Friday 31 May 2013

Special edition - Winter is for pruning out the deadwood

I didn't quite know what to call this...
Maybe "John 15; a gardener's translation" or "why Jesus would have made a great grape pruner"
but since it's that time of year anyway... let's start thinking about sharpening our tools.

My Brother in Law is a theology student and asked me to have a look at John 15, and let him know about the ins and outs of grapes, and why Jesus used them to illustrate his point, instead of olives (which were also popular at the time). Here's what I came up with:

Basically the main theme I'm picking up is pruning, it reads almost like a 'how to' of grape pruning in winter. In June or July here in the valley all the grape vines have dropped all their leaves and any old fruit that was hanging on, and the vines are quite bare. Most vineyards will send teams of pruners in to go up each row, pruning off old branches and making big piles of trimmings which are burnt (and I hear rumours that the fire from grape canes is extra hot!). The purpose of this is to remove any old unproductive branches that use up the vines' energy and water without providing much (if any) fruit. Any diseased branches are also removed to stop it spreading to other branches and killing the vine. Once this is done, the best branches are chosen (usually only 2 or sometimes 4), these are trimmed and trained along a wire, to make sure they produce the maximum number of grapes and have plenty of support. The removal of old branches also encourages new growth when the spring comes, which will be the fruiting branches for next year.
As for olives, they are not really pruned at all unless there is dead wood or disease in the branches. They usually keep their leaves all year round, and the tree just keeps on getting bigger and making its branches stronger.
I guess the main difference that stands out to me is the permanence of olive branches, compared to the temporary nature of grape branches. Both bear fruit, but grapes require maintenance to keep the vine fruitful. It seems to me that the main message is this- the vine requires healthy branches to form fruit. These branches are temporary and will be removed if they cause disease or fail to be productive.
It's interesting to note that the vine itself and its roots are much more permanent, and would live as long as an olive tree. Only the branches are constantly being removed and replaced.
A gardener's translation: Jesus is permanent and the source of life for his people. He requires us to produce good fruit, otherwise we will be cast away from him, where there is no life.


Who knew the Bible contained a grape pruning guide? I'll have to give a copy to my apprentices...

Thursday 30 May 2013

May is for...planting magic beans



Jack and the beanstalk has always been one of my favourite stories, as I often see value in things that others find useless or boring. Plus the somewhat miraculous potential of seeds has always fascinated me! They are so small, and yet they have everything they need in that little package to become something wonderful. There is a verse in the Bible that says that having faith the size of a mustard seed is enough to move mountains. That's some powerful stuff. I love to think about where a seed has come from, and what it has been through, and what it will turn into... whether it will produce offspring of its own...
It's easy to get carried away in contemplation at this time of year. The pace is slow and I spend much more time sitting somewhere cosy, or cooking and eating something comforting. Which brings me to my point, as many of the hearty winter veg (especially root vegetables and legumes) are better grown by seed, straight from my hand to the ground.


I already have some carrots and radishes coming along nicely from seed that I planted in the old bath a while ago, and at the end of April I got some beetroot, broad bean and snow pea seeds in the ground to get a head start. I cheated a bit with seedlings from the nursery to get my silverbeet and Tuscan kale started, and will probably do the same with some broccoli and maybe some red cabbage when I free up some more space.


I find it somewhat heartbreaking to pull out the tomatoes at the end of the season, as each delicious fruit is as precious as a ruby treasure to me! But it's time, and I'm already planning what I can do differently next summer. I found Amish Paste and Black Russian to be the best performing large tomatoes, while the Black Cherry and Tommy Toe were the best value for a small mouthful, pizzas or  salads. I don't think I will bother with Rebel Yellow or Green Grape, which only produced a few fruit, or the Tigerella, which produced plenty of delicious 'tigers' but had a habit of splitting along the stripes. And I will have to try a few new ones, of course! I finally managed to make Pop's tomato sauce with a mix of end of season tomatoes from home and some from the Newcastle farmers' market. I even added a couple of chillies to one batch, and the flavour didn't disappoint!




For anyone who was wondering, I did find a white windflower, and also a gorgeous white 'Shady Lady' Waratah, for the new shady side bed. A native mountain pepper, Tasmannia insipida, will spice up our cooking and take up the last large gap in the bed. Filling up the smaller foreground are some variegated impatiens and lovely little native violets, all rescued from the rubbish pile at work. The violets will grow and spread out to form the  icing on that shady cake!

Sunday 5 May 2013

April is for...living life on the edge!

Ahhhh Autumn... you cheeky devil! I thought we had plenty of time before the chill set in, but it has snuck up on me once again. As has May... I hope you'll forgive me for the late post, but April was action-packed, and so busy I almost forgot to tell you about it. This month I had to travel down to Albury (on the NSW/Vic border) for a week of uni field work, and I seem to have brought the cool air back with me.. sorry about that folks! It was worth it though, we spent a few days in the forest counting and measuring seedlings in the forest and learning about how Eucalyptus and Callitris (Cypress Pine) trees respond to fire. It was so interesting and made me think differently about the importance of fire in Australia. But also being a bit of a nerd, part of me likes visiting a new town just to see what plants grow there! Even the street plantings were different, lovely red Berberis, lots of grasses, and a stunning Angophora with little spikes on its gumnuts. (I think it was Angophora costata but will take any other suggestions?)



In any case, I came home with a gorgeous little Eucalyptus lansdowneana "Purple Patch" to plant in the yard. It's a small tree with a semi-weeping habit and purple-pink flowers, and should be stunning in a few years' time.

We have also been working on getting the side garden edged, along the driveway on the shady southern side of the house. Shade can be a bit tricky to plant, but I like the challenge. It helps me narrow down the endless list of plants I'd like to put there, for one! I have planted a few things along there since we moved, but during summer our dog Olive liked to sit there to escape the heat. There are some survivors of her demolition work, and these include a portwine Magnolia, a Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, a lovely little native Correa alba, half a Daphne and half a white Japonica Camellia. I am choosing to see these as 'half full', and not 'half empty'... there is always hope! Under these are scattered a few hydrangeas, aquilegias, hostas and hellebores. Right at the back end I have planted a Davidson's plum, a native rainforest tree with delicious fruit that I will probably have to share with the birds. All that remains is turning it into a real garden bed, by putting in some edging. We managed to get some recycled koppers logs from a friend and dug them in, screwed to a few stakes to hold them in place. A bit of mulch finished it off nicely, and now it looks much more civilised.






















I will add a few more plants when I have more time to go nursery-hopping, I'm on the lookout for some japanese windflowers as they are looking so stunning at work right now. I usually can't leave a nursery empty handed, so I would rather wait until I can search out some real treasures to fill it out with.

                                 Japanese Windflowers in April bloom nearby

We also decided to put a garden edge on the outside of the pool fence, to help with mowing and keep the grass out of the garden beds inside. I had hoped to dig out the grass but it is far too happy where it is! I will have to give it a spray and come back when I have more time, to pull it out.




Meanwhile, inside Matt has been steaming off wallpaper like a madman, and stripping paint off skirting boards with a heat gun. The house looks better already, without the stained and peeling wallpaper (which a clever Aunt dated to about 1974). There have been a few surprise cracks and gaps beneath the wallpaper, but these should be easy enough to fix up and give a fresh coat of paint. It's all happening!