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Daleys Fruit Tree Blog
Barry Beetham from Brassall QLD north of Ipswich sent us some great pictures (below)
Barry says: "I live on a quarter acre block in suburbia and grow whatever is small or short and produces food, then i go for it"
One of Barrys passions is the Dragon Fruit or Pitaya which he is growing in his backyard. He says:
"there's a dragon fruit grower 1 1/2 hours inland from Ipswich and i visited him there once - he has 1.5 thousand - wow! amazing plants - and a photo of one dragon fruit plant with 500 fruit on it"
Dragon Fruit Vines at Barrys Place
Dragon Fruits - PitayaLabels: dragon fruit
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Published: Correy ,Tuesday, May 06, 2008 
I thought for this Green Thumb Sunday I would share a flowering Aloe Vera Plant. It is amazing how quickly these flowers shoot up and flower. Their drooping behavior is quite eye catching and they are quite high up for a plant that spends most of it's time low to the ground.
Here is a wide angle view of the same Aloe Vera plant.
Labels: green thumb sunday
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Published: Correy ,Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Avocado Trees are one of the hardest fruit trees to grow because they are "fuss pots" 
With all the pitfalls Growing Avocado Trees in the backyard is still a favourite of Queenslanders and NSW people with Victorians usually growing the Bacon Avocado Tree which can handle their colder climates.
As kids we had a seedling Avocado Tree which took 15 years before it fruited and then straight after that with a big downpoor it died. This is why Grafted Avocados are best. You can usually get fruit within 3-4 years and the Secondo Avocado Tree is known to give crops in 2 years.
Now I mentioned that they are "fuss pots" and that is why I am not just using any pot but the King of all pots so I can give their root system maximum drainage and room to spread it's roots. Avocados like water going past their roots but it can be fatal if their roots are immersed in water.
The Secondo which is a staff favourite at Daleys is pictured above. I am also growing in an identical pot the Wurtz Dwarf Avocado Tree (very top photo). My bet is that the Secondo will out perform the Wurtz so I think it is a good controlled test. The Secondo and Wurtz are both A-Type varieties and although the Secondo is known to set fruit with no other B-Type avocado in sight you can get an even bigger crop by growing B-Type avocado close by. My choice will be the Sharwill over the Fuete because the Fuete sometimes fruits every second year and the Sharwill every year. The Sharwill usually is flowering when the Secondo is which should enourage good pollination.
My other choice of Avocado which I won't be growing but will someday is the Reed Avocado which is out of this world in size. You could fit 3 Hass avocados inside one Reed and the taste although a little different is still just as good I think.
Avocado Ripening Tip: Place it in a paper bag with a banana or apple and it will ripen quicker.
Another point is that avocado varities don't all ripen at the same time. And like mandarine trees for example where you get early, mid and late varieties by getting a few different varitites of avocados growing you can have avocados ripening for most of the year and what could be better than that? I guess after just planting these avocados I am a bit obssessed with them at the moment.Labels: avocado, dwarf fruit trees
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Published: Correy ,Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Think of 125 000 people who love their gardens at one venue and you have one of the top 5 flower festivals in the world happening in Melbourne this week. (2nd April 2008)
Now I understand that flowers look good and smell good but they do shrivel up and die. For those of u
s with only practical bones in our bodies we often wonder "is there more to flowers?"
So what would happen if you had a small "flower sized tree" that you can grow in a pot or small garden with rich coloured fragrant flowers but after they shrivel up something practical starts to happen. The flowers transform into fruit.
Don Burke knows what I am talking about and this year at the festival he is going to show off 25 Dwarf Fruit Trees from Daleys. So if you are there make sure you say hello.
Don Burke's Dwarf Fruit Trees from Daleys at the Festival.
Dwarf Peach tree - Beautiful spring flush of pink flowers
Dwarf Coffee Tree - Catui - Flowers profusely in summer with bright white frangipani smelling flowers. Often you can smell it from 5 meters away.
Acerola Cherry Tree - Dark Pink flowers 1cm in diameter
Dwarf Mulberry Tree black - The first sign of life after winter is the entire tree covering itself in white flowers. Majestic to say the least.
Blueberry - Sunshine blue - Translucent elongated flowers.
Dwarf Mango Tree - Irwin - Poignant big flower heads with tiny orange flowers that attract bees.
Dwarf Apple Tree - Pink Lady - Clusters of pink flowers
Dwarf Citrus - often year round flowering of white fragrant flowers.
Feijoa - Duffy & Apollo
Dwarf Mulberry Tree - Red Shahtoot
Dwarf Orange Tree - Cara Cara Blood orange
Cinnamon Tree
Dwarf Lemon Tree Meyer - The one Don has should have a few lemons on it.
