Berry Lane is the name I’ve given to the garden nestled on either side of the brick path that runs east to west from our back deck to the compost heap, on the northern side of our weather board home.
I love the idea of being able to pick berries on my way to and from the clothesline, and have been experimenting with this spot by planting raspberries, blackberries, a dwarf mulberry bush, pineapple sage and kangaroo paw.
It’s proving to be a tricky part of the garden to grow edibles because of the limited direct sunlight. I’ve only harvested three small, delicate and sufficiently sweet raspberries. The bottle brush, Turk’s cap (mallow) - not turkish cap', as I say in the video - and succulents thrive in this section of the garden.
Over the March long weekend we averaged daily temperatures over 30 degrees, so it was too hot to plant anything. Opting for a day trip in an air conditioned vehicle, we visited Kuranga Native Nursery in Mt Evelyn to research suitable options for native plants that would grow well in this part of the garden.
We enjoyed a late lunch at their Paperbark Cafe. They have a seasonal menu that features a wide range of delicious and fresh produce prepared from local ingredients and incorporate subtle flavours of Australian bush foods. If you are passing through the area, both the nursery and cafe are worth a visit.
Based on advice from a qualified staff member, we purchased two correa baeuerlenii for the plot on the right of the clothesline. Densely foliaged and rounded shrubs, they have sweetly aromatic leaves and tubular, greenish-yellow flowers. These unusual flowers will hopefully flower from Autumn to Spring, and have prominent ridged ‘caps’.
The part of the garden where these will be planted provides the view from my office window. I enjoy watching the birds extract the pollen from the flowers on the Turk bush, but it’s taken over, and is not a native. The lower part is quite woody, so it will get cut back once we plant the correas. If we get more greenery on the base of this plant, it can stay. If not, I will eventually replace it with more correas, assuming the like this spot.
We’re also working on making a potting table from our old teak bench that’s become too unstable to safely sit on. ‘We’ refers to my husband and I. The older we get, the more I feel like we’ve become a version of Darryl and Sal Kerrigan1 from The Castle. He likes to find treasures on the Trading Post (aka Facebook Marketplace). If I ever mention I need something for my our garden, he’ll dive into research mode.
Not long after returning from Mt Evelyn with the shrubs, we headed back out again thanks to a fresh marketplace listing for an old table with metal legs. It’s dimensions lined up with the space awaiting the potting bench I mention in the video. As I was contemplating the false economy of an 80km round trip for a $50 table, we discovered an unusual section of beach tucked next to market gardens, known as Campbells Cove Beach.
Can you smell the serenity?
With love and gratitude,
KPH
I acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which I live and pay my respects to Indigenous Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
Whatever role Anne Tenney plays, she will always be Molly from A Country Practice to me.
How Molly's death on A Country Practice touched a nation: 'the writers’ room was shedding tears.
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