‘Okay, so they want to lease the upper block. But what about the trees? And where are they going to live?’
‘One thing at a time. So, theoretically, you’re okay with them leasing it?’
‘They’ll pay money to live here and take care of the trees?’
‘That’s the idea. They want to stay a year to begin with to see if it’s what they really want.’
Catherine had no idea what would happen with two city women trying to work the trees, but she’d been considering bulldozing them into the ground anyway. ‘Okay.’
‘Are you sure?’
Catherine took a breath. Was she? No, not at all, but it would mean a small amount of income and a lot less work. Plus, she was desperate enough to try just about anything. ‘Yes.’
Mark’s face broke into a broad grin. ‘Great, because they’ll be here in two weeks.’
45
August 1974
Catherine
A blue Bedford van pulled up next to the house. Catherine wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but something like a Kombi with flowers painted on the sides. This van was solid and practical. A lithe yet compact woman stepped down from the driver’s seat, her hair a wild halo of frizz. From Mark’s description, it had to be Izzy.
Mark waved from the verandah. ‘Come on in out of the cold.’
Catherine hoped her smile didn’t look forced. She was nervous about two strangers living on her orchard, looking after her trees. Mark hadn’t told her much about their methods, preferring they tell her themselves. ‘It’s a bit different from what you’re used to,’ was all he’d say.
‘Good to see you, mate,’ Izzy said. Her voice was low and raspy, as if she lived on whiskey and cigarettes.
‘Bit different to our usual gigs.’
‘Exactly why we’re here.’ Izzy laughed, a deep throaty chuckle. She leapt up the steps. ‘Getting back to nature. Living off the land. Who’d have thought?’ She gave Mark a hug, slapping him on the back at the same time.
Catherine was baffled when she heard hippies talk about nature and the land, as if it was something they’d invented. It was all she’d known growing up. Living by the seasons, growing vegetables, with eggs from the chickens and milk from a house cow. She still missed Petunia. Their house cow had survived the bushfire only to die a few years later from a suspected snakebite. Probably just as well. Milking was not something Catherine was adept at, not like Peter or her mum.
‘You must be the famous Catherine.’ Izzy turned her smile on Catherine and thrust out her hand. ‘I can see what all the fuss was about. No wonder Mark came running back here.’
Catherine blushed as she shook Izzy’s hand. ‘I’ve heard a lot about you too.’
‘Yeah, I’ll bet.’ Izzy winked at Mark. ‘The times we’ve had. The miles we’ve travelled in the old van.’ She indicated the Bedford. ‘You wouldn’t recognise her inside now.’
‘No?’ Mark asked.
‘I’ll let Stardust tell you. She supplied the inspiration and I did the grunt work. It’s how we roll. And talking of my beloved, here she is.’
Stardust floated up the steps, her hair drifting in Pre-Raphaelite waves of gold and accompanied by a waft of scent – woody and sweet. She was swathed in layers of tiered skirts, muslin scarves and a large white ribbed jumper with sleeves so long they covered her hands entirely. Completely impractical for orchard work. Then Catherine noticed her boots. They were serviceable and worn, like her own Blundstones. Perhaps there was more to this woman than her white jumper and skirts. Stardust joined them, making a small bow of greeting with her hands pressed together as if praying. ‘Thank you,’ she said in a voice soft as a gentle breeze. ‘We’re honoured you’ve chosen to share your beautiful piece of this planet with us.’
‘Good to see you again, Stardust,’ Mark said. ‘Let’s get inside though. There’s a bite to this weather.’
They settled themselves in the lounge room by the heater with mugs of tea, or in Stardust’s case a mug of hot water because she only drank herbal tea. Catherine had never heard of it.
‘Apple cake?’ Catherine had just taken it out of the oven. ‘It’s still warm.’
‘Is it wholemeal?’ Stardust asked.
‘What?’
‘The flour?’
Catherine shook her head. Why would anyone make a cake with wholemeal flour? It’d be too heavy and only good for feeding to the chickens. Mark was perfectly at ease with Stardust’s odd ways, but Catherine was baffled by almost everything about her. Only her boots made sense.