Fig - Piconi
Fig - White adriatic
Finger lime
Dwarf Macadamia Tree
Dwarf Calamondin
Ceylon Hill Gooseberry
Dwarf Mandarin Tree - Emperor
Dwarf Apple Tree - Granny Smith
Pomegranate -Elcite
Hawaiin Guava - Pink Supreme
Miracle Fruit
Dwarf Avocado Tree - Wurtz
Dwarf Persimmon - Ichikikijiro
More Information
Melbourne International Flower Show
Labels: dwarf fruit trees
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Published: Correy ,Monday, March 31, 2008
Here is my 1 year old Carambola Kembangan. It is nicknamed the Star Fruit Tree because when you cut the fruit it looks like a star.
Mine is a grafted variety which I am growing in a pot. I am amazed how quickly and prolifically it is flowering at the moment. It has tripled in size since I got it and is one of my best performers so far second to my panama berry.
It is twice the price of a seedling Carambola tree but life is too short for seedling fruit trees as they take much longer to fruit.
One thing about the leaves is that they always seem to be drooping. Some people make the mistake of thinking it is laking water but this is not the case and is their natural position.
I have eaten a few star fruits in my life and by far the best tasting ones were the well known varieties. They are far more juicy and the flavour is less watery and fibrous.
Another thing about star fruit is they really do crop well. They do come into Australian supermarkets on occasions but usually not for long and you really do pay for them.
Another benefit of getting a well known variety such as the Grafted Kary Star Fruit and my Kembangan Star Fruit is that you only need one. Some varieties of Star fruit will flower but not fruit due to needing another variety to cross pollinate with.
More Information on the Star Fruit (Carambolas)
Buy Carambola Star Fruit - Mail Order to your door
A picture of them fruiting from Daleys Orchard - Amazing how well they crop
Forum: Star Fruit Discussion - Pollination Problems - Problems with flowering but not setting fruit for different varieties.
Plant Tag: Carambola or Star Fruit - Find out about cultural notes, soil types and ideal conditions.
Labels: carambola, star fruit
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Published: Correy ,Friday, March 21, 2008
This Sunday I visited Northey Street City Farms Organic Market. There were lots of people there who packed the very shaded and cool carpark to buy fruit and vegetables.
What makes it different to all the other fruit and veg markets is that while you are there you can walk through the farm which produces some of the fruit you buy.
There are well developed fruit trees and booming vegetables gardens all grown using proven permaculture techniques. Most of the fruit trees and vegetables that you see growing you can then buy from Edible Landscapes Nursery which is also part of the markets.
The kids have plenty of breezy, shady places to play and the chicken pens keep them transfixed.
More Information
Edible Landscapes Nursery
Labels: permaculture
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Published: Correy ,Tuesday, March 04, 2008
The Beauty, Majesty, and Timelessness of the Earths Rainforests are indescribable. It is impossible to capture on film, to describe in words, or to explain to those who have never had the awe-inspiring experience of standing in the heart of a Primary Rainforest.
At least 80% of our diet originated in Rainforest eco-systems. Its bountiful gifts to the world include fruits like avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, turmeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including brazil nuts and cashews.
More then 3000 fruits are found in the Rainforest; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World. The Indigenous peoples of the Rainforest use over 2,000 for food, clothing, shelter, medicine and tools.
Atleast half of the world's estimated 30 million species of plants, animals and insects live in the Rainforest, yet these ancient eco-systems that once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now make up less then 5%.
300 football fields of Rainforest are lost each and every second on planet Earth, due to Logging, and clearing for palm oil and soy plantations, in order to feed an unsustainable level of human consumption.
When European settlers came to Northern New South Wales, they named Australia’s largest expanse of lowland Sub-tropical Rainforest 'The Big Scrub' (750 Square Kilometers). Today there remains less then 1% of the original forest.
Thanks to Conservationists and Activists, large areas of Sub-Tropical Rainforest around the Kyogle Bio-region have been declared World Heritage National Park’s, and there is a groundswell of Landholders and Landcarers actively engaged in ecological restoration, with the intention to create habitat corridors between increasingly fragmented landscapes.
We all have the power to create positive change in this world. If you have land and would like to create a haven for wildlife and increase bio-diversity in your backyard, check out our 6 part feature on how to create a Rainforest. Less than 10 years on and this reforestation project over in 'The Big Scrub' now has a full canopy and is absorbing tonnes of greenhouse gases, as well as providing habitat for many rare and endangered animals.
If you live in a suburban landscape, the most environmentally friendly and fruitful plantation project would be to turn your backyard into a productive food garden.
Yet, There are still many ways you can help to preserve our precious Rainforest communities.
The first step would be to go and experience the feeling, the sounds, the smells and the sights of a Rainforest. Most capital cities in Australia are within an hour or two of a National Park, get out there one weekend and treat yourself to some time in nature.
