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| The truck carrying our trees stopped at Wallacetown, where I took this photo. |
My arms are aching and I have blisters
on my hand that're going to trouble me for days – I've been
digging, and that's not something I willingly choose to do, being a
“no dig” kind of gardener and one who encourages others to take a
gentle approach to their gardening activities, but today, I dug. The
reason for the spade-work? My wife. She determined, quite rightly,
that the heritage apple trees we'd grafted and planted 6 years ago,
should be dug up and moved to their permanent locations, back to the
communities they came from, all fresh and vigorous, on new root stock
and ready to take their place in one of the orchard parks that
Southland will soon be famous for. Tuatapere is the location for the
trees we dug today, and next week it will be Monowai Village, where
the townsfolk are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their trees. I'm
hoping for a brass band and banners saying, “Welcome Home, Heritage
Apple Trees From Our Past”, but I'll settle for a hot cup of tea
and a scone. The Open Orchard project has made all this happen and
I'm one of their people. I've collected scions from the grandfather
apple trees growing on farms and in backyards across the region, I've
grafted those skinny slivers of history onto robust apple root-stock
and I've planted them out in good Southland soil to grow on to the
point we reached today, the Great Home-Coming, where the revived
trees return to their roots to grow on for another 80, 90 or 100
years till some other keen apple fanciers decide they must save the
wonderful fruits from extinction. It's a great project, a wonderful
concept and goodnesss, do my hands sting!
3 comments:
You are doing a great job and leaving your stamp on the southern landscape. Admire your efforts and the fact you are happy to get your hands dirty. Unusual in todays world where most just want to talk and attend meetings.
You remind me of that man in the old Speights adds with the saying "That man deserves a beer"
Good effort! Hope you get a day of rest today :-)
Ha! Thanks Philip. A beer would have topped of my day perfectly - as it was, a glass of wine eased my aches.
And thanks to you too, Hollie. No rest for me today though! I'm writing Get Growing this morning then heading for Tuatapere to plant what I dug out yesterday :-)
I'll plaster up my blisters and try not to get any more. On Wednesday, I'm back at West Plains, digging up a new set to go out to Monowai, then heading up there for their planting. I hope you're making good progress with your work too :-)
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