by waiwebdesign | 2 May 2024 | Uncategorised
Words by Jane Riddiford As I walk through the Ruamāmahanga farm wetland on one of those wonderful misty mornings, that the Wairarapa specialises in, my niece Rosa, who is a primary school teacher, asks me. “What do you hope will happen over the next 20 years?” We have...
by waiwebdesign | 2 Apr 2024 | Uncategorised
Written by Jane Riddiford As we picked our way through the cow pats, I heard beside me a small but confident voice, “those calves look in good condition, fat and very shiny”. This was Wilson, a year four pupil from Kahutara School , one of the local primary schools...
by waiwebdesign | 8 Feb 2024 | Uncategorised
Words by Lucy Riddiford As I drive along the road from Martinborough to Ruamāhanga Farm, I look to the right at Jenkins Dip and see with pride the trees that we planted last winter, all carefully tucked up in their tree guards, cleared and encircled with sheep dags to...
by waiwebdesign | 1 Feb 2024 | Uncategorised
Words by Jane Riddiford At first it’s depressing and disheartening; “It can’t be, something must have survived,” I think. My pace slows and now in detective mode I scan the long grasses with more intent. Barely distinguishable from the brown reeds and grasses, I see a...
by waiwebdesign | 1 Feb 2024 | Uncategorised
by Jane Riddiford After days of struggling with the sweltering heat and worrying about how quickly the ground was drying out the rain gods finally came and it chucked down. I was looking out from our verandah and could feel the sunflowers in the paddock in front of...
by waiwebdesign | 8 Dec 2023 | Uncategorised
Written by Jane Riddiford My visits to the river have changed of late. I look at the recently planted understory in the old tī kōuka grove and am reminded of the many young hands from Martinborough school that eagerly carried piles of sheep dags to mulch around the...