We used to rent our house. And then we bought it.  But because we rented for so long I caught ‘chronic renter fatigue’ or something similar.  And it seems to have never gone away.

So even though we are home owners, I think of us more as ‘home owner-renters’.  Which basically means we are pretty slack.

Which is a shame, because I love my house.  But if I am realistic, I have to admit that all we actually do is maintain it to rental standards … we are a bit lax with weeding and lawns, we ignore cracks in the plaster and we work around all the imperfections.  If we were real home owners we’d fix them.  We need new gutters, we need to renovate out the back, we need to replace the fences and repaint inside and out … just to start.

Or maybe our problem is that we have young children.  There’s just not enough time in our lives to start any of these things.  Maybe this is a more grown up, responsible and acceptable excuse?

Anyway, when we bought the house I did make an effort with the garden for a year or so. In particular I planted some fruit trees, with the aim of establishing a productive garden.  And then we had to wait of course, to see how the the trees faired. So we waited.  And didn’t do much.  And our patience (or slackness) is now paying off.  Because this year they are looking spendid!

Look … our olive tree is goaning under the weight of the olives, our apricot is nearly on the ground with apricots (another week – what do you think?), our grape vine is producing, our lemon in a pot has fruit even though it looks a bit eaten (miracle of miracles) and our mulberry has been the best – the kids have been out eating mulberries every day for a good 2 months.  I don’t think a single mulberry has ended up wasted on the ground.

It’s lovely.  I’m in to productive gardens.  I might even pick some of this rhubarb and make some relish for Christmas day. Better get to it before the bugs finish it off huh?