School orchard in Sydney (forum)

eluceat starts with ...
Hi folks, I am setting up a fruit & veg garden at our small school in Sydney's west and wanted advice on what fruit trees to buy. We have enough money for 7 trees and so far we have selected the following from your catalogue:
Acerola cherry -Florida sweet
Lychee -Bosworth3
Davidson plum
Lime - kaffir
Mandarin -Imperial
Lemonade tree
Dwarf orange - Navelina

My questions are ... Are these all self pollinating varieties and are they good choices for Sydney climate? Also,if we need them in Sydney before Tree Day on 26 July, when should we place the order with you? Thanks for any advice :) Liz


Time: 13th June 2013 8:43pm

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About the Author eluceat
Oatlands Sydney
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Mike says...
eluceat this is the forum not the shop, but all are self fertile. Don't grow the kaffir for fruit and the Davidson plum is not really suited for eating out of hand, but it is native. It would be worth checking with locals if acerolas and Bosworth lychees are productive in your area. There are 4 citrus and no stone fruit. You don't want trees that all produce fruit together on the school xmas holidays.

Time: 13th June 2013 8:59pm

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Cairns
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jakfruit etiquette says...
The good thing about Davidson plum is that they are very productive, and make excellent jam, but as Mike says, most people will probably not eat the sourish acid fruit.

Time: 13th June 2013 9:23pm

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Original Post was last edited: 14th June 2013 1:10am
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BJ says...
Plant the Acerola a bit out of the way, as the leaves can be an irritant to some folks and will result in some kids having rashes.

If you are frost free the panama berry is a great kids tree, but planting in the middle of winter in Sydney would be a bit dicey.

Time: 14th June 2013 8:48am

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About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas
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Brain says...
I'm also going to add my 2 cents. The dwarf navelina is quite a compact and small tree. Due to it's small size, you will only get limited amount of oranges. I.e. a 2mx2m (dwarf) tree might produce say 5-10 orange, whereas a 4mx4m tree might produce up to 40-50 fruits. Being a school, I'd imagine you would want more oranges to share between the kids.

My recommendation would be Valencia, at least you can juice it and also, some valencias can produce 2 crops a year.

Time: 14th June 2013 9:36am

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About the Author Brain
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Julie says...
My two cents also - I don't think a Kaffir lime would be much appreciated by kids, unless they were REALLY into Asian cooking. Better off with a fruit they can pick and eat on the spot.

I agree with Mike - citrus seem to come all at once, so I would suggest more variety.

Time: 14th June 2013 6:15pm

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About the Author Julie
Roleystone WA
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eluceat says...
Thank you all so much for your responses. Most helpful. The 4 citrus was mostly to take advantage of the buy 3 get 1 free offer from Daleys and our very limited budget! But point taken on the kaffir lime and dwarf navelina, thank you. Is there a self pollinating apple anyone would recommend?

Time: 14th June 2013 8:47pm

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About the Author eluceat
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MaryT says...
eluceat, from what I can see you can change the combination of citrus on Daley's special offer; you don't have to take the suggestion varieties. Just click on the arrow next to the name and choose what you like from the list. I would recommend a kumquat, a lemon, an orange and a mandarin.

I am on the north shore of Sydney and the citrus that are most prolific on my property are: Lemon Myer, Kumquat (colamondin) , Arnold's Blood Orange and Mandarin Fremont. Mine is a container garden so I don't get a lot of fruit but enough to make many jars of marmalade.

Time: 15th June 2013 7:53am

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About the Author MaryT
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VF says...
I don't think getting the citrus deal would be a bad thing, as you can get a mix of early, mid and late season fruit. Going by what my kids and their friends like, I'd stick to sweet fruits like Orange, Mandarin, Lemonade, Tangelo.

As for self-pollinating apple trees, Granny Smith is ok, but not sure about chill required for this variety (maybe someone else can help). Pinkabelle (similar to Pink Lady) will set some fruit on its own, but will do better with a compatible pollinator. If you could afford a dual grafted tree, this may be a better way to go.

I think it's great that you're starting this project for your school, very worthwhile. If you'd like a Black Mulberry tree to add to your collection, I'm happy to send a struck cutting. Contact me on vfand3 at gmail dot com.

Time: 15th June 2013 8:55am

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About the Author VF
 
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Brain says...
I'm going to say if you have to get 4 citrus, you can't go wrong with one orange, one mandarin, one lemon or lime and a grapefruit.

Obviouly with orange and mandarin, you can eat. With lemon/lime, you can cook with it (or process it like make a lemonade) and the last being grapefruit, some varieties takes 18 months to mature into eatable fruit. So in effect, it hangs in the tree for a long period and it has the effect of something to look at and it teaches the kids some patience.

Will suggest
Valencia (seeded or seedless) or Washington Navel Orange
Imperial Mandarin or any other known commerical varieties ... at least you know what they look and taste like.
Either Eureka Lemon or Tahitian lime, as they both flower and fruit for most part of the year.
For grapefruit, choose a red flashed type, i.e. Star Ruby, Flame, Rio Red or Ruby Red.

hope this info helps.

Time: 17th June 2013 3:10pm

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About the Author Brain
Brisbane
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