Musing's of a Gardener

Bees are an incredible part of nature, important for pollination and the subsequent reproduction of many plant species, for food, and of benefit to humans directly through their honey production. The slump in world numbers has highlighted a potential for a disaster to occur – in Australia, at least, one estimate is that two thirds of all agriculture is dependent upon bees. I have not seen the data that was used to make this estimate, so cannot verify it, but certain the industry I grew up in – stone and pome fruit, bees are crucial – there would be zero apples, pears, peaches etc without bees. So when a young person takes an interest in bees I jump at the chance. I began keeping bees when I was about 15 years of age, and have had bees ever since. The photos below are of a nucleus my great uncle Carl gave me many years ago when I showed an interest in bee keeping. The other week Sam said he wanted to learn about bee keeping, so being October I knew that either one of my hives might sw...

My wife and I have just returned from a fascinating trip to Turkey. Australians know Turkey because of Gallipoli, and many thousands have visited Turkey, but have they gone past Istanbul and the Gallipoli Peninsular? We did and found it fulfilling and fascinating. We chose Turkey rather randomly – having booked a study tour of Israel, we wanted to do something else while in the northern hemisphere, and since it is the 100 anniversary of that dreadful Gallipoli campaign (2015), Turkey was brought to our attention. So with guidance from our lovely travel agent, booked a 13 day bus trip. We had some trepidation as we had no idea of what our travelling companions would be like, nor the tour guide, or anything at all about Turkey! All this was dispelled and I would encourage anyone with time to visit. Turkey is large, prosperous and productive. Yes it is Muslim, and this is more pronounced in the east, but the Turks proudly claim that are not Arab; “don’t mistake us for Arabs”. Isla...

Last weekend we were dealing with smoke and the worry of a fire coming down the hills face into our suburb. Our friends property at Kersbrook was burn out, but a well prepared fire system saved the house and main sheds, although out-sheds were lost, as well as most of the fences. This weekend we have rain, and floods in central Australia ( see ABC news ). The synoptic map is unique (the last time it apparently did this was in 1974). Synoptic Map from Bureau of Meteorology (9 Jan 2014) The creek flows only when it rains, and since we have had nearly 30 mm since Thursday, it is currently flowing (10 Jan 2014). This is not something we have seen often in Summer, especially since last week we had multiple days >40°C. Creek flowing in summer - an unusual event   The vegetables don’t much like 40°C as the stamens desiccate and therefore the flowers do not set. My tomatoes are growing, but not ripening, but I have the best cumbers ever, although they are suffering from ...

After living through Ash Wednesday - the farm was burnt but the house had main sheds were saved - the Humbug Fire brought back vivid memories. Everything was in grey scale - I remember seeing no colour for many weeks, until the first tinge of green showed through after some autumn rain. The current fire starting on a very hot 42'C day, was perhaps in one of the worse places a fire could start - in a large forest. We prepared to evacuate at 2 am on Saturday 3rd, after the wind turned towards us, but then it moved away. Friends near the start of the fire (Sampson Flat) have not fared so well with the fire going through their property. Their house was OK the last time I managed to speak to them, but they have lost fences and sheds, but not their animals. Other friends at Birdwood, Kenton Valley and Gumeracha appear to be OK at the moment. 3rd January 2015 over Banksia Park High School, Fire NE of Range Road North. 1983 Farm house, Langley Road, Cudlee Creek The ABC has som...