Diving back into the orchard

I am now back to being a farmer, after 6 months away in the US, hiking the Appalachian Trail. Dirt between the fingernails is something that hikers and farmers have in common! I spent some time today digging and weeding around the dragon fruit plants. Some of them have died from neglect - the weeds were too high for the young newly planted ones to survive. As I moved the weeds away, a Children's Python was curled up against the post of one plant. It was really tiny and a vivid black and white stripey colour. Didn't seem too disturbed by me. The dragonfruit is just starting to set tiny buds.

Packing Shed Mural

If you look closely at the photo below you can see the Mangosteen Mural on the wall of the shed. This is a series of 5 paintings that I recently completed showing the development of a mangosteen from bud to fruit.

The Harvest Team

Mangosteen Harvest in Full Swing

The Zen of picking mangosteens

I am at peace with the world. I have finally arrived at a place which feels exactly right - get up in the morning, go and pick mangosteens, pack mangosteens, send mangosteens to market, receive cheque.

Twice a week, at the moment, Digby and I wander the orchard, tree by tree, look up into the canopy, find mangosteens which are purple or starting to turn purple, and pick them with the special picker - a metal contraption on a long bamboo pole. The best way to describe the metal contraption is that it looks like a kings crown - you catch the mangosteen stem between the crown bits and the fruit drops into the little bag attached.

At the moment we are picking 3 laundry baskets every 3 days. Not much compared to what is still green out there and waiting. Soon it will be picking every day.

I look at the fruit in the orchard with new eyes - what else can I pick and send to market? There is a new assessment of all our fruit and a re-alignment of possibilities for making a living at Cape Trib. Maybe fruit can really give us the economic independence, we dreamed of twenty years ago when we started planting the orchard.

Mangosteens in waiting

Mangosteens are being difficult

We had predicted that the mangosteen harvest would commence in earnest around mid Feb. It is now the third week of Feb and there is only a small dribble trickling out. Most are still green.We are all ready to go - and we wait and we wait. Last week we sent 6 trays to Sydney -  less than 20 kg. It looks like it will be around the same this week. We want the deluge!!! And we want it now!! If it delays much longer we will be on the plane to Los Angeles, with the crop still on the trees. So we are desperate to get the crop in before the end of March.