Update on our mini-orchard! As many of you will be aware, during winter, we added a mini orchard to our existing garden. With summer behind us, I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to provide an account of how everything has performed. It’s hard to believe but we actually received crops in our first year! We feel incredibly excited about this and it is evidence that our hard work and dedication to the garden paid off. Apples Our Blush Babe tree did not fail us. There were quite a few fruits on the tree. The quality of the apples was very good. They were sweet, juicy and crunchy. We had a few on our columnar Ballerina apple trees but none on Autento this year. Apricot We planted Aprigold, a dwarf variety of apricot, in a pot. Unfortunately, there were no blossoms and no fruit on the tree. But looking at things positively, at least it didn’t die! There’s always next season, right? Banana An American couple who were wwoofing at our place last year planted the dwarf variety of Banana tree Misi Luki in March. One year on, and I’m pleased to report that the tree has grown tremendously in that time. I’m not sure whether we’ll be lucky enough to get fruit this spring. Watch this space for developments. Blueberries We had a great season with our blueberries, considering we only just planted them in pots over the winter. By December, we were already harvesting berries! We lost a couple, unfortunately. Some varieties were more prolific than others but it’s too early to say which ones are the best varieties considering it is so early in their growth. Feijoas Our Unique tree, which was planted about four years ago, is absolutely laden with fruit. Some fruits are small, others larger but are very tasty. I put in three additional trees last year – Wiki Tu, Kakariki and Kaiteri. There is already fruit on Wiki Tu but they are not ready yet as it is a late cropper. Normally harvest takes place in May and even as late as June. Figs Our two plants, Brown Turkey and White Adriatic, have given us some crops this season. Fruits were incredibly juicy and sweet. Guavas So far, we have harvested a handful of yellow guavas from our potted plant. They are incredibly large and full of flavour. Mandarins and oranges There are lots of green fruits on our Flying Dragon mandarin and orange trees but no ripened fruit to report of just yet. Nectarines We harvested quite a bit of fruit from our Nectar Babe tree. The nectarines were small but very juicy and delicious. Passionfruit We love passionfruit so much that we have several vines. We harvested so much fruit this past season that it’s unbelievable. Great value when you consider how expensive passionfruit is at the supermarket. Peaches We harvested quite a few peaches off our different dwarf varieties of peach trees. Pixzee was a reliable producer. Raspberry Our Aspiring raspberry plant cropped reliably in November and December and again in March and April. The quantity of berries is truly remarkable considering that the plant was only put into the ground in winter.
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As we progress into autumn, I have been very busy with our annual garden clean up. I LOVE planting a summer garden but definitely don’t look forward to this time of the year as it reminds me of how much hard work gardening can be! We haven’t hosted woofers for awhile but are on the look out for an enthusiastic pair preferably, to assist me in tidying up the place.
As many of you will be aware, Anita’s Garden consists of both edibles (vegetables and fruit trees, mainly miniature in nature) and ornamentals (flowers and roses). Due to my passion for roses, particularly old English style ones, I have made the difficult decision to devote approximately half of the garden space to roses, thus significantly extending the existing rose garden. I am expecting 12 new roses to arrive over winter and am very excited about my orders, as they feature varieties that are incredibly difficult to find. I am adding 11 new David Austin varieties to the garden! I expect more to follow in subsequent seasons. This means that I will reduce the number of vegetables that I will grow each season. As most seasoned gardeners will know, edibles are hugely gratifying but they are also a LOT of work. I hope to still maintain a very productive garden but just in a smaller area as I find the existing space that edibles are taking up is just too much work for me. Due to falling ill in February, I have also put my business on hold for the time being. That means that the plant nursery is temporarily closed and I am unavailable for gardening maintenance. I will endeavour to do a better job of keeping my blog alive so you all stay updated with what is happening around Anita’s Garden and also receive some advice about what to do around your own garden. With summer well and truly behind us and as I have been busy with the annual post-summer garden clean up, I have taken the time to reflect on what performed brilliantly in the summer garden. I thought of compiling a little list, in case other gardeners might like to try these varieties as well.
1. Tomato “Rapunzel F1” from Egmont Seeds 2. Cucumber “Iznik F1” from Egmont Seeds 3. Marigold “Strawberry Blonde F1” from Egmont Seeds 4. Rockmelon “Retato Degli Ortolani” from Franchi Seeds (no longer available on Italian Seeds Pronto’s website) 5. Snake bean “Yard Long Runner” from Kings Seeds 6. Zinnia “Dahlia Flowered Gold Medal Mix” from Kings Seeds 7. Zinnia “Giant Wine” from Kings Seeds 8. Pepper “Topepo Rosso” from Franchi Seeds 9. Capsicum “California Wonder” from Egmont Seeds 10. Pumpkin “Blue Hubbard” seeds given to me by a friend 11. Pumpkin “Queensland Blue” from Egmont Seeds 12. Marigold “French Vanilla F1” from Egmont Seeds 13. Tomato “Cherry” from Franchi Seeds |
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