Once washed over by the ancient rivers and streams that formed this piece of flat land at the foot of steep hills, my section has small outcroppings of some fairly hefty rocks.
They are made of leverite.
Leave 'er right there.
Not really flat, it has gentle undulations that speak of movement and create interest. The last thing I want is a man in an earthmoving machine let loose on here trying to move rocks and flatten it all out ("to make a lawn" he said). It's why I'm laboriously digging all this gorse by hand.
Our rock outcroppings suggest olive trees, so although my landscaping plans focus on NZ natives (low maintenance in their own environment) olive trees planted on strategic 'lumps' in the landscape will supplement the food production and add their subtle colours.
The time I spent living in Greece, while blighted by COVID and BREXIT issues, was possibly the most relaxed of my adult life. (I could rave but go and read Linda's Blog at Local-Kiwi-Alien to get the best possible Kiwi take on living in Greece. Linda made it her home decades ago.)
As a tribute to my Greek friends, their hospitality and kindness my first olive tree is a variety named El Greco.
Why use Spanish to call it The Greek? I guess most Kiwis would struggle to make sense of O Ellinikos (or worse Ο Έλληνας).
Anyway it is olives for eating rather than oil production. I've no plans to mess about trying to extract a cup full of oil with small equipment in a domestic kitchen.
Greek olive oil will always be better.
Comments
Post a Comment