NZ Gardener

Mailbox

-

SPADE AND BEAK

Over the summer holidays I lived at my dad’s place. Dad’s in his mid-70s and because of tendonitis in his right shoulder, he hadn’t touched the garden for some time. It had become a jungle. I began to clear it, expecting to come across all kinds of creatures amongst the weeds, but what surprised me most was an orange-beaked, black-feathered bird. Google told me it was a male Eurasian blackbird. I called my attentive companion Berty.

As I dug into the soil I uncovered bugs, beetles and worms. I understood Berty’s interest in these delicacies, but he darted in to grab his prey inches behind my spade. He was fearless to the point of recklessne­ss.

Berty had astonishin­g capacity: I once saw him stuff two long worms, a beetle and another long wriggly thing into his beak, flying away, only to return minutes later for more tasty morsels. I suppose Berty was taking his bounty back to the nest to feed his young and hungry family.

I became afraid that my busy, sharp spade might injure Berty. So, after I’d dug fresh dirt, I would step back, lean on my spade and admire Berty’s food gathering. Over several weeks, Berty arrived as regular as clockwork every day a few minutes after I started digging.

Then one day Berty didn’t turn up and I’ve never seen him since. My gardening became rather humdrum. Although I miss my feathered friend, his influence lingers: every time I see someone gardening or spot a blackbird, I think of our unlikely symbiosis, and how spade and beak worked together for our mutual benefit. Bryan Perkins, WELLINGTON

FIERY DEFENCE

We enjoyed Sheryn Clothier’s interestin­g and informativ­e article on firewood and concur on most aspects of it. However, we beg to differ on the merits or otherwise of willow and poplar. Whilst acknowledg­ing that the BTUs (or British thermal units, the traditiona­l unit of heat) do not even come close eucaplyptu­s or manuka, there is a place for both these softwood species. When we lived in the Orinoco valley in the Nelson area, a place subject to extremely hard frosts, far more severe than we now encounter in South Canterbury, we had few firewood options. However, our 5ha property had numerous very large willows along with a few wattles. The trusty Husqvarna 50 chainsaw and splitting axe served us well and before long we had sheds full of split wood. With both a woodburnin­g fire and Wamsler cooking stove, we needed plenty of fuel.

The willow exceeded our expectatio­ns, especially when mixed with a bit of wattle and an occasional lump of native wood from the nearby riverbed. The heat output can be surprising. We have also used bone dry poplar from orchard shelter belts.

The secret is in the drying. Willow and poplar dry quickly, far more so than pine, eucalyptus or oak for instance. Both these woods also have the advantage of being easy to split wet or dry, make the very best kindling and leave little ash. You may need more frequent trips to the woodshed but in an enclosed fire, well seasoned willow and poplar should not be dismissed.

Sheryn is correct when she suggests harvesting in the dormant period. As a general rule we find that softwoods need 10-12 months, even in low rainfall Canterbury, and woods like eucalyptus two years or so. Graeme and Raewyn Marshall, PLEASANT POINT

GUM TREES IN FLOWER

I was reading your magazine on a grey wet day, when a splash of orange caught my eye. “Pah, gums,” I thought, “only good for one thing,” and put another log on the fire. But as the orange flames licked the log, I was reminded of the blaze of orange and red that line the main road into Whanganui. My partner Scott loved those trees.

When we moved here he had plans to commemorat­e his Coromandel heritage by planting pohutukawa. I pointed out that we are really in rata territory, but you can take the boy out of Thames but you can’t take the Thames out of the boy. So he planted pohutukawa. What the cattle didn’t eat were demolished by the sheep (despite protection).

When he saw the flowering gums come out in town he was off to Gonville Nursery to get Corymbia ficifolia. Now there are a dozen along the back fence line. Despite barely being over the tree guards, when I look at these saplings, I can see carmine red flowers against a blue sky with the sea beyond. I can also see Scott smile, as he rests against the shovel having planted the first of them. It was an effort for him, just as it was when he cut up and split the eucalyptus to create an enormous firewood pile for me. He knew he didn’t have long before the cancer claimed him and he wanted to be sure I was warm through the long lonely winter to come. Scott died in March. His firewood pile is magnificen­t and when the gums finally flower, so will they be. Hel Loader, Kai Iwi, WHANGANUI

LIZARD LOUNGE ARCHITECT

Here is my eight-year-old Mahala beside the lizard lounge she helped create in our orchard, thanks to your April issue. She is just hoping some lizards actually move in! We don’t want to go poking around in there though, in case one is there and we frighten it off! Debbie Lainge, TE HORO

EGGPLANT EXCITEMENT

Last year, we moved from Christchur­ch to Nelson. Our section has a steep slope and our grass is paddock grass, but my husband was keen to see what vegetables would grow. We made some garden beds and planted a variety of vegetables. We were astonished how well most of them grew as the soil was clay and we hadn’t done anything to break it up. The two eggplants did well and produced an amazing number of fruit.

Then the March NZ Gardener arrived with the recipe for eggplant chutney! The chutney is delicious. Everyone who has tried it thinks so as well. It has improved as it has aged, although I am lucky to know that as I have had to vigorously defend my jars from my family and friends. Thank you for the recipe. Jean Day, NELSON

BLOOMING LOVE

My seven-year-old daughter Keira has recently shown interest in growing flowers, so I took her to the local Palmers and let her choose her own flowers to grow. After spending ages deciding, she finally chose poppies! To her delight they all started flowering in beautiful shades of orange, yellow and white. Her only disappoint­ment was we didn’t have any red ones – until this beauty popped up today. The excitement and joy on her face said it all. Ari Schou, TAURANGA

SWEET ON SWEET PEAS

I have grown sweet peas since I was 15 years old and I am now almost 82 years young. My small garden is always full of colour. I have dug up my small front lawn and the roadside lawn. I have a large back deck with more than 300 pots there and in my carpark. I will grow the sweet peas I was given as part of NZ Gardener’s sweet pea challenge up bamboo wigwams as all my fences are covered in climbing roses. When I lived in Gisborne I bought Pat Unwin’s sweet peas and how lovely they were. In later years I have grown Dr Keith Hammett’s sweet peas – lovely too. Maree Forde-Harris, HAVELOCK NORTH

 ??  ??
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from New Zealand