Dreaming of endless, cloudless, blue skies....

.....however when I opened my eyes it had to remain a dream.

The cloudy sky and unstable weather remains. Perhaps we are cursed because of the sheer numbers of Victorians who have come lately? Did they bring their weather here?

I console myself with the great choice I made in my life not to reside anywhere south of the Tropic of Capricorn. 

I was surprised to find 15.5mm of water waiting in the rain gauge this morning, especially for this time of the year. We have been getting some dribs and drabs but mostly 0.5 to 1.5mms. Hardly worth a mention in these parts.

A total of 26mms over the past 4 days will continue to keep everything green. 
It certainly makes the dog easier to find than when it's dry and brown, which it often is. 
This usually surprises people who don't live in the tropics, the expectation is of green, green, permanent green.

Cane harvest is trying to get into full swing however the rain is a bit of a dampener at this time.

The rain has been a fabulous welcome to a new orphan I have taken in and given a new home. Here is a pic taken only a few days ago, transplanting occurred a few days before that, during the moon's waxing cycle.

Do you recognize it?

 Is there anyone familiar with this new introduction to the plant world?

It comes with a shadow, like us all.

The orphan's plant name will be revealed in the next blog, along with some characteristics.

I will continue to show how well she grows so watch this space.....

Terminalia Trappings

Now I am sure there are a lot of people locally who have recognised the familiarity of these images.
The common name is beach almond.

Transformative Bromeliad, Yes! It's a pineapple!

Bold and beautiful bromeliad.......

This is the beginning of another exciting development which shows the magnificence of nature. 
More on this one soon....

Pumpkin and Terminalia

3 days ago I brought in the last pumpkin. 

The cord was still attached to the 'placenta' but the 'placenta' had dried up. 

The real problem would have been rats getting the fruit.


I have added some photos of the terminalia spp  which I mentioned in the previous blog.


The trees are the broad leaf ones, some come with the tiered look, older ones all twisted with character and  immense canopies. The leaves are changing colour at the moment so if you are visiting these parts, or you live locally, they are not difficult to identify.

These ones have sea views.                   

Sheesh

Master Time is slipping under me, flowing away like a river. 

Will I ever catch up?

At the moment, mango trees, which are prolific here in North Queensland, are flowering. 

We are getting patches of rain in our 'Dry Season', what impact the current weather has on the potential mango crop, I am yet to ascertain.

A humble 4mms of rain for the past 24 hours has been gratefully accepted by the parched, wilting plants.

We don't have an autumn or a spring so when the leaves of the terminalia spp.  change colour and start to fall, I return to the nostalgic days of my childhood, without the cold weather.

This year I am planning on having friends around for a picnic in all the fallen leaves. 
I have titled it 'Picnic in autumn leaves in a pseudo winter'.

The leaves from the terminalia spp start to fall at the end of June and continue into August. There is a terminalia (common name: 'beach almond') in the back yard , the annual leaf drop provides all the food and fibre for the sand below. Some of the leaves go into the compost for dry matter to balance the mix with the rest going onto the garden.

Terminalia's are fast growing with a great canopy for quick shade, potential mulch in 'them there leaves', they are a great choice for planting. 
They can be found growing along the coastal strip, not seemingly concerned with salt or wind. Animals and birds love to eat the flesh surrounding the seed. 
I will take some photos of the trees and post them up soon.

Dumped...

I have been dumped by text, by the university. My gardego (gardening ego) has taken a blow from the learned land of researchers.

The backyard 'study' is suspended for now and would I like to leave my number with them for future potential?

They suggested we might get together another time.

Have you heard that one before?

'The Tropical Backyard: Nature and Culture relations in FNQ (Far North Queensland)' study is no more.

So I will dust off my gardego and life goes on.

There is soooo much news since my last post, I am tripping over myself.

There is a flowscape of chilli's, an abundance of lemons(plump from the wet season rains), a young, budding pineapple, a teenager called Jasmine, trips away to the Daintree and our rapidly drying lanscape.

There is the upcoming winter solstice, transplanting of seedlings into grown-up lands and pumpkin-leaf-tip recipes.

 There may even be an answer to the mystery of the cane toads of the plant world, those warty-orange-viney-things.

The young pumpkin nutured by mother nature was cooked and eaten in the honorary company of my wonderful friend, Nell. Her recipe for pumpkin soup is legendary and has traveled the country.

Over the years the fundamentals remain the same but I have tweaked it somewhat to suit the tropical environment. I use coconut cream instead of cream and jap pumpkin instead of butternut. I don't bother with the potatoes either, although it's a great way to either 'use some up' or make the soup go further to feed more mouths......

I read a book written on pumpkins by an Australian author, possibly Jackie French, who raved so much about the versitality of the Jap pumpkin, I have not had a butternut since I was convict-ed to England.

(More on my England experiences with pumpkins at a later date).

After the author stated butternuts as being a dry relation in the pumpkin family, I have mostly avoided hanging out with them.

Leaving nature to grow these jap pumpkins certainly paid off.

I only tipped out the compost bin which made me 4 pumpkins richer, (now only 3).

What a divine flavour and texture she was.

What a wonderful gift.

Thank-you.