Fruitfulness in a Time of Drought
Something amazing has been happening in my yard the last two years. It’s quite stunning really.
Three years ago my fig tree made an attempt to sprout leaves for the summer, but before it had gotten very far, the leaves all dropped off. Figs are one of my favourite fruits, so it was a sad year for me when the fig tree also refused to produce anything more than tiny nuggets of not quite ripe fruit.
My nectarine tree fared a little better. Early in the season, it suffered from curly leaf, but ultimately, it managed to not only grow some decent looking leaves, but also produced a small crop of what I think was a poor excuse for nectarines – but nectarines nonetheless.
Some people could sympathetically offer me an understanding pat on the shoulder, and say, ‘Well, you’ve done your best. After all, Australia is in drought and you haven’t had any rain to speak of for quite a while’.
My sister took a different view though. She knew I wasn’t much of a gardener, so offered a few suggestions. She insisted I could have those fruit trees doing well despite the drought.
The first thing I did was to clear under the fig tree and dig a shallow trench around the drip line. On the night before the re-cycling bins were emptied I had my children go through neighbours’ bins to scavenge as much newspaper as they could find. The newspaper was laid thickly under the fig tree. It had a two-fold purpose. It served as a mulch, keeping moisture in the soil, and also discouraged the growth of weeds.
The nectarine tree also needed some help. I wondered about the curly leaf and enquired about a solution at the nursery. I really wanted a natural solution, but with none available, I reluctantly bought a spray. That was really a pretty dumb thing to do. The instructions said I had to spray every leaf on both sides. Have you ever counted the leaves on a 7 year old nectarine tree? No? Well, I haven’t either, but I think we’d both agree that there’s too many to have to spray one at a time – on both sides! However, having spent the money, I thought I should at least make some effort, so on a day when the air was still I went outside to tackle the job. It turned out the air wasn’t as still as I had thought, and I think I got as much spray on me as I did on the leaves.
I’ve already said I’m not a gardener. My mother is though. She can get anything to grow – even things that people say you can’t. She kept up the gardens on the acre allotment I grew up on, started afresh at the age of 55 and turned an empty 5 blocks of clay into an oasis of flowers, native trees, fruit and nut trees, grape vines and all kinds of vegetables in season. At 87 she now lives in a retirement village and is still gardening. Not content with her own little plots, she’s also gardening for others.
So it was to my mother that I turned for help to solve my curly leaf problem.
‘Copper sulphate’. That’s all she said at first. My silence seemed to prompt an explanation from her. ‘Just buy copper sulphate in powdered form and sprinkle it under the tree. Jack swears by it. Says it got rid of curly leaf in his trees’.
I should have gone to my mother in the first place. It was such a simple solution, versus a ridiculously tedious process. It was also a cheaper solution.
Once that was accomplished, all the trees needed was regular water. That wasn’t going to be as easy as you might think. Our water restrictions allowed the use of a hand-held hose for just 2 hours a week, and everyone was being encouraged to save water. Re-cycling water was given a big tick, so this became our solution.
My husband used some pipes left by the plumber after our extension was finished to rig up a water catchment system from our washing machine to some large plastic containers. Every time we did a load of washing, the pipes would be set up. First a short, plastic one had to be taped to the washing machine outlet hose. Then a heavy, metal pipe with a bend in it was used to negotiate the corner from our laundry into the storeroom. This long, metal pipe was placed strategically across our re-cycling bin for support, then slipped into a 13 foot plastic pipe whose other end extended over the open top of the first collection container.
Elevation had to be taken into consideration as we constructed this crude system. We didn’t want back flow, so the pipes were highest at the washing machine and maintained a gentle downward slope right to the end.
As time went by, we improved our system. The children set up the collection containers in such a way that, as the first container became full, it spilled over into the second. Instead of carrying heavy buckets all over our suburban quarter acre, the children and I began to use the wheel barrow to ease the carrying.
It took a while before we began to see the rewards of our hard work. Sometimes it would have been easy to give up – there were plenty of other things I could have been doing. Setting up the pipes was tedious, lifting the buckets of water was challenging – and all that watering was making the weeds very happy. I had to re-dig the trenches a few times and give the nectarine tree a second dose of copper sulphate.
However, two things kept me going.
First, I had already decided that I was going to enjoy the ride. The sunshine was providing me much needed vitamin D. The fresh air cleared my head from too much time in front of the computer. Carrying weights – like buckets of water – was supposed to help with bone density and fitness. The bending and movement helped me maintain flexibility. In all a pretty good deal.
Secondly, I had a vision – of a nectarine tree laden with fruit, and a fig tree producing large succulent figs through the season. I was looking to the reward. Hard work, application, consistency and determination were all going to be well rewarded. .
As I was carrying the buckets today, I was reminded of the changes that have taken place in my yard. The nectarines won’t be ripe for another month or so, but are looking real good. There are lots of healthy looking leaves and heaps of figs, upripe, but already bigger than the average ripe fig last year. It really wasn’t that complicated. I just fed and nurtured the plants, and they responded by doing what they are designed to do. If I neglected the trees, I had no grounds to complain about a lack of fruit.
Perhaps, as Christian Women, that has a broader application. The world we live in is in a severe drought. Our schools have shut out the Bible. Many of our parliamentarians want to eliminate any reference to the God of the Bible from their proceedings. What God calls evil is being given legal status, and those who stand for what God calls good are ostracised.
This drought touches us all. We are subject to the laws of the land. We are confronted by the sensuous billboards. Our society reels from increased crime, hardship and hopelessness. A sense of pointlessness engulfs many people and they turn to drugs, sex, alcohol, and suicide.
However, you need not fall prey to this drought. Don’t neglect your own feeding and nurture. You can be as the green tree whose leaf doesn’t wither in drought. You can be bearing fruits of joy and peace while others around you are thirsty for love and purpose. Your ‘greenness’, your fruitfulness could be the very thing that will attract the attention of those stricken by the drought and to whom you can give feeding and nurture.
So be ready. Tend to your garden and the fruit will come.