October 2016.

The dwarf apple tree is starting to blossom despite the cold wintry weather.

The olive tree is in bud, and I'm looking forward to another healthy harvest this year.

September 2016(2).

We had a great display of blossom on our dwarf espalier apples last year, and this year is shaping up to be even better.  Unfortunately last year, due to inclement weather or possibly inappropriate use of chemical pesticides by neighbours, my pollinators did not turn up for work and I lost the whole crop.

There seem to be plenty of bees around this year and I have more flowering plants available to keep them interested, so I am hoping they clock in on time.  If not I will have to sack them and hand pollinate the apples myself.

September 2016.

Summer pruning of fruit trees diverts the trees energy away from vegetative growth and into fruiting bud development.  It results in a compact tree which is easier to spray (I've just finished my monthly foliar spray with aerated compost tea) and easier to harvest the fruit.  The blossom coverage on my Anzac Peach is good again this year and the bees have been very busy pollinating it.  I hope for another great crop provided I can keep the dreaded leaf curl under control. 

January 2016

This years harvest of peaches has been excellent with plenty of large sweet fruit despite an attack of leaf curl in spring.

Its the first time I have had a good harvest from my Thompson grape vine.  I changed the position of the vine to an improved spot running along a fence with good protection from the wind, and day long exposure to the sun.

My espalier apple trees were pruned in December and are just starting to send out new shoots.  I may need to prune the shoots back again before the end of the growing period.

These strawberry runners are growing in small pots full of potting soil.  I have pinned the runners down to keep the new roots in contact with the soil, and have maintained soil moisture by sitting the pots in plastic trays full of water.  These 6 plants are enough to start a new row in an Ecobed.

November 2015

It is very small and hard to see, but the olive tree is covered in blossom.  It promises another good harvest of fine olives, a favourite of mine.

This fruit and herb bed is drip line irrigated and I usually run the system for an hour twice a week when the weather is dry.  It needs more when its really hot.  Plenty of compost and aged manure is added to the soil in September as a top dressing and covered with sugar cane straw mulch.  After 3 years of this treatment the soil structure is great and holds water extremely well. 

My summer fruiting raspberries are much happier in this bed after trying unsuccessfully to grow it in an Ecobin.  It needed space to spread and deep soil to explore with its strong tap root.  The bed is drip line irrigated.

Similarly my autumn fruiting raspberries are enjoying the freedom of a drip line irrigated bed after a couple of years in an Ecobin even though it shares this small bed with a row of hybrid thornless blackberries vines.  Its horses for courses, and Ecobeds/Ecobins have their limits.

My two espaliered dwarf apple trees are growing strongly and looking very healthy this year.  Unfortunately my abundant display of blossom went unpollinated due to a sudden drop in the local bee population (cause unknown but suspect unfavourable weather or irresponsible use of chemical insecticides by someone in my suburb - or both).  No nice apples for me this year, but a lesson learned - do not rely on insect pollination.

Check out the 2 new links I recently placed on my home page (resources: left hand column).  They describe methods developed to pollinating apples by hand when bees and other pollinators are not active.  Its labour intensive, but it can save your apple crop.

It looks as if I will get a good crop of peaches again this season despite a shaky start.

In line with my plan to dispense with using a lime sulphur winter wash on my stone fruit trees this year, I placed my trust in monthly spray applications of aerated compost tea to protect them from leaf curl.  Leaf curl has badly affected peach trees in gardens close to mine for several years now. 

My trees were attacked early in spring, but by regular removal of affected leaves making way for vigorous new growth they are now free of the disease and with no apparent damage to the fruit.

I don't like using any chemical treatments on my plants, but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to risk succumbing to a more serious attack next year.  We'll see.  

August 2015 (2)

My apricot tree is full of blossom for the first time in 4 years.  It was heavily pruned and reshaped to make the fruit more accessible for spraying (aerated compost tea) and harvest.  The air is full of the sound of bees pollinating the flowers today, and it holds promise of a substantial harvest just like we used to have in previous years.

August 2015

My Meyer lemon gave up its fight after nearly drowning in the previous bed and being relocated 3 times since I bought it 5 years ago.  I don't know whether it was simply moved too often or whether Ecobeds are too moist for citrus.

The Hamlin orange is not as happy as it should be after a year in the other new Patio Ecobed, but it is just coming into new leaf.  If it recovers and flourishes, I will replace the Meyer Lemon with a new one, meanwhile I am growing cauliflowers in that bed.

June 2015

My Hamlin orange has not fully recovered from its move to a new bed last spring, but it has still managed to produce a few good sized oranges.  My soil is very active with worms and microbes and is high in organic matter, but I think the balance of nutrients isn't quite right yet.

May 2015

Its mid autumn and my apples are ready for harvest.  I have grown them deliberately for size and not quantity, but I may have to compromise next year because some of the fruiting spurs are showing stress under the weight of the larger apples.  Still I am happy with the crop.

You would need a knife to eat this one straight off the tree, but they are all destined for the preserving jar as pie filler.  I may need to get a few more jars, and make some space in my shed.

