craftygardennz

Hello there, my name is Julie-Ann, and I'm a 40 something Gen X small business owner and lifestyle blogger. I'm also a wife, writer, crafter, gardener, and crazy cat lady living in Dunedin, New Zealand. I love reading, and learning to play the harp.

Big Eurovision Fan: Meow cat, please meow back.

My Personal Blog: https://www.craftygardener.co.nz/
My Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craftygardennz/
My Hearth and Oak Store: https://felt.co.nz/shop/hearthandoak
My Hearth and Oak Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hearthandoak/

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npub1y54sthse0j83et70ngdtpuqy6kasl4z0eut9tkunxtf7d9ze6njqeaza3k

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

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nprofile1qqsz22c9mcvhercu4l8e5x4s7qzdtwc0638u79j4mwfn95lxj3vafeqprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqyqq582prk

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relay.momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2026-07-05 23:50:05 CEST

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If you want to keep an eye on river levels and rainfall, ORC's environmental data portal is a great website.
https://envdata.orc.govt.nz/AQWebPortal/Data/Map/Parameter/Stage/Interval/Latest

2026-07-05 21:45:56 CEST

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Our house and street are okay, everything is just squishy.

2026-07-05 21:45:36 CEST

Yesterday our weather station recorded 113 mm of rain in 24 hours 👀
Our current total this morning is 74.9 mm of rain since midnight.

2026-06-21 01:02:04 CEST

Happy Winter Solstice friends ❄️ ☀️

2026-05-14 06:13:02 CEST

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Uh I gave up looking 🤣
There were so many types and various ways they work and pluses and minuses, and right now the humidity is in a good zone in our house so I'm leaving it...

2026-04-15 09:55:34 CEST

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My hubby used to be a systems administrator at Catalyst when we lived in Wellington 👀

2026-04-15 08:53:52 CEST

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Hubby is writing out a summary for you guys to see...

2026-04-15 05:58:01 CEST

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I'm very excited because I'm notoriously bad at remembering where various crops are over the years in terms of crop rotation (especially for garlic)>

2026-04-15 05:56:37 CEST

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Then you can click and drag to put where you are putting your bulbs, plants, and seeds into (via rows, grids, etc). Then you put in the planting date. You can at the end mark them as harvested or pulled out or any other option you want.)
The cool thing is that there will be dating features where you can see on a timeline where things go in the beds over time, and you can scroll to see the changes over the years. I think it'll be great for crop rotation for the home gardener.

2026-02-03 23:24:06 CET

I just made the score of the century 10 meters of vintage velvet for $80 from a local opshop. It’s going to make an amazing medieval cloak for the wedding I’m going to in June.
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/116/009/032/423/981/250/original/f875ed762dbc6fa0.jpeg
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2026-01-21 04:58:27 CET

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I think the reason why I'm thinking about seed sowing is because I'm full time studying with the Floret Flower Farm workshop for another 4 weeks.
It's talking about plants for 8 hours a day. I'm dreaming of planting thousands of sweet peas and opening a sweet pea posy business 🤣

2026-01-21 04:46:37 CET

I'm already starting to think about sowing seeds for autumn and winter 😬

2025-12-09 21:22:11 CET

I have a big aphid problem in the garden at the moment, but also I have a big population of ladybirds. They're everywhere, and eating the aphids like they're candy.
All I can think about is that comic about the ladybirds 🤣
#gardening

2025-12-08 04:15:25 CET

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Dahlia 10: Aporo Road Strawberry dahlia. This dahlia has been bred in New Zealand and the color is completely stunning it’s like a warm strawberry pink color mixed with cream. It makes the perfect cut flower dahlia for weddings I think.
This dahlia is very similar to the Strawberry and Cream dahlia (which I also have) but I think AR strawberry is prettier.
#dahlia #dahlias #dahliasnz #bloomScrolling
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2025-12-08 04:06:39 CET

