Those two are the 1935 1d Kiwi definitive and the 1938/47 3/- KGVI definitive, that stamp is worth a few $ and was the highest face value in the set. My NZ stamp collection is quite impressive and between 2005 and 2019 I was all about stamps, but during Covid the stamp clubs all went into hiatus and coins took over.
Back in the garden 3 days of cold showery weather (In NZ we have a wind called a Southerly that brings chilly and wet winds from the Southern Ocean which sees temperatures drop to single figures where I am (40s F) and low doubles in the north (50s F). Yesterday was the first day where no where in the country was warmer than the teens (68f) in the whole country, this year. The rain has made short work of the pea straw and some of the flowers have shrivelled a bit. A lot more leaves have come down and we have had 6 or 7c rain all night (43 f). In winter, southerlies can turn the rain into snow.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Moneytane, in more recent years, my stamp interests have centered around British Commonwealth King George VI issues. For NZ, I have most of the regular issues, but lack the more obscure, of which there are many.
For reference, I've used Murray Payne, which unfortunately is now defunct.
Stamps have been on the decline now for decades. I haven't much interest in worth or value, but as a collector with a passion for history, they still retail full value for me.
Sorry this is a bit off topic, but those not interested will probably get over it!
I used to have a seriously good collection of the King George V portraits from round the world, including some of the rare NZ overprints for places like Raratonga, Penrhyn island, Cook islands, etc. I gave it up a while back and took up coin collecting. The price of the ordinary stamps has tanked, but the rare ones have continued to rise, as people buy them as investments, rather than for collecting. But the beauty of that is if you like stamps, you can build a huge collection for a song.
I agree, King George VI (1937 - 1952) was the golden age for quality stamps. Commonwealth issues were very nice. They were recess printed and bright colours. You will find most are very affordable and most are easy to find. The only difficult ones are the high values like 10/-, £1 and those are usually $20 - $100 each.
I still have a lot of stamps and belong to stamp clubs, but coins are definitely my number one now!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Its been dreary grey and cold here in South Canada. Planting proceeds.
Brassicas under the row cover,
potatoes in the next bed, with paper mulch and reemay cover,
fallow bed,
peas, celery, parsley and carrots under a variety of hot caps.
broccolis, cabages, collards and kales under the row cover.
That looks like the weather here, lets pray you get a really nice summer.
Meanwhile my own garden is doing well, the pea straw is breaking down and anything planted is surviving, its been getting cooler and more dreary, but we have not had frosts yet and we have had some sunny periods, but it no longers gets above the mid - high teens (Low 60s) and today is a dreary day where the cloud refuses to break and temperature remains under 10c.
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Now planted into bigger pots, along with the marigolds as companion planting.
They look healthy and happy!
Yes. Considering they were just from seeds taken out of shop bought tomatoes, they seem to be growing well. Not sure yet if they will just continue to produce healthy leafy growth, or eventually start to produce fruit. Often, hybridised seeds will come up blind. I grew some pumpkin plants from seeds I'd harvested from the remains of Halloween festivities some years ago and none of them produced flowers.
Now planted into bigger pots, along with the marigolds as companion planting.
They look healthy and happy!
Yes. Considering they were just from seeds taken out of shop bought tomatoes, they seem to be growing well. Not sure yet if they will just continue to produce healthy leafy growth, or eventually start to produce fruit. Often, hybridised seeds will come up blind. I grew some pumpkin plants from seeds I'd harvested from the remains of Halloween festivities some years ago and none of them produced flowers.
Now planted into bigger pots, along with the marigolds as companion planting.
They look healthy and happy!
Yes. Considering they were just from seeds taken out of shop bought tomatoes, they seem to be growing well. Not sure yet if they will just continue to produce healthy leafy growth, or eventually start to produce fruit. Often, hybridised seeds will come up blind. I grew some pumpkin plants from seeds I'd harvested from the remains of Halloween festivities some years ago and none of them produced flowers.
Not long to wait now.
Later this year, I think I'm going to buy a range of different tomatoes from various shops and local growers to see which ones yield viable seeds when I grow them on next year. I suspect that tomato seeds harvested from fruit that comes from organic suppliers will grow much better than the ones from the likes of Tesco, Sainsburys or Lidl. However, this year's successful growers originated from yellow tomatoes bought in Lidl last October, so it's by no means certain.
