Sunday 28 June 2020

Gardening

Good neighbours not only hand goodies over the garden gate but they haul your old 'goodies' from the back garden and take them away to the tip.

You'll remember that I've written about our elderly neighbour, Vaso.  She's still a powerhouse at 84.  This morning she was sitting on the flagstones with a very sharp knife trimming fresh bamboo canes which will be used on their garden.

Her son looks after most of the vines, olives, lemon and orange trees now and strims what Vaso hasn't done by hand.

His latest interest is a vegetable garden.  But before starting on his own he came and cleared out our back garden, literally shaving the earth and hauling all the old iron and wood from the back to the front and then taking it away in his farm truck.


I don't know how many times I've posted photos of the 'treasures' removed from our back garden.  Well, here's another pile.  The lawn mower does work I think.  That was given away.  We had a miniscule lawn about 10 years ago.  Hard to imagine now.






The 'before' photo





Down comes the grapefruit tree.
Now we have a view, of a clean back garden


That stump is all that's left of the grapefruit tree.  It always had loads of fruit, the most bitter fruit I have tasted.  Even a kilo of sugar couldn't make it into an enjoyable marmelade.  The tree hid our view from the living room of the hill opposite, site of the ancient Temple to Poseidon.  There's no temple left, just a few stones.  
Now the pine forest and olive groves are in open view and I can sit in my armchair and watch for sasquatch, or the movement of tourists on the hill top, when they arrive again.

The wood from the grapefruit tree is stacked ready for next winter's fires.  I'll let you know how grapefruit wood burns, in due time





An unbelievably clean back yard.  And there's more rubbish to go out.


This other tree with orange fruit is a bitter orange tree which we're leaving for now.  What the previous owner thought he would reap from these bitter trees I cannot imagine.
There are still 2 lemon trees standing, a sweet-orange tree and a mandarine.  The green plant in the foreground is basil



13 comments:

  1. He seems to have inherited his mother's work ethic! Did you ask him to do that, or did he just take it upon himself to do it? What is "the ground" of your back yard? Is it gravel or packed earth? It looks very neat and tidy now! -Jenn

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    1. He is just like his mother!
      And no, we didn't ask him. He is the sort of person who likes order and our yard offended him, as it does me. Last year he 'shaved' the front which is my domain, and has no rubbish. He literally swept the surface with a broom.
      The ground is hard packed dry earth. How we ever had a miniscule lawn I don't know. It needed too much care which is why it disappeared.

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  2. What a fabulous neighbour you have, your yard looks great! Why would any one plant fruit trees that give you fruit you can't eat? That basil plant is amazing!

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    1. I can understand the lemon trees but the other two, especially the grapefruit are beyond me. Useless.

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  3. What a transformation and good neighbours. Love that basil.

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    1. He is amazing. He even hauled the rubbish and all the branches from the grapefruit which is a trek up stairs and across a terrace.

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  4. Yay for great neighbours! Enjoy your new view :)

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  5. A good job well done. Time to get sowing.

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  6. I wish my neighbours were like that. It certainly looks very neat and tidy now. Did he get any of your delicious jam/marmalade as a reward?

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  7. Sour oranges make great marmalade - even better if you have some bergamot juice/rind to pep it up. When we finally get back to NZ I plan to try and grow both - just for the marmalade. That was an amazing transformation in your backyard.

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    1. Ihave made marmelade with the nerantzia. It's not too bad. Im the only one who will eat it so its a waste of time

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  8. Wow. Well done. Looks fantastic
    Will you be planting a veggie garden too now

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    1. There are some zucchinis and tomatoes and peppers and aubergines in pots. They are doing quite well. Not enough to make it worth while. We are not gardeners

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