When we bought this house 9 years ago we inherited several fruit trees: a lovely peach tree in the corner between shed and fence, a feijoa tree further down the fence and a young apple tree. All have grown nicely and developed well in the time we have cared for them.
The peach tree has needed severe pruning on occasion to make it accessible, and the fruit it repaid us with has been amazing in taste and quantity.
The apple tree? Each year it has put out lots of flowers which have mostly set and produced immature fruit. However, we have had very few of these fruit for our use. When they are about half way grown, it is not uncommon to go out in the morning and find a plethora of half eaten apples on the ground and some still on the tree. But I was unsure what was eating them. We do have possums in the area including a greater glider, plus a flock of cockatoos includes us on their rounds.
Last year, we managed to harvest One Apple! This year we had a bumper crop of apples promised…
I went out into the garden one morning last week to discover our apples looked rather more colourful than usual – and they were moving!!! It was a small flock of Rainbow Lorikeets eating the apples down to the core, enjoying the seed and leaving the rest.
nanna sally's creative life 