And So It begins...

It always seems to suddenly bound upon us every year - that time when we go from impatiently waiting for everything to grow, to ACTUALLY eating stuff! A few weeks back it started with the cherries. A week or so after that I noticed the birds starting to eat the apricots, so I picked them. They were very small but extremely tasty. For our first year of fruit we did really well with a bowlful. Then it was time for the white peaches to picked. Although this happened a little earlier than expected when the weight of the fruit and the strong winds broke a large branch of it. The fruit happily ripened inside on the kitchen bench though :-)

In amongst all this fruit eating, the vegetables have almost gone unnoticed. After checking the garden though, we are now eating the first zucchinis, loads of broccoli, plenty of fresh herbs and loose lettuce leaves.

{Sigh} Life certainly doesn't get any better than this!

Summer has Arrived

We have had a real cold snap this last week. Saturday it was as bleak as it comes. We had thunderstorms and hail all day. Tuesday, on the other hand dawned clear and pure. The day warmed quickly and by the end of it, the sky had that dusty, slightly bleached look that only summer can bring. It may be a week early, but summer has arrived.

I don't know how to feel about that yet. While I simply ADORE all the fruit that only good heat can bring, I worry eternally about the levels of our dams. Our government has decided that instead of biting the bullet and bringing tougher water restrictions to the metropolitan areas, they have {ahem} suggested that we all bear the burden and try to aim for 155 litres water consumption per person per day. I've never heard any thing more stupid in all my life. We have been battling a dought for years now, our dams are below half full and anyone who cares about mother nature has reduced their water consumption at least 3 years ago. Most of us that care are well below the suggested water consumption anyway. The people left fall into two categories - those who don't care and business. No one in these groups are going to voluntarily reduce their water consumption!

So what do we do? Do we sit back and wait for our water to run out?