At TeePee Cider we care for the environment Although an orchard is not part of the natural order in Aotearoa we try to mitigate harm. Our footprint is low We do not use artificial fertiliser or pesticides We trap introduced pests such as possums and feral cats Wildlife rebounds. #feralcats #pests
January 31, 2026 at 6:32 PM
At TeePee Cider we care for the environment Although an orchard is not part of the natural order in Aotearoa we try to mitigate harm. Our footprint is low We do not use artificial fertiliser or pesticides We trap introduced pests such as possums and feral cats Wildlife rebounds. #feralcats #pests
The flowers of Queen Anne’s lace are small & dull white clustered in flat, dense umbels. But some umbels have one deep reddish flower or the "ruby" in the centre. Why was first discussed by Charles Darwin in his book The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species 1877 #botany
January 30, 2026 at 11:40 PM
The flowers of Queen Anne’s lace are small & dull white clustered in flat, dense umbels. But some umbels have one deep reddish flower or the "ruby" in the centre. Why was first discussed by Charles Darwin in his book The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species 1877 #botany
Plants of Beau Vista orchard, Queen Anne's lace An early accidental introduction from Britain It has white, umbrella like flowers that start flat and then curl up into a "bird's nest" as they age The stems are typically green & hairy
It is common roadside plant in New Zealand. Good for pollinators.
It is common roadside plant in New Zealand. Good for pollinators.
January 29, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Plants of Beau Vista orchard, Queen Anne's lace An early accidental introduction from Britain It has white, umbrella like flowers that start flat and then curl up into a "bird's nest" as they age The stems are typically green & hairy
It is common roadside plant in New Zealand. Good for pollinators.
It is common roadside plant in New Zealand. Good for pollinators.
Plants of Beau Vista orchard The Bull thistle(Cirsium vulgare), or the spear thistle or common thistle, accidentally introduced from UK Not much use as food for the sheep they avoid it but great for butterflies bees and other pollinators We let them grow in the corners. #plants #orchard. #NewZealand
January 27, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Plants of Beau Vista orchard The Bull thistle(Cirsium vulgare), or the spear thistle or common thistle, accidentally introduced from UK Not much use as food for the sheep they avoid it but great for butterflies bees and other pollinators We let them grow in the corners. #plants #orchard. #NewZealand
This is an old nashi type pear found growing in an old abandoned orchard on the Wairarapa coast. Adds some acidity and sugars to the ‘Home Block’ perry blend we make. Growing well despite the poor current season for sunshine hours. Harvest may be later this year #perry #pear #wairarapa #NewZealand
January 26, 2026 at 6:35 PM
This is an old nashi type pear found growing in an old abandoned orchard on the Wairarapa coast. Adds some acidity and sugars to the ‘Home Block’ perry blend we make. Growing well despite the poor current season for sunshine hours. Harvest may be later this year #perry #pear #wairarapa #NewZealand
I have just discovered in this new book Ward’s Maps by Elizabeth Cox that I live close to the original orchard of Wellington Frank Wills of Fabian Villa on Town Acre 684 developed the city's first orchard, with trees imported from Tasmania. Soon boys were scrumping #Apples #Wellington #history #NZ
January 24, 2026 at 8:02 PM
I have just discovered in this new book Ward’s Maps by Elizabeth Cox that I live close to the original orchard of Wellington Frank Wills of Fabian Villa on Town Acre 684 developed the city's first orchard, with trees imported from Tasmania. Soon boys were scrumping #Apples #Wellington #history #NZ
Maize is becoming an increasingly important and common summer crop for the Wairarapa dairy farmers around Beau Vista orchard helping feed supply and support pasture renewal. Often alternating with winter Italian ryegrass for winter grazing before replanting the maize in spring. #farming #wairarapa
January 23, 2026 at 6:46 PM
Maize is becoming an increasingly important and common summer crop for the Wairarapa dairy farmers around Beau Vista orchard helping feed supply and support pasture renewal. Often alternating with winter Italian ryegrass for winter grazing before replanting the maize in spring. #farming #wairarapa
Teepee Cider started several decades ago with sourcing cider apple trees. Reseach on the internet was a lot harder in those days. However I did find Bill Struthers who ran Nga Rakau nursery in west Auckland. He was very helpful and supplied our key varieties. A real gentleman. #cider #apples
January 22, 2026 at 7:38 PM
What to do in the big wet? Photography of course! Dyers Pass perry pears are growing nicely. Not too late for the sun to help before harvest. And luckily Wairarapa is not badly affected like some. Good crop developing. #pear #perrypear #orchard #wairarapa #NewZealand #Aorearoa
January 21, 2026 at 6:12 PM
What to do in the big wet? Photography of course! Dyers Pass perry pears are growing nicely. Not too late for the sun to help before harvest. And luckily Wairarapa is not badly affected like some. Good crop developing. #pear #perrypear #orchard #wairarapa #NewZealand #Aorearoa
A soggy day at the orchard as the 1st tropical storm of summer barrels down on New Zealand Wairarapa and Wellington will just be wet but significant rain expected again this week in Northland and Coromandel. The orchard has had enough rain this summer. We need more sunshine hours. #orchard #weather
January 20, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Our Shropshire sheep at Beau Vista enjoying some apple leaves from branches that were brought down in the wind, just after they were shorn. They like the change from grass when they are out of the orchard in a paddock for the 8 weeks prior to harvest. #sheep #orchard #apples
January 19, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Just used AI to find the earliest written record of the apocryphal story that Napoleon said perry was the English champagne. And the reference is only 20 years old! The Independent newspaper of 2005 by Mark MacKenzie. Any earlier references fellow sleuths? #perry #cider #History #Napoleon
