One of the joys of visiting my parents, who have a unique home built during the Victorian Gold rush era, are the trees and plants that surround the block.
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| Lemons |
Trees that were planted to supplement the weekly food of families over 100 years ago, plants that have lived through droughts, neglect and flood.
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| Orange tree so big, the verandah was built around it. |
I don't know who planted them, but I bet they never expected them to become so big, to still provide, to be the source of marmalade and jams and juice that they are, to be the shade for family picnics or where people chat while harvesting bags of fruit.
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| Cumquat Corner: this tree is always full, all year round. |
Got me thinking to just how many people these trees have fed over the last century.
Time to get planting.
gorgeous trees. I wish we had more of them but just not the space. I have been on a lemon fest this week with mum's lemons.....cordial, marmalade, preserved lemons. the house smells amazing xx
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather used to grow me fruit trees from seed. His plum trees are just starting to produce proper amounts of fruit now, Pop died in 2008 and his trees are his legacy to me. Pop used to grow me heritage roses as well. Every year the heritage roses I planted out would get destroyed by a combination of casual neglect,drought, possums and wallabies.Each year Pop would grow me new roses, it was a running joke between us. I have three rose bushes left here that I cherish.
ReplyDeleteMy mum and her partner bought a house on a big block of land just recently - 1950's house full of sbestos so they demolished it and rebuilt but did not touch the backyard as it was full of fruit trees, almond trees, olive trees. The builders had strict instructions to be very careful and now she has the most beautiful back garden. Every time she arrives at ours. it's with boxes of fruit and vegies fresh from her garden. Best.
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents had a fabulous back yard. Many happy memories there.
ReplyDeleteI am a horrible gardener! I seem to kill most plants - but when we get a bigger place I want to make a vegetable patch and have some fruit trees. It would be really nice to be somewhat self sufficient in that area! xx
ReplyDeleteI love fruit trees. At the moment, we have one tiny, lonely mandarin tree bearing fruit but hope to plant some more when we give our garden an overhaul soon.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder the same thing! The first thing we did when we moved into our home was to plant 10 fruit trees. We had our first fruits this year and I can't wait for the second yield.
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope that they stay for years to come as well...
Lovely post Claire. xx