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Dahlias 7, 8, and 9: more seedling dahlias.
Dahlia 7: another lemon single dahlia SR no 5
Dahlia 8 : a single magenta dahlia from Keith Hammett NZ gardener seed giveaway no 4
Dahlia 9: a red and yellow possibly an anemone dahlia from floret bees choice seeds no 5
#dahlia #dahlias #DahliasNZ #BloomScrolling
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/681/727/183/049/486/original/1494a962e8bf4da1.jpeg
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2025-12-08 00:18:23 CET

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Dahlia 5: Floret Bee’s Choice number 4. A plain single lemon dahlia. Good for bees but not for breeding.
#DahliasNZ #dahlia #BloomScrolling
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/680/834/691/722/109/original/26df5c543c48187e.jpeg

2025-12-03 04:10:36 CET

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Dahlia 3 for 2025: Julie-Ann, my own favorite seedling dahlia from last year.
I love the pink and tangerine stripes in the petals. It flowers prolifically all summer and is a favorite with bees and butterflies. Dahlia purists don’t like single dahlias but I love them.
Yes I named it after myself 🤣
#BloomScrolling #dahlia #DahliasNZ
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/653/424/167/898/722/original/8e3cbcb59ed1d6af.jpeg

2025-10-23 03:02:23 CEST

Trees down around Dunedin blocking roads.

2025-08-06 23:57:06 CEST

First miniature iris and big daffodil of spring. #BloomScrolling #spring
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2025-07-20 06:56:35 CEST

I spent the afternoon in the old aviary space.
All the weeds are out, dug out rotten boards underneath the ground. Dug trenches along the back fence line and dragged edging wood we managed to recover from the aviary up against the back fence. Filled in an empty section of rail way sleeper edging. Weeded a square of pebbles where the worm farm is.
Moved a heavy section of concrete slab a couple of meters using physics, a spade, and my legs 💪

2025-07-04 03:22:33 CEST

I’m sitting in ED with my Dunedin bestie. She was brought in by ambulance at 6.30 am. She’s had her vitals taken but still hasn’t seen a doctor.
She can’t leave because she is too ill. But is stuck in a no man’s land with 5 other people in the hallway triage area.
I’m so angry at the government right now for cutting services.

2025-01-08 21:29:41 CET

My first blog post of 2025 is now up. I recently distilled rose water and essential oil from my Damask roses I harvested from my garden in November.
#blog #blogging #garden #gardening #gardeningblog #harvest #rose
https://www.craftygardener.co.nz/?post_id=112&title=processing-damask-rose-flowers-for-rose-water-and-essential-oil

2025-01-02 03:43:38 CET

Am not in a good head space today for a couple of reasons.

2024-12-23 23:32:04 CET

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I'm super excited to read What the River Knows.
"The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush historical fantasy set in 19th century Egypt, filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race."

2024-12-23 23:18:05 CET

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This was my first time trying Book Hero, which is a new independent online bookshop which opened in October this year. It's owned by the former owner of Mighty Ape, who wanted to get back to their roots, and all the books they sell are in their warehouse.

2024-12-23 23:15:55 CET

It's a Christmas miracle. On the 22nd at night time I ordered a replacement copy of A Discovery of Witches from Book Hero in Auckland, and it was picked up at lunchtime yesterday.
It went through the new NZ Post mail processing center at Wiri at 5 pm last night. It arrived in Dunedin this morning, and it's on the courier today. It didn't even pass through Christchurch, which is what usually happens.

2024-10-31 20:04:19 CET

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The reason for them moving the date was because they're just so in love that they can't wait until July 👀

2024-08-28 03:28:50 CEST

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In case of trees, I don't buy from a certain place, I go and visit stores and choose the tree that is the healthiest, with strong growth, and has a growth pattern you're happiest with.
In terms of citrus, I always pick a plant that is flowering, or has flowers on it.
I would just go and see what they have in stock and pick the best of the variety you want.

2024-08-18 21:56:15 CEST

Some snow on the top of Saddle Hill this morning 👀