grow | vine leaves/grapes

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Grapes have been cultivated for over 8000 years and evidence of them has even been found dating back before the last ice age and the Ancient Egyptians had realised how great they tasted and worked out that fermented, they turned into wine. The term viticulture is the science of growing grapes, and is a study many  horticulturists and wine makers have devoted their lives to.  Home grown table grapes need not take a lifetime of study, but a few tips will help.

Grapes need great drainage, full sun, and are deciduous vines.  Protection from birds during their ripening season, which is late summer and autumn, is also important if you want to eat any grapes yourself!  The most important thing to realise is that grapes are grown on vines and therefore need some support to grow them effectively.  A pergola or trellis is fine, but if you are going to get serious about grapes, and start your own mini vineyard, you are best to set up posts with about 4 wires strung between the two so that you can train them along these guides and get lots of fruit.  This idea allows maximum sunshine to get at all the branching, thus increasing your yield and also allowing easier picking and management of your vines. Pruning is the other crucial factor. Vines need to be kept cut back to a main framework each winter so that they don’t become unmanageable tangles.

When choosing a grape, decide whether you want a low acid (table) or high acid (wine) grape, and if you want a red or white skin. Also, get advise about grapes for your area, and make sure you specify whether or not you live in a humid or inland, hot or cold area as there are some that are more prone to mildew and others that need longer ripening periods than others. Lastly, when picking fruit, taste first to see if the grape is in fact ripe as grapes colour up before they become sweet, and as the saying goes, there is nothing worse than sour grapes!

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | nectarine

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Nectarines and Peaches (Prunus persica) are one of the quintessential summer fruits, with the season running from late October right through to April, and a real glut coming onto the market around December/January.  What many people don’t realise is just how easy peaches are to grow, or how beautiful they can be… They can be grown in many areas of Australia, as the varieties available range from tropical selections (that cope with the heat) right through to cooler temperate varieties. They also can be bought in dwarf varieties, suitable for small gardens and pots, sold as Trixzie® grow about 1.5m x 1.5m. Their fruit is full sized, despite their diminutive statue.  They can also be espaliered to be able to grown along walls and in narrow spaces, or kept as a beautiful small tree. Another idea is to plant more than one type in the same hole, known as duo and trio planting, or grow multi grafted plants to allow for a few different types, and on the one plant. Known as fruit salad trees with these multi-grafts it is possible nowadays to have the one tree bear a white fleshed peach, yellow fleshed peach and a nectarine all on the same bush!

Nectarines and peaches also have the added bonus of being self fertile, which means that they don’t need another variety to still be able to cross pollinate and set fruit, which can be a problem in the back yard situation for some other fruit tree.  The biggest problem you will face is likely to be the birds, who, just like you, love the juicy sweet flesh but will also eat them greener, ruining the crop.  Nets are essential for keeping them out of reach.

Peaches also get fruit fly in some areas of Australia, so you will need to be vigilant for this as the fruit ripens. Normally planted in winter when they can be purchased bare rooted and the range is widest and cheapest.  They can be bought year round though if potted, and like a full sun position and are quite hardy, but don’t like being water logged so you will need to ensure that the soil drains will.  Dig a hole, fill it empty with water and check that it drains away completely in 10 minutes.  If it’s acting like a bucket, build up your planting level to above the ground in either a mound or raised bed, to ensure drainage is adequate. They will take about 3 years before they bear reliably, and need particular training to keep the bearing.  To do this, each winter remove any branches that grow inwards, and shorten the remaining branches, all the time creating an open vase like shape, just like you do with rose bushes but on a much bigger scale.  Also watch that you remove suckers, or the shoots that appear below the bud union, as they appear as these can overbear your plant and have no guarantee of being a tasty fruit…they are just chosen for their disease resistance and vigour as an understock. Each winter, check your plant for scale insects and spray with a suitable copper spray at bud swell to stop the disease peach leaf curl attacking
your plants.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | tamarillo

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Tamarillo (Cyphomandra betacea)

The tree tomato, or tamarillo, is a fast growing fruit tree perfect for the backyard as it only gets about 3m tall and fruits beautifully after only 3 years.  The pendulous fruit either are red or yellow and hang in their multitudes from late summer.

Tamarillos can be grown from seeds, or planted as young potted saplings to save time.  Plant in any sunny, well draining and frost protected position.  They also benefit from wind protection, as the stems are quite brittle and can even snap under the weight of their fruit if their not staked.

