Adelaide Hills and the Big Wet

trees that fell like dominoes

More trees down this morning which means 5 separate events have brought trees down from our neighbour’s scrub onto our chestnut orchard. The trees fell like dominos down the hill mostly roots and all falling on other trees creating a cascade of stringy barks piling on top of each other, spilling out and coming to rest into our orchard and some as far as the valley raspberries.

more trees to clean up

The weather has certainly been challenging with unusually strong winds and rain. This has come after 10 years of below average rainfall which saw our valley and springs dry up earlier this year for the first time in our 33 years here.

Our Spring in March this year

It was just mud

In the last 48hours we have had another 39mm of rain and it’s still falling. This year’s rain fall figures

Jan 73mm Feb 32mm March 57mm April 21mm May 190mm June: 228mm July:276mm August:121mm Sept:337mm . So far in October 181.5 mm in 18 days.

While our valley is used to being wet in late winter/spring –this year it’s impossible to get any work done in the berries as it is so wet any activity would damage the soil profile. So it’s best to leave it with as much vegetation to protect the soil and keep evaporation rates up. The valley is designed with several barrage ponds that slow down the water and many drains going to the main creek. These are all working well but the water keeps falling from the sky! The tree crops should benefit from the rain getting down well into the B horizon. (Except those crushed by falling stringybarks)

As we can’t get out into the orchards, not even to begin the cleanup of fallen trees, I have been kept busy creating works for my Fringe exhibition in February and Quentin busy with fixing chainsaws, generators and now mowers for the local population.  

  

Fruits, Nuts and Berries

I am often asked ‘what grows in the hills’ Growing conditions and seasons can be very localised. Heathfield is in the highest rainfall (1200mm) part of the hills. Many areas also have a variety of micro climates which is worth bearing in mind.

Fruit growing at Nirvana

Apple :Granny Smith, Golden delicious , Jonathon, Red Fuji,

Avocado

Berries

*Raspberries: Nootka, Chiliwack, yellow’ , Heritage

*Blackcurrant: Hatton black, Baldwin, Magnus

*Red currant

*White currant

*English gooseberries: Farmers glory, Green Giant, Yorkshire champion, Late red.

Jostaberries

Blue berries: Northland, Blue Rose, Denise, Brigitta, Blue Rose

Elderberries

Bunya pine

Cherry

*Chestnuts (a mix of varieties)

Citrus:Tangelo: Minneola;Mandarins; Kara, Imperial; Blood orange; Maltese; Seville orange;Navel orange; Washington;Sweet orange; Grapefruit: Marsh; Lemon; Myer: rough seedling; Tahitian Lime; Kaffir Lime

Crab Apple; Eleyi

*Feijoas

Fig:Spanish Dessert, Brown, Luscious Ruby, yellow

Grapes

American Table: Himrod (white), Venus (black), Glenora (blue), Canadice (red), Kyoho (black)

Guava:Chilean guava (myrtus ugni), Strawberry guava

Hazelnut: White American, Ennis, Cosford

*Kiwi Fruit: Bruno,Hayward

Loquat: Enormity, Herds Mammoth

Macadamia: Nutty glen, H2

Medlar

Mulberry: *Black English, Hicks fancy, White Shahtoot, Red Shahtoot,White Fruiting

Nashi: 20^th century

Nectarine

Peach: Golden Queen

Pear:Dutchess, Packhams Triumph

Persimmon:Fuyu Gaki

Plums: Satsuma, Formosa,Narrabeen, Wickson

Prunes: Robe de Sergeant,Splendor

Pomegranate

Quince: Smyrna

Walnut:

Hops;Pride of Ringwood

Linden

Rowan

Lillypilly

Tupelo

* These are our commercial crops.

CHESTNUT BLIGHT

The potentially devastating news that chestnut blight has been found in north eastern Victoria puts all chestnut growers on edge. In USA it wiped out the entire industry in 3 years!

Chestnut blight is a fungus that enters through wounds in the bark. Which is a real worry for us as our trees are regularly smashed by the neighbour’s unmanaged Stringybark's.It grows underneath it causing a canker which will girdles and kills the branch above the infection point. The disease can kill the tree if the trunk is girdled by a large canker or several cankers growing together.

The first signs of infection is often seen as wilting, yellowing and death of leaves and shoots.Yellow –brown to orange cankers on young smooth  barked trees or branches may also be early signs of infection.

The fungus is spread by animals (especially humans in this global village) that come into contact with the cankers and through the air after rain. If you suspect anything  or need more information contact www.planthealthaustralia.com.au

Chestnut blight occurs in Japan, China, Korea, USA, Canada, Italy and throughout Europe. It infects chestnuts, oak, red maple, shagbark hickory  and eucalyptus.

Biosecurity team checking our orchard for chestnut blight.

A Stringybark falls from neighbouring property and damages  another chestnut. In the last few years 5 productive  trees have been damaged by falling trees.

New Helpers

Today it’s been drizzling all day, although it won’t be a significant amount of moisture it’s a pleasant change.
The moisture as put a temporality stop to the mulberry harvest. Being covered in red juice has been the norm lately as we pick the mulberries.

Today I dusted off a couple of helpers & constructed a couple more with the aim of deterring the black cockatoos from demolishing the walnuts. They are beautiful birds so let’s hope a few scarecrows & flappy things keep them from stopping for lunch in the orchard. Not only do they take the nuts but they shred the leaves and small branches.