Asus101

Day 3. The dig.

I love rain, i really do. I loved the rain more when I found it made the soil nice and soft, perfect digging time. I hated the rain when I slipped off a 4ft rock ledge and was stopped by a tree...

My favourite part of the trip was the dig. I had no idea were is was, but had been told it was olive heaven. I didn't believe it, so was stressing about getting there before the best picks were gone. Well I shoulda had some faith and relaxed a little, because they were not wrong. It was olive AND hawthorn heaven!!! It was a hill side, A very steep hill in fact. it had really set up a tree line with the hawthorn lower and the olives higher up.

Now I hadn't gone on a dig at all and I was a little overwhelmed. I had driven head first ignoring the blackberries and gone searching. I found a few good tree's, but they were not the best idea for a beginner. I walked out of the forest to clear my head and make some choices. That's when I met Bernie. He was an older chap from Geelong hunting for some olive and a hawthorn. He told me to show him my chosen trees and see how suitable they really were. It was great. I had picked two large olives, pointed a few out for him (which he made comment on me having a good eye for yami). He collected three olives and two decent trunk'ed hawthorn.
I dug two 8" hawthorn and about 7 twigs, and two large olives which I saw a few people looking at and commenting on (one guy had to be told by his wilf to leave it, it was someone else's. He argued that if he left $100 that the owner wouldn't mind). I didn't mind taking the fall for a good prize. It hurt a bit, but I was ok. From that first dig I learnt alot. I took note on the tools needed, and methods.

Tony Bebb took a massive olive home, its going to be a massive carving job, one I'm sure he's willing to tackle.

My two olives are still soaking in a seaweed solution ready for next week when I pot them up. My hawthorns had the same soak but only over night. All root wounds got a hormone treatment mainly for the anti-fungal pro pities and was potted up. Although some of the smaller ones didn't have much root, I had seen ones pull through with less.



So that was my trip. I hope you have enjoyed the little read, I'll get those photos done soon.

I think Australian bonsai is still behind the rest of the world. But its only been known in Australia for about 80 years, and while we are not to the same standards as Europe or America we are well on the way. In another ten years things will be very different. I look forward to that time.

For those interested, next may the AABC Conference is being hosted in Brisbane. Bill Valavanis is the guest demonstrator. I hope to make it, and have set plans to ensure i make it there.

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"All your pinus is belong to us!"

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