The landlords stopped by and were happy with what we have achived, but we needed to take the front hedge down lower so that I get the low coverage I wanted. As Dan's chainsaw broke the day of the bee, we it was a hand saw job to lower the current stumps and finish. The two Ringtail possums that lived in one of the hedges have relocated to the lovely gum that you couldn't see before. It is a glorious tree, and some day soonish it will flower. I am keen to put a name to it. So the Ringies are happy and run accross the roof every night before we go to sleep. It gave us a bit of a start at first, but now it is a vcomforting noise to hear our little couple out for the night of prowling and eating.
So the hedges are all lower and there is so much more light nd sun coming into the house. This is great for winter, but it might make summer interesting. I have turned the brain to ideas for shade on that side in summer - but more of that later. Our landlords are so wonderful. I told her of my desire for fruit trees and she turned up with an avocado and a lime. We both agreed on the sitre for the two, but mum is not going to be happy as it means cutting down a camelia ust outside the back door. It is pretty enough, but it doesn't give us privacy from the neighboor's window high up that looks down into our dining area. So, the avocado will go in just to the left of where the camelia currantly stands and it is such an extablished tree that I think it will block that window by summer. Diggers say that anywhere a camelia thrives is a great spot for an avocado! We will test out that theory. The lime, I intend to put out the front. It will go under the balcony so we can pick from the top. I will keep it low so the shade in winter shouldn't be an issue. It will be going in where a berry bush is. The bery bush is driving me wild with all the regrowth from the berries! I also have a lemon to go in along the balcony a bit. It can get a lot taller there and still not be an issue in winter. SO two of my wish list trees have homes and are in location waiting for the weather to warm up so that I can put them in (mounds of course with our clay soil).
The winter garden is coming along. I was too late for the brocolli and cauliflower. They are still very small plants but they might come good as the weather gets warmer. I will need to get them in earlier next year. The peas are good though and nearly ready to eat! The parsnip looks very vigorous, but I haven't checked under the ground yet. All the garlic I planted is going really well. It looks like I might have enough to get me through the year and even have some to plant out. That is a great investment!
On Sunday, I attended the newly formed seed savers group for this area. There were about nine of us there and we had a lovely wonder through the host garden. I had my first introduction to Yarkon - which was such a wonderful surprise. Similar in texture to nashi and just lovely for a salad or just to munch on! This is one description I found on the net as they are not in any of my books: The tubers can be eaten raw as a refreshing treat on their own, finely sliced and mixed into salads,boiled or baked, fried as chips or prepared as a pickle.
There is also commerical interest as a flavouring for yoghurt. They are sweet, juicy and almost calorie free. The main stem can also be used like celery. The texture and flavour have been described as a cross between a fresh apple and watermelon. So I am going to have a go at growing them.For those who don't know, at a seed savers meeting you come together and swap seeds you have saved and learn about saving seeds. It is not restricted to seeds though - I took some rosemary, which is about all I have ATM. I learned that you don't eat the best produce from the garden - you save the seed from it for next year! The stash I picked up is shown below and I am keen to get my head around how to save all the good seeds I have to contribute at the next meeting!
So, I am intending on planting the yakon and two varieties of Jerusalem artichoke along the fenceline. The soils is good and there is plenty of sun. As they have lovely sunfloweresque flowers, they should look fabulous and I think the neighboors will love them too.
The bad news for my fig cuttings are that they like moist well drained soil. I am guessing that the clay I have doesn't really qualify. My plan for the figs is that I will put them in just in front of the varandah. I know it gets lots on sun and I can reach over the top for the figs. I am happy for it to grow up in summer to cover the front of the house and offer shade for the summer and then I can cut them back a bit each winter. There is a really good layer of top soil, so I am hoping if I mound it up (like the citrus) I will get away with it...
I have also got asparagus. Another sandy soil plant. I am intedning on popping this one in a pot. We intend to be here for quite a few years, but asparagus is such a long time invetment that I will pot it for a few years and see how we go. I I can maintain a couple of plants in a pot ready to go into the soil then I should be right when/if we move...
The only other thing I have left to do is poatoes. I started on the bed on Saturday, only to find out on Sunday that around here you should waint until August. This is OK though as the bed is taking a lot more to prepare than I thought it would (always the way!) so I now have time!
I got some Thyme and Chamomile lawn from Diggers and am planning on getting that into punnets in the next week or so. I also have put some herb boxes out on the varandah (the best place for sun with handy access to the kitchen). I prompty filled them with spring onion and brown onion. I am not sure how they will go as I think the browns are a little early. We will see how they go. I have sprinkled German Chamomile along the driveway bed against the fence. That way the wind will only blow it into the fence and it shouldn't cause a problem...famous last words! I just need to work out where I want to put my peppermint now and I am all done for the next little while!
