Spring Lamb

We have had eleven new lambs born this Spring, and yet again, thanks to the vigilance of Ricky the alpaca, there has not been one loss to predators.  Others who use alpacas as guardian also report 100% success.  Given the impressive track record of alpacas in protecting stock it amazes me that so many  local farmers still persist in using poisons and guns in an inefficient, ineffective  and costly attempt to solve the problem.  The old habits of the past die hard so it seems.

Extra Hands on Deck

Creating the gardens at The Drip is an insanely ambitious project.  With twenty distinctly themed garden areas to be developed and maintained, it can seem a bit overwhelming at times.  So it is with great delight that we welcome Peter Marshall to the team.

Peter has recently returned to Mudgee after a long stint  in Sydney, where he worked with the well-known Surry Hills garden design company Garden Life.  He will be developing his own landscape business here in Mudgee and we are thrilled that he will now be working with us to assist in bringing the plans for gardens at The Drip to fruition. 

Right now he will be working in the orchards, helping ensure that we get good healthy crops of cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, apples, quinces, pears , figs, olives, oranges, lemons and cumquats this season plus doing new tree plantings in the Horse Paddock and elsewhere.  First off ... twenty five new Silver Birch will be added to the European and North American sections of the Horse Paddock. Then there's the new Hazelnut hedges in the Nuttery, new Pink Flowering Ironbarks, Yellow Box and Spotted Gum to go into the Regent HoneyEater Eucalypt Forest, plus planting more Box Hedges, and propagating hundreds of French and Italian lavender for the Terraces. Then of course there is work to done on the Water Gardens,  the Main Courtyard,  the Arid Garden and ..... hmmmm,   thats enough for this month.  Damn! 

Party time at The Drip, Mudgee

Happy 21st birthday, Frances Dargaville!   It was freezing cold.  It was wet.  It was windy.  But none of that dampened the spirits of partygoers celebrating with Frances over the weekend.  Guests from Sydney and as far afield as Belgium enjoyed several days of partying here at The Drip and exploring the wineries in the Mudgee valley. 

It was such a delight after so many years of hard work to see the house and grounds coming alive and being used as we intended by friends and family. 

Planting River Red Gums

Rosemary Poolman and two year old son, Jade, were here last weekend and marked their visit by planting a small grove of Eucalyptus camueldensis, the iconic River Red Gum.

Happily the planting coincided with this week's historic announcement that 100,000 hectares of Red Gum forest in NSW has been protected within the National Parks system. So good to see such positive steps are being made and that Jade's generation will now be able experience these magnificent forests in the future.

Rosemary, Jade and dad Josh will be here again for Mudgee Small Farm Field Days in July

In the Kitchen Garden

Frances Dargaville spent time here earlier in the week. Here she holds a bowl of late season tomatoes, sweet from ripening in the gentle autumn sun.   These will be some of the last tomatoes we get from the kitchen garden this season, now the temperatures are dropping now and the winter crops are going in ... Cavolo Nero or Tuscan Kale, cabbages, onions, broad beans and dozens of self-sown Mustard Greens. 

Autumn Colour

Thanks to Rick Martin for this photograph of autumn colour in the Horse Paddock.  This is a Silver Maple.  It was the first tree to colour up this year.  Like all maples it thrives in the moist microclimate of the Horse Paddock; everything is still dripping with dew in there until around 10am.  This year we have planted another dozen maples in the Horse Paddock. 

What's Blooming this Week?

The wonderful Huntington Gardens in California, one of our inspirations, has a regular section on its website called a "What's Blooming this Week."   Well, so so do we now!  This week it's the Setsugekka Sasanqua camellias, which , like everything here,  have responded to this wonderful season with a huge flush of growth.