‘I’ll have a piece,’ Izzy said. ‘I’m starving. It’s a bit of a drive. Mind you, we won’t be going far after today. We’re looking forward to staying in one place and putting Stardust’s plan into action.’
Catherine glanced at Mark as she passed him a slice of cake. He nodded, knowing she was bursting to ask the questions that had been buzzing around in her head for the past fortnight. ‘What are your plans?’ She tried to keep the nervousness out of her voice and wasn’t sure she’d succeeded.
Stardust sat straight and serene in her chair. ‘To start with I’ll be getting in touch with the vibrations of the trees.’
Catherine blinked and looked at Mark for support.
‘I see,’ Mark said steadily. ‘And how do you go about doing that?’
‘Everything in nature has a vibration. I’ll tune in to theirs so we may work together in harmony.’
Izzy stopped consuming cake for a moment. ‘This is stuff Stardust picked up living on communes. It’s fascinating and backed up with years of study.’
‘Really?’ Catherine wondered who’d conducted the studies. She was sure this method of agriculture wasn’t taught in any of the colleges. Those poor trees. It looked as though she’d have to grub them out after all, once Stardust had finished vibrating with them.
‘Can I have another piece?’ Izzy inclined her head towards the cake. ‘It’s delicious.’
‘Of course.’ Catherine cut another large slice and placed it on Izzy’s plate.
‘There was this guy called Steiner,’ Izzy said. ‘He worked out all these theories about how to grow stuff naturally, in tune with nature. Biodynamics, that’s what it’s called, isn’t it, Stardust?’
Stardust nodded. ‘It’s well established in Europe where they’ve been using the practices for decades.’
‘And there’s a biodynamic research institute near Melbourne.’ Izzy wiped some crumbs from her mouth. ‘Stardust has spent time there too.’
‘I learnt so much from the institute. Which reminds me, I’ll need cow horns and cow manure. Is there somewhere nearby that can supply me with some?’
‘The Pearsons’ place just over the road has plenty of both; can’t get any closer than that,’ Mark said. ‘But why do you need them?’
‘I’ll put the manure into the cow horns and bury them. Winter is the time to do it. Later, in the spring, we’ll dig them up and mix the humus with water.’
‘There’s a lot of stirring involved,’ Izzy added.
‘Then at night when the moon is new I’ll use it to fertilise the orchard. We won’t need any chemicals.’
Catherine sat, stunned. She’d never heard such poppycock.
Izzy smiled at Stardust proudly. ‘And you’ve also developed some theories of your own, haven’t you, my love?’
‘Yes. I’m looking forward to putting them into practice in your beautiful orchard.’
Catherine wasn’t sure what to make of all of this, but she knew about orchards. ‘The trees are pruned, but you’ll need to keep on top of the tilling and hoeing. You can borrow the crawler.’
‘What do you mean?’ Stardust tilted her head to one side, like a curious bird.
‘The crawler? It’s like a tractor but with tracks instead of wheels. Much easier to use on the slope.’
‘No, about tilling and hoeing.’
‘We’ve had a bit of rain and the weeds and grass are growing pretty quickly, even in this cold. Best to keep on
top of them.’
‘Oh, we’ll let them grow.’
‘But you can’t.’
‘Why ever not?’
Catherine paused. All orchardists tilled and hoed every bit of dirt around their trees. It was the way things were done. ‘Because when we fertilise we’d just be feeding the weeds, which compete with the trees for nutrients.’
Stardust sipped her hot water. ‘Grassing down orchards is popular in Europe and increasingly so here in Australia. Sod culture helps keep the moisture in the ground, and some so-called weeds, like clover, release nitrogen into the soil.’
Catherine glanced at Mark to see what he thought and immediately looked away. She knew more about apples than he ever would. He’d learnt a lot in his years working with Dave, but it was in her blood. ‘If that’s what you want to do, I wish you luck.’
‘Thank you.’ Stardust’s smile was genuine and Catherine felt a stab of guilt that her own remark had been less than generous.
‘I guess you’ll be mowing then, once the grass grows, rather than ploughing? The crawler will come in handy then.’
