Mutant Lemons

We have two lemon trees growing in our yard, both survivors of the 2019/20 bushfires.

They have been growing here for the 30 years I’ve lived here. The life expectancy of lemon trees is a lot more than that, reportedly 50-100 years.

They fruit well some years, not so good others.

The crop is always subject to attack by white cockatoos which we try, mostly unsuccessfully, to scare away. But there are only so many lemons you can eat so during a bumper crop we share.

The trees are left alone which means they are subject to a few diseases, lemon scab being one, which causes the skins to thicken and become a little deformed. Doesn't however affect the juice in any way.

But this year we have had some very strangely shaped fruit, almost looking like co-joined twins.

Is the continual wet weather to blame? 

Who knows.

Some Farm Stuff 3rd May / 12th May Update

We use electric fences in places where we want to contain our cattle eg. in and around our house paddocks or where we think there may be ‘escape routes’ into the bush.
These have been powered by normal 12 volt car/boat or deep cell batteries.
Obviously these need to be recharged from time to time. This is fine when you don’t have to carry them far.
But one fence is quite remote from a charging point and at the bottom of a steep hill. For this reason I use a deep cell battery here as it lasts considerably longer than the others. Deep cell batteries are very heavy.
Getting it back up the hill, even in a wheel barrow has become a chore. Because of the continual rain getting a vehicle down to the spot is impossible.

This particular fence keeps the cattle away from a possible creek crossing into the bush.
It’s not as though the cattle would ‘try’ the fence every day. They have a good memory of being zapped and normally keep away.
I have considered putting a permanent fence there but the terrain is difficult and the ‘escape’ factor only comes into play when the creek is extremely low which isn’t often these days. Plus the recent floods have made that part of the creek bank extremely steep which is also a deterrent.
So I’ve invested in a solar charged electric fence energiser to do away with portable battery power. It was easy to install on a star picket and is facing due north and should be in full sunlight for most of the day.
According to the blurb it should stay charging for up to 5 days of heavy cloud and takes three days to fully recharge its internal battery, if flat, in full sun.

Outside our boundary fence on the road verge is a strip of land the gets covered in tall grass and weeds.

It belongs to two of our neighbours but they think it belongs to us and we should look after it better ie. keep it neat and tidy.

Anyway about once a year, in autumn, I spray the entire area off with herbicide. 

This year blackberry bushes were very evident amongst the tall grass. This is a declared noxious weed in Australia and, by law, land owners are required to keep it under control.

Normally I use glyphosate on this area but have noticed over the years the blackberry there may have become a little resistant. So this year I used a combination of glyphosate and Metsulfuron-methyl with some added wetting agent.

I have had a lot of successful with the latter on our property on both blackberry and bracken. It also works well on the difficult to control Tradescantia zebrina.
It’s fairly slow acting so don’t expect to see any visible results for a few weeks. The grasses on the other hand should start to ‘yellow’ in around 10 days.

Then we’ll have a nice dead brown verge for the next 6 months or so or until spring when dormant seeds currently in the soil will begin the process all over again.

Update:12th May

Success with grasses and weeds.

Blackberry is ‘lingering’ but signs of senescence at the growing tips. 

But it’s early days yet for them.

One Track for All / North Head Ulladulla Harbour

One Track for All is a 3km walking track on the northern headland of Ulladulla Harbour.

We decided to do an early post town cafe breakfast walk up there.
It is a public area which has four lookouts providing spectacular views of the coastline as well as Ulladulla surrounds and harbour. 

The track tells the story of the southern Shoalhaven Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal history from an Aboriginal perspective with carved signs along its length.

The track has been constructed in a way that, from a higher vantage point or from the air, the two halves appear as two large goannas, with four carved platforms for some of the best views of the Ulladulla Harbour.
Unfortunately since our last visit some 13 years ago, many of the carvings have fallen into disrepair or were damaged by fire some time ago. However the views back across the harbour and the northern and southern coastlines are still worth the visit. A little research established that the local council is aware of the deteriorating ‘story telling’ signage is are trying to reconcile the situation with the artist. So far no success.

A few autumn wild flowers were starting to bloom. The environment changes from open forest to thick native bush land, mainly she-oaks (Casuarinas), in places forming long narrow vegetative tunnels.

It was a nice change from our beach walks. Apparently there is another bush walking track on the southern headland starting at the lighthouse. We will have to check that one out too.