Category Archives: jane

Spring has sprung down on the farm

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Riesling vines ready for the experiment

Seed ready to go

Blossom trees are in full bloom. There is now a green haze over the vineyard as the vines leaf out. This year Nick and I have decided to plant alyssum under the first 20 rows of the vineyard. This will mean that we don’t have to spray for weeds and will provide a habitat for insects. Nick mixed the seed with compost and sprinkled it along the rows. In preparation Nick has sprayed every second row for weeds. We are experimenting to see how this will influence germination. Jane

Nick mixing the seed and compost

Art and Craft-musings on the banks of the Thames

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Lois Waghorn

This morning Simon and I woke ridiculously early as we struggle to adjust to Northern Hemisphere time. We went walking along the Thames. It was breathtakingly beautiful looking down the river as we crossed the Vauxhall Bridge. We marvelled at everything from the lamplights to Westminster. Walking back through St James Park Simon won the spot the squirrel competition.
As we wondered down the river pathway we thought about Simon’s Great-Great Grandfather Arthur Waghorn who worked as a lighterman on the Thames. He left England with his wife Louisa and young family to settle on Banks Peninsula. I always think it is interesting to consider the influence of these ancestors on who we are. These people we assume left in the hope of making a better life and taking an opportunity. They were brave and bold and I hope we reflect a little of that strength of character.
One of the traits that undoubtedly runs through the Waghorn family is creativity. As I listen to Simon discuss his wines I think it is clear how important his skill as a winemaker is balanced with his creativity in crafting the wines. Art or craft – maybe both?
Creativity is openly expressed by the women of the extended Waghorn family. Simon’s mother was a potter and a painter. His sister Sarah carries on this and is indeed a wonderful potter. “Sarah’s pots are hand built sculptural pieces. Using the coil method she uses a few simple tools and concentrates on form and natural shapes. The majority of her work is in sculptural and earthenware clay.”
www.sarahford.co.nz
Our niece Julia Waghorn is a talented graphic designer.

Julia Waghorn

She is stylish, creative and also very funny. Stealing from her website she describes the influence of a creative family. “Julia’s grandmother was the person who began her interest in Graphic Design. As a child they would spend hours in Lois’s games room drawing and painting. “
www.juliapenelope.com
Arabella, our youngest daughter is also bitten by this creative bug.

Arabella screen printing Meg's wedding invitation

She is in her 3rd year at art school at Auckland University. She is currently involved in an interactive installation in Myer’s Park as part of the Fan Trail project which is part of the Rugby World Cup activities.
“Inspired by Myers Park’s history as a colonial shanty town, Elam students combine what little is remembered from the past with the contemporary. Abstracted dwellings of geometric forms, clustering and lacing through the grassy hills, suggest community and a collective culture.“

“The living sculpture explores the displacement of those who once lived on this site as well as travellers who’ve come from near and far to attend the Rugby World Cup 2011 games. “

http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/events/amped-in-the-park

Check out their blog.

http://elamfantrailproject.blogspot.com

I hope you enjoy a glimpse at the artistic work of our crafty lot.

-Jane.

Hope springs eternal

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Spring is such a wonderful time here on the farm. As we wake in the mornings the birds are going crazy. We are enjoying hearing and sighting tui. An added excitement has been a young wood pigeon visiting. A report in the paper said that a wood pigeon sighting at Spring Creek is the first in 27 years. Part of the farm is our large pond which is surrounded by native plantings. We also have several kowhai trees. It is wonderful to see the native birds returning. The white heron has been wintering over on the pond.

It has been a sad winter in the chicken coop. My dear old Wyandotte Winnie died and a couple of months later my little red hen Hettie dropped dead too. These hens were quite elderly and, while I love River Cottage, I ain’t no Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and I have to bring in hired assassins if a hen needs killing. However, hope does spring eternal and I now have four young hens housed in the dog run until they get a little bigger and can be introduced to the older girls. They are brown shavers. My aim is to have continuous egg production throughout the year. The others all went off the lay over winter. I want egg production units! These plain but oh so charming girls are, I hope, the answer. As if in fright the others are all producing again!

The old girls

It is also asparagus time. Alas the crop is poor. The crowns in the bed are over 20 years old and it is time for new ones. The potatoes are sprouting and the weeds are flourishing. I am so keen to get out there. I had my foot reconstructed 5 weeks ago and my gardening has been curtailed. I have my King’s seed catalogue at my side and oh so many plans.