Moneytaneits been getting cooler and more dreary, but we have not had frosts yet and we have had some sunny periods, but it no longers gets above the mid - high teens (Low 60s) and today is a dreary day where the cloud refuses to break and temperature remains under 10c.
Weird how we're only a few hundred kilometers away, but have completely different weather. We've been having absolutely gorgeous days. It's getting cooler and darker in the mornings and evenings, but it's been superb during the day. Thank God, we're owed a nice Autumn after such a crappy Summer.
Our feijoas have almost reached full size, so now we're watching out for them to start dropping.
To give an idea of just how good the weather has been, here's a pic I took in Tekapo last week. It was so calm the lake was like glass
Now planted into bigger pots, along with the marigolds as companion planting.
They look healthy and happy!
Yes. Considering they were just from seeds taken out of shop bought tomatoes, they seem to be growing well. Not sure yet if they will just continue to produce healthy leafy growth, or eventually start to produce fruit. Often, hybridised seeds will come up blind. I grew some pumpkin plants from seeds I'd harvested from the remains of Halloween festivities some years ago and none of them produced flowers.
Not long to wait now.
Later this year, I think I'm going to buy a range of different tomatoes from various shops and local growers to see which ones yield viable seeds when I grow them on next year. I suspect that tomato seeds harvested from fruit that comes from organic suppliers will grow much better than the ones from the likes of Tesco, Sainsburys or Lidl. However, this year's successful growers originated from yellow tomatoes bought in Lidl last October, so it's by no means certain.
We'll see this time next year.
That will be an excellent project! I look forward to your report, fall of 2027 😎
Last year we had a acorn squash plant sprout from seed, from kitchen waste tossed to the goats!
right in the barn yard.
It was by far the most productive squash plant, and didnt get any stem borers.
The goats wouldnt touch the live plant, or the growing fruit, all summer.
When we finally took in all the quash after a few frosts, and cut up the vines, the goat devoured the wilted vines!
The living plant has some sort of repellant that vanished as soon as it was dead.
Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac
For some reason my volunteer squash also do better in the manure pile, except the deer most definitely eat them. Less discriminating than goats, I reckon, or probably just less well fed. So I can harvest on the off years they don't find them.
LDC63, if you want to try a couple of heirloom tomatoes, I'll gladly send seeds this fall. I've tried many different varieties to find the best flavor, which also do well in my climate. I now only grow Pruden's Purple and Orange Banana Paste.
Neilithicman, what a fabulous view! The distant mountains look to be bare of trees. Is that elevation or climate?
Neilithicman, what a fabulous view! The distant mountains look to be bare of trees. Is that elevation or climate?
It's the general vegetation in the area, Tekapo is in an area known as the McKenzie Country and it's a large basin where the vegetation is mostly tussock and small low-lying shrubs. Large areas of it have also been converted to sheep farming.
Its elevation too, the lake is 700m (2,300ft) above sea level, but NZ being so coastal means our tree line is very low by American standards - like 1,200m and you are in tundra. These are our beautiful alpine tourist lands.
Meanwhile my peastraw seems to be sprouting peas and every single cat has made it their toilet!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
My lawn has recently become the local cat toilet too. I've just bought a wildlife camera so I can find out which one(s) is the culprit. Not sure what to do about it yet, but I suspect it will be something to do with one of the kids large water pistols.
Frost this morning, 28F, which wasn't forecast. Fortunately no damage other than perhaps a few apple and pear blossoms, which have started but not full yet.
I had kale and broccoli outside to harden off prior to transplanting. I think I heard one of them say ‘cold, shmold’.
Another frost this morning, 27F. Damage likely to the Winesap and Northern Spy apple blossoms. The others aren't fully out yet.
Figs:
Mr. Newton on the left. The other three are my neighbors', which will stay in the greenhouse until June.
Mr. N might be a bit pretentious, being a scion from Montecello. He told me that Lafayette once sampled his figs. Possible, I suppose, but more likely braggadocio. (or whatever the word is in French).
