It is so exciting working on the new developments over at Dreamland. There is never a dull moment, with planting, irrigation, mulching and much more to be done before the harsh summer heat hits us. Besides, I have to confess, I prefer doing new development over regular maintenance. But we couldn’t help notice that things were slowly looking more and more neglected at Homeland…

Decision time

So it became a big dilemma! Even though I was spending six days a week at Dreamland, because we live at Homeland, we see the decay happening right before our eyes. Areas that were previously precious, were now becoming neglected wastelands. Plants that we previously checked on daily, were now becoming orphans left to their own devices. Something had to be done!

“But there’s all the work and projects on the to-do list at Dreamland?”

“I have to get over there and do the project / bed / area / activity that is top of mind for the day, or at the top of the ‘official’ project list!”

A conscious decision had to be made. After much deliberation we made the call – 1/3 of my time at Homeland, and 2/3 of my time at Dreamland, come hell or high water, rain or snow. (OK, after a short heat wave we have just had some great welcome rain – over 25mm in two days!)

This turned out to be such a good call!

Grapes

Weeds were taking over the grapes’ companion plants. With a bit of TLC they are now looking better and their companions are growing!

Citrus orchard

The couch grass was taking over the citrus orchard. This I realised at the Citrus Masterclass I recently attended that this was a big no-no!

We are doing a full make-over of the citrus orchard, which I’ll share in another post.

As an aside, I was wondering why a lot of the plants that were fed by one of the grey water sectors were battling? Among others, it feeds the herbs next to the fence along the citrus orchard. Fortunately as I was working on the citrus makeover, the grey water went off for that particular sector. Just as well – there was a massive leak at a burst join in the pipe, and because it was behind the avocados’ shade screens you would never have seen or heard it if you weren’t really close by. Luckily that got fixed too.

Vegetable patch

The vegetable paths were looking like a jungle, which in fact were harbouring more and more snails, which our resident little bluetongue lizard couldn’t keep up with.

Now the vegetable paths are starting to look better after some clean-up – at least we can get to the vegetables now and little bluetongue can bask a little more.

Unfortunately for my eager efforts I was awarded with three, yes three, bull ant stings. Man it hurts for days, and then it itches for further more days!

Raspberries

The raspberries were overrun with grasses. The raspberries are strong and can probably handle the competition, but then the bees can’t see the flowers and we can’t see the fruits…

The raspberries are also looking better now and should do better without the competition for light and water.

 

Lessons learnt

• You just got to keep your hands on things and regularly inspect and work on your entire area. “A stitch in time saves nine.”
• Irrigation pipes and fittings somehow always seem to break and jump leaks. You just HAVE to check them regularly.