Still on lockdown

Weeks three and four of lockdown have seen some days on end of rain, which has curbed gardening activities.  I am feeling increasingly grateful for a bountiful harvest of fruits and vegetables as some people in NZ struggle to feed themselves, due to redundancies and job losses.

Week three, one raspberry row was dug out with the best plants saved and heeled in, in the compost heap and a low raised bed created in the sunniest part of the site.  Dirt from the paving dig-out has been used to fill it.  Just waiting on some weed seed germination before the replant happens.  The plan is, that hopefully the raspberries will be better contained as the bed has been lined with used corrugated iron and that the plants will be self-supporting. It is hoped too, that the whole bed can be covered with net supported by arches of black polythene piping.  This is an incomplete project but one that is almost there.

The tidy gardener used what he could find and has made a great tank stand at the back of the garage to hold the three 1000 litre tanks that catch water from the back half of the garage and ultimately from the woodshed too.  Once lockdown is over, there will be an opportunity to put up the necessary spouting on the woodshed to direct that water.  Collection of this water will make sure we have plenty of water to irrigate plants in a dry summer.  Another project nearly there.  I have climbing rose cuttings and a clematis ready to plant around the area once the work is finished.

 Ceris Forest Pansy - such beautiful leaves

The ash tree, along the road frontage and the Ceris Forest Pansy started their leaf drop early in the month.  Ceris Forest Pansy is almost bare.  I love this tree for its most beautiful leaves.  Falling too this month, have been the handful of walnuts (only single figures this year) from a relatively young walnut tree Meyric.   There has been more fruit on the Blackboy peaches this year – I am keeping a tally as we pick them, once fallen.  There are three seed grown trees that are doing well  in the pear orchard – rather ugly as I am too afraid to prune in case, I introduce disease.  I bought a grafted one and it died after a couple of seasons and I had pruned that one.

Blackboy peaches