Gardening is one of my hobbies that benefits many. Here in California we have nice weather for growing. My only problems are gophers. A couple years ago I almost gave up, it got so bad, until I decided to put in galvanized planters with gopher wire in place. Problem solved for now and here are zucchini plants doing well.
I agree. This week, the stinking voles took out 40 percent of my peppers in the greenhouse. I've been fighting deer, bunnies, woodchucks, foxes, turkeys, and seem to get nowhere. For myself, I've had it. I can no longer fight with lethal methods.
I know this is getting woo-woo, but what's coming across to me is that the critters are in more in trouble than we are.
Amazing how you guys are all pestered by gophers, voles etc. The worst we get here are birds pecking seeds out of graound, cats going toilet and digging up plants, but things stay safe here.
And -3c frosts in late May, harsh, we haven't even had the temperature drop under 0 (32f) yet (It got to exactly 0 a few days ago), but its been mild here, temps in the low 60s and plenty of slanted late autumn sunshine. All my flowers, autumn blooms etc still going strong. Nearly bought some gerberas yesterday, but realised I had nowhere to plant them!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
I'm sorry if I was a bit cranky last post. Pennyholic, glad that the remedy works. Bottom line for me at least is that the rewards far outweigh the tribulations.
A friend gave me this t-shirt after a long ago rant.
I'm slowly planting the upper garden, half of the brassicas are in. The lower garden was fallow last year which I hope to reclaim this year. We had a frost warning this morning which didn't materialize (33F). Our fruit blossoms are finished except for blueberries and paw paw. Grapes haven't started yet.
This is the old vineyard starting to leaf out. Unfortunately, my mower is busted yet again, so it's a bit scruffy.
Looking good, its really greening up, lucky you - all that gorgeous summer warmth ahead of you!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
Thanks Mr.Midnight, I enjoy seeing all garden shots. You switched row covers to allow full sun, but keep out unwanted critters? My neighbor swears by them, but I have yet to try them.
I just wasted an hour calculating the tomato spacing. Problem is my 100 foot tape rule is calibrated in feet and inches. So 653" reads 54'5". I've had the same problem over the years and made a spacing stick. But of course couldn't find it. We are very slow converting to metric.
Thanks Mr.Midnight, I enjoy seeing all garden shots. You switched row covers to allow full sun, but keep out unwanted critters? My neighbor swears by them, but I have yet to try them.
I just wasted an hour calculating the tomato spacing. Problem is my 100 foot tape rule is calibrated in feet and inches. So 653" reads 54'5". I've had the same problem over the years and made a spacing stick. But of course couldn't find it. We are very slow converting to metric.
yes, birds tear at the tender greens, (not least of all the chickens!) so the net is very helpful.
We also put out a row of winter squash , 12 different varieties.
Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac
These are the Jerusalem artichokes I dug from an earlier post in March. I don't bother weeding expect for goldenrod, as they will take over. But the deer love them, hence the fence.
As a kid growing up in the early 60's, they were another source of income for me. My dad stored a few root crops in pits covered with a foot or so of leaves. My job was to dig them up in the winter. A local grocery paid .49 a pound for parsnips, and .78 for Jerusalem artichokes. I was allowed to keep half of that bounty!
In the 1950's most folks in rural areas in America kept a victory garden in response to WW II shortages. The practice gradually declined as life's challenges took priority.
But today, what with changing economic demographics, gardening is back again, as strong as ever. All of my neighbors and most of my acquaintances keep a garden.
These are the Jerusalem artichokes I dug from an earlier post in March. I don't bother weeding expect for goldenrod, as they will take over. But the deer love them, hence the fence.
As a kid growing up in the early 60's, they were another source of income for me. My dad stored a few root crops in pits covered with a foot or so of leaves. My job was to dig them up in the winter. A local grocery paid .49 a pound for parsnips, and .78 for Jerusalem artichokes. I was allowed to keep half of that bounty!
We have a perennial patch of them.
we dig buckets of them but there are always plenty left to sprout in the spring.
they are growing through that fence, and up through the stone path, (which I realize needs a massive weeding)
Jamais l'or n'a perdu la plus petite occasion de se montrer stupide. -Balzac
