As you may know, I’m off on holiday soon and as we will be away for a very naughty six weeks I’m going to take the opportunity to sow a cover crop of mustard. I haven’t sown a crop in this patch of ground for a few years so it’s sure to do some good. And I can’t abide empty patches.
So this weekend I’m going to bite the bullet and prematurely take out the capsicums and eggplant, older broccoli and my zinnias that are still flowering profusely and lightly dig over the ground
We’ve just been up to visit Phil’s parents and lucky me – their Meyer lemon tree was chocka block full of fruit. However it was also really thick with branchlets – so much so the light wasn’t getting in and there was the beginning of sooty mould. There is a saying that “a bird should be able to fly through a citrus tree”. Whilst I don’t actually hold specifically to that – it is important that there is light. Check out my “before and after pictures” to give you a basic idea of how to trim. You can prune more heavily than this but what I’ve done is sufficient.
Any pruning tips you’d like to pass on, or pic’s of your own.
One of the best things about having a fruit garden is grazing. Early autumn grazing is about as good as life gets. Big fat autumn raspberries and deep red juicy strawberries mmmm. A wander around the vege/fruit garden after work with the warm autumn sun on your back is an absolute joy. The smell of ripeness in the air. Warm raspberry scent. Raspberry Aspiring is our favourite. What’s the best cropping raspberry you’re growing?
After tidying up the mess in my vege patch on Sunday I took stock of the remaining summer crops. My globe shaped eggplants are smothered in half size fruit – there’s probably 15-20 of them there and with the warm weather each stem is furiously making additional flowers for even more fruit. There’s really only one month left of eggplant ripening weather. Realistically those new flowers haven’t got time to form and grow an eggplant and they are draining the plants energies from the semi-mature fruits. I made the call and cut all remaining flowers off and shortened the stems. Better 15 eggplants in the hand.
Take a look at your summer crops – eggplants, tomatoes, capsicums especially. These all need really warm weather to mature well. Up to you to make the call, …..
