May 2002

The Daley News

Featuring:
What's New
The Nursery
The Orchard
Fruit Tree of the Month
Rainforest, Dryland Native and Hedge Plants
Feature article

What's New - Our new website

Thanks for all your feedback
Thank you for visiting our new website and reading our 'new-look' electronic newsletter. Both are put together with your requests, feedback and suggestions in mind. Thank you for all the support, feedback and the testimonials as included in the 'About us' page.

User friendly for you
The new site is designed to be as user friendly as possible and to offer you, our valued customer a reliable source of information and an effecient online ordering system. We continue to make improvements to our systems in order to ship our trees throughout Australia. We are currently trialling a new freight company and if successful you will be able to electronically track your orders progress while it's in transit to you. This express service will mean a minimum of damage and stress to plants.

Highly recommended links
When visiting the fruit tree pages be sure to follow visit the links provided. These links have been selected by us and are highly recommended.

Rainforest Trees
We have greatly increased the amount of information and the range available of rainforest, dryland natives and ornamental trees. The range includes some of the most magnificent species of the forest and those that are that endangered to the northern NSW.

The Nursery

As most of you are aware we have a large retail nursery. Emma Stone is our Nursery Manager and she brings with her heaps of edible plant food knowledge, Rainforest and forestation expertise and most importantly loads of passion and enthusiasm.

Every month Emma endeavours to introduce a new theme to our exciting nursery. This month she have promoted a range of 'Flora for Fauna' plants. These plants attract both wildlife and birds to the garden. Almost all garden lovers are bird lovers. Birds add colour, song, movement and cheer to the garden. Banksias, grevilleas, bottlebrushes, lillypillys, wattles are just a few of a wide selection on offer.

The Orchard

Pecans are the major crop for us this month and its a mad rush to collect them from the ground and a challenge to keep the cockatoos from decimating the crop. A large, majestic tree Pecans are suited to large areas and they make an excellent deciduous shade tree. The foliage is a light green turning to a rich gold during May. Provided the trees growing requirements are met Pecans will give you Mammoth crops in as little as 4 years.

Fruit Tree of the Month

The Newhall '1st prize' at the annual Hawkesbury Show, April 2002

Three years ago one of our long-standing customers, Alan Chapman phoned Greg for his recommendation on a suitable navel to plant. Greg highly recommended the 'Newhall', a navel orange that is relatively new to Australia and receiving rave reviews.

Three years on and Alan entered the fruit at the Hawkesbury Show in the Citrus - all varieties class. The Judge, John Forsyth Citrus Inspector from the NSW Department of Ag. declared it an over all winner. As Alan said it was easy to see why, "the fruit of the Newhall far surpassed the other varieties on display. It is a mammoth size, has a good colour and a nice smooth skin. It's the nicest navel we've seen".

Alan's secret to prize-winning fruit is simple. "Every February I use a good quality fish emulsion to fertilise".

Thanks Alan, for letting us know that we sold you a winner. Keep the awards flowing in.

Navel oranges are the most popular "eating" orange in the world. Easy to identify they have a distinct navel or bellybutton, are seedless, easy to peel, juicy, and taste great. Most home gardeners are familiar with the Washington Navel and will request it above some of the newer varieties. However, the newer releases shouldn't be overlooked as they offer all the attributes of the Washington and more.

The Newhall performs strongly and regularly in subtropical areas. They bear early in the season with fruit coming off around April. The fruit is described as slightly smaller than the Washington Navel however in our experience it has reached a large size when the tree is well cared for. One of the most attractive of the navels, the Newhall has a deep orange rind, is superb tasting and tends to be slightly elongated in shape.

The Navelina is very similar to the Newhall and also performs well in the subtropics. It bears two weeks before the Washington Navel. The fruit is medium to large with a fine skin texture and high juice content. The fruit has an excellent taste and fine skin texture. The rind colours well exhibiting a deep reddish/orange colour.

Rainforest, Dryland and Hedge Plant

The Burdekin Plum - Pleiogynium timorense

The Burdekin plum is, like the Davidson's Plum, one of our very own 'bushtucker' favourites. It is closely related to the Cashew nut and the mango and grows well throughout Queensland and as far south of Sydney. The fruit is one of the most versatile of the bushfoods and with some processing is transformed into an absolutely delightful wine and delicious jam. For those of you who love astringent fruits, (those who eat lemons and still smile) you may be able to eat them fresh, some even going so far as to describe the taste as a 'mild apricot flavour'. Most of us however describe them as being highly acid. After harvesting, leave them for a few days to soften and mellow. Early settlers, and aborigines were known to bury them in the sand for up to two weeks to make them more palatable.

The fruit is plum like, similar to an English plum but slightly more oblong and can vary in size similar to a golfball or olive. The flesh varies from a rich dark red to white depending on the selection and is encased in dark purple skin. Pollination is achieved from male and female flowers that occur on separate trees so two or more trees need to be group planted. The flowers are relatively inconspicuous and occur during winter and spring with the fruit following soon after during summer and autumn.

The tree itself is one of the rainforest giants at 20 metres however its much smaller when planted in cultivation or in a backyard situation. The leaves are made up of leaflets on opposite sides of a central axis and the new growth is a dark, shiny green with bronze new growth. The tree itself is hardy, frost tolerant and will withstand drought periods. The thrive in fertile, well-drained soil with plenty of moisture but will adapt to other soils.

Feature Article...

Extending a welcoming offer to our customers at
Daley's Nursery in collaboration with the
PERMAFOREST TRUST

Emma Stone, retail manager and plant enthusiast, has been with us at the Nursery for over 18 months. With a history in sustainable agriculture and bush regeneration and an obsession with rare fruits, Emma aims to provide nursery customers with abundant information and inspiration for your garden / orchard.

When the workday finishes at the Nursery, Emma's passion for plants and people continues sound and strong as one of the facilitators of an exciting project based at her home on the foothills of the Border Ranges National Park.

The 'Permaforest Trust' is an educational community for sustainability. This not-for-profit organisation is dedicated to the transition to sustainable human culture. The trust actively promotes sustainable ways of living through education in sustainable practices, restoration of degraded landscapes, and demonstration of ecologically sound ways of living and meeting human needs.

The 179 acre property, which hosts the 'Permaforest Trust' is a display and an opportunity to participate in a range of activities including:

Emma would like to extend an invitation to customers of Daley's to visit the project site.

Perhaps you are proposing a visit direct to Daley's Nursery from out of the area and require overnight accommodation for your trip. If so, the Permaforest Trust welcomes and hosts interested people for $50 per person.

This includes:
· Overnight accommodation in either private rooms or dorm rooms
(depending on the size of your party up to 28 people)
· Quality organic meals with much harvested straight from the garden
· Tour of the site and facilities

As a special offer for gardening enthusiasts wishing to combine both offers, Daley's would like to offer a 15% discount on all purchases from the retail nursery.

Remember to plan in a visit to the pristine Border Ranges National Park beginning just 3 km's from the home of the Permaforset Trust and a true inspiration to all plant and ecology enthusiasts.

More information about the 'Permaforest Trust' can be found on www.permaforesttrust.org.au

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