This is the ideal time to decide what new fruit trees and berries you would like to plant in your garden over the dormant winter months. The cold days and frosty mornings have arrived. Deciduous trees have all but dropped their leaves and so there is much raking to be done. Can you remember which of your tall trees have caste a long shadow over the surrounds over those hot summer months? And which birds are frequent visitors to your neighbourhood?
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We have also been experiencing quite a number of days resembling the chilly, windy days of August. We haven't yet had those wet wintry days where the ground is soaked and the water is not draining away. But those days will come sometime, as well.
All of these environmental elements need to be taken into account if you are considering having or expanding your own orchard area. It is not much fun spending many hours each year, tending for fruit trees (and waiting the several years for them to start producing) only to find the trees die off or they are not producing a crop at all. Many of the failures could have been avoided if careful planning had been undertaken, before anything was planted.
I have been pleased to see a number of schools have taken up the vision of a school garden. I am very familiar with the plans and efforts of Southern Cross and Harrison schools to set up small orchards on available land.
Local schools have one additional challenge that we do not have for a backyard garden. There are some fruits that mature exactly at the time of the summer holiday season. You may also take holidays away over the New Year period and so miss out on some maturing harvests but a six-week school break is pretty long and so it will, of itself, rule out most choices of apricot, plum and mulberry.
This is such a shame as the mulberry tree is among the easiest to grow and silkworm production with local access to the leaves of the mulberry tree is still a wonderful activity for young children. And what of the wonderful taste of the soft stone fruits, the tree-ripened apricots and plums?
All fruit trees need good drainage but it is very important for stone fruit, especially cherries, peaches, nectarines and apricots. As well, apple trees do not like "wet feet". Pears and quinces can manage better than any other fruit trees with heavier, poorly drained locations. Water-logging had to be overcome by the entire nation of the Netherlands and they have demonstrated that there are successful strategies to planting in even the most adverse locations. Mound up the ground to provide some natural drainage and take the opportunity to excavate and backfill with small rubble and lay some ag pipes so that heavy downpours will drain away. Maybe even shape a shallow trench which you can plant with Canberra blend grasses, to provide the necessary runoff.
The Netherlands has also lead the way with intensive plantings, when space is limited. Of course, you are probably not embarking on commercial production, as the Dutch orchardists have done. However, they have championed double and triple row orcharding, as well as very close planting regimes. Fruit trees have been planted like hedgerows, with only one metre or less between trees.
I always recommend a spread of varieties of any fruit, so that your harvest covers much of the summer and autumn months. There is also the aspect of cross pollination. With any fruit, the different cultivars will flower at different times so you do need to consider planting those which flower at the same time in spring, to effect good pollination, especially with cherries and apples.
Apples can be classed as early maturing, mid season or late maturing. Good early maturing apple varieties include Gravenstein, Vista Bella and Abas.
By March you are coming to the mid season apples which will generally keep longer and be more flavoursome. As well as the Royal Gala from New Zealand, the Bonza of Batlow origin, the Spartan from British Columbia, Pomme de Neige (Snowy) traced back to France and the heritage Cox's Orange Pippin from Buckinghamshire are excellent choices for March maturing apples.
April is the peak harvest month so you have a wide selection to choose from. I would just mention the very flavoursome Mutzu and sweet Fuji from Japan, the Blenheim Orange from Oxford and the Rome Beauty from Ohio.
Late season apples can have an amazing flavour. They include the Splendour from New Zealand, the red granny called Murray Gem from South Australia and the Sturmer Pippin from Suffolk. If you want to pick the very last maturing apple, then plant a Lady William which originated in Western Australia and is one parent of the Pink Lady and Sundowner apples.
Local garden centres have a modest selection of the most common varieties of apples. If you are visiting a local centre, try to find bare rooted trees that have not had their main roots severely trimmed off. This is a practice to benefit the nursery centres with displaying in pots but is a major set-back for the actual tree. They have cut off the fibrous root structure which is so vital to re-establishing the tree in your back yard.
It is for that reason, as well as because of the wider range of trees on offer that I also recommend you take a look at the three main online fruit tree specialists. Most of their trees are grafted onto dwarf rootstock to better serve backyard gardeners. Woodbridge Fruit Trees are based in Tasmania, Yalca Fruit Trees and Heritage Fruit Trees are located in Victoria. The cost of most of their supplies are in the order of $30 per tree plus postage.
Our growing season has been quite bad this past year and I suspect that the propagation nurseries have also been impacted by the hot, dry weather. Quite a number of their listings are already "out of stock" but it is still worth taking a look at their websites as they do now offer a wide range of fruit trees, delivering in late July by post.
Spicy chicken with caramelised apple
3 medium sized apples
600g free range chicken drumsticks
1 tbsp Chinese five spice
salt and pepper
30g butter
2 onions, sliced
2 tbsp plain flour
50g butter
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp honey
¼ cup raisins
Peel and core the apples and cut into thick slices. Retain the peels.
Coat the chicken drumsticks with five spice powder and season with salt and pepper. Heat the grapeseed oil in a heavy duty frypan brown the drumsticks on all sides. Remove and lightly fry the apple peels. Place the chicken in a large ovenproof baking dish and scatter the peels over them.
Dust the apple and onion slices with flour. Add in the extra butter to the pan and cook the apple and onion on a low heat for three minutes. Then add in the apple cider vinegar, chicken stock, honey and raisins. Continue on low heat, stirring constantly, until the rich brown sauce is reduced by half. Pour the sauce over the chicken drumsticks then cover the dish. Cook in a moderate oven, at 180C for 45 minutes
This week in the garden
Plant a mixture of salad seeds, such as mesculun mix, into a patio planter box and place in a sunny, sheltered spot to keep up supplies over winter. Alternatively set up a small cloche of plastic, buried into both sides, along a garden bed, to trap the warm sun for the vegetables underneath.
Seek out some French shallot bulbs to plant, along with onions. They add a delicate creamy flavour to many cooked dishes. Plant onion and leek seeds into propagation trays
Keep up the weeding program around winter vegetables, especially garlic to avoid major competition for nutrients.
Dig deeply when preparing a garden bed for later planting of asparagus or rhubarb. If drainage is needed, first add some scoria and then mix in well aged manure or mushroom compost.
Rake up any leaves that you have lying around the neighbourhood to add to your compost. Oak leaves are especially good, though they take longer to break down. If the weather remains dry for a long period, remember to add in some water, to keep the heap moist, so that decomposition can flourish.
Owen Pidgeon runs the Loriendale Organic Orchard near Hall.