The ground is finally drying out after a very wet winter. The Chardonnay is budding out. We gave Simon Cider Apple trees for Father’s Day with the glorious names of Sidero, Broxwood Foxwelp, and Kingston Black Semi-dwarf. Apple blossom, pear blossom, cherry blossom, quince blossom…….. Hope springs eternal.

Mother's violets in my garden

In memory of my mother Ruth Forrest who died on 26 August, the Durvillea girls’ Nana.

Mother’s Sweet and Sour Pork (a trip back to 1970′s)

1 1/2 lb lean pork cut in strips

2 tablespoons fat

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup green pepper strips

1 med. can pineapple chunks

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons cornflour

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup thinly sliced onion

Brown pork in the hot fat, add water, cover & simmer until tender – about 1 hour. Drain pineapple, reserving syrup, combine sugar, cornflour & pineapple syrup (3/4 to 1 cup), vinegar, soy sauce and salt. Cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly. Pour over hot cooked pork and leave to stand 10 minutes or longer, add pineapple, green pepper & onion. Cook 2 to 3 minutes. Serve with rice or noodles.

Beautiful words to inspire you to use some Maori phrases

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Maori Language Week

I thought I would end our participation in Maori Language week with 2 poems. Beautiful words to inspire you to use some Maori phrases and encourage us all to pronounce our place names correctly. I have always loved this Eileen Duggan poem. Read it aloud. It won’t rhyme if you don’t pronounce Wairau properly. This poem was written in 1937.

The Tides Run Up The Wairau

The tides run up the Wairau
That fights against their flow.
My heart and it together
Are running salt and snow.

For though I cannot love you,
Yet, heavy, deep, and far,
Your tide of love comes swinging,
Too swift for me to bar.

Some thought of you must linger,
A salt of pain in me,
For oh what running river
Can stand against the sea?

And also

Pakeha Talk

When you said kia ora to me
For the first time – uninitiated, unsolicited…
It floated, and it was an object,
New, hard; it waka-ed and defined shores. 

You spoke an unspoken boundary,
Showing the terrain.
You bought a new map into the room
-the same size- more detailed,
In the kete of your kia ora.

Margaret Mitcalfe

Nga mihi na

Jane

Kia ora from Jane

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Kia ora

Meg is on her way to a young academics’ conference in Brisbane so it is my turn to make an entry for Maori Language Week. I decided to explore Kekerengu a beautiful part of Marlborough on the Kaikoura coast. We source fruit from 2 vineyards there and of course rimurapa flourishes along the coastline.

Rimurapa

My first I thought was “what does it mean in English.”According to The Reed Dictionary of Place Names, AW Reed, 2nd ed. 1982, Kekerengu is a black beetle. However the name comes from a young Maori chief called Te Kekerengu who had to flee to Kekerengu because he made an enemy of Rangihaeta, who was one of Te Rauparaha’s lieutenants.

This was such an intriguing story I have had a little look further.  The reference librarians at the Marlborough District Library provided me with this first information and then I had a look at http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/maori-tribal-history/4 and a fantastic electronic version of  History and Traditions of the Maoris of the West Coast North Island of New Zealand Prior to 1840, by  S. Percy Smith , ( Polynesian Society, 1910, New Plymouth) on New Zealand Electronic Text Centre. http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-SmiHist-t1-body1-d17-d9.html.

So I am going to retell this amazing story.

Te Kekerengu was the son of Whanake the principal chief of Ngati Ira of the Wellington area, and Tamairangi, his wife. She was a celebrated beauty and a great chieftainess. Following an attack by another tribe Tamairangi and Te Kekerengu were offered protection by Rangihaeata of Ngati Toa. They were taken to Kapiti Island.

Now Te Kekerengu was apparently very handsome and Percy Smith describes him as a fine, handsome fellow and somewhat of a “gay Lothario.” This means that he was a good looking ladies man. Te Kekenerengu had an affair with Rangihaeata’s wife. Once Rangihaeata discovered this, Te Kekerengu and his mother were in great danger. They took a canoe and escaped by night with all of their relations. They crossed Cooks Strait to Aro-paoa Island (which we call Arapawa Island today). This is where Tamairangi came from. However still fearful of Ngati Toa, they moved onto Kaikoura area and joined their distant relatives of the Ngai Tahu tribe.

