Morning Autumn Walk

8.30 AM and its time for a stroll with Nick's dog. Down the central path from the house at the front of the block to these indigenous Tree Ferns midway and at a small culvert bridge over a stream bed. We have massive storm events and Easterly Lows can dump a couple of metres of rain over a few days. This bridge has been replaced twice and finally with larger 30cm diameter pipes.

The Tree Ferns are self seeded and I must keep pruning the roots out of the nearby storm-water drain to keep the water flowing.

Under the metres high Tree Dahlia. I discovered one broken by the wind. It make a useful mulch at that stage. I haven't yet tried eating Tree Dahlia but apparently Dahlias were imported into Europe as a vegetable.

Lurking under a Tahitian Lime tree I discovered this Cherry Tomato, perhaps the only successful tomato on this block although I am tempted to try other varieties with firm, Fruit Fly resistant skins.

Sweet Potato make an excellent groundcover reducing the numbers of weeds, providing greens and sweet potatoes. I just have to beat the bandicoots to them.

Malvaviscus arboreus (Sleeping Hibiscus) here seen against the trunk of a native Tamarind, has lax flowers, hence the name. Suck on the flower stem for sweet snack. Pop the flowers into a salad and they will add texture but not much flavour.

I think this is a developing Gramma pumpkin. The plant finally spread far and wide once the summer rains came and produced male flowers once the weather started to cool.

I have pruned a Hicks Fancy Mulberry (front) and an ordinary Black Mulberry (behind) in an effort to ensure they can be netted in Spring to keep the fruit from the birds.

This bowl of Lebanese Cress and Kang Kong sits on the terrace ready for a quick pick for salads.

This male Kiwi Fruit is our last hope for some fruit from our spreading female vines.

Two seven year old in the ground seedling olives slowly grow below the slope under a large Bloodwood Tree. Pruned cassava branches create a thick mulch.

This unripe Golden Passionfruit produced a bountiful crop last early summer and is in full flower now.

Peach Palm - Bactris gasipaes has been planted for two seasons. It has no trouble with this climate and I am looking forward to the fruit from a mature palm.

Jade Plant

We are looking down our main path and to the pot of Crassula located at the end near the back boundary fence.

This Dragon Fruit (white variety) has produced beautiful flowers but no fruit despite my efforts to hand pollinate. Time to be more scientific in pollinating.

A red leaved Acalypha wilkesiana is sited under the weeping branches of a Poinciana and a Tree Fern in the left foreground. "Acalypha wilkesiana leaves are eaten as a green vegetable", in famine times, but not, usually, the colourful leaved varieties.

The Ambarella (Hog Plum) still retains its leaves.The fruits appear in summer and so far have been very fibrous. The young leaves can be steamed and eaten as a vegetable. This tree will reach 12m if left unpruned.

Ambarella or Hog Plum (Spondias cytherea)

This blue Salvia climbs through many plants, here a seedling Lychee.

The Brazilian Plume plant is having a second flush of its striking flowers.

Coleus thrive here especially this variety which survives the winter cold much better than other varieties.