Homecoming on Crete

I could get quite down in the dumps some days when I go up the spiral staircase to my terrace garden. Bad enough that black spotted beetle creatures make a mockery of my insecticide measures but also, despite years (and years) of efforting, I just cannot get a crop of lemons. In a mere 20 years I’ve been unable to facilitate a spirit of co-operation with any of the lemon trees I’ve had…oh dear…there have been several. I’ve swung from attentive to neglect, then someplace in between, had hopes raised and dashed but never achieved the bountiful harvest of my dreams. Sometimes hopes soared when there were flowers, but they just dropped, uninterested, to the ground. Another time I proudly collected 3 very sour oranges (from a lemon tree?) – made for a not too unpleasant bitter marmalade.

 

Not to be beaten, I bought an expensive tree last year; took months before it enjoyed being in the garden and any fruits it came from the nursery with just plummeted onto the Alyssum below. I could become despondent and lie awake at night trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong…….I could…. I might even snap and tell them (there’s another tree, been there 11 yrs), in no uncertain terms, that if they don’t perform as expected they will be removed…….All this may have happened, but I’ll not admit to talking to trees……..

 

Both trees did produce magnificently scented flowers this spring, I was ecstatic. Old tree dropped her flowers fairly soon after but new tree made tiny little lemons, excitement was off the charts. Then – the familiar despair as baby lemons hit the ground daily. In desperation I collected the miniature fruits and used them in a chicken casserole. Probably ought to have checked on Google whether barely formed lemons are toxic, and I still haven’t, survived the tasty casserole anyway.

At this point of writing, new tree proudly displays 1 regular size, still green lemon, cost of that lemon runs into a 3 figure sum! Safe for me to go buy that bottle of gin now?..… wiser to wait until harvest time!

 

Another use for the gin might be against the little monsters that destroy my roses, could add some to the next spray bottle that I mix in another attempt to gain control over the garden. I’ve been engaged in warfare for years with the blighters. They creep into the tip of a bud just as it prepares to open and spoil the petals – nibbling and turning them brown round the edges – then lie luxuriant in the middle, gorging on the pollen for dessert.

I’ve become a proper pest myself, visiting horticultural supply stores pleading for a formula that will do the job and exterminate the beetles. Initially I made my own mixtures, the natural holistic ones….beetles scoffed….I’ve tried the chemical varieties, many…….to no avail, beetles win every time. A new theory requires spending more hours in the garden, regularly turning the ground over, giving the nasties less opportunity to breed. However, there’s real work to consider- yes!! – tourists are now arriving….It was all rather strange by mid-June when the first visitors made it to Paleochora. There’s still a novelty factor as things slowly pick up. And uncertainty – is this real? ..… will this last or will we be locked down again?…. I’m very happy to see people, have a chat at the cafe and to have my mind taken from the anxieties of my failed gardener status….. thought lockdown was the time when gardens flourished…….