fruit trees (forum)

sue smyth starts with ...
Our small 1/4 acre block is entirely planted up with fruit trees and vegetable gardens. When we built this house we decided to have an edible garden and were lucky enough to buy fruit trees at a resonable price from a farm nearby. we did a lot of reading listening and trial and error and now eight years later, we reap the rewards from a lot of our trees. we jokingly refer to our place as feral farm, because everything seems to grow well as we have good soil. some of our trees are as listed, tamarillo, black sapote, dwarf mango(pictured) finger lime, persimmon, jaboticaba(abundant) brazilian cherries,necterine,mulberry
kaffir lime, orange,lemon,lime, a scrawny pomergrante, fegoa,atherton raspberry and potted blueberries, custard apple,huge carambola and lemon myrtle tree. this is in our orchard area. scattered around the rest of the block is a strawberry tree,2 olives a huge macadamia tree, peanut butter tree,carob, curry leaf tree(should be a shrub, but is a tree here) gramichama. ceylon gooseberry beach cherry coffee trees, a small cinnamon tree, cherry guavas star apple in a pot yet,miracle fruit, elder berry trees, lychee and bananas. we have grapes and passionfruit vines running over fences and trellis. and down the side of the house we have lots of papaws, and a few other trees that arent doing great as they are in a retainer wall garden, they are the yellow jaboticaba (never flowered) malabar chestnut(weve just had nuts) and a pepper vine. down the back yard there is room for a huge vegetable patch and small chook house, and of course my husbands shed. we are in a suburban area, but our blocks average 1/4 acres to 1/2 acres and we have bush around us nearby. we have a good rain fall, and we are near a dam. however the drought still did have an impact, but now we have tanks, we can water ourselves. we have alot of wildlife and birds, I am watching one right now a pheasant trying to eat my strawberry tree fruit(most go to the lorikeets). we like the idea that we dont have to rely soley on shops and that we get fresh fruit and veges, much better for you. And with the exess i make jams and relishs etc. for instance, we pick the raspberries every day and freeze them, by the end of summer i have heaps of raspberries to last all winter long, to use in pancakes and muffins. i even freeze our bananas for the same reason. i hope others are trying to do the same as we are as it is very rewarding and good for the planet.
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Time: 26th March 2008 9:49am

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About the Author sue4
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sue smyth says...
dwarf mango tree
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1

Time: 26th March 2008 9:51am

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About the Author sue4
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HappyEarth says...
Wow Sue ... that is awesome. Please upload some more photos of your place :)

Ohhh.. how big is your peanut butter fruit tree?

Rich
www.happyearth.com.au

Time: 26th March 2008 10:51am

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Leona says...
Awesome!

Time: 26th March 2008 1:58pm

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Correy says...
Sue this is amazing. Which suburb are your from? I would also like you to upload more pictures.

Do you have netting up? and what variety of mango is that one?

Time: 26th March 2008 5:36pm

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peter says...
sue,
do you eat the fruit from your elder berry tree, if so what are they like.

Time: 26th March 2008 7:01pm

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sue smyth says...
thanks happy earth, we do love our garden, the peanut butter tree is about as large as a banana tree, it dosnt mind a bit of shade, the wildlife eat a lot of the fruit too

Time: 3rd April 2008 10:32am

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sue smyth says...
correy , we dont have netting up, as the tree is quite small yet, the bats dont come down to it. however we do sometimes spray for fruit fly ( we dont like to though because its chemicals) this is an Irwin dwarf variety and has large red fruit that ripen to a harder flesh that is really great to eat and not sloppy. you can pick them when nearly ripe and they will continue ripening inside. we also cull off a lot of flower so the tree is not overloaded. even so it manages about 30 to 40 fruit per year