April 2015 (2)

There are only about 50 apples on this espaliered dwarf Granny Smith apple tree, but they are all of excellent size and quality.  They are still growing, but I will start to harvest them slowly now and use them in pies and jam.

April 2015.

These strawberries were planted as runners last August and have grown strongly and produced their own runners in large numbers.  I will be taking the best of them to start another row in late winter.  This new row will be planted in the second Ecobed in my 4 year Strawberry crop rotation plan.  The blue painted frame is a cut down version of my relocatable climbing (plant) frames.  Its purpose is to keep potato plants constrained so they don't swamp the Strawberries next year.  The frame will move from bed to bed in line with the 4 year crop rotation plan so it can perform the same service wherever the potatoes are grown.

My olives are starting to ripen, and I'm looking forward to bottling a few in brine after "curing" them first. 

March 2015 (2)

My espaliered dwarf Granny Smith apple tree is producing nice clean apples this season.  By thinning them down to 1 apple per fruiting spur earlier in the year and summer pruning them last season we will harvest a good crop of large apples when they ripen in May.

March 2015

My peach tree is heavily pruned each summer straight after harvest.  Half this years growth and crossing branches have been removed and leaders cut back hard - to control height.  The tree looks sorry for itself, but we will get the benefit next year with lots of good sized peaches.  (I hope).

January 2015 (2)

Preserving peaches in sugar syrup using a pressure cooker.  

• The peaches are cut into halves, kernels removed and each half cut into 3 pieces.
• When the glass bowl is full, they are dumped into boiling filtered water for 1 minute.
• They are then spooned out into cold filtered water and skins removed.  
• They are packed in pre-heated jars until about 20mm from the rim and topped up with syrup. A knife is slid down the inside of each side of the jar to release any air trapped in the bottom of the jar and more fruit added until the jar is full to 5mm from the rim.  
• The lid is then screwed on finger tight and backed off a 1/4 turn.  
• The jar is then placed in the pressure cooker with 2 other jars already packed with fruit and water is added around the jars to a depth of 20mm.  
• The lid is locked on and the pan heated until the steam starts to hiss through the valve.  The valve is set at the lowest pressure (about 5 psi.) and the pan left for 5 minutes.  
• The pan is then allowed to cool until the pressure has equalised (returned to normal).  
• The bottles are then removed and the lids tightened up fully.  
• They are then dried and labelled and put into a cool dark place like a pantry.  

We have custom made shelved in our utility room for this purpose.

January 2015

Nearly ready to harvest, these peaches have been unaffected by the whitefly which have invaded the tree.  The lower leaves are suffering from the slow death of a thousand nibbles, but I will be summer pruning the tree as soon as the peaches are gone, and will then attack the whitefly mercilessly with EcoNeen oil.

I have just checked my apples and found one with the dreaded codling moth entry hole.  I removed the apple and put it in a cliplock bag and then into the garbage.  I have started to put exclusion bags on the remaining fruit to keep the pesky moths at bay.  I think this one must have been a blow-in, since none of my other apples have been effective, and I have used extensive defencive measures this year.

December 2014.

My 3 year old peach tree is weighed down with fruit this year.  Some of it will be eaten straight off the tree, but most of it will be bottled in syrup when ripe.

November 2014 (3)

There are 2 espaliered apple trees, 3 second year hybrid blackberry vines and 3 first year raspberry bushes in this small corner of my garden.  They are all either in flower or have set fruit.  The beds are drip line irrigated using town water.

I like to grow a few herbs as companions under or close to the fruiting plants, but in this picture there are also 3 volunteer tomato plants (behind the apples), an impossible to kill pepperrmint bush (bottom centre) and several hardy perennial flowering plants to bring in those predatory and pollinating insects. 

November 2014 (2)

I re-potted the Dwarf Hamlin Orange (right) and the Dwarf Mayer Lemon (centre) in early spring this year into new Fruit Tree Ecobeds.  The Lemon had previously been re-potted twice in recent years and was looking rather sorry for itself.

Whilst still ugly, it has responded very well and I am now sure it will make a full recovery.

Ecobeds provide a great nurturing environment for vulnerable plants with their constant supply of moisture and their very rich organic soil.

November 2014

Its a bit early to be thinning fruit on my Peach tree, but they are a good size for this time of year, and I didn't want to leave them until next month.  I took off more than half of them using a pair of heavy duty scissors to cut the stems.  The remaining fruit will grow to a good size.

Two of my neighbours have peach trees heavily infested with leaf curl again this year.  As a result I picked up some infection too, but spraying with aerated compost tea has protected 99% of the leaves on my tree.  The few I found were placed in plastic bags and consigned to the garbage bin.  I hope my neighbours will use aerated compost tea themselves next year.

September 2014

Its spring and the last few days have been warm, sunny and without wind.  Perfect for the bees who have been busy harvesting pollen and nectar from my Peach tree. 

The tree (which is in its fourth year) was summer pruned last year, sprayed with lime sulphur in autumn at leaf fall, and will be sprayed with aerated compost tea next week.  Its looking very healthy and full of blossom and I hope for a great crop this summer.