, as shown by Wwoofer Toni (from Washington State).














The gyb board needs two coats of earth plaster, and here Dave applies the first.














Here's how the walls and ceiling looked with one coat of plaster made from our local clay and sand. This was not the colour we were looking for, and we began a search for a clay and sand that were much lighter and finer in colour and texture for our final coat. Verena Maeder, who is a highly skilled earth plasterer from Solid Earth in Nelson suggested we use kaolin clay and silica sand to achieve the results we were looking for. So, the search for high quality kaolin and silica lead us to the very tip of the Bay of Islands where some of the finest white kaolin clay in the world is mined. Almost 100% of this clay and silica is exported for the manufacture of the highest quality porcelain and china. Only the best will do for Earthstead!















After much emailing, phoning and organising from our logistics and research team, Dave and Ali, a tonne bag of each kaolin and silica was delivered to us here at Earthstead.
Suzie's cousin from Australia visited, and he and his family lent a hand for a day. Here Paul, Ali and Dave manhandling the tonne bag of silica.















With the kaolin and silica now on hand, Dave began the testing process, to find a mix that was just the right colour and texture, while not compromising any of the amazing temperature and humidity controlling aspects earth plasters are so famous for.












From further reading and research, we found that the addition of paper pulp, casein (a milk protein product) as well as a small amount of flour paste gave a much more pliable and dust free mix, and was much easier to apply.















We decided the ceiling colour would be the lightest, with the walls a slightly "warmer" colour. Here Ali and Dave apply the final ceiling coat.














Now the big job of mixing 300 litres of plaster for the walls began. We needed to have all the mix on hand so it could be finished in a day, so there would not be any "start stop" colour joins on any of the walls. What we were after was a fairly uniform colour for the whole room. But never fear, our mixer elves Toni and Kiley were on hand to do the business!















And being a mixer elf is not Toni's only strength, she has a wonderful way with people, and was on hand to escort Ron on his regular Friday night tour of the Cob Cottage.














Our regular Friday night dinners are a great distraction from the deadlines we face. Here Beryle and Jess share a moment with their feet up.











....meanwhile, back to the serious stuff....

One small hiccup occurred when a couple of patches of plaster from the ceiling became dislodged during the first night. We think the problem was that the oil meant for the timber skirting board had accidentally been brushed onto the edge of the gyb ceiling, and the plaster wasn't able to bond to the oily surface. Anyway, Dave and Ali to the rescue - Ali hammered tiny tacks into the timber, giving the plaster something firm and solid to attach to, and Dave mixed up the stickiest mix of cow poo and sand to paint onto the gyb. Once dry, Dave applied more plaster and we all held our breaths and hoped.














And the hard work paid off, the patched area is not distinguishable from the rest of ceiling. Well done Dave and Ali.














So, with the mixing ready for the "big push" as Ali called it, we finished for the day and agreed we would start early the next day, and not stop plastering until all the walls were covered.














Bright and early the next morning, work began, Toni, Kiley and Suzie worked on the cob walls, applying the slightly gooey milky mixture, with bare or gloved hands, and finishing with a trowel.........













while Ali and Dave covered the gyb walls with the same mix using trowels only.......














And dear Jess fed and watered us at regular intervals.














It was hugely satisfying work, creative and soothing, and kind of spell binding after a while........














It was decided we would make the wall behind the wood burner a feature wall, mixing dust from the terracotta tiles we had cut and layed for the Earthouse all those months ago. The result we believe is stunning, and will blend perfectly with the mosaic tile floors we plan to start in the next few weeks.














So, here are the results so far, a light and airy room, plastered using natural low cost or recycled products. It is at the same time beautiful, rustic and practical. We are thrilled!













We are also thrilled that soon we will have a real baby living in the house with us, and won't have to pretend !