Another random day in the garden: adding to new compost bins constructed in the centre of the backyard (so the compost doesn't feed the willows at the back); elevating our pumpkins so they don't rot on the ground as they ripen; harvesting a few tomatoes (best EVER season) and Jerusalem artichokes; and clearing twisty taupata branches from around the nikau palm.
I have written before about 'remembering through plants'. The nikau reminds me of my Mum, partly because it arrived here as a large seedling from Karaveer (our former family home), and because Mum used to tell us that, as a child, she used to slide down bush slopes round Auckland on dead nikau palm fronds - the end that falls from the trunk forming a large bowl that a child can sit in. We never did that when we were young.
The regenerating nikau at Karaveer gradually recaptured the top end of the few acres of bush we had. They are slow-growing: it took perhaps 20 years (after we fenced off the bush) for them to be a feature at the top end. This one at the back of our property is now a decent size 6-7 years.The large spear-like centre is actually a new frond on its way.
As for the pumpkins - they remind me of my Dad: his most productive pumpkin plants grew straight out of the compost bin. Mine are much more humble - a half-dozen or so growing from a triangular patch I sowed from seed just before Christmas. Now, one is nearly ripe for the picking. I just hope the others ripen before it gets too cold and the sunshine fades away.
