Gettin' caught in the rain

After months of drought, few experiences can match the sound and smell of falling rain – unless it is the exhilaration of being caught in it during a mid-morning walk on our smallholding. The past couple of weeks we've been blessed with lots of rain and all the plants are just totally jubilant!

My rain gauge has been constantly over-flowing and its maximum ark is 100mm. My chooks are the only ones complaining, they've been stuck in the chicken run with access to the coop for days on end.

Yesterday the Marigolds whispered how thankful they are for the rain. It's mid-summer and their display has been a bit stunted due to lack of water. No matter how much I water the garden, there is no comparison to just a few millimeters of rain.

Peering out of the front door yesterday morning

As soon as it cleared up slightly, I even ventured out with the camera for a quick photographic session

... and lose the umbrella!

To bless this kind earth... and yourself

Now that we're over the worst of summer (and it really was the pits, with extreme heat-waves, temps in the 40℃'s and drought) and had some lovely rain to break the heat and drought, I'm enjoying time outside in my garden again. I just get absolutely cranky, and listless, when it gets that hot, and can't seem to get around to doing anything outside. But as we all know, we NEED to get outside, we need to spend time in nature, otherwise life becomes unbearable. Well, for me anyway. My plants and the birds in my garden are part of my family, and I feel as though I've lost track of what's going on in their lives. I just did the bare necessities during that heat, filling the water bowls and feed tables and the rest, like watering the garden, was left up to my trusty garden manger, Chrissie. I even thought of telling her to chat to the birds, because I wasn't getting round to it!

But my garden doesn't seem to have minded my absence. It's like a jungle out there after all the rain. Nature's revenge to neglect is that, when left undisturbed and given time, she will reclaim anything built by humanity. So basically, no need to feel guilty here, life winds a way.

 There's a pathway somewhere in there, totally covered now by Bulbine and Sword ferns.

Even the birds don't seem to have noticed my absence. No excitement or fluttering or welcoming twittering when I started spending time in the garden again. Maybe they were even pleased about not being constantly stalked by my camera. Eating and bathing and nesting carried on as usual, making me feel a bit unwanted...

::

What a garden requires

A garden requires patient labour and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfil good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.

~ Liberty Hyde Bailey

Setting out food for feathered friends near your garden encourages them to stick around and do some insect control.

There's something pleasing about a bunch of carrots with tops on. Maybe it's the thought of pulling them out of the ground!

.

Even when it's winter...

Even when it's winter and I'm not out in the garden much, I still think of my garden! Here are a few things I planned last winter : to sketch and plan new little corners for the garden, to move pot plants around, to rearrange all the succulents on the plant stands, to trim low-hanging branches of the trees to allow in more sunlight, start a compost heap again and maybe start a new rock garden. I just have to find a large, sunny spot.

Thunder rumbled its way into the distance, and then the rain came, dropping words to the ground all around me.

Step outside after the first storm after a dry spell and it invariably hits you: the sweet, fresh, powerfully evocative smell of fresh rain! If you’ve ever noticed this mysterious scent and wondered what’s responsible for it, you’re not alone. It's called “petrichor.” It’s the name of an oil that’s released from Earth into the air before rain begins to fall. This heady smell of oncoming wet weather is something most people are familiar with – in fact, some scientists now suggest that humans inherited an affection for the smell from ancestors who relied on rainy weather for their survival.


.

It’s never too late to plant a tree

Celtis africana (White Stiinkwood) planted in my garden in 2005

It’s Spring. The trees herald the change of season by bursting forth with their new foliage, many preceding the soft greens with breathtaking shows of delicate blossoms that produce the fruits and seeds which will be welcomed by man and beast alike in the summer that lies ahead. It's time to plant a tree.

But how many will last long enough to provide homes for birds and animals in their lofty boughs, or provide us with much sought after protection from the elements all year round? How many will bear fruit?

Around the world, over thousands of years, man has impacted on the great forests by felling huge swathes for living space, fuel, building materials and cropland. Mankind is continuing ‘the old, old story’ of what happens when forests are cut down - rivers silt up, the land turns into desert or scrubland; civilisations succumb to environmental degradation.

Somebody once said “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” So how can we do our bit? Here are a few creative, low-cost ideas on how to get tree planting going :

• Plant a tree on your birthday.
• Plant one over the festive season, instead of spending your time and money in shopping malls.
• Give trees as gifts to show how much you care.
• Teach other people how to plant and take care of them.
• Save seeds; take cuttings. It will reduce the cost of planting trees. It may take a bit longer, but your patience will be rewarded.
• Plant a tree from a truncheon (small branch) taken from another tree. It takes a shorter time to grow a tree.

by Pat Featherstone, Soil for Life

You can find some info on how to plant a tree here.

.

Mid-winter rain in Gauteng

Mid-winter, July 2015, and it's raining, it's pouring!! Unusual for Gauteng... I'm really grateful for the rain, everything has been so dry and dusty, but at the same time I'm worried about all my succulents - it has been freezing cold and together with the wet I'm not sure if they will all survive...

Here in Gauteng we're not used to cold AND wet, that's Cape weather. When I lived in Cape Town, that was one of the most disturbing phenomena for me - cold, rain and wind, all together! Here in Gauteng, the weather is organised - rain in summer, cold in winter and winds in August! I don't know if Mother Nature is confused or whether she knows exactly what she is doing... Maybe this is our first Spring rains? Yesterday I noticed tiny little green leaves on the Acacias (thorn trees), and I thought that was rather odd, right in the middle of winter.

.

A misty winter's morn'

It's 7am and the morning is cold and misty. But I've heard that, when there is a lot of fog, it's going to be a beautiful sunshine day!

The now dead Zebra grass made a lovely bright contrast against the rest of the dark garden. Luckily it springs back to life early in Spring.

When I left for town at 8.30am, visibility was a mere 30-50m and one didn't see another car until you were almost on top of it. Sensibly, people were driving very slowly with their headlights on (never on bright, that just worsens the scenario as the bright lights cause a huge, impenetrable white spot making it impossible to see anything) and it took me double the time to get to town than normal.

.

An April garden

My garden in April...

::