Mystery solved

I have an identity for my sweet red berry plant! It's a Chilean Guava, also known (presumably only in NZ) as a New Zealand Cranberry. Thanks to Tom from Sydney on Flickr for providing the first diagnosis of the Chilean Guava, after which I googled and found that my plant matched the images and descriptions. Then my workmate brought in a sprig from her cranberry bush, and I was puzzled to see that it matched that too. She'd also brought in the plant information card from when she bought the plant, and eventually I realised that the botanical name was the same for both - myrtus ugni (I'm sure it means pretty)

So there we have it - it's a cranberry and a guava. Soon it will be dessert - if I can stop snacking on it when I get the mail, that is!

Mystery plant

Is this a cranberry? It grows at the foot of my drive near the letterbox. I kept noticing a sweet, sugary smell in the air when getting the mail and traced it back to this plant. I had just thought it was ornamental, after all, wouldn't a cranberry be planted somewhere near the blueberries or blackberries? After a minute's hesitation I ate one of the berries. It was very sweet and quite yummy. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with cranberries and actually thought they were rather tart, so I'm still none the wiser (not reeling with a stomach ache or anything though!)

So... does anyone know what it is?

I actually bought a small cranberry seedling at the flower show, it looks kind of similar but has redder stems. And no berries.

Also, on a gardening high after hearing a talk about compost, I assembled a compost bin this afternoon and nearly filled it. Worm farm is next. We still want to get chookies, but buying a chicken run turns out not to be cheap. I had hoped to buy one in kitset form so I could play builder and put it together but that option is $600 - plus chickens, food etc. Making them rather expensive eggs...

Time spent...

...cooking
...baking
...making relish and lemon honey

...digging oxalis out of the garden
...planting out seedlings
...planning tree and shrub removal
...researching chicken coops
...researching composting and worm farms
...attending Ellerslie (more to come in another post)
...planning my garden beds

...photographing a wedding
...downloading photoshop actions and brushes
...editing 600+ photos

...taking Lui to the vet as his emo (self harming) ways resurface
...buying a dining table and chairs
...arranging vignettes on windowsills and dressers
...lighting the fire and blissing out
...reading



...(not crochet)
...(not organising my craft room)
...(not fixing the letterbox)
...(not fixing the leaky washing machine)
Oh well... perhaps next weekend...