Stooping, sharing and citrus

As far back as I can remember there has always been a lemon tree

Lemonade apparently

When I was a kid I learned from our Italian neighbors that lemons like urine, so it was regular practice for the boys both sides of the fence to wee on the tree. It was a matter of pride that our trees were well watered. The lemon tree was a valued contributor to suburban community life. (Yes there actually was such a thing as a 'suburban community' back then, street cricket, cubbies in the trees, billy carts down the hill etc... etc...)

Where I come from the unspoken rule has always been, nobody pays for lemons. In fact it would be a poor person indeed who would have to resort to actually purchasing lemons from the shop. After all who wouldn't know at least one person who has a tree with a few fruits to share?

In some places they use the phrase "Big name no blanket" to indicate that someone has put too much significance on their own self importance but neglected the social and personal responsibility of caring for theirs and others basic needs. Well here you could easily apply same logic, "Big name no lemons".

I recall as a child accidentally bumping into our tree and apologizing as if it were a person. It seemed a perfectly normal thing to do. Many years later a Malaysian colleague told me about the communal mango trees in her village. She was taught by her father never to disturb the tree at night, don't pick fruit or cut the wood, don't even shake the foliage at night, respect the tree. 

Many changes have occurred in our family home after I left about 24 years ago. The old lemon tree had to be removed but Mum and Dad planted more in another spot along the side fence.

Every time I visit my family in Melbourne I am amazed at the productivity of Mum and Dad's lemon trees. They have a few varieties, I don't know what they are, they're lemons, there's lots of them... one is called Lemonade. 

Slim garden bed produces tons of fruit

There are four trees growing in a patch of dirt about 80cm wide between a brick path and the neighbors fence. Each year they are brutally hacked back to a few rough stems and every year they bounce back producing biggest mobs of golden fruit.

Mum with another bag of fruit to give away

My parents have been living in the same house in Melbourn's northern suburbs for 51 years. When they moved in the street was mostly dirt and surrounded with paddocks (where we used to collect black berries and mushrooms... another story). As the neighborhood became more populated people would share back yard vegetables, it was normal to have someone knock on the door with a bag full of silver beet, rhubarb, tomatoes or plums. Nobody ever paid for lemons.

Time has rolled on and the neighborhood has changed, new families have moved in others have shifted or passed away. Most keep to themselves but everyone knows my Mum. So it was no surprise to me when we had an appointment at the bank, that she would bring a bag of lemons for her account manager. 

Field mushrooms straight out of the front yard

To what end does she keep holding to these antiquated ways? Talking to strangers, pottering in the garden, giving stuff away... Well about 6 and a half years ago mum was diagnosed with a  very aggressive bowel cancer. It was life threatening and required immediate surgery. After the surgery she was not given a very good prognosis. The surgery took away a large section of her bowel and she suffered a lot. During the weeks and months of her early treatment (Chemo) she received messages and prayers from all over the place. People would bring soups and hot meals for her and my dad (mum lost her apatite for a very long time). There seemed to be no end to the generosity of friends and neighbors. Mum hated being laid up and she endured a couple of years of being physically knocked out by chemo and the impact of the cancer on her body. But now 6 years later I come to visit and find her pottering in the garden, stooping to pick up fallen lemons and picking mushrooms from the front yard! She has exceeded all expectations.

I don't know what gives people the spirit to keep on going but with mum it must be connected to this drive she has to stoop to pick up the fruit from the ground and the impulse that demands that she should share the abundance she has been blessed with. Because nobody should ever pay for lemons!

Mushrooms and radish

Paths and predicaments

Last September while riding out to the Elizabeth River bridge I noticed that the bicycle path had been extended beyond the bend which used to mark the end of the Darwin - Palmerston bike path. I returned a few days later excited to see how far the extension went and discovered that an excellent bike path had been created along the old Darwin Rail line, all the way to Howard Springs!

Palmerston - Howard Springs bicycle path (crossing rail bridge)



Palmerston - Howard Springs bicycle path (rail cutting)

According to the NT Transport Group the 5.4 kilometre path was officially opened on the 11th September 2011, just a few days after I rode it. It's an awesome path and quite easy to ride. Unfortunately I have two major complaints about the path. I can't stand those stupid bent poles which force people riding in opposite directions into each others way to avoid hitting the poles (These things are really dangerous in town where kids ride, they are just the right height to hit a child in the head!) The other thing that I can't figure out is the crossing at Howard Springs Rd which instructs cyclists to Dismount prior to crossing the road! WTF for? I presume it's purpose is designed for the safety of cyclists. However I just can't see how getting off one's bike and pushing it across a road is going to improve safety for anyone. If it's based on road accident stats I think they'll find that Pedestrians are much more likely to be hit than cyclists (OK Stats can be extremely subjective but for goodness sake!). If I'm riding my bike the safest way for me to avoid being hit by a car is to spend as little time crossing the road as I can. My bike provides me with the means of doing this, why would I want to 'Dismount'?

 What's this chicanery?

Dubious safety research!