Feed with a mulch of well rotted animal manure and watch for fruit fly, as their thin skin doesn’t offer much resistance.  Water well in summer and cover at night in cold zones to help it over winter.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | watermelon

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

Almost nothing says summer like a watermelon.  Cold from the fridge on a hot day, or still warm from growing out in the sun and then split open to gorge on that sweet flesh, it is the stuff from which childhood memories are forged.  They do, however, need some space to grow and time, as they take on average about 3 months to harvest.

The fast growing vines sprawl along the ground in any sunny position, but they do best if the area is also well drained and well irrigated until the fruits start to ripen and the vines are well fed.  Each vine normally reaps only about 5 fruit, so normally a half dozen vines are grown.  For best results, create a mound with added compost and blood and bone and into the top of this sow 3-4 seeds.  After germination, choose the best two seedlings and remove the others.  Repeat this over a few nearby mounds and your watermelon patch will start to grow.  If you want to double the crop, plant corn in the same patch as they are great companions.

You can tell when a watermelon is ripe and ready for picking because the side nearest to the ground will yellow, and a tap on the skin makes a hollow sound like a drum.  The spiral coil near the stem of the fruit will also start to brown.  Cut them off from the main vine, and refrigerate.

Native originally to Africa, they spread all around the world with the slave trade and ended up in the USA.  Although pink to red shades of melon are the most common, watermelons are actually available in white (Cream of Saskatchewan), yellow (Yellow Crimson and Mountain Yellow) and orange (Sweet Siberian and Orange Tendersweet) fleshed types.   There are also yellow rind versions such as Golden Midget and yellow spotted skin type called Moon and Stars. Sugar Baby is a particular favourite with home gardeners  as the vine is more compact and the fruits actually fit in the fridge!

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | banana

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Bananas are the 3rd most eaten fruit, after apples and oranges, in the world but are also eaten like a vegetable when it comes to the larger, green plantains, which are great in curries or fried!  Botanically known as a herb, they are actually more closely related to grass than to any trees.  Each “tree” is actually botanically a stem, and this is why they die after flowering and put up new suckers continually to replace themselves.  These semi tropical plants started off native to South East Asia, but popular now right across the tropical world, and can be grown as far south as Sydney providing they are sheltered and frost free.

The fruits grow in a large bunch weighing about 45kg and made up of about 20 hands – Each finger of which we pick and eat as a banana! Aside from the delicious fruit, leaves can be used for cooking by wrapping food inside and steaming it, and flowers can also be eaten though they need to be peeled and have the petals removed from just inside they first layer, and right in the very (white) centre. Salads made from these flowers are popular in Thai cuisine.

To grow bananas you will need a warm, sunny, well drained and well fertilised site, and a quality disease free sucker. Dig a large hole, add manure and clear away any grass, then plant your sucker.  Avoid watering straight away as this can cause them to rot, so waiting a week before giving them a good drink reduces this risk, but after then, regular water and fertilising is essential.  Rhizomes are normally planted in spring, and plants will grow to about 6m, flower and then send up a replacement sucker.  Once the banana fingers are up to size, you can cut off hands green from the bunch and ripen them inside with another piece of fruit, so save having all 45kg ripe at the same time!

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | ginger

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Native to Asia and India, it is used in curries, stir fries, sweets, candied and of course, made into a fabulous thirst quenching beverage. To grow ginger, you can just obtain a locally grown rhizome from your fruit and vegetable market, and then cut it up into chunks, each with an eye, for regrowing and plant 30cm apart.  You can also buy setts (small rhizomes) from many mail order companies that are certified disease free.

As it’s a tropical plant, you will need to find a frost free position, and even then its best planted in late spring after the soil has warmed up. Make sure the soil is well drained and well watered, and enriching with manure will help your plants grow throughout the 8 months or so it takes them from planting to yield time.  You will know it’s time to harvest
your ginger when the leaves die off in autumn.  At this time you can dig up the whole clump, or simply cut it back and dig up a few rhizomes at a time from the side of the clump.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | radish

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Often I am asked what are the easiest of all veggies to grow, and radish would have to be up with the front runners for this award. It seems to grow in any climate, from cold to hot, any well drained soil and is also one of the few vegetables that is even reasonably shade tolerant.
The various types range from small cherry sized fruit right up to long tapering varieties, like the Daikon. Colours too range from red, to white, black, pink, and purple, and variants of these.
From seed to the plate varies depending on the type, but some smaller root types can be harvested after only a month in good growing conditions. Whilst it is normally the root that is eaten raw or pickled, the flower pod is edible too.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS