Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Autumn garden


Our native garden, a work in progress, taking up where nothing else will grow.

Pomegranate and Tomatillos - the latter not so tasty but great for making chutney we hear.
It's my studio day today when I teach most of my music students. I start about 3pm so I have all day to do things at home, including the luxury of eating lunch in the sunny garden. The Autumn garden is such a transitional state isn't it - summer foods are finishing; the Apples,Figs and Pears have been picked and citrus is budding. But also there are the beauties of Autumn - Pomegranates and Persimmons, the former requiring of us, great patience and presence; to sit unhurried and pick carefully at its tiny delicate juicy seeds. Imagine my delight when I turned in my garden chair and spied a Pomegranate on a tree on our fence line, thinking it must be on the neighbour's side. But no. It is our tree, fruiting for the first time since we moved in five years ago. Now I have a vague memory of the landlord cutting that tree right down because the fence is so rickety.

Now we can add Pomegranates to our backyard produce, and as soon as we plant them; Figs and Passionfruit.

We have lovely new neighbours! Like-minded folk who have moved to this area like so many of us, in search of an affordable, spacious place to live with a big garden and still not too far from the city. Beau and I walked around the corner, excited to think we may begin a friendship so close to home, with a boy his age to visit!

Inevitably our neighbourhood is changing, slowly, which is fine, because with that change comes the leaving of the old Mediterranean folk who have lived here for a long time and whose 'practiculture' and community spirit we are soaking up while we can. Such friendly and generous neighbours have taught us a great deal. Perhaps as we get older we will take their place on the streets, wandering from house to house, sharing seeds, and advice, offering a taste of last years olives, talking abut how things were many years ago...I like that thought.

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