KitschWitch's Edible Backyard
Tamarillo - Red 8/10 KitschWitch's Edible FruitsUpdate: 4567 days 4hrs Comments: - I grew tamarillo previously on Mid Nth Coast NSW, and wanted to see if it would grow in Canberra. It has taken a few years, but now we have success! It's planted in front of a north facing brick wall. The winter frosts knock it back each year. First year frosted all leaves off and the trunk began to rot. Cut it back and it resprouted and grew very fast. No fruit. Next winter it was taller, frosted again, but didn't lose so much trunk. We had flowers and some fruit, but there wasn't enough time from flowering to fruit before winter set in, for them to get big and sweet. This winter was a bit milder, and the plant is now up to the eaves. A few leaves were lost nut very few, and flowers developed during winter and hung on. The photo is from August showing the condition after frosts. Now (November) its covered in big, new leaves again, thousands of flowers survived through winter, and I'm expecting a bumper crop next autumn. My advice to others in frosty areas: 1/ definitely choose a protected spot, preferably with a solid wall facing north, and eaves are an added benefit. 2/ either be patient for fruit until your plant gets tall, or be very vigilent with covering on frosty nights. Needs quite a lot of water in summer--you can tell because the leaves wilt. It always gets aphis but I haven't bothered to do anything about it. The plant survives and the bugs bring lovely birds to feed on them. This winter, two superb fairy wrens spent a lot of time on the tamarillo eating aphis and entertaining us outside the kitchen wihndow. Fruiting Months May and June Planted: 2010 Height 3 metres Growing: In the Ground Fruit Harvest: 1 kilograms per Year First Fruited: 2 Years from purchase in pot Sun/Shade: Full Sun Water Given in: Spring Pollination: No Fertiliser or Organics Used: chicken manure, compost, warm castings When I Fertilise: Spring Pest Control: None so far. If aphis become a problem, I'll band the trunk to keep ants from farming them. So far the birds do the work. Organic Status:Organic Was this review helpful? Yes | No | Report 15 of 17 people found this review useful |
Raspberry - Heritage (Seedling) 10/10 KitschWitch's Edible FruitsUpdate: 5286 days 13hrs Comments: - These are one of the best fruits we grow--very tasty, easy to grow and quite a long fruiting season. They taste so much better fresh than frozen, canned or supermarket bought. We have quite a few varieties of raspberry. They all taste good, but the Heritage ones have a long fruiting season through autumn (even up to June), but just a few fruits at a time. It's worth growing quite a few Heritage plants. Just buy one to start with though, because they spread like crazy from the roots so by the next spring year you will have 10 plants or so. They can be pruned out if needed and replanted elsewhere and will also grow easily from stem cuttings. The Heritage variety fruit in their first season (from a spring planting), on the new growth. After fruiting it's best to prune them right back to ground level since those stems won't fruit again. This is easier than pruning summer-fruiting raspberries which fruit on the seond year's growth (so you have to leave the new shoots and cut back only the ones that fruited). The stems grow fairly tall (2m) and tend to flop over if left. Ours are loosely supported by a nearby mesh fence. you can also tie nearby stems to a tall stake. This works really well and is flexible. I estimate .5kg of fruit per plant per year--one plant = one stem. Our huge patch arose from one original plant though! Fruiting Months March, April, May Planted: 2008 Height 2 metres Growing: In the Ground Fruit Harvest: 0.5 kilograms per Year First Fruited: 0.5 Years from purchase in pot Sun/Shade: Full Sun Water Given in: Spring SpringPollination: No Pest Control: None needed. The birds don't seem to get them. Children are the main risk :) Organic Status:Organic Was this review helpful? Yes | No | Report 90 of 101 people found this review useful |
Lemon - Meyer (Grafted) 9/10 KitschWitch's Edible FruitsUpdate: 5805 days 13hrs Comments: - This tree is about two years old now and has been fruiting for the past 2 months--around 50 fruit altogether. During the first year I removed all of the flowers so the tree would put its energy into growth. There have already been more flowers so we should have another flush of fruit in a few months. The fruit are large, not as bitter as traditional lemons but great for most purposes. My children like to suck on them (but then they also suck on trad. lemons). The tree is very healthy, no discoloured leaves. We feed it with compost and it also gets a good share of urine during the warmer months! I might have put some trace element mix on it at some stage and would do so again. it is growing in front of a cream-painted north facing wall, which suits it well. I will try a traditional lemon soon to see if that also goes well in the frosty Canberra climate. Fruiting Months June, July, August Planted: 2008 Height 1.2 metres Growing: In the Ground Qty: 1 Fruit Harvest: 50 Fruit Per Year First Fruited: 2 Years from purchase in pot Sun/Shade: Full Sun Water Given in: Spring Pollination: Self Pollination Fertiliser or Organics Used: compost, urine When I Fertilise: When Fruiting, Yearly, Winter, Spring Pest Control: None needed so far. Organic Status:Partially Organic Was this review helpful? Yes | No | Report 27 of 31 people found this review useful |
