a courtyard garden.

 We have for sometime thought it would be a good idea to 'green' the courtyard.
 With this in mind we talked to Veronica Alkema from Vero Design about our ideas to introduce a courtyard garden.
 We were keen on a modular approach allowing for some movement of the planters and also allowing us to replace harvested or tired plants with new, lush seasonal plantings. To this end she came up with the concept of three large plastic planters in each unit that can be removed and replaced with another tub .


 Steve King Builders and his crafty boys built these sweet planter boxes on wheels . Macrocarpa was chosen for its aging quality and removable slated seats were added so they could double as extra seating
 We now have close to two dozen plastic planters filled with all sorts of seedlings sitting in a sunny sheltered spot away from the courtyard. Red Opal basil, Rainbow light beets, Little gem lettuces and Rocket are just some of the plants biding their time before they are introduced to the courtyard.
 We can't be too far from harvesting our first crop from the garden, some good looking white cos lettuce.
Look out for them and future produce on the menu.

Looking through Kalya's lens

Kalya has been a member of the Nikau family for quite some time now.
 She has a keen eye and here are some of her images taken in the last month.