Matariki

We are in the time of Matariki - the Maori new year. Matariki refers to the constellation Pleidaes that rises in the Dawn sky at this time of year. Maori have lived here a long time and so their agricultural calendar is in tune with what is going on in the seasons. Matariki is the end of one year as growth slows to a standstill and it is the time for planning next year's plantings and campaigns. It is becoming part of the mainstream in NZ to celebrate matariki and Kaitaia has had a full blown festival this year. There was a big environmental day last week, concerts and plays etc.

I went along to hear Nandot Tanczos speak about peak oil and our responses to it. Very timely as petrol has broken the $2 a litre barrier and 10 days later is at $2.15 per litre. Food costs more and people are feeling the pinch. The meeting heard how this is a global problem as fewer oil fields are producing and it is more expensive to extract. The bad news is that for all the tar sands and hydrogen that can be used as fuel sources, the age of cheap, easily extractable liquid oil is slowly but surely coming to an end. It does not matter how much the lorry drivers whine about it. Sure they are worried and sure diesel is getting more and more expensive. But let's get real; it does not make sense in any real kind of way, apart from a distorted crazy immoral economic one, to be transporting commodities all round the world in a single market. I watched a programme the other night on the glass house tomato producers in Almeria in Spain. They were growing cherry tomatoes using hydroponic systems heavily dependent on fossil fuels. The labour was immigrant Africans, who were living in disused greenhouses in 3rd world conditions. The tomatoes were being driven from Southern Spain all over Europe to supply the insataile demand for out of season salads. The producers were heavily subsidised by the EU and were breaking African markets by dumping surplus veg when they could not get the prices they wanted in Europe.

Anyway the Transition meeting was not doom and gloom and in fact I have never felt more positive about the world as I do now. The end of cheap oil will be painful for many and will involve an adjustment to many of our assumptions about living. But it can also mean more local food networks that produce better food and are more socially satisfying than visiting the supermarket. We will see less electronic entertainment potentially as poer becomes an issue and cheap computer become a thing of the past. Then we will have to switch off the tv and talk to each other. This blog may be no longer.

Better let you know how the rest of the clan is getting on as most of you will have no interest in the rant above.

Chantelle says she has been busy helping people out in the area. She had a good trip to Wellington and came back full of energy and enthusiasm.

Eric was crippled by his camp. They marched through forest and field for 3 days and he came back blistered and bruised.

Stuart is recovering froma fall he took in gymnastics yesterday. He was under the weather anyway so this was just the proverbial straw.

Patrick is still big on Neopets and has to be prised away from his virtual second world. He like playing down the bottom on his swing and raiding the veggy garden for any green beans he can find.

Animals all good. Joe developed a big lump on his face that required surgery. He needed a tooth removing as he had an abscess. The girl sheep (Ewes) are swelling up with growing lambs. The grass groth has slowed down, so they are eating it down quite nicely. I am looking to move Skippy the 3/4 year old ram on to fresh pastures, so if you want a Pitt Island Ram send me an email. The chucks are mostly having a break from laying. We are getting one a day from about 7 hens. The two home incubated chicks are pullets now and live with their aunties in the run in the veggy garden.

Thats all for now.