First we had the little birds (wrens, thrushes, etc.), and we didn't worry too much. But then the magpies came in great numbers, and finally the yellow-tailed black cockatoos. That's when we knew we'd have to net the patch, as the cockatoos do a lot of damage. Not just eating the berries, but breaking off branches.
This is yesterday's haul. All together 3.5 kilos of berries.
There are raspberries, silvanberries, tayberries, yellow raspberries, boysenberries.
And strawberries.
German vegetable gardens – much like those in Australia – have been quietly fading away in the thirty years that this Aussie gardener has been trekking halfway around the globe on our annual pilgrimage to Baden-Württemberg to catch up with the German cook’s family. The economies of self-help have given way in both countries to the convenience of supermarkets and small garden plots have given way to lawn and leisure.
Yet the sun shone in southern Germany through October and early November, and while the cook cooked for the oldies, the gardener drifted through the countryside on an old bicycle that spends 11 months of each year in the garage. Once the main meal of the day had been eaten at lunchtime, the cook could put her feet up while the gardener cleaned up the kitchen and dining room.
But every arrival is followed somewhere by a departure, and just as the days shortened markedly, the trees lost their wondrously coloured leaves, the skies turned gray and the temperature fell through the floor, it was time once more fly the 16,000 kms (10,000 miles) home from Europe to our other life in southern Australia.
Chaos!
Spring rains and a five week absence have turned order in the veggie patch into jungle while a stiff dose of jet-lag makes any decision-making an effort. But I’d better hurry – next Thursday marks the beginning of the Australian summer,and I’ve got all sorts of crops now months behind schedule.
Ah well! – we’re both enjoying the Spring sunshine and the long hours of daylight that Nature and Qantas have delivered to us, as if to keep at least one garden somewhere in production…
What a gorgeous sight that is!
It started flowering a few weeks ago.
I never get tired of our beautiful elder tree and its flowers.