A technically legal predicament presents itself to cyclists most times we enter the road. Follow the ill conceived directives of road planners who appear to have given bugger all thought to the practicalities of their arbitrary designs, or follow ones own instinct for reading road conditions based on a keen sense of self preservation? Well in the case of this 'Dismount' sign I decided to follow the instruction purely out of curiosity and for the sake of experimentation. Result: I felt quite compromised standing in the middle of the road! Now I know for sure what to do next time!

Since it's construction I've ridden along the new stretch from Palmerston to Howard Springs about 6 times and have really enjoyed my experiences on the path; it's like a public esplanade in the middle of nowhere. There are always heaps of cyclists on the path and it passes through some really nice country, including a raised section where you can ride over the top of paperbark wetlands which will likely be in full flow by February.

Besides it's ride-ability there was another plus to the path which enticed me back a few times.
Last year when I first rode the path I really enjoyed riding past a well wooded mango orchard which wasn't fenced. Besides the potential to glean a few ripe mangoes the orchard created a wonderful atmosphere. It was densely wooded and had a full, lush canopy which created it's own micro climate. Riding past it was like riding through a shady grove, it was aesthetically beautiful.

I kept my eye on the orchard and wondered if it was being maintained. Some of the trees may have reached senility but most were in pretty good shape, non commercially speaking of course. There were dead branches and signs of parasites or disease among them but also thriving colonies of green ants. It appeared that the trees hadn't been tended to for quite a long time. 

As the season rolled on, the grass grew longer between the trees and I felt sure that no one cared for the crop. Eventually the fruit had grown to a size that could be picked. I decided to head out there and collect some that had fallen, after all no one seemed to care for it. I managed collect a few pieces of fruit which had fallen on the ground. By the time I visited again there were tons of mangoes on the trees and the grass was quite tall throughout the orchard. I decided to pick some fruit... and filled both slings on my Xtracycle. Technically not Gleaning but it seemed the fruit would only go to waste. After two trips I had far more fruit than I could eat in the two weeks it would take it all to ripen! I was ecstatic that I had come across such a perfect situation. Food falling from trees and all I have to do is go for a nice ride on my bike to collect it!

Well it was too good to be true! A couple of weeks ago I rode past the orchard and it had been razed to the ground! Nothing left of that little grove but a smouldering pile of smashed branches and roots, a few stumps sticking out of the ground and some mango seeds remaining from the fruit that rotted on the ground! So much for "The People's Orchard!" At first I thought it was an act of malice against the trees and those who enjoyed their bounty but most likely a simple pragmatic decision to reduce potential spread of disease or re-develop the land or something like that. Either way it pisses me off when things like that happen.


Mango tree stump (100s of trees destroyed)


Pile of burned roots and branches

It was such a beautiful orchard. I guess I was always preoccupied with its fruit to bother taking a photo before it was destroyed.

So much space so few places to sit!

Fruit and loaves

This week has been a lean one... Somehow we spent most of this weeks food money last week!
My work hours have been reduced to just 4 days per week which one would expect to impact on ones take home folding money but actually my income won't be reduced until next pay day! The 'lean times' haven't actually hit yet but why postpone the inevitable? Right? LOL

So anyway we ran out of food money and have had to become slightly more resourceful than usual, (Err I am referring to the usual as it applied to the time prior to my reduced hours at work, which from this week is no longer the norm. Not the usual as we will soon have to become used to which may include hanging around the back of Supermarkets waiting for them to chuck out the old cabbage leaves.... Just kidding mum!)


(A chickpea curry with the perfectly cooked chapatis and rice is so nice!)

So where was I? Oh yes food! We kind of ran out of money but we still had a bunch of stuff in the cupboard. Necessity has inspired creativity on the home front and Sam has been busy! In the cupboard we had a kilo or two of plain flour, some Atta flour, rice, a bag of dried chick peas, a large onion, herbs spices, a tin of tomatoes, and a few other little scrappy things, there was a carton of milk and some butter in the fridge and some yeast in the freezer.


(Let them eat Scones)
Over the weekend Sam has made a bunch of really nice food. Starting with white bread on Friday, It was so delicious we ate it before I could get a photo. There were some green and yellow specks in it due to the fact that the flours was only meant to be used for playdough!

Last night she made enough chickpea curry with rice and chapatis to serve another two meals at least! (You make chapatis with Atta flour) We ate the curry tonight and it was superb. For desert we had scones with Jam... oh yeh there was jam in the fridge. The scones turned out perfectly! There's even enough flour left for another loaf of bread.

Now from just a handful of ingredients we've managed to create some delicious food that we probably wouldn't have bothered with otherwise. Now to top it all off the neighbor called out to me from across the fence this afternoon and gave me a bag full of bananas! Apparently their tree has fallen down under the weight of all the bananas it's carrying! Some how inexplicably the week has turned from a time of trial and hardship into a food bonanza!



(Bananas fall like manna)

We're living off the cream! Now it's moments like these that I've just gotta give thanks! Shalom.