Ni-Vanuatu Villages

We've recently returned from a trip to Vanuatu in Melanesia. We stayed on Hideaway Island, once occupied by the people of Mele Village, the largest customary village in Vanuatu. In the 1960s, the villagers decided that the island was too small for them and they moved to the mainland.



Those Ni-Vanuatu people who live in the city earn little and pay a lot for their expenses. Those in the villages earn less but are proud of their self-sufficient lifestyle - no rules, no stress, no need to buy anything much at all.

I suspect that life is harder than the villagers let on but it was interesting to see how they live sustainably.

An egg

We found an egg last week. A small egg but tasty, apparently.



And then we found sixteen eggs yesterday. Down by the water tanks. At least we know where to look now!

Tui in the coral tree

Witches' Brew

We have two major problems with weeds:

1. We have a lot of weeds and weeds in NZ grow like, erm, weeds so we have to pull them up on a regular basis.
2. We have a lot of weeds and we don't know what to do with them when we've pulled them up.
   

So when we found some old olive barrels for sale at a local shop, we snapped them up and set about turning them into brewing vessels for weed tea.

If you want to have a go at this, don't google weed tea or else you'll end up with lots of recipes for a calming hot drink made with marijuana - try this recipe instead.

And you'll need these items:

• A brewing vessel big enough to hold your weeds plus water - a big black dustbin will probably be enough for most people
  
• A robust tap from your local farm supply shop - if you get a straight one with a wide opening, you'll be able to unblock it easily
  
• A drill with a hole saw bit
• Long arms for screwing one bit of the tap to the other from the inside of the barrel
• Darts and a dart board whilst you're waiting for the barrel to fill with water to make sure that the tap fits tightly enough (thank you K&B)
  
• Two or more pallets to stand the barrels on so that you can fit a watering can or bucket under the tap
  
• Lots and lots of weeds
• Lots and lots of water - preferably from a water butt
  

Total cost per barrel? $80 or just less than three trips to the tip.
Check back in six months' time to find out quite how smelly the brew ends up...

The Gang

I've finally managed to get the chickens to stay in one place for long enough to snap them. From left to right...

• The crazy fluffy chicken - definitely mostly silkie and very bad tempered. He crows a lot and so must be a rooster. He also attacks us by running sideways at us. Probably second in the pecking order and definitely first in the pot.
  
• The grey one - we thought this might be a rooster for a while because of its reasonably large comb and some attempted crowing. We're reasonably certain now though that she's a hen - particularly given her very fluffy undercarriage.
  
• The green one - you can't see this chicken very well here but we think it's another rooster thanks to the amazing green tail feathers and the ginger head. Would make a good feather duster.
  
• The speckled grey one - shy and retiring and hopefully about to start laying.
  
• The Rooster - this is our most spectacular bird and he's the cock of the roost. We knew he was a rooster from day one thanks to his strutting about. He's not quite so attention seeking as he used to be and seems to have matured quite nicely. He keeps the others in order.
  
• The dark speckled one - last in the pecking order, quite happy clucking around on its own. Looking forward to her eggs.
  

A gaggle of geese and a paddle of ducks

When we get round to replacing our bathroom, I'm hoping to install our existing bath in the garden as a duck pond. I expect that it won't be very nice to look at underneath so I'll plant all round it with flax and other natives.

Once it's filled up with water, I'll be able to acquire a few Indian Runner ducks from TradeMe to dash around the property looking busy.

Alternatively, I could just pop down to the park where they seem to have dozens more birds than they need...

Kauri Flour Bins II

Five months ago, I posted these photos of our kauri flour bins, purchased from TradeMe and a shot of James stripping the paint off them.



Since then James has sanded them down, oiled them and installed them in the kitchen. At the moment, they're looking quite rustic but once we've decided what colour to paint the kitchen, we'll probably do the bins in a contrasting colour.




There are a few too many borer holes in the bins and far too many ants in our kitchen for me to even consider putting flour in them. But I have found the perfect use for the drawers and bins - housing my ever expanding collected of plastic bags.