Comments on: The year there were no olives

By: Bella

Bella — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:00:55 +0000

The Rimutakas can be done in fifteen minutes on a good day, it’s not them that slows you down its the blimmen great motorway and going 80 through Te Marua that makes the trip long. The trip is an hour and half maximum to Masterton, it would take that long to drive across Auckland. We should count ourselves lucky that both places are so accessable and get over this mental block that they are too far apart, to me its just right.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:14:30 +0000

Glad you’ve found some expertise and ‘sort of’ answers. Looks like you’ll have to really savour the years when you have great produce and let those other ‘mystery’ ones go by the way. Makes your olives even more precious.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:01:47 +0000

I agree with Mr. D. Freer: “agriculture” is like a stock portfolio, diversify, diversify! Let’s put it this way, one person’s problem is another’s joy. Having had the good fortune to help Nevil and Rick prune/paint cut trees/count (484 trees if I recall) the grove that spring day into dusk, it was an opportunity I would never have had if the grove were all “prissy-good”. Nor would my 10 year old grandson (sitting in his house in Denver, Colorado) have had the chance to talk with Nevil and the pruners via Skype. I also vote no to the tunnel.

By: Dave Freer

Dave Freer — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:05:09 +0000

(sigh) quarantine laws into OZ (I know why they’re there, I am as angry with my birth country for their neglect ofthe rabies problem as I am about the overkill quaratine. Agriculture? the best you can do is not to focus on any one crop.

By: Rumble Line

Rumble Line — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:00:12 +0000

I wish I could control my finances, then having the house and the baby wouldn’t be so stressful!

-and Domestic Executive: I’m glad there is no car tunnel thru the Rimutakas, because then te city folk would’ve discovered the Wairarapa a long time ago and it would be just another city attached to Wellington, like Upper Hutt. Be thankful for that long and winding road!

By: AareneX

AareneX — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:16:12 +0000

Normally I would wish to control the cold weather, because *normally* I enjoy just about any kind of climate that doesn’t need to be shoveled…

However, this fall we’ve already had a TON of rain and it surely would be nice to have a day or two of dryness (before July 2010, I mean). Sigh.

By: Domestic Executive

Domestic Executive — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:18:46 +0000

I wish that there was a tunnel through the Rimutaka Hill so we could have bought a vineyard or an olive grove which was my first kiwi dream. My first lifestyle dream was olives in Andalucia but you can’t control the fact there are no jobs in telecommunications in the hills of Andalucia.

I’ve given up worrying about things you can’t control and focusing on harnessing what you can.

Sounds to me that you’re doing all you can to love and nurture your olive farm. Can’t help feel a tinsy winsy bit envious!