Violet Cactus's Edible Backyard

Joined: 26/11/08 Updated: 24/03/10 Frost: None
Location: Brighton East, VIC, AU

About My Edible Backyard

I am passionate about edible landscapes. For me they are just as beautiful as 'ornamental' plants.

Our soil in Brighton is sandy and we have had to build it up with lots of organic matter. Rainfall here in Melbourne is decreasing every year and it's hard to keep our garden well-watered.

Our small food forest faces north and contains too many rare and common edibles to count, from trees and shrubs right down to vegetables and herbs. Most of them are from Daleys.

Our biggest challenge is finding room for everything we want to grow!

Our rewards are many. Just watching a seed germinate is exciting. Watching your garden thrive is a joy, working in it is a delightful hobby and being able to eat fresh organic produce is a gift.

Comments

Hi, I read in the 'Overwintering Sweet Potato vine or tubers' thread on the forum that you have purple-fleshed sweet potatoes in Melbourne? I wondered if you could point me in the right direction to finding some tubers to grow from, or perhaps sell me one of yours to get started? I live in Melbourne, my email is andrew576189@hotmail.co.uk. Cheers

Loquat - Nagasakiwase

Blueberry - Climax

Cedar Bay Cherry

Macadamia - A16

Guava Yellow Cherry

Pitaya - Red Dragon Fruit

Miracle Fruit

Bunya Nut

Macadamia - A4

Sweet Potato - Northern Star

Orange - Bergamot

Finger Lime - Tasty Green

Dwarf Peach - Standard

Comments: -

I bought a dwarf tree thinking it would be a good idea for a suburban backyard. The dear little tree manages to produce a nice crop of fruits every year (though we have to fight off the earwigs) but I have learned NOT to buy dwarf trees. Horizontal space is the hardest to find in the backyard, bot vertical space. The ideal shape for a small garden tree is tall and thin. Like those 'Ballerina" apple trees. Not short and squat. The poor little tree just gets shaded by anything bigger that's nearby. In future I would buy a normal sized peach and just keep pruning it to size.

Comments

Thanks for this - you saved me from making a big mistake! Of course we want to go up, not out, when we have limited space!

Hardy Kiwifruit - 74-49F female

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See 'Kiwifruit - Male'.  An attractive, deciduous vine. Looking forward to the fruits!

Kiwifruit - Male

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Kiwi fruit vines look truly lovely in spring and summer, with their layers of fresh green leaves. Mine is climbing up an old Hills Hoist. I have the male and the female planted together (of course) and was delighted to see two flowers for the first time this year.

Allspice

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What a wonderful plant. The fragrance of the leaves is heavenly. I use them in rice dishes. It's also an attractive shrub with delicate flowers - I highly recommend it.

Comments

Thanks for the recommendation. I use the spice in cakes but didn't realise you can use fresh leaves. I will read up on it and try to get a plant.

Wampi - Yeem Pay

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Like my Longan this has not yet fruited but is looking very healthy and I have high hopes of fruit appearing next year.

Longan - Kohala marcotted

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It has not had any fruit yet at 3 years old but is doing well, nourished by rich organic compost.

Artemisia princeps

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Known in Japanese as 'Yomogi', this type of Artemisia is used to flavour mochi ricecakes, a delicious Japanese sweet.

Artemisia vulgaris

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Artemisia vulgaris, or Common Wormwood, is a fragrant herb used medicinally. It's one of three Artemisia species I grow. They do very well in our climate and I constantly have to cut them back!

Artemisia absinthum

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This is famously one of the herbs used to make the drink Absinthe, or 'Green Fairy'. It is also very pretty, with its feathery grey-green leaves.

Orange - Bergamot

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I bought this from Daleys because the citrus oil from these oranges is the unique flavouring ingredient in Earl Grey tea.

Also, you can't go wrong with citrus trees - they are as ornamental as any tree, with their beautiful evergreen leaves and their pretty fruits and flowers, not to mention the lovely perfume of the flowers.

It has not fruited yet but is doing okay considering I had to squeeze it into a darish corner of the garden as I don;t have enough room! I would rather have planted it in full sun as it deserves.

Comments

Have you had a fruit yet? Is this orange edible like normal oranges or only good for its oils? I am wondering if you can use it to make your own kind of Earl Grey by adding the rind to tea?

blueberry- climax ^9/10

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I bought this from Daleys. All their plants arrive in great condition and are very healthy.

I think my blueberry would like a more acidic soil than I have given it, but it is bearing fruit this year for the first time. Which is very exciting!  I keep going into the garden to look at the little ripening berries.

Pitaya - Red Dragon Fruit

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Dragon Fruit do very well during Melbourne summers.

Pitaya - Yellow Dragon Fruit

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Like my 'Vietnam' dragon fruit they have been doing very well indeed in spite of the fact that the poor things are cooped up in pots waiting for me to m,ake space from them in a dedicated 'dragon fruit bed' which can be covered over in winter.

Organic Status:Organic

Pitaya - Vietnam Dragon Fruit ^9/10

Comments: -

These have been growing very well. My only problem is that I do not yet have enough space for them in the garden so the poor things are still in pots. They will never get to fruiting size in pots!

I have found it's best to keep them out of the rain in winter, not that it really rains in Melbourne any more. When it's cold they hate being wet, and start rotting.

Planted: 2007

Sun/Shade: Low Sun

Organic Status:Organic

Cherry - Pretty Gully ^7/10

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A pretty tree, growing fairly well. Naturally it is prey to cherry slug every year so watch out for that. We have not had much fruit off it yet, but we can be patient!

Fruiting Months February

Height 16 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Spring

Pest Control:

Spray for cherry slug

Mulberry - White Seedling ^3/10

Comments: -

This is a very beautiful tree but I have had no fruit from it at all. I did not buy it from Daley's I must add!

It's a very quick grower and we have to prune it every year so that it does not block out the summer sunlight from a lemon tree behind it.

I'd use it as a summer shade tree but as a fruit tree it's not going well.

Height 16 metres

Growing: In the Ground

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Spring

Pest Control:

None

Organic Status:Organic

Guava - Strawberry ^10/10

Comments: -

Like the Yellow Cherry Guava, a very attractive shrub that fruits prolifically in summer. hen they are really ripe, these are my favourites of all the guavas I am growing.

Fruiting Months February and March

Planted: 2006

Height 1.5 metres

Growing: In the Ground

First Fruited: 1 Years from purchase in pot

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Spring

When I Fertilise: Spring

Pest Control:

None needed

Organic Status:Organic

Guava Yellow Cherry ^10/10

Comments: -

Delicious fruit, though seedy. Grows really well in Melbourne.

Fruiting Months February

Planted: 2006

Height 1.5 metres

Growing: In the Ground

First Fruited: 1 Years from purchase in pot

Sun/Shade: Full Sun

Water Given in: Spring

Pollination: Self Pollination

When I Fertilise: Spring

Pest Control:

Seems almost invulnerable to pests.

Organic Status:Organic