young american: picton

Picton, Wollondilly Shire, New South Wales.
Such a beautiful old town. And full of history. To start, the house I’m calling home for the moment was built in 1860, around the time the railroad came to town and started a boom. Many of the homes and buildings around here are from that period and just plain gorgeous. Lots of brick, iron scrollwork, and little Victorian touches.
Add the sheer friendliness of everyone around and you have perfection. Being a small town, everyone knows everyone, and no one knows me. They see me around the house and immediately know I’m a WWOOFer, stopping to ask where I’m from, how I’m getting on, and to tell me “good on you”. That seems to be the standard congratulations.
But back to the house. Worn wooden floors, narrow doors, high ceilings, exposed brickwork on the interior, fireplaces in nearly every room, and remnants of every day life that just aren’t practical anymore. The kitchen has a tiled alcove that was once a wood-burning oven, and the bathroom is actually a proper room. Enough space for a huge vanity, claw-foot tub, few extra tables, chairs, and still enough room leftover to do the Charleston. Really. Big.
The garden out back is simply going mad with spring fever. Lettuces, kale, spinach, mustard greens, chard, leeks, pumpkin, beans, peas, artichokes, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, you name it, we’re growing it. And laying down the foundation of a no-dig garden. Look it up, permaculture is fascinating.
Then there’s the orchard. Lemons (lots and lots), orange, several varieties of apple, grapefruit, plum, peach, pear, apricot, and macadamia nut. The blossoms are so vibrant and colorful they hardly look real. We’re using up the lemons as best we can, and I can hardly wait to see what else ripens soon. And speaking of the lemons, we’ve used them whole, and divided the zest and juice of others for different uses, but are flabbergasted as what to do with the leftover pulp. Any ideas? It would be wonderful to find something as no part of citrus can go in the giant compost pile. And do you know any strong young men who could help turn that? There’s a lot to do around here!