I guess I should have known that orchards are problematic. Just take Anton Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard" for example. If ever you were feeling in need of being depressed, then this play is the one for you. Great closing scene with aged manservant lying down to die with sound of axes chopping down the famous cherry orchard in the background. Of course, no such thoughts intruded during the July and August when we happily started our domestic apple orchard planted the bare rooted trees and finished bracing the corner posts for the fence that was to keep the marauding local wildlife at bay. Neither was there any problem in October when we visited briefly prior to doing the Three Capes Track. In fact the orchard was looking spectacular with all eighteen of the little trees we planted in bud and some even showing blossom. However, the dreams of the city dwellers were about to be dashed.
Tasmania enjoyed an incredibly wet spring. We watched the weather apps with amazement from our Brisbane home as day after day Cracroft Farm recorded substantial precipitation. While we hoped our property wasn't being washed away, we felt sure that all our plants would be thriving. When I arrived down here with Pepper in mid-November, the orchard was buried in a sea of grass. The beautiful manicured patch of earth we had seen in October was now a jungle. Even worse, the wallabies had figured out how to stand up and chew the delicate bark of the young trees that protruded above the green protective cages.
A sea of grass
I set out to rectify the situation with the trusty slasher. Soon the orchard was looking relatively cared-for again.
After slashing
But this proved to be just the beginning of the job. The photograph doesn't quite do justice to the amount of grass that had grown up inside the box frames. A close up photo reveals the extent of the problem.
A box in need of some work
The next stage of the salvage operation came in two parts. First, I had to lay down the slasher and pick up a garden fork. The tricky bit here was how to deal with a fork and Pepper who insisted on waiting for me to bury the fork before leaping on it and tearing at the grass. While this willingness to help was much appreciated, you can imagine the rather delicate timing involved so as not to injure a helping hound. Second, once the box was weeded and free of grass, I had to manufacture a wire cage that protected the tops of the baby trees from wallabies. After a couple of days hard labour the end result looked promising.
Pepper taking a well-earned break
At this stage Cath arrived for a week's visit and we resolved to finish fencing the orchard. We stopped at our favourite agricultural supply store and bought a wire-tensioning tool, an implement that looks very much like a medieval instrument of torture.
A wire tensioning tool
After a few YouTube videos we felt like complete pros and strode off to torture the fence into submission. We were unbelievably good with that tensioning tool! A few deft attachments to the wire, a crank or two of the handle and the wire was beautifully taut. We worked our way down the four strands of wire connecting the two corner posts, feeling increasingly comfortable with the implement. But alack-and-alas, when we reached the bottom wire we noticed that the top wire as no longer taut. Another round with the tool produced the same result. It was then that we realised that our super tensioner was pulling our corner posts askew. For those of you that have some passing acquaintance with clay soil, it is absolutely rock hard when dry but when wet it turns to slush. The wet spring had made the ground so sodden that the posts were simply sitting in a bowl of mush. It was a chastening experience to trudge back at the end of the day with a fail mark against the day's endeavours.
We have subsequently managed to dig the posts out and re-set them with a mixture of crushed rock and cement, which apparently is the optimal way to set fence posts in clay. The mixture absorbs the moisture from the surrounding mud and becomes solid. The other thing that we learned while speaking to some locals is that you never strain a fence in spring, but wait until February when the ground is likely to be completely dry! I hope to present a positive report about the orchard at that stage or else there may be the sound of distant axes.
In keeping with our new spirit of optimism, two momentous events have occurred today. First, we successfully changed the registration of the car we keep on the farm from Queensland plates to Tasmanian plates. This is a small but very significant step that makes the adventure seem all the more real. Second, we have our first harvest of an organically grown crop! Today Cath harvested some garlic that she had been growing in the bath tub (see the post of 7 October 2020, Rehabilitating a relic ...). The garlic now needs to be dried properly by hanging it in the shed for a few weeks. I guess there won't be too many vampires around here for a while ...
Our first crop
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