Clean up and replant

I had a big clean up in the garden over the last few days off. It was well over due.

The lemonade tree which although laden with fruit, failed to provide me with a decent, ripe lemon yet this season. Every time I checked fruit just beginning to show a little yellowing (you may remember from a previous post that you can't wait for the lemons on a lemonade tree to go yellow as by that time they are rotten) they haven't come away easily indicating they aren't yet ready. However when I come back on my next day off to check, they have split from the rain, or are lying mouldy on the ground under the tree. The mouldy fruit has become a problem, firstly because it's attracting fruit flies and secondly because the mould is a type of virus that then affects other fruit when the spores are dispersed on them, either by wind, water splashing etc.
I haven't been able to easily get to the fallen fruit to clear it away as the tree was so overgrown, it's branches forming a natural cage around the area, and grass and weeds making it difficult also. So in desparation I have given the tree it's first good prune in the now almost 5 years I've been there. Gone now are all the branches that grew haphazardly in all directions, gone are the branches so laden with fruit they were hidden amongst the overly long grass and overgrown weeds. Instead it's a mere shadow of it's former self, more streamlined, free of renegade tendrils that had sprouted from an unknown base graft, complete with needle like spikes along their reaching arms, free too of the swollen gall wasp stings that left new growth misshappen.
Once that terror was tamed I then had access to the ground below, cleaning up all the diseased fruit and disposing of it, removing the grass that slowly chokes the life force of these trees.
 And while on a roll, hacking  down the choko that once again is flourishing creating the beginnings of it's own mini jungle like atmosphere. Once again this year it's overtaken everything, growing along the fencelines, reaching out to snare the branches over unwary trees, crossing my gardens steathily on the ground hidden by weeds, or more obviously using stakes like a superhighway. My little pruning shears, already warmed up from the adrenalin of the assualt on the lemonade tree went into overdrive and in no time had tamed it back to something more orderly and controlled.

The choko reaching out to ensnare an unsuspecting Gooseberry bush.

 With the main culprits now demurely standing by it was time for the final onslaught, the lost gardens beneath, now buried under kikuyu grass, wandering dew and other unidentified weeds. With the help of the hoe, and the gardening rake these too had met their match!

That was Friday gone, Saturday I watched it pour rain all day, frustrated that I couldn't get out into the garden and do more, but inspired by my companion planting book I'd rediscovered.

And then today, with the sun out again, with everything clean and refreshed, I took my seed collection outside and contentedly planted Broad beans accompanied by Spinach and Beetroot in one bed, and Peas bedded with Radish and Turnips in the other. With a final flourish of confidence, stakes were thumped in and lines strung ready for this new growth to begin and take hold.



Useable lemons and chokos from the day's cleanup.

I've made some Lemonade from the lemons already and have plans to cook and freeze the the chokos for later. Anyone with inspiring suggestions for choko recipes? Please share, my husbands bored with them already, and there'll be more to come yet.





Weakness

Ok, I admit it, I have a problem.

It's a complete inability to avoid the temptation of garden "stuff". Today while I was shopping for things work related I came across seeds in a Crazy Clarks store. Who would have thought you could buy seeds there? And pretty cheaply too. Well, I felt a moment of hesitation before I zoomed straight over to see what they had I would like to get. I'd been reading about growing Broad Beans just recently, and although I've had zero success with them to date, I couldn't resist. Then came the Peas, justified because, well the last ones planted were dug up by the chooks and never really amounted to much, plus it's the time for them...oh, and lets not forget the Brussel Sprouts, definately my last chance to make a move on these. Last years Brussel sprouts grew beautifully in their little mesh enclosure, designed to keep the cabbage moths off, it's just that I left them too long waiting for them to get bigger and they kind of "blossomed", you know what I mean, they just opened up like a flower instead of that tight bun like usual. And finally, more mixed blue flowers, just because I've bought at least one pack of blue flower seeds every season, and never yet planted them, doesn't mean to say I have to give up my dream of a sea of blue flowers interspersed amongst my vegies. Bring on the next day off so I can get started!

Last years Brussel Sprouts and Cabbages captive in their netted growing area.