Te Rauparaha

Once Te Rauparaha heard about this insult to Rangihaeata he sent off to the South Island to avenge him. He saw an opportunity to attack the Ngai Tahu, who would have been viewed as guilty as they were giving shelter to Te Kekerengu. Initially he landed at Wairau (Blenheim) and then went overland to Kaikoura.  The Ngai Tahu had, however, heard of their coming and fled southwards. They were overtaken at Omihi, where they were attacked and defeated with great slaughter.

Te Kekerengu  escaped the slaughter and fled back up the coast. He and his relatives made their way up the Kaikoura Coast towards Cape Campbell.  How long they remained there seems unclear. However it would seem that the Ngai Tahu followed them. They saw Te Kekerengu as the cause of the slaughter at Omihi and avenged themselves by killing Te Kekerengu and all his relatives at the river now known as Kekerengu.

Kekerengu Vineyard

I am a history graduate but like most pakeha people of my generation have little knowledge of the stories of our past. I think we need to tell these stories and I tell this story with respect and apologies for any errors.

Nga mihi na

Jane

Winter Harvest down on the Farm

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Nets up, after the Riesling was picked

Gosh, it is June and we are still harvesting. Today it is fantastic that the Riesling has been picked. During vintage Simon decided it would be the year we made a Noble Riesling so the nets went back on.

We last did this in 2007. So then we waited and waited. The weather was fine and the infection slowly developed and then it rained and rained. So we were pleased that the sun reappeared this week and Jeremy and Simon decided to pick today.

Nick with the mechanical harvester

However I had also booked a spot at the olive press for our first pick of olives. It has been a crazy day. Luckily Arabella was home on study leave and helped prepare morning tea and lunch for pickers of all varieties and crops.
This year we experimented with a mechanical olive harvester. It was an interesting day. Hand harvesting relies on lots of people to reach the required 300kg weight of olives to ensure to ensure a single grove batch press. It is also very pleasant gathered about the trees gently running your hands done the fruiting branches milking off the olives. However it is also a lot to ask of people. As we don’t sell the oil all we can offer is lunch, and a supply of delicious oil. So this year I borrowed a mechanical hand held machine from a friend and fellow grape/olive grower Jan Johns. The upshot was we managed to pick half the grove with 4 people. We also picked trees with a patchy crop that we would have left if we were hand picking. An interesting conundrum to consider is how I balance the argument in my head of mechanization versus hand picking. Tomorrow being Saturday we will pick traditionally by hand. The jury is out.

Winemakers helping out

Now with a number of people coming for lunch and the need for tasty winter fare I made a pot of Vegetable Soup last night. We have been going through a soup phase of late brought on by our harvesting of mushrooms. Alas the weather is too cold now for mushrooms but a good crop of pumpkins are stored in the shed in anticipation of my personal favourite Pumpkin Soup. However we did make pots and pots of Mushroom Soup, and using field mushrooms makes such a difference. Tomorrow Arabella will whip some savoury pinwheel scones to accompany the soup. Below is our Mushroom Soup recipe from the good old Edmonds cookbook.
Mushroom Soup
225g (8 ozs.) Mushrooms
½ cup Water
1 tablespoon Butter
1 Tablespoon Flour
1 cup Milk
Seasonings
Little Lemon Juice

Peel mushrooms, break into small pieces, and cook in the water until tender. Melt butter in a saucepan, add flour, and gradually stir in the milk. Cook until the mixture thickens, and cook a few minutes longer; mushrooms and liquor and seasonings. Just before serving,add lemon juice. A little cream improves the flavor.

Off to buy some shade cloth to make some new nets for the olive pick. Meg is home this afternoon and can help sew and bake treats for morning tea.

Jane leaves the farm – O Canada

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I thought I would lead with a sensational headline as today I am writing my blog, not from my dining room table, but from my train seat on the way from Toronto to Ottawa.

I have been in Vancouver from the past week with my Astrolabe hat on and this week I am multitasking between the two labels. However, do not worry, I have my Durvillea pinny in my bag.

