Laboured gestation

This poor little Okitsu Wabe - a variety of Satsuma - Mandarin was planted (engrounded to use a "Paltrowism") in the middle of June 2013. So that makes 9 months, to further labour the analogy! And, these are all that is left of the myriad fruit that it tried to set during the Spring. I had no idea it could take 5/6 months to mature fruit. However, the Eureka Lemon is following suit. These Mandarin, however, are not attractive to the eye. I find that fruit and vegies in a home garden are not a patch on the PERFECTION found in the large supermarkets. I will gradually convert some of the beds to flowers, where I am less critical, requiring that all they do is look pretty, not be formed perfectly!

The Kumquat, also pictured here, has two distince fruitings still on the tree, There are quite a few new fruit that look ready to progress to maturity. It is a pretty bush, what with the emerald and the bright orange. The fruit is a bit tart to eat, and I mainly bought the bush for its splash of colour in the walkways.

My orchard - tee hee

I think of it as my orchard, but it is not like you can meander through it scoffing rotting fruit with the toe of a glistening, black gumboot, or anything. They are mostly in pots (large ones), that cramp their style and lead them into thinking that they can bring heaps of produce to fruition, when they can't. Perhaps they hear my scorn as I mooch around in the early mornings.

But they look okay, and I am chuffed with progress thus far, when these specimens have just completed their first full year. The Kumquat is an acceptable size, and veering on ripe, which is a shame as there is only one!Hear that Kumquat. Yeah, yeah I see what you have in store for the next season. You and whose army? The figs are from the "black Genoa". I have not tasted one yet, but they are miniscule thus far. But it is first season. The capsicum is a min-variety, which is slender and fragile when cut. It is loaded with fruit which are readily changing colours quite early. I have big hopes for my Blueberry bushes thus year, but must must transplant to a pot before the Raspberry cans throttle them in their shared bed.

A fruitful garden

This is the 'Brown Turkey' fig I have had since October 2010. It is a gross feeder, and this year I am doing it justice. It has about a dozen fruit. The new BTF that I planed in June also has fruit on it.

This is the dwarf Satsuma Mandarin which set so many fruit not long after I planted it in June. These are the only ones still on the tree.

This is the Eureka Lemon given to us by Darren's father and his partner, Bob and Jenny. I think this is the only fruit in this, its first year. I expect more in the autumn. It is a full-size tree.

This is the 'Grosse Lisse' tomato, that was overwhelmed by the grape tomato, until I pulled it out from under. It has about 10 fruit on it, but is still flowering.

This is the dwarf Kumquat which is meant to fruit in Winter. Just two fruit.

And yes, finally the garden is fruitful. I harvested this today, and a similar quantity on Monday. Nothing like the supply needed to be able to cancel our regular fruit & veg delivery yet, I am afraid.

And didn't they grow, lordy, didn't they grow!

These seedlings were transplanted into our low bed on 21st May, which is a month this coming Tuesday. I could not be happier with their progress. Today, I labouriously pulled all the 'winter grass' that has sprung up through the compost. Perhaps I should stop putting bread off-cuts into the compost, which might keep the green haze of weed to a minimum. Not sure. The silverbeet should be ready to start picking in another two weeks, so will apply a weak fish emulsion twice weekly from here on in. The celery has a long way to go but I want to start stretching it to the sun, so will get my sleeves ready. The kumquat has three fruit on it already. My bible says they take months to ripen, and never never taste until they are fully coloured as they are tTart! Repositioned the compost bin today, and turned the contents upside down. Hefty job. I am half way through this batch (6 weeks), so should be starting my next batch and leaving this batch to settle and do its little chemical dance. Bunnings. Need to go to Bunnings!

Soil quality

The Orchard and Bed 1 are making progress. I spent time yesterday sifting both for rocks and roots, and breaking down the soil into a finer loam. Loam might be going too far, but I am working on the soil quality of each bed. They are raked, sifted, and leveled at two rungs below the top, to make way for compost, and manure. A layer of home-prepared compost has been raked into the surface of each, and Dynamic Lifter applied at the rate of a handful per square metre. All was watered in. Compost is going to be in short supply, and a second, and perhaps third, bin may be required.

Will also need a pitch-fork for working over the garden bed, and ensuring that the quality of the soil is more than skin deep. I have also raked over the pathways between the beds. Will wait until Darren has progressed upon constructing the bed for the trellis garden before laying a ground-cover on the walkways. More inclined toward a pine-bark mulchh than a small stone cover. Should be cheaper, too. The trellis garden will look similar to the bed out the back wherein grows a Chinese Star Jasmine, which is cut-sandstone blocks set in concrete. No more than 500mm wide and deep, and probably close to 4 metres in length.

The citrus trees I will buy from Daley's, but they are not all in stock at the moment, and are cheaper to buy altogether. Patience is the name of this game: Lisbon Lemon Satsuma Mandarin Tahitian Lime

I am also tempted to purchase a Kumquat to keep in a pot but need to assess the space left in the walkways after I place the two olive trees, and the fig, I already have. Patience, yikes!

According to the booklet on growing citrus, recommended by Letty, there is a recipe for soil that citrus thrive in. I am still missing a wetting agent, some gypsum, and some poo. The first two I will buy at Bunnings, and the poo I will cadge from Hamish across the road.