SoS 15/05

We’ve finally sunk into a true winter burst, with chilly temps and snow on the mountains. Whilst the snow will be gone by Monday, the cooler temperatures remind us that we need to consider frosts and planting seeds for spring. We’ve planted broad beans in the veggie garden (traditionally on Anzac Day April 25th, here in Tasmania but we’ve planted as late as August) and begun to rest and feed the veggie garden. There’s always more for us to do in our garden in autumn/winter, I love it. Pruning, feeding, mulching, planting, planning – and so we’ve begun.

First, the garlic’s in.

Second, the berry house which looks totally unloved in the pic, has been weeded, had a light trim and has had about a stack of pine- needle mulch packed all around. The big prune will be done in a few weeks.

Third, the orchard (which is not really an orchard anymore) is slowly filling up with trees that I love. There’s at least a robinia, a ginko and a walnut yet to go in. And TBH, anything else I see and like. My hope is they all survive to build that micro-climate I’ve mentioned before. This pic also shows how bad the pear slug was in the pear trees this year. The trees are about 50 years old and some years they surprise us by staying pest-free and filled with fruit. Even so, this year we have made jars of delicious chutney and some yummy pear and raspberry cakes. The willow tree in the orchard has barely changed to yellow yet. It’s always slow, often not de-leafing till July. The big one in the front garden is the same.

Fourth, I’ve planted a few tubs of last year’s orange, black and white tulips (as per Monty Don) to see how they go. It’s generally not a good garden for tulips as the spring gales just break the stems but I’m keen to try some old bulbs to see what happens. They’re covered with wire because bulbs are the only thing the possums eat in our garden. They dig into the tubs, lift the bulbs and nibble away as if they’ve discovered truffles!

My final pic (only five today) is my astonishing miniature Meyer lemon tree. It’s going gangbusters! I’m staggered at the stunning fragrance and how much juice there is in each tiny little lemon. They don’t zest well, but they pack so much punch for their size. I’ll be making lemon butter, lemon filling, lemon cakes, maybe even lemon cordial!

That’s it from me for this week.

Oh, no it’s not.

There is a tree I really love in a friend’s coastal garden.

Can anyone identify it? And if I want to try and take a cutting, do I take old wood with a good heel?

Finally, that’s my lot for this week. Hop onto SoS, to Mr P to see what everyone else has been doing!

Cheers all.