Our Lilac Tree Died
Hello friends,
Our lilac tree stood in the right hand side of our backyard, a fully grown tree already when we moved into our home in 2019. Each year in spring it would bud out and produce leaves followed by stunning purple scented flowers, but unfortunately this past spring was its last.
In the third week of October in 2025, a large wind storm blew through the South Island of New Zealand, causing wind damage throughout Otago and Southland, and cutting off power to thousands. At the time I thought my only plant casualties were some limbs coming off my quince tree, and my Avalanche camellia bush being snapped off at its base, but unknown to us at the time, my lilac tree had been damaged as well.
A week after the storm I'd noticed that our lilac tree hadn't burst its buds, and when I touched the buds they crumbled, having been turned brown and crispy by the wind storm. The tree had gotten wind blasted to the point that it was in serious trouble. We left it for a while to see if it would bounce back, and eventually a couple of leaf buds on the south side of the tree burst open, showing that at that time the tree was still alive (well only barely).
We left it over the summer to see if it would grow more leaf buds, but it didn't, and then around early February 2026 the few remaining leaves on the plant turned brown and fell off. After carefully checking multiple branches at points around the tree, and the suckers which usually came up from the base of the tree each summer, they were all dead and brown. I also checked with a few knowledgeable plant friends, and they also agreed that our lilac tree had died.
I was really upset over this, but also practical, because sometimes these things just happen. Nature gives and it takes away. The next weekend hubby got out our saw and began cutting down the tree limbs. Our first priority was to remove dead branches that could possibly hit the glasshouse or the fence, and then after that we cut the tree down to the ground. Hubby mulched what tree material he could with our wood chipper, and mulched around that area of the garden to help with weed suppression.
We also dug up the old fern plant beside the tree, as in the past a wasp nest had been buried in there, so I wanted to remove the plant to ensure it wouldn't happen again.
The resulting sunlight in this area of the garden after the tree had been taken down, is just amazing. There is now a lot more sun in the garden bed from early morning until early evening. Dahlia plants that had grown under the tree grew vigorously, and have even flowered.
At the moment in mid-autumn there are dahlias and damask roses still growing in this area. As soon as the first big autumn frost comes, and knocks back the dahlias growing there (after I've finished seed saving from them), I think I will rearrange this whole area of the garden, in preparation for the next growing season. And I already have some ideas on what I could do...
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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Gimli Fibre Spinning Project
Hello friends,
Over the summer I spun up some 100% Corriedale combed top in the colourway Gimli from Dye Happy Yarn. My friend Karyn picked it up for me at a fibre festival last year, and I chose this colourway to spin because it reminds me of autumnal shades, which I love.
Not wanting to think too hard about the process, I split the combed top in half, and spun up two singles on my spinning wheel using my default drafting method.
The 2 plied yarn ended up being approximately fingering weight width, and a total 215 metres long.
The washed and dried yarn is now in storage, along with many other handspun project yarns, ready for me to eventually decide what to do with them all.
I find spinning to be one of my favorite crafts, as I find the whole process very relaxing, but deciding what to do with the yarn afterward, and getting a chance to actually knit or weave with it, never usually happens. Maybe one day I may decide to sell some of my excess spinning projects to make space for more fiber projects in my life, but at the moment I'm just happy to squish the yarn whenever I walk past it.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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Tomato Seed Saving In Late Summer
Hello friends,
Late summer and early autumn is the perfect time of the year for seed saving in your garden. One of my favorite plants to save seed from are tomato plants. After a number of years of finding the perfect tomato varieties for us to grow, I like to save these seeds, as they have become acclimated to our growing conditions.
Each year I harvest the most squishy and ripe Pomodoro, Juanne Flamme, Hera, Grosse Lisse, Italian Island Bay, and Lebanese tomatoes off the vine, and then I bring them into the kitchen to process. My best advice for doing this is to label each tomato with a sharpie as you take each tomato variety off the vine, as otherwise, I promise you, you will forget which tomato variety is which...
The next step is to squish each tomato over a kitchen sieve to catch all the seeds, and then scoop out any seeds which are still attached to the tomato flesh. Once all the tomato seeds are in the sieve, wash them with water to remove the protective gel coating. Using your fingertips to pry the seeds from the gel coating really helps a lot with this step.
Once the seeds are as clean as they can be, hit the sieve containing the seeds onto a paper towel which is labeled with the seed variety. Spread the seeds out onto the paper towel and leave them to dry overnight.
The next day peel the dried seeds off the paper towel and pop them into a paper seed envelope (or whatever system you normally use). Store them over autumn and winter until it's time to sow seed once again.
Seed saving really is a great way to not only save money while gardening, but also to grow plants which are acclimated to your growing conditions.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
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Dehydrating Apples For Snacks
Hello friends,
My parents dropped by our home one day in early March, and brought with them a 10 L bucket full of golden delicious apples off their tree for us. As it's also currently apple harvesting season in our garden, I added them to our growing pile of homegrown apples, and started thinking about what to do with them all.
Our apples trees are the varieties Ballerina Waltz, and Ballerina Flamenco, highly compact, columnar apple trees ideal for small spaces. These apple varieties are bred to be no more than 40 cm wide, and up to 4 metres tall, with all the branches being completely covered in apples in autumn, making them perfect for urban gardens, and also for hedges. I really do recommend Ballerina apple trees if you don't have the space for fully grown apple trees, and they come in different varieties, so you can pick which apple types you'll be harvesting and eating.
Ballerina Waltz is a crisp and juicy variety with a slight tang, suitable for eating fresh, dehydrating, and cooking.
Ballerina Flamenco are eating apples, which also make a lovely apple jelly.
After some thought I wrote a small list of apple making possibilities, and got to work, first of all making dehydrated apples for snacks. I filled a bowl with water, and added the juice of a couple of lemons (from our lemon tree), to stop the apples from turning brown while I processed them.
Once the some of the apples were all cut and soaked in lemon juice water, they were patted dry before placing on dehydrator trays. They were put in our dehydrator and dried at 60˚C for 5 hours, with them being flipped over halfway through.
The dried apple slices were then tested for dryness, before being stored in a plastic container.
Dehydrated apples are great snacks, whether at home, or for when you're going on a walk and you need a little pick me up. The three different types of apples I dried all taste very different, with the Golden Delicious apples being super sweet, the Flamenco apples being nicely balanced between sweet and tart, and the Waltz apples being quite tart. It makes for a nice mix, and it's a pleasant surprise as the apples are eaten.
Unfortunately we didn't use up all the apples sitting in the 10L bucket, so hubby made a huge batch of apple pie filling with some cinnamon, and I've stored it away in our chest freezer to use over the coming autumn and winter months.
Have a wonderful day
Julie-Ann
Want to discuss my post? Feel free to chat with me on Instagram or Mastodon or Bluesky, and now also Facebook.
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