‘Oh, I think the chickens will help keep the grass down, as well as eating the bugs we don’t want. And the sheep will certainly be happy to do the mowing for us.’
Catherine nearly choked on her tea. ‘Sheep? In the orchard?’ She’d seen the damage sheep could do. They chewed the bark, grazed on the lower branches and ate the apples. In some of the abandoned orchards, where the weeds grew out of control, farmers had opportunistically run sheep and the trees were ruined. ‘But they’ll eat the trees.’
Stardust’s laugh was a gentle tinkle. ‘I’ll ask them very nicely not to. I might give them a couple of trees to keep them happy. The advantages of sheep are many. Their urine is high in nitrogen, and sheep manure is a superb fertiliser. They’ll eat the windfalls, meaning less pests and diseases. Then there’s their wool, so beautiful and useful.’
Catherine didn’t trust herself to say anything. She knew Mark was willing her to keep an open mind, but sheep in the orchard? They’d have to build a fence between the upper block and the main orchard, which was something she hadn’t factored in. She took a deep breath. These women were helping her keep her beloved orchard. If they had some ideas she didn’t agree with, well, she’d have to learn to live with them.
‘So, Izzy.’ Mark’s tone indicated a change of subject. ‘Tell me about the van. Sounds as if she’s changed since the days when we’d load and unload her ten times a week.’
As Izzy leant forward, Catherine was aware of the woman’s strength even in that small movement. ‘It’s so cool. I built the interior. Compartments for everything, plenty of storage under the bed and I’ve attached an annexe that pulls out for a living room. But the decor is all Stardust’s doing.’ Izzy reached out and took Stardust’s hand. ‘She’s magical.’
Stardust smiled at Izzy in a way that made the heat rise in Catherine’s cheeks. The love between the women was palpable. Catherine had to admit to herself, if not to anybody else, that she’d need time to get used to seeing two women together like this.
‘I do love stars, it’s true,’ Stardust said. ‘Izzy and I have our own universe inside our tiny home.’
‘Like Dr Who’s Tardis,’ Mark quipped.
Even Catherine laughed, grateful to Mark for dispelling her awkwardness.
After more tea, and more cake for Izzy, they walked up to the upper block. Stardust stretched her arms out wide. ‘I embrace this land. I embrace these trees. I embrace all creatures and the part they play in our ecology.’
Catherine wondered if Stardust would want to embrace the possums and rabbits once she saw the damage they did, let alone the codling moths and looper grubs. As Stardust moved through the orchard, caressing the trees and whispering into their branches, Catherine shuffled and stamped her feet, pretending it was the cold making her fidgety. She loved the orchard, but the trees were to be worked to ensure they cropped reliably, free of black spot and blight and whatever else nature threw at them, not cosied up to like a lover.
‘Right then.’ Izzy clapped her hands together. ‘I’ll get the van and we’ll start our grand adventure. Thanks again, Catherine. You won’t regret this.’
Catherine gave a small, tight smile. She was regretting it already.
Winter rolled on in clouds of sleet and ice, the temperature barely registering in double figures during the day, and plunging at night. Snow draped in folds over the mountains behind the banks of the Huon River. Catherine went about her work rugged up in layers of jumper, jacket, rain jacket and scarves. Even so the relentless mist and drizzle managed to slip through, chilling her to the bone. She worried about Izzy and Stardust perched at the top of the orchard with only the dam for water and no electricity. She dropped in to see them from time to time with cakes and biscuits, gratefully received by Izzy who wolfed them down but not Stardust who, Catherine was learning, only ate whole foods, whatever they were.
‘We’re fine,’ Izzy said when Catherine expressed her concern. ‘Plenty of work to keep us warm during the day and our love to keep us warm at night.’
Catherine was glad her awkward expression was hidden, thanks to the scarf covering most of her face. She had to admit she was impressed by their campsite. Izzy had built a fire pit for cooking and warmth, and the annexe was covered on two sides by plastic sheeting to keep the rain and wind at bay. Izzy had also fashioned a washstand out of timber to clean their dishes and, she assumed, themselves. Judging from the ripeness of Izzy’s odour, Catherine wasn’t sure how often that happened. Not that she could blame them in this weather. She wouldn’t want to disrobe and wash with the southerly blowing off the Antarctic and the sleet stinging like razor blades.