January 18, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Choke pear is a colloquial name for astringent and hard-to-swallow fruits that are used for perry or pear cider. Common examples of include certain cultivars like Moorcroft also known as Stinking Bishop for its strong smell and taste when ripe. #perry #pear #Moorcroft
January 17, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Choke pear is a colloquial name for astringent and hard-to-swallow fruits that are used for perry or pear cider. Common examples of include certain cultivars like Moorcroft also known as Stinking Bishop for its strong smell and taste when ripe. #perry #pear #Moorcroft
Charles Martel is a perry aficionado farmer & cheese maker in England. “They’re important for the countryside because they soften the climate by acting as a windbreak You don’t get swallows in a cornfield; you get swallows in orchards, which should be grazed by cattle”. Photo Hartpury Heritage Trust
January 16, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Charles Martel is a perry aficionado farmer & cheese maker in England. “They’re important for the countryside because they soften the climate by acting as a windbreak You don’t get swallows in a cornfield; you get swallows in orchards, which should be grazed by cattle”. Photo Hartpury Heritage Trust
New disgorging set up. Cooling refrigerators out of sight set at 5C, neck freezer to the left in picture set at -27C, blue disgorging bin to its right then the pressure stabiliser and device to add lost cider to its right and finally the re capper just out of picture. Work flow simpler. #disgorging
January 14, 2026 at 8:19 PM
New disgorging set up. Cooling refrigerators out of sight set at 5C, neck freezer to the left in picture set at -27C, blue disgorging bin to its right then the pressure stabiliser and device to add lost cider to its right and finally the re capper just out of picture. Work flow simpler. #disgorging
The perry pears we call Carterton. Small and bullet hard at present they are only a little larger at harvest. Moderate tannins, very high sugars. I now have 2 trees bearing fruit, after 1 last year just died. It was healthy, cropped then just died. I have grafted on a few more. #pears #perry
January 13, 2026 at 7:00 PM
The sort of visitor you don’t want at an orchard and cidery. The Australian bushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula! This is a close up of of one of its paws as it climbed over the security camera. The traps are set with ripe apples, hope will catch it soon before it destroys an apple tree. #possums
January 12, 2026 at 6:08 PM
The sort of visitor you don’t want at an orchard and cidery. The Australian bushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula! This is a close up of of one of its paws as it climbed over the security camera. The traps are set with ripe apples, hope will catch it soon before it destroys an apple tree. #possums
I must have disturbed this Wētā in Beau Vista orchard. I was sitting down for a cuppa and it crawled onto my head. They are not the prettiest but harmless. They have claws that make them hard to dislodge. The tree wētā or pūtangatanga Wētāpunga is god of ugly things #weta #NewZealand #apple #cider
January 10, 2026 at 7:31 PM
I must have disturbed this Wētā in Beau Vista orchard. I was sitting down for a cuppa and it crawled onto my head. They are not the prettiest but harmless. They have claws that make them hard to dislodge. The tree wētā or pūtangatanga Wētāpunga is god of ugly things #weta #NewZealand #apple #cider
A heads up folks. RNZ will be airing an interview I gave on cider tomorrow at around 9:20am. 😊 They thought it was a ‘great yarn’. I certainly had fun and sat in the chair where Morning report is recorded! #RNZ #radio #cider #cidertalk
January 10, 2026 at 5:10 AM
A heads up folks. RNZ will be airing an interview I gave on cider tomorrow at around 9:20am. 😊 They thought it was a ‘great yarn’. I certainly had fun and sat in the chair where Morning report is recorded! #RNZ #radio #cider #cidertalk
Summer in the Wairarapa valley (so named by an early Māori explorer Haunui “glistening waters” for the sunlight reflecting of the lake) is not the same without sunflowers. These ones are grown by a farmer in the next village of Greytown or Hūpēnui #sunflowers #summer #wairarapa
January 8, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Summer in the Wairarapa valley (so named by an early Māori explorer Haunui “glistening waters” for the sunlight reflecting of the lake) is not the same without sunflowers. These ones are grown by a farmer in the next village of Greytown or Hūpēnui #sunflowers #summer #wairarapa
1st fruit on our Flower of Kent apple tree at Beau Vista orchard This was from scion wood from a tree at DSIR at Seaview Wellington They were gifted scion wood by the British Department of Scientific and Industrial Research as part of the International Geophysical Year 1957 because of Isaac Newton
January 7, 2026 at 8:02 PM
1st fruit on our Flower of Kent apple tree at Beau Vista orchard This was from scion wood from a tree at DSIR at Seaview Wellington They were gifted scion wood by the British Department of Scientific and Industrial Research as part of the International Geophysical Year 1957 because of Isaac Newton
Winston Churchill got his doctor Otto Pickhardt to write him a note allowing him consume unlimited alcohol while visiting the United States during Prohibition on January 26, 1932 whilst convalescing after being hit by a car in New York in December 1931. #alcohol #Churchill
January 6, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Winston Churchill got his doctor Otto Pickhardt to write him a note allowing him consume unlimited alcohol while visiting the United States during Prohibition on January 26, 1932 whilst convalescing after being hit by a car in New York in December 1931. #alcohol #Churchill
Self-heal is an accidental import growing in shaded grass throughout NZ and Beau Vista orchard. It has square stems, opposite leaves & purple flower spikes. Native to Europe it has a long history in traditional medicine, earning its name. #orchard #plants #apples #SelfHeal #sheep
January 5, 2026 at 8:31 PM
The promise of a good harvest to come, approximately 8 weeks away. #cider #apples #orchard #NZCider #harvestdriven #notfromconcentrate
January 4, 2026 at 6:43 PM
The promise of a good harvest to come, approximately 8 weeks away. #cider #apples #orchard #NZCider #harvestdriven #notfromconcentrate