PREPARING THE REMEMBRANCE FIELD

The spring months in Australia are September, October and November but it is only here on the Granite Belt of southern Queensland that this otherwise sub-tropical and tropical State actually experiences a real spring. This is due to our altitude in the border highlands near the New South Wales border. Within Queensland our district is famous for the cold winters, but this year the weather was pleasantly mild. It was the warmest winter since 1993.

Also, at the end of August southern Queensland experienced a minor heatwave, giving the region the hottest August days since 1946. Wow! What a way to enter spring. Naturally such a mild winter and then the burst of heat in August has pushed my garden and the Remembrance Field of red Flanders poppies into rapid growth.

Rows of Flanders poppy plants

The Remembrance Field was cultivated during the first week of July which germinated the poppy plants. In August I went through the field with a hoe, chipping out rows of poppies to thin them. In the photo above you will see one cornflower plant. In August I transplanted several of these seedlings into to field. They will later provide a scattering of blue flowers amongst the red Flanders poppies. The Latin name of the cornflower is Centaurea cyanus and it was the mythical creature the Centaur who supposedly gave the power of healing to mankind. To Australians the Centaur is also remembered as the name of the hospital ship bringing our wounded soldiers home, which was sunk off Brisbane during the second World War by a Japanese submarine. This year a concerted effort is being made to locate the wreck of the Centaur.

The third component of this Remembrance Field is the hedge of the herb Rosemary, a sprig of which is worn on ANZAC Day, the 25th of April.  Rosemary for remembrance edges the field and was trimmed back in April by mother and son WWOOF members from Singapore.

Trimming back the Rosemary hedge

Heavy rain fell in May soaking the soil of the field, filling our dams and flooding the Severn River ensuring an excellent water supply to irrigate the field should the season turn dry.

Wet field

Jerry Kim, another WWOOF member from Korea, cultivated the field in July. Jerry enjoyed the warm sunshine of this mid-winter day.

Tilling the soil

Frost covered the field several times, but cold weather does not harm the poppies. It was in the wet and cold winters of France where the soil of former wheat fields was disturbed by shelling, trench and grave digging that the poppies flourished and became forever associated with these battlefields by the soldiers of the Commonwealth countries.

Frost on the field

My WWOOF members stay anything from a few days, as did the couple from Singapore, or several weeks. Jerry moved on to be replaced by Jin from Korea who arrived one week ago and was immediately put to work thinning the poppies in the field.

Jin from South Korea

Book cover

Das Helwig Haus B&B owned by Eberhard and Fay Helwig is situated at Glen Aplin, near Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt of southern Queensland, Australia.

This is a region noted for Australian wildflowers, four wilderness National Parks and sixty wineries. In 1997 Eberhard and Fay established the Remembrance Field of red Flanders poppies, a European wildflower.

To obtain Fay’s book Wildflowers, wilderness and wine email Fay on helwig@halenet.com.au

Internationally it is available on the Amazon.com website.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ACXQ0M/sr=8-1/qid=1244294755/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1244294755&sr=8-1&seller=

http://stores.lulu.com/strictlyliterary

http://books.google.co.uk/

Technorati Tags: Australia, Australian, Centaur, Das Helwig Haus B&B, France, Glen Aplin, Japanese, poppies, Queensland, remembrance field of flanders poppies, Rosemary hedge, the granite belt, Wildflowers wilderness and wine

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