This near on 100 year old oak is a Neben family favourite.

Thank goodness! Spring has finally arrived. We have had mixed weather all winter with long dry spells and then periods of heavy rain for days on end, which has caused lots of flooding and heaps of mud.

Oddly enough, at the time of writing we were having some much needed rain after one of those long dry spells of the past few weeks.

The grass just started growing then suffered from lack of rain, so this latest lot has been really great and everything has ‘sprung’ into life again!

I was down to my last few bales of hay, but with the grass now shooting up, I’m patting myself on the back for great pasture management – or maybe just good luck.

For lifestyle people this is a great time of the year although some thought and planning needs to start now.

Pastures need to be addressed as to fertiliser requirements, the need for any resourcing, hay requirements and, importantly, broadleaf needs spraying.

The work put in now will pay off providing feed over the summer months and quality hay for next winter.

One could write pages on the joys of spring and it really is a great time for lifestylers to have blossoms on the fruit trees and the start of spring flowers.

Our London plane trees, which cause me stress in autumn are just starting to come into leaf, so all the raking is forgotten as we await full bloom – they will be magnificent in summer.

Brian Neben publishes Rural Living, and during the weekends is an avid lifestyle farmer.

We also have an old oak tree growing at the side of our driveway which is always first to green up each year. So we consider this event, with the exception of the daffodils, which bloomed some weeks ago, to be the start of spring.

The oak tree is our favourite and we believe it is nearing 100 years old. Our past neighbours, Pat and Sue Baker, who originally owned the land before sub-division, told us some of the history behind our tree and others in the Runciman area – fascinating to think how long these trees have stood.

Another good news thing – the hens are in full production!

Just to finish off this month’s diary, I must mention the rugby at Eden Park. My wife and I had tickets for the opening ceremony and first game. We contemplated catching the train at Papakura, which seemed to be the logical way to travel – as advised by the ‘powers-to-be’.

Fortunately my wife had second thoughts about train travel, so we drove to Balmoral and parked at a friend’s place where we booked a taxi to pick us up. The punctual taxi dropped us off as close to the grounds as was possible.

After the game we flagged down a taxi which took us back to the car – home in less than one hour. Moral of the story? You work it out!

Go the All Blacks!