Time: 3rd April 2008 10:36am

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sue smyth says...
peter i dont eat the fruit from our elderberry, but we do sometimes make wine from them, the best way is to freeze them or dry them until you have enough to make wine from. you can also make wine from the flowers and eat the flowers in pancakes and jams etc. the birds eat the fruit all the time, they are fine to eat but are fiddly, they are very high in vitamin c and make great jams and jellies. but dont eat green berries they are toxic and make sure yours is an elder tree not a red berried elder or dwart elder tree.the berries should be black,as the others are posionous, hence why i dont eat them just incase. the flowers also make great tea, just dry them and make as you would an infusion hope that helps

Time: 3rd April 2008 10:47am

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sue smyth says...
correy, sorr i forgot we are in capalaba a suburb of brisbane, the climate is good here, and we are in a little pocket near a dam so it can be alittle colder here, i will take more pictures ..and upload later

Time: 3rd April 2008 10:50am

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peter says...
sue,
thanks for your reply, mine is a
black berry type.

kath, correy, greg.
can daleys source the irwin
dwarf mango.
would they be ok in adelaide
either in the open or in a glass house.

Time: 3rd April 2008 5:13pm

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Correy says...
Sue, That is great that you get those colder temperatures. Means you can try some of the more temperate fruit trees in capalaba.

What size area do you have set apart for all your edibles and also what percentage of fruit and veg would you estimate that your suburban block produces of your families total fruit and veg supplies per year?

Hi Peter The Dwarf Mango Tree Irwin is our most requested plant not in stock at the moment.

You can put your email and mobile down to be notified the moment they are ready for sale.

I did a blog on Mango Trees in Pots Here.

If you are growing other subtropical fruit trees you should be right. If not then maybe choose the Nam Doc Mai or try seedlings rather then grafted varieties such as the R2E2 seedling.

Time: 3rd April 2008 10:30pm

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John says...
I carnt belive you can grow rassberrys there and blue berrys. I am from thr far west coast in SA and would love to grow these. Good luck and please show some more pictures. I will be of my plants soon, too.

Time: 4th April 2008 5:57pm

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Correy says...
Hi John I am growing raspberries and Blueberries and don't get frosts.

Time: 5th April 2008 8:43am

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John says...
You may not get frosts Cory but you dont get 40 days over the 38oC mark either. I would love to grow berrys.

Time: 6th April 2008 11:58am

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Anonymous says...
john we dont get many frosts here but the temp is a little colder, also the raspberries are the atherton variety, not quite as lucsious as the others but still flavoursome !

Time: 23rd April 2008 9:46pm

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Anonymous says...
hi correy sorry not to reply sooner, i have had a busy few weeks, we have veggie patch approx 10 meters long by 2 o 3 meters wide, we have just extended it, so it is not up to full production yet and i am feeling my way a bit, we had a white cabbage moth plague and of course , drought. we have had good rains, but it seems the weeks between rain are really hot. now it is winter and we arent able to grow some things, bu broccoli is great and beans. we have also had a lack of bees so all our cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and zuchinni did not set fruit. so as yet we cant judge how much it helps our costs or percentage. but for me it is not about that, i am more concerned about the freshness of the stuff(and i mean stuff) we get from supermarkets, some of the lettuce and oranges have zero nutrients and vita c left in them. i brought a bag of oranges from a fruit shop 7 days ago, and they are going rotten and off already( months in cold storage equals nil vita c) i have 3 young children and i am trying to grow them healthy, my 7 year old, has never been to the doctor for an illness in her life(vaccinations excepted) she does get ill, but it will be a mild cold or tummy bug, that is all! and i put it down to good FRESH food. as for supply all of us in veggies , it would be hard because we love salads and fruit and veggies even the kids.you also have to be prepared to eat in season, no buying brocolli when it is out of season, eat it when it is in your garden and move on to the next veggie when it produces. however i am aiming to supply as much as possible to eat and with that comes good vitamin and nutrients. we also make jams dry and freeze fruits and veggies to make them last. if i make a salad it is usually fully from our gardens except, say advocado, onion or potato, these are hard to grow in the space we have, but most of our leafy greens and legumes come from our garden. we also have chooks which supply eggs and i make our own soap etc for the house. again this more about what is in the brought variety than cost. you could eat my soap and it would not harm you(would not taste good! but youd live) i have takens some other photos and will upload them over time..cheers sue
i have included photos of tamarillo tree and our blueberries in pots( it is easier to keep the soil acidic) and the flowers on our carob tree, we await the outcome with curiosity
Pictures - Click to enlarge

