grow | hazelnuts

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Hazelnuts are perfect for those with small gardens as the bush only grows about 3m x 3m.
It is a deciduous shrub that does best where cooler winters give it the cold snap it needs for fruiting, but cropping will be better if more than one type of hazelnut is planted so that they can cross pollinate. Catkins from male and female flowers form on the same plant in summer, and, provided pollination occurs, these develop into the sweet kernel everyone loves during autumn.
Plant hazelnuts in an open, sunny position with added humus and mulch well with leaf mould to keep roots cool and moist. Leaves turn quite a pretty yellow before dropping, and there is an ornamental purple foliage form too.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | pawpaw

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Papaya, or Pawpaw (Carica papaya), are easily grown fruit trees for the backyard.  Although they need a basically frost free position, they can be grown in a wider range of climates if placed on the north side of homes, against brick walls, to offer some overnight warmth from the reflected heat of the house.

Papaw have interesting sex lives.  Basically, there are girl plants and boys plants, and the two have to meet via the bees and the butterflies…you know the story.  But wait, there’s a twist, you can actually save yourself the trouble of planting two trees and cross pollinating by buying a bisexual plant, which will fertilise itself.

Plant your specimen in a well drained position, as they can get root rot easily, and stand back.  They are so fast growing you’ll have fruit probably forming the next season.  In fact, they only take 18 months to fruit from seed. Papaw also have the weird ability to be able to develop their fruits, and if the weather isn’t favourable for ripening, they can put themselves into a holding pattern and wait for more temperate conditions.  This means that cropping is variable, depending on when and where you have your tree growing.

Papaw can be eaten green, or allowed to change colour to either red, orange or golden, depending on the variety.  If you are ripening your papaw in fruit fly prone areas, slipping over a specially designed cloth bag is a good idea to exclude this troublesome fly and stop it laying maggots into your crop.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | eggs

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Hens have the ability to recycle garden and kitchen scraps into fresh eggs, making them the ideal pet for even the average backyard. Provided
you don’t have a roster, which are banned in most places due to their early morning squawking habits, your neighbours will probably love having
an extra dozen of fresh eggs passed their way every so often! What you will need is a fox proof enclosure, as even in the ‘burbs there are vermin
about, so whilst free ranging is fine during the day if your garden can accommodate them, make sure you lock them away safely at night.

Aside from scraps, chickens need water and chicken pellets daily (One chicken costs about $2.20 per week to feed) and will supplement this diet on grubs and insects they forage themselves. They also need worming every 3 months, and although they live for about 10 years, are normally replaced every 4 years or so as they lay better when they are young. Point of lay birds (around 18 weeks to 21) cost around $15, including vaccination and
worming. Your can buy or hire A-frame kit coups which are easy to erect and have the added advantage of being able to move around the garden on their rear
wheels, which means that you don’t wear out a patch on your lawn, and you can change their position depending on the season. A round chicken coup is better still if you have the space, as that way newly introduced birds can’t get “hen pecked” as they can’t get cornered. Always make sure your hens have some shade and shelter to escape the heat, and access to water and feed.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | figs

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Since Adam was a boy, we have been growing figs, not for their large body covering leaves but for their delicate sweet fruit which is treasured.  This most loved plant is especially delicate, so handling really bruises the fruit easily, making it an ideal backyard addition where the journey from backyard to dinner plate can be minimised.
Of all the varieties, probably the yummiest is Ficus ‘Black Ischia’, but as this has very soft skin you usually won’t be able to buy it at the greengrocer.

Figs like a Mediterranean climate, which means wet winters and dry hot summers, but they are adaptable and seem to grow on the coast too, although they do succumb to splitting their fruit sometimes if the rains fall too heavily, and also to fruit fly and scale on both their leaves, stems and fruit.  The biggest pest however is birds, who also love eating figs. For this reason, figs are often espaliered, or grown flat, so that a net can easily be thrown over them, or grown inside cages or, like in the picture shown here, under an arch so similarly a cover can protect the ripening fruits.  The other trick to getting bigger harvests is to plant your tree on a rock or slab of concrete.  This stops the roots from developing a major tap root, which in turn makes the tree less large and more spreading, which results in more fruit.

Figs set fruit on both young wood and old, so can produce many kilos once established.  In Australia the first crop is in early summer, followed by a secondary, heavier crop inlate summer.  If your fruit drops when it’s young and fails to develop, chances are the wasp needed to pollinate your crop hasn’t visited.  A capri fig is the host and will need to be nearby in order to visit your tree.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | thyme

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Thyme, with all its delightful foliage and flavour variants, makes a beautiful addition not just to your recipes but also as a perennial in your garden.  There are so many types, from ‘Silver Posy’, a white edged leaf form, to golden leafed forms, some that smell like lemons or oranges and others that make pizza come alive.

All are only small growers, getting about 20cm tall at best, and others, like woolly thyme, growing perfectly flat and able to be walked upon like a groundcover.  In fact, with stepping stones between them, thyme lawns are a delightful way of finishing areas around paving or pathways.

Success with your thyme is dependent on three things. 1. Thyme needs good drainage. 2. It has to have plenty of sunshine. 3. An annual top dressing of lime makes the soil pH alkaline enough to be able to thrive.  In other ways, thyme is easily grown, drought tolerant, mostly cold tolerant and able to be harvested year round.

Try to pick your thyme before it flowers in summer, just so you have more delicious leaves.  Early morning harvesting is best, and scissors are ideal as they cut cleanly.  Regularly trimming means that your stems are not too tough, and it will encourage bushy regrowth.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | dill

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Some people only know dill as an insult, yet dill is nothing to hide.  In fact, it’s delicious, both as foliage and as a seed for flavouring.  It is a little difficult to grow, with a tendency in warmer climates to flower then seed prematurely and leave you bitter, less palatable leaves.

The trick is to only sow it from seeds directly into the soil, rather than transplant it from seedling, as the seeds seem to take better, and any transplant shock or stress will trigger it to bolt into bloom.  In summer, so your dill seeds in a partially protect area, as heat stress can also cause it to flower early.

It’s fast too, with a plant going from seed to maturity in about 8 weeks, so stagger your seed sowing by a few months so that you have successive crops of foliage germinating and handy for the kitchen.  Keep feeding with liquid fertiliser every 2-3 weeks, and pinch prune out any flowers as they appear, unless you are wanting the dill seeds.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS

grow | mango

By MEREDITH KIRTON

Most Australians love the taste of mangoes and eagerly await the summer when this fruit comes into season and they become affordable.  What many people don’t realise is, that although they are strictly a tropical fruit, the trees will grow further south and fruit, though not as heavily, as far down the coast as Sydney and Perth.  In fact, once established, trees will even cope with the occasional frost, though fruit set is dependent on temperatures staying warm enough during flowering in spring.

Kensington Pride is probably the most popular variety in the supermarket, however the home gardener should try other types, as these are susceptible to rot, and tend to grow too big (12m tall) whereas ‘Tommy Atkins’ and ‘Irwin’ and smaller cultivars.

Plant your mango tree in an open sunny place, protected from winds and cold.  Ensure the soil is well drained and add lots of organic matter to it to boost the water holding and nutrient storing capacity of your earth. The good news is that they are relatively quick to produce crops, and you should expect to see mangoes from grafted plants after only 3-4 years.  Watch out for fruit fly and scale insects, and anthracnose and black spot.

Photography by SUE STUBBS | Blog designed by RED PEPPER GRAPHICS