‘I don’t know why they decided to come here in winter,’ Catherine said to Mark that night. She’d invited him and Charlie over for tea and Charlie, exhausted after a day of helping Izzy and Stardust, was fast asleep in the spare room. Izzy had put him to work nailing bits of wood together, for what purpose Catherine wasn’t sure, but Charlie had boasted about it endlessly over their meal of lamb chops and three veg followed by golden syrup dumplings.
‘Once they’d made up their minds to move, they couldn’t bear Melbourne for a moment longer. And Stardust needed to bury those cow horns in winter, remember.’ He winked at her, knowing how Catherine felt about it. ‘But I think they hoped spring would arrive a bit sooner.’
‘The weather is still freezing in spring. It takes months to warm up.’
Mark hugged his mug of tea to his chest. ‘Don’t I know it.’
They sat on the couch together, gazing into the sterile glow of the oil heater. Catherine seriously contemplated ripping it out and replacing it with an open fire. She should be grateful. Izzy and Stardust had no heating at all in their van. Even if they huddled up next to the fire pit, one side of them might be warm but the other would still freeze. ‘I think they should move into the cottage.’
Mark frowned. ‘Those two love their privacy. It’s a big part of why they’re living in a van on top of the hill away from everybody and everything.’
‘I feel bad about charging them money to freeze to death up there. The cottage is close to the upper block. Maybe just until the weather improves.’
‘Which, like you said, might not be for months. But yeah, I understand. Charlie and I can bunk in together in the same room. It’s still a lot more comfortable than the pickers’ hut, and we lived there for years. But I don’t know if Izzy and Stardust are going to be stoked about being cooped up with us.’
A thought had fluttered through her mind a few times lately, but she hadn’t wanted to pin it down and examine it. She loved the idea of having Mark and Charlie close, but would living in the same house be too close? ‘You could move in here,’ she said, tentatively.
Mark sat up so abruptly he spilt some tea on his jumper.
‘I’ll get something to clean it up.’ Catherine went to get up, but Mark laid a hand on her arm.
Catherine blanched. The way he said it made it seem so salacious. ‘Hold your horses.’ She tried to keep her voice steady. ‘There are three bedrooms. You can sleep in my parents’ room and Charlie can have the spare room. I feel guilty having this big place all to myself while Izzy and Stardust are roughing it up there.’ She nodded her head slowly, trying to reassure herself that it could work. ‘I think this makes sense.’
‘Okay. And if things get awkward we can always reconsider.’ He held her hand gently in his own. ‘I have one condition.’
‘Oh?’ Catherine thought Mark would jump at the chance of moving in with her, not that that’s what they were doing. It was the logical thing to do, that’s all. But if that was true why was her heart beating so fast? Why was the touch of his hand making her tremble inside? ‘What’s the condition?’
‘There’s no way I’m sleeping in your folks’ bed.’ He grinned, his eyes bright. ‘Your dad would kill me.’
46
December 1974
Catherine
Catherine was surprised to see the verandah railing festooned not only with daisies, nasturtiums and geraniums, but also dandelions and thistles. Mark and Charlie followed her up the steps and she heard Charlie murmer a low ‘Huh?’ They’d all been invited to the cottage for a banquet to celebrate the summer solstice. Stardust didn’t acknowledge Christmas, preferring to give her veneration to the sun and nature. She and Izzy had been hesitant about moving into the cottage at first, wondering whether they were ‘selling out’, but when Stardust saw the wood stove the matter was settled. ‘Oh, you are a wonder,’ she’d murmured while lightly stroking its surface. Catherine had given her some tips, and in time Stardust had mastered its idiosyncrasies.
‘Welcome to our palace.’ Izzy threw her arms wide. ‘We’re eating outside today. Much as we loved the stove in winter, it gets a bit hot inside now the weather’s warming up. We’ll be more comfortable eating outside.’
The Last of the Apple Blossom Page 31