Australia is amongst the wealthiest nations on the planet, fortunately this gives us the power to contribute a portion of our income to organizations that are involved in environmental conservation.
Rainforest Rescue is one such organization that is active in the conservation of Tropical Rainforest eco-systems.
Although surrounded by the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, parts of the Coastal Lowland Tropical Rainforest from the Daintree River to Cape Tribulation still remain unprotected and endangered.
These Rainforests are of international conservation importance as one of the most significant regional ecosystems in the world.
Rainforest Rescue's 'Daintree Buy Back and Protect Forever Project' has contributed to the purchase and protection of nine properties so far. The properties are being managed for their conservation values, which will be protected forever.
As a child we visited the Wet-tropics Rainforest and my only two memories are of pristine crystal clear water (at crystal cascades waterfalls) and of a massive strangler fig.
In April I will be leaving Daleys, in Kyogle (hopefully to return in Spring) and I'll be cycling 4,500km up north into the Daintree to raise collective awareness of Rainforest's and Sustainable Communities.
Please, stay in touch and share the journey through my Blog 'Caldera Creations'.
I'll also post updates via this Blog.
In times of climate change, world famine, peak-oil and ecological degradation, we have so much to learn from the Earth's most biologically diverse eco-system, the Rainforest, which is a dynamic and sustainable community of plants, animals and micro-organisms.
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Published: Paul ,Thursday, February 21, 2008
Tips:
- Make sure the person and the fruit are the central focus
- Smile
- Be creative
Conditions:
- You can enter as many pictures as you want but will only receive one Gift Voucher unless of course you win the $100 grand prize.
- Vouchers can only be used in Australia (Excluding Tas and NT)
Labels: dwarf fruit trees
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Published: - ,Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Most cultures use masculin or femanin language to describe nature. And Wampee Trees and Lychee Trees are Men. I laughed when I read the description of our Guy Sam Wampee Teee.
"Wampees are a handsome foliage evergreen tree grown for Summer ripe fruit with grape like flesh"
So here are my 3 young men From Left to right: Wampee Tree Guy Sam - Lychee Tree Salathial - Lychee Tree Bosworth 3
Carla bought in some wampees for the staff to taste which she picked from 2 different wampee trees that she grew from seed. They both tasted totally different depending on from which tree they came from. One was very sour but the other was very sweet. That is why if you buy a grafted Wampee Tree like the Guy Sam you know that when the fruit finally does ripen it will have that characteristic sweet grape like flavour. But when you grow it from seed who knows how it could taste. It would depend on how it was pollinated perhaps. Sometimes the extra money for a grafted specimen from a nursery rather then a seedling from the markets or a big outlet chain which might be cheaper really does pay off with fruit trees. Unless of course you want to breed the next Guy Sam or Yeem Pay.
Also in the garden this Green Thumb Sunday are my Panama Berries which most days are giving me that abundantly sweet taste. By far the sweetest berry you will ever taste hence some people call it the lolly tree.
And of course my coffee plant is full of beans and come June in Australia I will be very keen to finally pick them after waiting so long. (About 9 months from flowering it will end up being)
Labels: coffee plants, lychee Tree, Panama berry, wampee tree
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Published: Correy ,Sunday, February 10, 2008
Barry with his Dwarf Orange Tree
Dragon Fruit Forming
With all the pitfalls Growing Avocado Trees in the backyard is still a favourite of Queenslanders and NSW people with Victorians usually growing the Bacon Avocado Tree which can handle their colder climates.
Think of 125 000 people who love their gardens at one venue and you have one of the top 5 flower festivals in the world happening in Melbourne this week. (2nd April 2008)
s with only practical bones in our bodies we often wonder "is there more to flowers?"
Here is my 1 year old Carambola Kembangan. It is nicknamed the Star Fruit Tree because when you cut the fruit it looks like a star.
This Sunday I visited Northey Street City Farms Organic Market. There were lots of people there who packed the very shaded and cool carpark to buy fruit and vegetables.
The Beauty, Majesty, and Timelessness of the Earths Rainforests are indescribable. It is impossible to capture on film, to describe in words, or to explain to those who have never had the awe-inspiring experience of standing in the heart of a Primary Rainforest.
The first step would be to go and experience the feeling, the sounds, the smells and the sights of a Rainforest. Most capital cities in Australia are within an hour or two of a National Park, get out there one weekend and treat yourself to some time in nature.
Use your digital camera to take a picture of a person with a Dwarf Fruit Tree that has fruit on it.
Most cultures use masculin or femanin language to describe nature. And Wampee Trees and Lychee Trees are Men. I laughed when I read the description of our Guy Sam Wampee Teee.
And of course my coffee plant is full of beans and come June in Australia I will be very keen to finally pick them after waiting so long. (About 9 months from flowering it will end up being)