Child of the Planet

Lemon update for June 2019 Click here to see history of lemons on this property Waited for the cool of evening and and last night I attacked the trees with a major pruning session. Unfortunately I had to sacrifice some young fruit. I gave the trees a quick blast with copper solution to ward off mildew and wrapped them up to protect from frosts. I'm hoping that after four years, the trees are becoming acclimatised and wont need blankets next year.

It was a chilly start to the day but by the time I had finished the planting, the air was bright and warm. Moved the crop back to the front yard this year ( read here about last years crop ). I'm hoping the break has cleansed the soil of rust spores. Most people I know have already planted out their garlic in an effort to reduce the impact of rust. I was intending to plant at the beginning of the month but time got away from me. Click here to see the history of garlic on the property... I like to lay out the cloves first to better judge spacing and coverage. Then I press them down into the soil. There are three patches established. One is with the best of last years crop, the second is with some garlic that I had stored in the garage ( read about it here... ) The third little patch is for some stiff stalked variety that a mate gave me to try. This is the first year I haven't bought seed garlic. I'm hoping that the bulbs I've saved from last year 'do the...

Had some more seedlings big enough to plant The first lot are doing very well due to all the sun we've been getting this winter. Re-potted the next lot.

In the spring I planted passion-fruit vines at the base of four trees. Two didn't make it but this pair did. There was a single fruit produced so I rescued it from where it had dropped and retrieved some seeds. One lot I place straight onto paper hand towel, the others I put in a jar of water to clean them off. Curious to see what happens in the spring when I plant them out.

I've been preserving like a demon this year, and I put a lot of effort into making sure the lids are sealed properly. Too much effort it turns out, as the jars are a bastard to open.  So I've invested in a device to open the lids. This lump of stainless is great at it's job, but it damages the lids. I bought some latex from a pottery warehouse and have fashioned cushions. On the first attempt I dipped the tab into the goop This was a bit unwieldy so I broke out a syringe     It's a bit messy but I'm learning about the material.