Picture: 1
Picture: 2
Picture: 3

Time: 23rd April 2008 10:15pm

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sue says...
sorry this long blurb was from sue not anonmous i forgot to put my name in

Time: 23rd April 2008 10:17pm

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Mark says...
Hi, what a great garden. I'm really interested in knowing more about how the pepper vine has gone in Brisbane. Has it fruited yet? and where did you get the vine from? I'm really struggling to find a pepper vine (piper nigrum).....

Time: 31st August 2008 8:27pm

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sue says...
hi mark
I got my pepper vine from casper schnieder, who sold and grew fruit trees in redland bay, it grows from cutting extremely well, but mine vine has flowered lots but not set fruit. which i have not been able to figure out why, and my research suggests it may be one sex and I need another, so i am in the process of growing more, i dont know if it will work. but if you can get it to set fruit, it can supply a whole family and them some..I may be able to supply you with some, but as it has not set fruit yet it may be a dud. it does look good though

Time: 16th September 2008 9:40am

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About the Author sue4
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trikus says...
I bought a Piper nigrum vine from a nursery , and it has never produced any fruits . It has grown enormous , climbing right up a black Sapote tree , and hanging back down to the ground .. I think it is really a native Piper , as seen the real Piper nigrum now at the local commercial farm in Silkwood , and it is very different looking .

Time: 16th September 2008 2:37pm

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Mark says...
Hi Sue,

I'm happy to give it a go if you can help me with getting a hold of a vine or two (do you drink wine?). If it turns out to be a dud it won't matter, like you said it is an attractive vine. druid194@gmail.com

Time: 30th September 2008 10:18pm

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sue says...
HI MARK ..DONT KNOW WHERE YOU ARE IN BRISBANE BUT WE ARE IN THE REDLANDS AREA. I COULD SUPPLY YOU WITH A FEW CUTTINGS IF YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD WITH GROWING IT..BUT I DONT KNOW IF IT WILL EVER FRUIT (SEE OTHER REPLY FROM TRIKUS) YES WE DO DRINK WINE ..WE HAVE OFTEN MADE IT FROM ELDERBERRIES ETC..

Time: 1st October 2008 7:36pm

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Mark says...
Hi Sue,

That would be great, I'll take the chance that they might not work out. Rather than putting my details on a public website could you please email me at druid194@gmail.com so that we can discuss outside of this forum and work out the finer details.

Time: 1st October 2008 8:02pm

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Tanya says...
Hello Sue,
I have just discovered your post and was excited to read what you are growing in Capalaba. I am also at Capalaba and have quite a small block, but most of what I plant is edible. I have a small vegie garden, as well as, numerous strawberries (I make lots of jam). paw paws, blueberries (in ground and hanging baskets), passionfruit, citrus trees, apple tree, pineapples, avocado and a few others. You have certainly given me some ideas of other things that will grow in this area. I have often thought about getting a jaboticaba. How do the fruit taste?
Thanks for the extra inspiration to keep planting.

Time: 15th December 2008 3:04pm

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Redlands
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sue says...
tanya jaboticaba do extremely well here and are great for hedges. they taste fabulous and the jam is fantastic, sort of like a rich plum jam and so easy to make. just wash fruit, boil and skins will split, then drain and retain the juice(discard the pulp) and add equal amounts of sugar, boil until setting and bottle. it is a smooth jam and can be used instead of cranberry sauce etc. we love it my kids love it and they love the fresh fruit and trees here will fruit at least twice a yearafter rain. i am glad someone else does what we do. we just put in a huge vege patch at my brothers at gumdale too. just in case we didnt have enough!!we have great paw paws, but no luck with advocados or apple trees but everything else it good. bumper crop of tamarillos this year .sue

Time: 25th December 2008 8:28pm

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