We are off to a New Zealand Winegrowers Tasting, a trade event. Three sessions: trade, sommeliers and public. Then tomorrow we head back to Toronto for a similar event on Thursday.

I loved Vancouver. I had a day and a half off and did a fantastic walking tour through Gastown and Chinatown, biked and walked around Stanley Park, visited the Museum of Anthropology at UBC and Granville Island Markets. Jason and I meet Tim Pawsey for dinner and he took us to a terrific new generation Chinese restaurant in Chinatown called Bao Bei.

Tim is a wine writer whom we met in New Zealand for the first time last year.  It is always great to meet people and discover interesting places.We also visited Salt,  a cool wine bar in the fantastically named Blood Alley. We ended up at Boneta where we caught  up with the House Wine ladies.

Now I am home in Marlborough and it is raining and pouring. The garden badly needs it. Simon and I have been mushrooming and eating the product of our labours.  Autumn is advancing and the olives are beginning to turn coloured. I have booked dates at the olive mill for June.

I was so inspired by the public gardens of Vancouver and Toronto I have planted tulips. I have many plans for the garden over the coming months as we are having a wedding here next March. It is very exciting and a wonderful spur to planting. I want flowers, so dahlias and delphiniums are mycurrent focus. Daisies, salvias, and geraniums are also in my mind. It is such fun and I am looking forward to getting stuck in. However this week it is Perth and then home. Home sweet home.

‘What’s cookin’- Down the farm

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I said to Sophie I’m off home to write a blog. Well I’ve checked my emails, planned dinner, and fed the cats. I suppose I could get the washing in but no I have finally logged in and scrolled through all the old blogs. We have been blogging for a whole year. I can feel a Seekers song coming on “For every season turn, turn…..” Harvest is in full swing and over the weekend some of the Riesling and Chardonnay were picked. Arabella did a stirling job making morning tea for the pickers. I was away in Auckland with Meg. We went to see Carole King and James Taylor. As promised here is the recipe for Arabella’s fabulous Easter cake. It is particularly useful as it is gluten free and it comes from Cuisine, Issue 133,  March 2009 Pg.100 

Chocolate & Almond Cake 

200g 64-70% chocolate 

200g unsalteds butter 

200g caster sugar 

5 eggs separated 

250g peeled blanched almonds, pulsed to fine meal 

finely grated zest of 1 lemon 

icing sugar for dusting 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter a 23cm-diameter loose-bottomed tin and line it with baking paper. Break the chocolate into small pieces, place in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and heat until melted. Add the butter in pieces and gently stir in. Add the sugar and stir to a creamy consistency. Remove from the heat and cool slightly then add the egg yolks. Stir in the almonds. In a large bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, not too dry or the cake will have a hard crust. Add the lemon zest and gently fold in the chocolate, ensuring you don’t overmix. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 30-40 mins until the cake is a lovely dark brown, has a light crust and is shrinking away from the sides of the. tin. 

Meg was home over the weekend and moved up a notch on the domestic goddess front by making quince jelly. The quince tree is laden with fruit and so using Granny Lois’ Constance Spry cookbook (which begins with a chapter on hosting a cocktail party. Here is the recipe: 

Quince Jelly 2.5 kg crabapples 2kg quince 

Pared rind and juice of 2 lemons sugar 

Wash apples and quinces and remove all blemished parts. Cut up and put in a pan with cold water to come level with the fruit. Simmer until pulpy. Turn into a jelly cloth or bag and leave overnight. Measure the juice and allow .5 kg sugar per litre. Put together into a preserving pan rubbed round with a piece of cut lemon, and the lemon rinds tied together, and the strained juice of the lemons. Bring to boil slowly, stirring from time to time to dissolve the sugar. Boil rapidly, skimming occasionally, until it will set lightly when tested. 

Quince Jelly in jars

Taken from “The Constance Spry Cookery Book  (J.M. Dent;1956) 

Lamb Shanks marinating in Durvillea Pinot Noir

Finally Arabella has been cooking a storm and here are  a couple of photos of her efforts. Both were fabulous with the Pinot Noir. 

So if you have been cooking up a storm too, make sure you add your recipe and wine match to our face book page (www.facebook.com/durvilleawines)

A Friday Flap-Up

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Sophie rang me this morning and asked me to bring in the Dean’s bread recipe. I was out feeding my chickens last night’s leftovers and scraps. The chickens are looking a bit scruffy as they are moulting at the moment. Not looking their best and egg production is suffering. I think the time for brown shavers has come. Having to buy eggs when you have 5 chickens (or in my case old chooks) is silly.

