Proving Fruitful

No longer do I have to skulk around the back alleys of Ararat pinching Quince from overhanging branches -
I have a Quince tree of my own!
For the first 40 years of my life Quince did not register on my radar, but once I hit Ararat,
I fell in love with them.
The perfume, the colour, their hairy little noggins.
It's hard to imagine these hairy little buggers transform into these ruby jewels.



They still have a way to go - they won't be ready until April.
To keep them alive while we are in Queensland we have put in some irrigation - that should keep them happy.
The tree has about 40 fruit on it - that's a LOT of Quince Jelly!



Photo: iphone - Pendlebury Hill, Ararat, Victoria - 14th December, 2013
except the last one - that one comes from here, where I made some Quince jelly

Rose of the Day - Augusta Luise

After 7 months of utter and total neglect, I felt sure my fledgling rose garden at Pendlebury Hill, Ararat would be dead as a door nail (or door nails, as the case may be) - but plants always surprise me with their tenacity.
The rose garden is absolutely glorious and this year I am particularly taken with this one.
Augusta Luise.
Innit purdy?
Hybrid tea bush rose.
Absolutely covered in blooms.
'Tis here if you would like one - Treloars.

Our First Ever Apricot Harvest!

Hooray! Hooray!
The apricots are ready.
We traipsed over to our "allotment" (Pendlebury Hill) yesterday to work on the rose garden and we were pleasantly surprised to see little orange dots all over the apricot tree.

Below is the tree last year - overgrown with grass and weeds.
Lots of newspaper and lots of pea straw and this year we have around 15 kg of fruit!

Apricot grading has commenced,
to be followed by jam making, cake-baking and preserves.

Recipes to follow over here
Cooking with Freefalling.


Photos:
first 2 - iphone - 28 Dec, 2011
no. 3 - Nov, 2010
no. 4 - 29 Dec, 2011

My Helper

It's funny - at home, Buster is my helper around the garden.
He's always hanging out with me.
But when we come over to Pendlebury Hill, Skeeter is the one who keeps me company.

Here Skeeter and I are picking the Granny Smiths off the apple tree.
These will become Green Apple Jelly which is the base for many of
Christine Ferber's jam recipes.
I'm going to attempt two of hers this year:
Apple Jam with Caramel
and Apple jelly with Ceylon Strong Breakfast Tea.

In the above photo we have some weeds.
A bit of a climbing geranium.
The northern side fence.
A half dead Photinia tree - (who knew they were trees? I thought they were just hedges).
Two new wild plum bushes - I cut one tree down and got 2 in its place!
And some bulb type arrangement.
Anyone know what it is?
A Nerine?




Photos: 28th March, 2011

First One!

My very first raspberry.
And it even tasted like one!



RASPBERRY 'CHILLIWACK'
Photo: 30th Dec 2010

Cold Drinks!

So exciting to have a fridge at Pendlebury Hill.
Now I can keep some homemade lemon cordial nice and cold for those
days when I'm digging in the garden like a mad woman and my face
goes red like a beetroot.
And milk for my cups of tea.

Loving my yellow macrame owl Leigh sent to me.



Photo: 10th December, 2010

This is a bit gross......

but it's kind of beautiful, too.





Musk lorikeet.




Photo: Pendlebury Hill - 5th Dec, 2010