The heatwave has taken a toll on the plants though and while we had some rain on Thursday morning it hasn't been enough to give the trees in the orchard the water they need. I worry about the olives and how they are bearing up. Their leaves glint silvery grey in the sunshine and on the older, more mature trees, tiny olives jut out on little stalks.
The irrigation system looks haphazard and is largely destroyed, pipes cut in pieces by the slashing or ploughing of the tractor in among the grove by one of the previous residents. We will have to look at installing new piping, perhaps to the storm water tanks we are going to drop into the hole currently known as the pit of despair which is like an excess storm water pit. Rather than having the pit open and covered with planks as is currently the case we figure the pit of despair would be much better and less like the set of a horror film with some in ground tanks. It looks like we're getting rid of one pit of despair only to find another though. As we make progress in cleaning up in the paddocks closest to the house we could see a fenced off area in the back of one of the groves. We figured it was a very small dam, hidden by the taller grass between the olives. As Rohan cleared the tall grass from the grove, we discovered that it is less a dam and more a creepy pit of despair with makeshift single span rope ladders down each side. We don't know how far down it goes and we're not likely to find out given it is also filled with water. I think we might reinforce the fence so no-one can accidentally stumble in and then spend some time thinking up tales for what has gone on in the murky depths.
After spending most of the last week of his holidays doing cabling for the internet in the roof, Rohan returned to work on Friday and so it was Saturday before he could get into the orchard to clean up what the sheep had trampled and eaten. The trees in here were really suffering after the heat so he used the open stock trough to pump some water to them, swearing that the leaves bloomed and fattened in front of him as the desperately thirsty trees sucked up the water. The few grape vines we have seem to be doing okay so far and the grapes are getting bigger each day.
What I think is a nashi tree looks good and the fruit is growing nicely. The peach tree at the side of the house is also traveling well, in need of a drink but the fruit and the leaves look healthier than the one just outside the orchard fence. I can't wait till next Saturday when my friend Tan is riding over on her pushie from her place out past Bunninyong. She's a keen gardener and is into permaculture and is coming to check out our new place. I'm going to quiz her on fruit trees and find out the secrets to hers seeing as she got 16 kilos of fruit from one apricot tree alone. I'd say our fruit trees have been neglected and so I'm looking forward to spoiling them with good soil and water.
Figs are almost ready for eating
Grapes are coming along nicely
Peaches are getting riper
And I think this will be a Nashi?
Last night I finally got to give the coconut raspberry slice a whirl. Except this one is coconut blackberry! I'm not convinced by the base - I think it's a bit heavier than what I remember, so I might have to play around with the base ingredients until I get a consistency I'm happy with. This morning I rose early and the only other creatures stirring were the cows in the paddock next door. They munched on their grass and I munched on my breakfast and it was an altogether lovely way to start the day!
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