Then I had to check my new baby goldfish. Yesterday my lovely pilates teacher Marcia gave me 16 little goldfish for my pond. I have always disliked our funny little concrete pond which had a concrete statue of two little boys in the centre. From their little out stretched hands was meant to come a fountain of water but the pump has died. We named the boys Douglas and Michael after Doulas Wright and Michael Parminter. Unfortunately I knocked Douglas’ head off when cleaning out the pond. However the fish I hope will help the pond and the boys have been retired and I have planted watercress on their plinth instead.

So in the midst of bucolic bliss Sophie’s call sent me into a flap as I can’t find the recipe. I will look again but in the meantime here is the Kasundi recipe. This is from “The Best of Annabel Langbein: Great Food for Busy Lives.” Page 16. (Simon made this using plums and a little less sugar).

225g green ginger, peeled
100g garlic loves, peeled
50g green chillies, sliced in half lengthwise, seeds removed
2 1/2 cups malt vinegar
1 cup canola or safflower oil
2 tbsp tumeric
5 tbsp ground cumin
3 tbsp chilli powder
5 tbsp mustard seeds, ground to a powder
2kg tomatoes, washed and chopped
2 1/4 cups sugar
about 3 tbsp salt

Puree the ginger, garlic and chillies with a little of the vinegar to make a paste. Heat the oil in a very big pot or preserving pan. Add all the ground spices and fry until they exude a fragrant aroma. Add the pureed paste, tomatoes, the rest of the vinegar, sugar and half of the salt (check near the end of cooking to see if more is required). Cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the oil floats to the top (about half an hour). Bottle in sterilised jars while hot with a thin film of hot oil on the top of each jar (to prevent top from drying out) and cover with screwtop seal lids. Leave 2 weeks, keeps indefinitely. Makes about 2 litres.

A final note from Jane: we used old Durvillea bottles to bottle ours.

Marlborough Wine and Food Festival

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I have been down in Blenheim this weekend for the annual Marlborough Wine and Food Festival. We had a really good day on Saturday, the festival day. This year we had two tent sites side by side, one each for Astrolabe and Durvillea. Manning the Durvillea tent were Arabella, Jane, one of our Waghorn cousins – Claire, me (Meg). Sophie was also on the Durvillea table most of the day while flitting over to the Astrolabe tent from time to time.

We set up the tent the day before and were very pleased as all the hard work Jane had put in making decorations was well worth it. We went for a green and brown palette for the Durvillea stall and a pretty gothic dark look for the Astrolabe side. The big pile of real life Durvillea seaweed and the handmade pinnies were a particular hit.

We were a little worried when we arrived on site to very heavy rain. It is local Marlborough lore that it never rains on festival day. However the rain cleared up about eleven and the rest of the day was very sunny and hot. Since the temperature was so high our chilled white wines were very popular. There was particular interest in the Pinot Grigio with punters interested in the choice to go with Pinot Grigio rather than the more usual Pinot Gris. There are two reasons that we call it Pinot Grigio, one is that we sell wine in the UK where they are more used to seeing Pinot Grigio’s and the other is a stylistic decision as the winemakers are aiming toward creating a wine more in the Northern Italian style as opposed to a French style.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk to people about our wines. It is equally nice introducing the wines to new customers who haven’t heard of us before as it is meeting self described “Durvillea fans”. We also got a chance to catch some of the musical acts. Sophie went to watch Ladi 6, Henry, Claire and I were impressed with Liam Finn and Jane discovered Gin Wigmore. After the festival we packed up and headed back to Astrolabe Farm where Arabella was busy preparing lots of her delicious pizzas. Today I’m hoping that the rain holds off so I can get all the aprons dried!

Jane and Simon are headed down to Gore today for a tasting and Sophie and Jason are off to Melbourne tommorow. As I write this now in the Blenheim office people are busy planning the upcoming harvest with Jeremy our viticulturist and winemaker Tim. Looks like another very busy week for the Astrolabe/Durvillea team. For more photos from the Wine Fest check out our flickr page!

- Meg